RAPTURE NOW
BY JEFFREY DEAN
Jump To Chapter
INTRODUCTION:1: REDEFINING SALVATION 2: HOW IT ALL BEGAN 3: THE GREAT ESCAPE 4: THE DAY OF SALVATION
5: SALVATION IS “RESURRECTION” 6: THE DEAD IN CHRIST
7: NOT JUST FOR THE DEAD 8: TAKEN
9: I'LL FLY AWAY OH GLORY 10: CHRISTLIKE PERFECTION
11: BLASPHEMY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 12: DESPISING THEM THAT ARE GOOD 13: THE ANTICHRIST REVEALED 14: THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS 15: THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY 16: THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS 17: THE GREAT FALLING AWAY 18: TRUE FAITH
19: TRUE REPENTANCE 20: TRUE GRACE
21: THE HOPE OF SALVATION 22: THE HOPE OF GLORY
23: WHAT IS THE HOPE OF GLORY? 24: HOPE OF RESURRECTION
25: WHAT IS GLORY?
26: THE HOPE OF OUR CALLING 27: THE TRUE NEW TESTAMENT 28: THE HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 29: ORIGINAL SIN IS NEITHER
30: GOD DENOUNCES ORIGINAL SIN 31: THE ADDED WORKS OF RELIGION 32: TRUE POWER IN THE BLOOD 33: THE TRUE RAPTURE
34: THE DAY DEATH DIES
35: REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY 36: WICKED AND SLOTHFUL SERVANT 37: THE BUDDING OF THE TREE
38: THE WHEAT AND THE TARES 39: THE BELLY WORSHIPERS 40: THE SECRET SINNERS
41: FAITH WORKS NOT LAW WORKS 42: THE WOMAN IN TRAVAIL
44: THE DEVIL'S OWN 45: TAKE UP YOUR CROSS
2 Corinthians 6: 2
“(For he said, 'I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured you: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) “
INTRODUCTION:
If you look in your Bible Concordance for the word “rapture” you will not find it. The closest you will come to it is the phrase “caught up.” You will not find that word because it's a relatively new addition to the “Christian” vocabulary.
This book may be a disappointment to some. It does not “tickle the ears.” Don't worry, though, I'm sure there are still plenty of "fluff" pieces out there to feed the "milk" and provide very little "meat" for those who haven't “cut their teeth” yet. This book is a big fat juicy porter house steak. I don't water down the truth.
When discussing the subject of “The Rapture,” I have deliberately focused primarily on the scriptures that are ignored or neglected by most modern teachers on the subject of the rapture and the Second Coming because it is the scriptures which have been neglected that usually hold the key to understanding.
For example, I begin speaking of the direct events of our Lord coming from Matthew 25 rather than going to Matthew 24 as is usually the case in a book on this subject. It will be a hard read for many, many people because because I don't pull any punches. I lay the scriptural truth out mercilessly because it is time for us to put our toys away and grow up.
The time draws nearer and nearer. One thing you will notice as you read this book is that I repeat some of the same scriptures in different chapters.
Why?
1: REDEFINING SALVATION Deuteronomy 18: 20-22
"20 But the prophet, who shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other Gods, even that prophet shall die.
21 And in case you are wondering in your hearts; 'how shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?'
22 When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken, but the prophet has spoken it presumptuously: you shall have no respect for him (as a prophet).”
Caught up in rapture, that sweet divine joy and the peace that passes all understanding from which simply comes the knowing or our Lord, our Messiah, our Christ, our Savior and, in this knowing, we come to intimately know his heavenly Father as well. There can be no greater "rapture" than to be in communion with the unconditionally loving being, the divine parent, our most Holy Father who, through the Christ, the Son of God, has re-created us into his own image.
Rapture is as good a word as any to attempt to describe the indescribable. The glory of oneness with this supernatural being. He who created us, and for no other reason than he is a Father who truly desires to have relationship with his children. It's hard to fathom much less describe in one word.
1 Corinthians 2:
9 But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has
entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him.
Oh, the rapture that is offered when you first believe! Pity that so few have experienced it! They wait for it, with seemingly “baited breath” as if some future event. Tragic that it never occurs to them that the wait is over and the time is now.
For millions of believers the world over, this “rapture” in these modern times is now reduced to a fable. The fodder for science fiction novels. How sad, for, without experiencing the joy of faith, through which we obtain the eternal grace, there can be no glorious change into "the new creature." There can be no transformation if you don't believe in the
transformation.
Many never reach out and grab the brass ring, believing it to be for some future time and generation and so, it will forever elude them.
The rapture now is taught like some fantastic fairy tale.
For those of you who might be unfamiliar with the modern teaching of rapture, (and I would be surprised if there were many in America who were completely unfamiliar), it is a teaching in Christian eschatology which refers to "being caught up to meet the Lord in the air" at his second coming.
A Thief in the Night
Raised in a baptist church, I was very devout from the time I was baptized at 8 years old. Sometime in the early 1970's I went to visit a church that was showing a new movie that had been released. "A Thief In The Night" produced by Russel S. Doughten. I believe it may have
been the very first full length feature film drama about the rapture.
The movie depicts the plight of Patty Jo Myers, who, although being a Bible reading Christian, does not believe in the pre-tribulation rapture. One morning she awakens to find that millions of people on this planet, including her own beloved husband have suddenly and mysteriously vanished.
Gradually, Patty realizes her husband's continual and annoying warnings about “the rapture” have been realized. She and everyone else left behind are entering into the "Great Tribulation," the last days of Earth, dominated by the Antichrist. A government system called UNITE (United Nations Imperium of Total Emergency) is then set up and those who do not receive the mark identifying them with UNITE will be arrested.
Patty desperately tries to avoid the law and the mark but is captured by UNITE. She escapes but is cornered by UNITE on a bridge, and falls from the bridge to her death. She awakens to find that it was all a dream. Yet, she is horrified to hear a radio announcement that millions of people have disappeared and when she searches for her husband, who has
warned her of the rapture, he's missing.
She realizes the rapture has occurred for real and she's been left behind so I guess the dream came not as a warning to get her to repent but it was only given to her to torment her.
Somewhere during this movie I left and stood on the steps at the front of the church. At 12 I already had a rudimentary knowledge of The New Testament. I had real problems with, not just the movie, but the prophetic teachings that drove it.
Just the thought of them creating a "new" doctrine that is not really even found in the Bible (not concretely) was difficult for me to swallow but they didn't stop there. They went so far as to suggest that if a person does not believe in this doctrine, (even though they might believe everything else in the Bible like Patty Jo), they are still going to be "lost." As a devout “Baptist” this was just more than I could take. I, like any good Southern Baptist, believed
wholeheartedly in "eternal security" ("once saved always saved").
At the time, it was incomprehensible to me that any Baptist church would suggest that one has to believe in "pre-tribulation rapture" or, like Patty Jo Myers, they are going to be “left behind” by our Lord at his coming. Frankly I was incensed.
Even at that young age I realized they were "redefining" salvation itself.
How could I have imagined just how popular this "pre-trib rapture" teaching would become?
Baptists have become some of the biggest proponents of the teaching. It's still one of the biggest puzzles. Don't they still teach "once saved always saved?" Accordingly, all of our sins have been forgiven. “Past, present and future sins.”
Even if they could prove unequivocally, through overwhelming scripture, that refusal to believe in a pre-tribulation rapture is a sin, (which is a very big if) why isn't the sin of "not believing in the pre-trib rapture” one of the "future" sins that have been "forgiven" by Christ on the Cross?
If Patty Jo Meyers has accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior how does her
skepticism of this “pre-tribulation rapture teaching” become some sort of “unforgivable sin?” If it is a sin at all, it's already been forgiven has it not? How can she be abandoned by our Lord and Savior that way?
Remember, we are approaching the Thief in the Night movie from an “eternal security” direction.
As you can well imagine, I walked out and stood on the entrance steps to this church. I simply had enough. Moments later, the Pastor joined me. He asked me if the movie scared
me. (I guess he could see I was upset and he misinterpreted my reaction). I gave him a resounding "no."
In reality, it was not the movie that scared me, it was the doctrine that scared me. I was afraid for my Baptist brethren because they were denying eternal security. I didn't bother trying to explain that to him. He asked, “don't you believe in the rapture?” (I guess he was more perceptive than I gave him credit for). I said, flatly, “no!”
He then asked:
"...But what if you wake up tomorrow and find out you've been left behind?"
I thought about it and since I was fairly certain it was not going to happen being that I truly believed "once saved always saved," I responded the only way I could think of, saying. I said "well, I guess I'll just be out of luck."
It escaped the Pastor that I was putting the rapture in the same category as an old
superstition. He patted me on the shoulder and said, "I'll pray for you then," and left. I thought to myself, “and I for you.”
Since those days, the pre-tribulation rapture teaching has been cemented into the
traditions of the mainstream. It is now an anchor teaching, especially among fundamentalists. It's to the point that modern Christians equate a lack of belief in the rapture with "heresy" and not being a Christian at all. They assume that if you don't believe their particular interpretation of the rapture you must not be a believer and they will pray for you.
Who can blame them. They have been inundated with that message and trained to think this way. With such overwhelming focus of Christian media on the subject, (A Thief in the Night was just a drop in the future proverbial bucket) Christians imagine that “rapture” is as Christian as “trinity” and “Grace.”
Patty Jo Myers was a Christian. She read her Bible and she went to Church, but because she didn't believe in the pre-tribulation rapture, Christ deserted her at his second coming and left her behind to be beaten upon and killed by God's worst enemy, the antichrist!
This is the teaching as it stands today. Some churches even include it in their statement of faith. It's not the first time that people have taken a teaching and, despite a lack of scriptural basis, made that teaching a prerequisite to being a "true" Christian and it won't be the last.
The Unforgivable Sin?
In the movie Mary Jo resisted the Mark of the Beast. According to scripture the only way to do this is to have “wisdom and understanding.” One of the biggest questions that arises from “A Thief in the Night” is this: How could Mary Jo have avoided the Mark of the Beast ? How could she have known she must run away and avoid this mark? According to the scriptures, you need “wisdom and understanding” and that comes only from the Holy Spirit. All who have not the Spirit shall receive this mark. So, if Mary Jo Meyers had the Spirit, then why was she be “left behind?”
If you answer by saying “well maybe she got the Spirit after the rapture.” Your answer would be wrong. At least in keeping with the rapture teaching itself. Part of the teaching included the belief that the Holy Spirit is "removed" from the world when the church is raptured.
In fact, it's the position of rapturists that it's actually the Holy Spirit who is removed from the world in the rapture and because the Spirit dwells in the body of Christ, the body merely goes along for the ride into Heaven.
It's a dichotomy to be certain!
was she not removed with the rest of the Church? If she did not have the Spirit (and therefore was left behind) and the Holy Spirit also was removed from the earth at the rapture, she most certainly would not have the Spirit afterward and would have merely received the Mark. There would have been no movie!
A true “rapturist” might answer this way:
“She was told by the husband, who gave her the scriptures about it.”
So, obviously, those who preach this teaching equate "knowing the scriptures" to “wisdom and understanding.” Knowing the Bible, therefore alone is as good as "having the Holy
Spirit?”
Revelation 13:
“18 Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”
How does the Bible say that we obtain “wisdom and understanding? Proverbs 2:
“6 For the LORD gives wisdom: out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.”
The only way to get “wisdom and understanding” according to the Bible is directly from God. This is described by Christ as “the spirit of truth” who comes to “lead and guide you into all truth,” a spirit whom “the world” cannot receive.
John 14:
“17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not,
neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.”
If “the world” cannot receive the “spirit of truth” which brings “wisdom and understanding” what hope does anyone of the world have in avoiding the mark of the Beast after the rapture (being that the rapture is the removal of the Holy Spirit from the world)? No matter how many scriptures they know, they simply won't have the “wisdom and understanding.”
Revelation also says that everyone who refuses the Mark is “killed.” Revelation 13:
“15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”
So, the only people killed are they who refuse the mark of the Beast, yet Revelation also says that the only people who are “harmed” during the tribulation are “they that do not have the seal of God.”
Revelation 9:
“4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. “
What can we conclude from all of this?
They that do not have the seal of God will all be judged in the great tribulation. Since there is no Holy Spirit, (the seal of God) then everyone is going to be judged in the great tribulation.
Holy Spirit is gone from the world and there's no wisdom or understanding from God to keep them from accepting it.
So, when Revelation 13:15 says that everyone who rejects the mark will be killed, the author obviously was in error, not knowing that there can be no one on earth rejecting the mark, being that takes “wisdom and understanding” and the “spirit of truth” is no longer in the world.
Another problem that arises is the sealing of the servants of God during the tribulation: Revelation 7:
2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
The author of Revelation made another error (according to the rapture teaching that the Holy Spirit is removed from the world). Revelation says that after the rapture the “servants of God” are “sealed in their foreheads.”
Without the Holy Spirit in the world no one can be sealed with the seal of God because the seal of God is the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:
“13 In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, “
~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2 Corinthians 1:
“22 Who has also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.”
Some argue that the sealing of the servants of God takes place before the rapture. Then why wouldn't they be raptured? Not only that the rapture teaching itself places the sealed, the 144,000, walking the earth and preaching and
evangelizing during the great tribulation. The rapturists call this group “the 144,000 Jewish Evangelists.” They say it is the 144,000 primarily who are martyred during the great tribulation.
The question remains how is any of this possible if the Holy Spirit is “removed” from the world in the rapture and if anyone who possesses the Holy Spirit is
likewise removed? Not only that, how is anyone going to preach during the great tribulation without the Holy Spirit? More importantly how is anyone going to “hear” the preaching, be converted, and call upon the name of the Lord? All of these things require the Holy Spirit.
Romans 10:
“13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and
how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”
The Holy Spirit seals the 144,000. If the Holy Spirit is removed in the rapture, the fact that these 144,000 are sealed and then are martyred during the
tribulation says that they must be sealed before the rapture. Despite these cold hard facts, people have always objected to this line of thinking. They insist that some people convert and believe after the rapture.
How is this possible? The Holy Spirit is gone out of the world according to the basic rapture doctrine and a basic Christianity 101 says that one can only believe by the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 16:
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are thou, Simon Bar Jona: for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in Heaven.
When you examine the pre-trib rapture teaching in its entirety there's no denying they are teaching you have to believe in pre-trib rapture to be saved. Christ is going to whisk all the pre-trib rapture believers to Heaven and leave everyone who doesn't believe in pre-trib
rapture to die and be judged and persecuted by his worst enemy. (Just like what happened to poor Patty Jo Meyers in “A Thief In The Night.”) God is even going to take the Holy Spirit away, completely removing him from the world! No one is going to even be able to contact God! Such a fate simply cannot happen to “the saved.” At least not those who are saved by any definition you would find in any of those churches who preach the pre-trib rapture.
Ironically they preach one has to be ready for the rapture and if one doesn't believe in it, they can't be ready for it. But what does it mean to be “ready” according to the rapturists? It could only mean “believing in pre-tribulation rapture,” because those same churches also teach you can “do” nothing to be saved. It's Orwellian "double speak." It's not as though they are teaching you have to do anything to "be ready" for the rapture. Quite the contrary, their interpretation of salvation by grace leaves no room for doing anything at all in preparation for the rapture.
It is quite clear by these churches' doctrines that, since no man can "work" their way into Heaven, you certainly cannot “work” your way to be raptured. When you consider the "pre-tribulation rapture" teaching is a direct depiction of how the living believers will enter Heaven, it's obvious there can be nothing you can do to be "ready" for the rapture (according to
“salvation by grace not by works”) other than believe in the pre-tribulation rapture.
Indeed, look at the movie example of a Christian “left behind.” The only difference between Patty Jo and her husband was that he believed in the pre-tribulation rapture and she did not!
So, "being ready" for the pre-tribulation rapture to them can only mean "believing in the pre-tribulation rapture," and not being ready means “not believing in pre-trib rapture. Not being “ready” ultimately means being "rejected" by the Lord "at his second coming." Being left behind is nothing short of damnation, because you lose access to the Holy Spirit, the age of Grace is “over” (according to the rapture teaching), and you either perish because you reject the mark of the Beast or you accept the Mark of the Beast and “have your part in the lake of
fire.”
If you perish for rejecting the mark of the Beast, you still are not saved, because first of all if you were saved before the rapture you'd have been raptured. The very fact you are there, in the great tribulation faced with the choice of rejecting or accepting the Beast is all the proof that you weren't saved when the rapture occurred. After the rapture the Holy Spirit is gone and the age of “Grace” is over. There's no way to “believe” without the Holy Spirit and we are “saved by Grace.”
All who are left behind are simply doomed. They are lost. (According to every doctrine of these churches who preach it). Yet, they then turn right around and have 144,000 Jews evangelizing the world and people getting saved and rejecting the mark. It becomes obvious they have forgotten their own basic teachings on salvation when preaching “rapture” and great tribulation.
Revelation 19:
20 And the beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These were all cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
This all happens to everyone who does not believe in “pre-tribulation rapture” according to the rapturists' own teachings. Refusing to believe in pre-trib rapture, therefore is the only “unforgivable sin,” according to the teaching. The modern rapturist is obviously redefining salvation. Belief in Jesus Christ is no longer enough for salvation in the rapture teaching. So, in actuality salvation shifts from “faith in Christ,” to “faith in a pre-tribulation rapture.” The doctrine becomes their new idol, their new gospel.
In every place our Lord talks of those servants who are "rejected" at his second coming he says "they shall be cast into outer darkness" or he says "there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth," or he says "they shall be bound into bundles to be burned."
Matthew 24:
50The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looks not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
In light of “eternal security” and “salvation by Grace alone” teachings, it would have to be a complete fantasy to say that those who are "left behind" somehow have a chance to reject the mark of the Beast afterward and still be redeemed. It would certainly not be scriptural
according to these churches' own doctrines of faith. This becomes especially true when you factor in the teaching that the Holy Spirit is removed from the world during the rapture.
I was only 12 years old when I first saw “A Thief In The Night” and I drew all of these conclusions. A child can see it.
Following all of the doctrines of salvation and combining them with the basic teachings of rapture, how can there be any hope for those left behind? It's simply ridiculous!
Every church which teaches eternal security and then preaches "pre-tribulation rapture" and espouses to the teaching as it is depicted by Hal Linsey, Doughten, Jack Chick, Jack Van Impe (and others like them), are contradicting their own "eternal security" teachings.
While “A thief in the Night” had very good intentions and was perhaps a shoddy attempt at revival, using fear of some grand "tribulation" and the promise of "escape" from that fate to "revive" Christian's fervor and conviction in their faith. What resulted is they denied their own
faiths and redefined salvation itself!
Suddenly, you weren't a "real" Christian unless you believed in the pre-tribulation rapture, (as it was with Patty Jo Myers). She read her Bible and believed, her only real sin is not believing her husband about the rapture doctrine. Indeed, and now, despite sparse scripture to support the teaching, you are not considered a Christian in today's economy unless you receive "the pre-tribulation rapture" as fact! You must conform to their "club" of thought on the rapture or you are immediately an outsider.
Talking 'Bout My Generation
My generation is obsessed with pre-trib rapture. In 1981, I was going through technical school at Shepphard Air Force Base in Texas. There was a large youth group of Christians active in the chapel there. I attended once or twice during their worship and Bible study. They were the typical "modern rapturists." The rapture teaching permeated their entire approach and walk with Christ. One of the leaders in that group would spend his time on street corners playing his guitar with a large rack containing Jack Chick tracts and other handouts about the rapture. Most of his songs were filled with messages about the rapture. They were obsessed with the teaching. I found this to be the case wherever I went among my generation.
Knowing the scriptures the way I did, I could simply not fit in with those other young
people. I spent my time in my dorm room studying. On rare occasion, I would actually step out and go to the "airman's club" and have a drink (usually one, no more than two). I then would simply return to my room where I would study or play my guitar and write Christian oriented lyrics and put them to rock music.
That was my life.
I was not a part of their "rapture" club.
One day one of the leaders of this youth group sat down next to me in the mess hall and began to talk with me. He quizzed me on a few things. I did not want to fight with him so I guarded my answers. My responses were short and to the point. I just sort of stared forward and answered his questions in short succinct statements.
He finally got frustrated and exclaimed, "yes, but why do you insist on living your life in defeat?" I then did look at him. In shock, I am sure. I could not understand why his impression of me was that I lived a defeated life. I assumed, at the time, that perhaps they may have seen me going in and out of the airman's club. Later, I realized it was because I wasn't a part of their club.
I also believe, if there were rumors of my going to the airman's club, I doubt those rumors, or the judgmentalism I experienced as a result of those rumors, would have been prevalent against me if I had also been a part of their club, attending services, joining in with excited conversations about "the rapture."
I have a very strong feeling that if I had joined their little “rapture cult” after that, if they saw me come out of the airman's club they would have said something like:
“Oh well, he's probably just using the bathroom" or "well, even Jesus drank a little wine, he doesn't look drunk."
Because I was not a part of their club, I was "a defeated Christian" in their eyes. More importantly, I wasn't a part of the Hal Lindsey cult, I didn't believe in the pre-tribulation rapture as taught and that meant I wasn't a "real" Christian.
The Only Thing That Matters
We don't need an exhaustive handling of the rapture teaching as it is. There is but one issue in relation to the event called "the rapture," as taught that has any real bearing on the
true believer and that is the issue upon which I will focus like a laser.
Aside from this, I consider the pre-tribulation rapture to be a "non-issue." I will make a bold statement of what I believe to be true from scripture first then set out to prove it. In this case, I believe that the "rapture" as it is taught today will cause the majority of them that believe it to be "left behind" (as they put it) when the true event occurs.
Yes, I do believe there is an event coming which is called "the rapture," yet it will not be what the modern "popular teachers" suppose it to be. That this true event has paramount importance to the believer I will also wholeheartedly acknowledge.
The true nature of this event, however, escapes eschatology of today. Mainly because their own doctrines prevent them from seeing it for what it is. The truth be told, as we shall soon see, the rapture is happening right now. It begins for the believer upon conversion and continues on, growing day by day until the appointed hour when the "work" is "finished." (Philippians 2: 12)
We are running that "race" at this very moment (1 Corinthians 9: 24 and Hebrews 12: 1). Soon, I believe, those who seize hold of the "mystery" now revealed in us, (Colossians 1: 27), those who press forward "to the higher calling in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3: 14 and 2 Peter 3: 12) will be the winners of this race.
Our race is finished either when we die in right standing or when Christ returns and grants us eternal life (makes us immortal). This is the true meaning of "he that endures to the end, the same shall be saved." Either you have part in this "regeneration" or you die trying.
2: HOW IT ALL BEGAN
The word "rapture" is derived from Middle French via the Medieval Latin raptura ("seizure, rape, kidnapping"), it is pronounced "rapt-choo-ray" and is ultimately derived from the Latin raptus ("a carrying off"). The word is named after the “raptor” a bird of prey similar to an eagle that “swoops down” and “carries off” its prey. The Koine Greek of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 uses the verb form ρπαγησόμεθα (harpagēsometha), which means "we shall be caught up" or "taken away", with the connotation that this is a sudden event. The dictionary form of this Greek verb is ρπάζω (harpazō) . This use is also seen in such texts as Acts 8:39, 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 and Revelation 12:5. The Latin Vulgate translates the Greek ρπαγησόμεθα as rapiemur from the verb rapio meaning "to catch up" or "take away.”
When we understand it's rudimentary meaning there need only be one verse we look at to understand it's application. Being "caught up" with the Lord was something for which Messiah, the Christ, himself prayed for his followers. He prayed for us to "be with him where he is."
John 17:
“24 Father, I will that they also, who you have given me, be with me
where I am; that they may behold my glory, which you have given me: for
you loved me before the foundation of the world. “ Yet, note this interesting statement in the same prayer:
John 17:15
“I pray not that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil.”
Christ desired for us to be "with him where he is" and yet remain in the world!
We must realize that after his resurrection he could have taken all of his followers with him into Heaven, but where would we be? Those who came to believe on him by their testimony?
Most modern rapturists consider that “beside the point.” Yet, how can it be? Christ is praying concerning the final "Glory" he will share with his followers. How it will come to pass and in what manner it shall manifest itself. Though the modern vernacular of the word, rapture, is a good descriptive word for the event it pales in comparison to the glory.
The word has two main meanings in modern English:
1. The state of being transported by a lofty emotion; ecstasy. 2. An expression of ecstatic feeling. Often used in the plural.
Once you understand the extent of what occurs during the "rapture," (per se), you will see why these two definitions fit well.
Yes, there is an event in the Bible which can adequately be described as “a rapture of the believers.” When you understand what scripture says about this event it should become clear that the popular teachers actually have missed the mark by a mile.
A Relatively New Doctrine?
Christianity has a 2000 year history, during the bulk of which the "rapture" teaching was non existent. The early original Christian church as well as the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox churches, the Anglican Communion and many Protestant Calvinist denominations have no tradition of a preliminary return of Christ and initially rejected the doctrine.
Rightfully so. Scripture makes no direct reference anywhere to a preliminary and “secret” return of Christ.
The Orthodox Church, for example, rejects it because the Protestant doctrine of the rapture depends on a pre-millennial interpretation of prophetic scriptures, rather than an amillennial or post millennial fashion. Some proponents of a preliminary rapture believe the doctrine of amillennialism originated with Alexandrian scholars such as Clement and Origen and later became Catholic dogma through Augustine. Accordingly, the church until then would hold to pre-millennial views. Views which see an impending apocalypse from which the church will be rescued by the Lord. (The way Noah and his family were rescued from the flood).
To those who hold to this “pre-millennial” claim on behalf of the early Christians, this means that the early church did indeed espouse pre-tribulationism, it just wasn't called as such until much later.
Pre-tribulation proponents maintain that the earliest known extra-Biblical reference to the pre-tribulation rapture is from a 7th-century tract known as the Apocalypse of
Pseudo-Ephraem the Syrian, which says:
"For all the saints and Elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins"
However, the interpretation of this writing as supporting a pre-tribulation rapture is at the very least highly debatable and at the most it's a stretch. Even if it could be proved that the church has always espoused "pre-tribulation rapture" certainly it was not the center and focal point of the faith as it has become. Especially among evangelicals.
A Christian in the early traditions of the church fathers was never defined by his or her belief in a pre-tribulation rapture (as it is most assuredly becoming today). Many faiths include pre-tribulation rapture into their statements of faith, making it a clear "point of salvation" teaching.
I call those who believe in pre-tribulation rapture “the modern rapturists,” or “rapturists.” This is because the doctrine itself has evolved immensely and even if it were to have always been around, (debatable) certainly in these modern times the teaching has become a focal point of the modern christian thinking. No one more so than the evangelicals. It's their “pet doctrine.”
When you understand the true nature of the true "rapture" event and it's significance, it begins to dawn on you that it matters not if this event takes place before, in the middle of, or at the end of a proposed "seven year tribulation, which is yet another concept that cannot be definitively proved using scripture.
(When you see how "light" the scriptures are in support of a seven year tribulation
preceeded by a "vanishing away" of the saints, you have to wonder how they can even make it a "point of salvation." Something most deny doing, but as we have seen it is “double
speak.” For the first 1800 years of church history the annals were deathly silent on the subject of “pre-tribulation” and “seven year tribulation” and “rapture,” then suddenly and without warning these concepts have somehow moved from being an "interesting theory" to canon law and those who reject it are now labeled "heretic.")
When discussing “post tribulation, or mid tribulation, or pre-tribulation,” Mike Warnke, a once famous Christian "stand-up" comedian used to call himself a "pan tribulation,"
reasoning, that it would “all pan out the way it was meant to in the end."
As with the word rapture, you won't find the phrase "pre-tribulation" in the Bible. You also won't find the phrase “seven year tribulation.” Yet, evangelicals the world over, who's
phrases around like they are written in stone.
Historically, the absence of a "doctrinal title" from scripture has never stopped organized Christian religion from declaring a teaching as dogma and calling them who reject the
teaching "heretics." There are several other basic foundational doctrines that are not directly mentioned anywhere in the Bible but if you reject those teachings you are unanimously called an "heretic."
Under Catholicism and Orthodoxy it was accepted that "Divine Revelation" superseded the need for "scriptural proof." In other words, Catholics didn't need a scripture to support their teaching, if their Holy Father said it was so, then it is so.
It's harder to understand how these same teachings, not necessarily found in scripture, ended up as basic tenets among protestants, who claim to reject the authority of the Vicar and who claim that their “only” authority on doctrinal matters should be scripture. As you will see, with protestants it does not take an overwhelming body of scriptural evidence before they will place their stamp of approval on a teaching and declare all others "heretics."
Protestants and evangelicals only need a single verse in the Bible that "appears" to say or can be interpreted to say what they are teaching and that is good enough for them. They'll simply make a new translation and rewrite more of the scriptures to lean their way. I know this sounds terribly cynical but it is absolutely true. The case of the pre-tribulation rapture is one such modern example.
So, in religion, whether it be Catholicism, Orthodoxy, or Protestantism, evangelicalism, pentecostalism, or non-denominationalism, they all have one thing in common, namely, their hierarchies determine what is sound doctrine and what is not and then it is disseminated to the laymen as "word of God." No matter what Christian faith you espouse, this right and privilege of determining "sound doctrine" is reserved for the leadership.
A layman to them, a mere “cretin,” such as I, obviously has no authority to question
anything. It is doubtlessly certain that many will disregard this book completely. Even if I have 1000 scriptures that clearly defend my position, if they have one scripture that could defend their position and their Church leadership has signed off on it then I am the heretic, not them!
History Of The Teaching
The concept of the rapture was first expressed in concrete documents by the American Puritan father and son team, Increase and Cotton Mather. They held to the idea that believers would be caught up in the air, followed by judgments on the Earth, and then the millennium. (The thousand year reign of Christ on the Earth). This developed before the days of manned flight when Christians still believed Heaven was up there in the clouds
somewhere, so it is somewhere akin to ancient mariners who were afraid that if they sailed too far they would drop off the edge of the earth.
The word rapture was coined by Philip Doddridge and John Gill in their New Testament commentaries, with the idea that believers would be caught up prior to judgment on the Earth and Jesus' second coming.
In 1788 the Baptist Morgan Edwards first proposed the more popular "pre-tribulation rapture."
In 1811 a Jesuit priest, named Emmanuel Lacunza (under the pseudonym Juan Josafat Ben Ezra) wrote an apocalyptic work entitled La venida del Mesías en gloria y majestad (The Coming of the Christ in Glory and Majesty). It was translated into English by the Scottish minister Edward Irving.
Dr. Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1813-1875), a prominent English theologian and biblical scholar, wrote a pamphlet in 1866 tracing the concept of the rapture through the works of
John Darby (1827) back to Edward Irving.
Edward Irving (1792–1834) more fully developed the teaching but never called it "The rapture." Irving directed his attention to the study of prophecy and eventually accepted the one-man Antichrist idea of James Henthorn Todd, Samuel Roffey Maitland, Robert Bellarmine, and Francisco Ribera, yet he went a step further.
Irving began to teach the idea of a two-phase return of Christ, the first phase being a secret rapture prior to the rise of the Antichrist. According to Irving:
“There are three gatherings: – First, of the first-fruits of the harvest, the wise virgins who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth; next, the abundant harvest gathered afterwards by God; and lastly, the assembling of the wicked for punishment.”
Though he springboards off the earlier work of Lacunza, his take on it didn't agree entirely with Lacunza. Evidently Irving was not familiar with the teachings of Christ on the subject because his "order" of events is almost completely backwards to what Christ taught. Jesus placed the order as "first gather the tares in bundles then gather the wheat into the barn."
Matthew Henry, in his commentary on the whole Bible (Complete and unabridged in one volume. Peabody: Hendrickson) he used the term "rapture" in his commentary of 1
Thessalonians 4.
John Nelson Darby (who is considered the father of the modern rapture teaching) popularized the pre-tribulation rapture in 1827. This view was accepted among many other Plymouth Brethren movements in England. Darby and other prominent Brethren impacted American Christianity, especially with movements and teachings associated with Christian eschatology and fundamentalism, primarily through their writings.
Another major influence to the spreading of the teaching included the Bible Conference Movement, starting in 1878 with the Niagara Bible Conference. These conferences, which were initially inclusive of historicist and futurist premillennialism, led to an increasing acceptance of futurist premillennial views and the pre-tribulation rapture especially among Presbyterian, Baptist and Congregational members. Popular books also contributed to acceptance of the pre-tribulation rapture, including William Eugene Blackstone's book Jesus is Coming published in 1878 and which sold more than 1.3 million copies and the Scofield Reference Bible, published in 1909 and 1919 and revised in 1967. It was published again in 1861, but two important passages demonstrating a post-tribulation view were removed. The two removed segments were:
"This is the fiery trial which is to try us. - It will be for the purging and purifying of the real members of the body of Jesus"
and
"The trial of the Church is from Antichrist. It is by being filled with the Spirit that we shall be kept".
Opponents of the pre-tribulation rapture have sometimes attributed the rise of the doctrine to a 15-year old mentally ill Scottish-Irish girl named Margaret McDonald (a follower of
Edward Irving), who in 1830 had a vision of the end times which describes a post-tribulation view of the rapture that was first published in 1840. This story is largely apocryphal because the stirrings of the teaching were already well underway beforehand.
In 1957, John Walvoord, a theologian at Dallas Theological Seminary, authored a book, The rapture Question, supporting the pre-tribulation rapture; this book eventually sold over 65,000 copies.
rapture, Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology, which sold 215,000 copies. The Rapture Explosion
During the 1970s, belief in the pre-tribulation rapture literally exploded because of media. (Such as the case of the movie “A Thief In The Night.”)
Also contributing to the explosion were the books of Hal Lindsey. Such as, "The Late Great Planet Earth," which sold between 15 million and 35 million copies. Lindsey proclaimed that the rapture was imminent, based on world conditions at the time and he wrongfully
identified the seven-headed beast with ten horns, cited in the Book of Revelation, as the European Economic Community, a forebear of the European Union, which between 1981 and 1986 had ten member states; it now has 27 member states.
Hal is fortunate that he didn't make these false predictions in the times of the Old Testament. He most certainly would have been stoned by now as a false prophet. Instead, he's venerated to this day and is still teaching and selling books.
In 1995, the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture was further popularized by Tim
LaHaye's Left Behind series of books, which sold tens of millions of copies and were made into several blockbuster movies.
3: THE GREAT ESCAPE
The main theme of "the rapture" and especially "pre-tribulation rapture" is the concept that the Christians are going to escape all the "bad stuff" that will come upon the world during "the tribulation." It is a "peace and safety" promise of being whisked away out of the world. It is the belief that a man (antichrist) will reign for exactly seven years on the earth., at which time it will literally be hell on earth, the days in which God pours out his wrath upon mankind. Those who preach this do so because they reason that since Christians are "not appointed to wrath," (1 Thessalonians 5: 9) the Church cannot be on the earth for these days.
No wonder this is such an explosively popular teaching!
Two things, however. First, wrath (judgment) and tribulation cannot be the same thing. Tribulation means “trial” and “wrath” is the judgment, the verdict, the sentence. It would be like you going to court, accused of a crime, the judge throws down his gavel and says “guilty” at the arraignment then pronounces sentence. You would ask, “what happened to the trial?” To which the judge would say “that was the trial.” Clearly tribulation and wrath are not the same event.
Secondly, it was always the false prophets who preached "peace and safety," with a driving motivation to profit, to make money by their “prosperity” message. Without exception before any great judgment of God upon His people there preceded false prophets who inevitably by their preaching served only to keep the people of God from repenting of their wickedness by giving them false promises of security.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Micah 3: 9-12
"9 Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right;
10 who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness. 11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us."
12 Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets."
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jeremiah 6: 13- 15
"13 For from the least of them even to the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even to the priest every one deals falsely.
"14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
"15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, says the LORD."
Ezekiel 22: 25-28
"25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies to them, saying, 'thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD has not spoken."
There are many different “factions” among the rapturists and they employ numerous terminologies, such as "millenialism," "amillenialism," "post millenialism," "dispensationalism," "cessationism," "pre-tribulation," "mid-tribulation," "post tribulation," and more “isms,” than you can count. We will not concern ourselves with all of these terms. They're background noise, and non-issues once you understand the true nature of the rapture!
Once you grasp the "depth and the breadth and the height" of what God has in store for the faithful (Ephesians 3: 18) none of these eschatological idioms have any real importance. That's the beauty of the scriptural approach to a subject, we can cut through the smoke and mirrors.
Many accept the “escapism” of the modern rapture teachings as a “given.” Teaching this sort of escapism has a slippery slope, however. It can end up becoming, not just an escape from bad times but a complete escape from the calling to "walk even as he walked." (1 John 2: 6) The entire teaching is predicated on the idea that the “transformation” and the “putting on of immortal bodies” will not happen until Christ returns and changes our Original Sin cursed bodies. They await God to change their bodies first, before they walk in "Christlike perfection.” Should this changing occur today, they have not truly “readied” themselves, believing there is nothing they can in this present “cursed flesh.”
They do not understand that Christ is coming for a Bride who is already "without spot or blemish" when he comes. We, the Bride, make ourselves ready by becoming "without spot or blemish." They have put the proverbial "cart before the horse" and teach that Christ's coming will make us without spot or blemish when it is the other way around. It is our becoming "without spot or blemish" that precipitates, hastens and triggers the second coming!
It simply does not matter if there is a seven year tribulation before or after this glorious “changing” of the believers. It doesn't matter if the “changing” occurs in the middle of some great tribulation. All that matters to us is our pressing forward to the higher calling in Christ Jesus and our being “conformed to the image of the Son of God.” (Romans 8: 29).
4: THE DAY OF SALVATION
Whenever the rapture is discussed it's spoken of as an "instantaneous event," or, as it says in scripture, it happens "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." Yet when we examine the governing texts we begin to see the "catching away" is a culmination of a work that began in us the moment we believed! It is the "finishing of the work of faith in us." A work which began in us upon conversion. The final product happens at the "shout" when the Lord returns but we are a "work in progress!"
The “putting on of incorruption” that raputurists look for to take place in the "rapture" should have already begun in them! It begins when we leave behind this world, forsake our own lives and take up our crosses. It culminates in the day that the saints, the believers, enter the Kingdom (physically)!
It's the day of salvation (he that endures to the end shall be saved). It's the day after which this "corruptible puts on incorruption" and finishes with "this mortal puts on immortality." (1 Corinthians 15: 53). At that time, the Bride will be found “without spot or wrinkle” and we will have put on “the image of the Son of God.” No sinner can be raptured.
Galatians 5: 19-21
“19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies,
21 Envying, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Revelation 21:8
“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whore mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Revelation 21: 27
“And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defiles, neither whatsoever works abomination, or crafts a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Matthew 7:21-23
“21 Not every one that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in Heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? And in your name we have cast out devils and in your name done many wonderful works?
from me, you that work iniquity.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Matthew 19:16-18
“16 And, behold, one came and said to him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he responded with a question of his own: 'Why do you call me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if you will enter into life, keep the commandments.”
18 The man asked, “Which (commandments)? “Jesus said, you shall do no murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness,
19 Honor your father and your mother: and, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ephesians 5:3- 6
“3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as is becoming of saints;
4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but you should rather be grateful.
5 For this you know, that no whore monger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things comes the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 Cor. 6:9
“Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?”
There are far far more scriptures I could quote to support the truth that sinners do not enter the Kingdom!
Keep in mind that the rapture is the point at which we physically enter the Kingdom! The scripture says that at the second coming of Christ the "dead in Christ" are raised and then we who are still alive will be "caught up" to meet him in the air and “so shall we ever be with the Lord.” This is describing the final day, when our salvation is physically realized.
If there is sin in you on that day, you shall "in no wise enter." Yet, I can hear some of you now asking:
"...Doesn't it say that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God?" (Romans 2: 23) and
"...Doesn't it say that 'if any man say I have no sin he is a liar and the truth is not in him?" (John 1:8)
Yes, it does say that every person has sinned and that if someone claims to have never sinned they are a liar. That is beside the point.
Many think the scriptures say you can never stop sinning and they are in error! It says all "have" sinned, not "all must sin.." It says that if any man says "I have never sinned," (John 1:10) that man is a liar, Scripture never says that no one can ever reach a point where they say, "I don't sin anymore." You won't find that in scripture. In fact, John stated in the same place,
"I write these things to you so that you SIN NOT!" (John 2:1) Some might say:
"Well, yes, but it says there's no condemnation for them that be in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)
That also is true, but guess what, if you are implying that those who "are in Christ Jesus," also continue to sin you simply don't know what it means to be "in" Christ Jesus.
1 John 3:6
"Whosoever abides (lives) in him does not sin.”
No wonder there's no condemnation for them that are "in" Christ, them that are in Christ don't sin. There's no sin in them for which to condemn them! To abide in Christ means that you live in him and if you live in him there is no sin in you for in him “is no sin!”
Someone might throw up their hands at this point and say: "Well then no one can be raptured if that were true."
They would only react this way if their man made doctrines have deceived them and are keeping them from the Christlike perfection promised to all believers if they would but have the faith!
Many teach that you can "never stop sinning in this life." If the rapture comes in their lifetime, they will miss it, for anyone sinning at that moment will be rejected and will not enter the Kingdom.
Matthew 13:
“40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it
be in the end of this world.
41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out
of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and
gnashing of teeth.
43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Clearly, in the “rapture,” no sinner can enter the Kingdom! If they can't overcome sin in this lifetime, then, should the Lord come in their lifetimes they can't be raptured. It shall come upon them as they have spoken with their mouths!
Mark 11: 23
“23 For truly I say to you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain, 'be you removed, and be cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass; he shall have whatever he says.”
Christians who say they can't stop sinning are a walking contradiction. They claim to believe they can have faith to move mountains but they can't have faith to stop sinning? This
is completely illogical. If you tell them that he who truly believes the words of Christ can “overcome sin” in this life, they will call you a liar,
Yet, logic itself dictates that if you love as Christ demonstrated and love as he commanded you, then you won't sin. There is no sin in love, according to Christ. This is why Paul told the Corinthians:
"Though I have all manner of faith that I can move mountains but have not love, I am nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:2).
So much for the misguided teaching that “faith alone” saves you. Paul states that you could have all the faith in the world but if you don't walk in love “you are nothing.”
He who says he cannot stop sinning is saying he cannot stop hating his brother, for hate is exactly what sin is and of course he who loves God does not sin against God either. How is anyone who can't stop “hating” on people going to be "raptured" into the Kingdom of Heaven?
Seeing that no sinner can enter or inherit the Kingdom of Heaven according to the scriptures, those who preach you can't stop sinning are actually preaching that no one is going to be raptured. Not in this life.
Whatever you say with your mouth, according to our Lord, that is what shall come to pass for you!
2 Peter 3:
“12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the
heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a
new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent
that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” The rapture is nothing less than the finishing of "the day of Salvation." It begins upon conversion to Christ and then culminates in the day that our physical bodies enter the kingdom of Heaven and become immortal. We know this of a certainty because of 1 Corinthians Chapter 15.
1 Corinthians 15: 51-58
“51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be you steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
The popular teachers teach that we can't be sinless until after the change. They teach we are waiting for the return of Christ, who will give us new bodies that do not require us to “overcome” sin. Bodies that are impervious to sin.
Please take notice of the very important order of events in the above text.
The trumpet shall sound (at the second coming of Christ), the dead in Christ shall be raised "incorruptible," and we shall be changed (to immortal beings). The order is not “we are changed” then we “put on incorruption.”
It's crucial to understand that the dead in Christ rise first. The dead in Christ at this point may have died never having attained to incorruption. Those who have died without attaining incorruption don't have to worry because they “endured to the end” and so all the dead are raised "incorruptible."
Yet, we who are alive at the time don't have to “die” to put on incorruption and we don't have to “shed this current body” in order to do so. If we had to shed these bodies to put on incorruption, then why are the dead raised with their former bodies?
Paul says that we, who are alive must first put on “incorruption” and then, at the sounding of the trumpet, after the dead are raised, our bodies are changed and we “put on immortality.”
The text clearly reads:
"When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption (speaking of himself) and this mortal shall then have put on immortality (because the corruptible are now incorruptible) then shall be brought to pass the saying death is swallowed up in victory.”
When we believe and are converted we enter the phase of salvation known as “putting on incorruption.” We work this our entire lives, striving to “put on Christ.” (The Incorruptible).
Romans 13: 4
“But put you on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof. “
In 1 Corinthians 15: 55 we read that once the corruptible have put on incorruption the sting of death is removed! What is the sting of death? Sin is the sting of death according to 1 Corinthians 15: 56. The wages of sin is death.
Romans 6:
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Once we corruptible beings overcome sin and “put on incorruption,” sin is no longer present with us. Which is why, at the last trumpet, only they that have “put on incorruption” shall “put on immortality.” The wages of sin is death. You can't put on “immorality” if you are in sin (corruption). All who sin shall die (for the wages of sin is death) and all who have no sin (incorruption) shall live! Sin brings death. The only way to be immortal is to become
"incorruptible" first. To have no more sin!
We do know, therefore, that the believers reach a point of “incorruptibility” in their walk with the Lord and we know we don't have to “sleep” (die) to achieve this. That is why he concludes the chapter in verse 58 by exhorting us to "always abound" in the "work" of the Lord then states, for you know that your "labor is not in vain in the Lord." What labor? Your labor of love. Your labor to set aside the sin that once so easily besets you.
Hebrews 12: 1
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so
easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
In 1 Corinthians, and indeed in most of Paul's writings, Paul promises that there comes a day when we corruptible human beings put off the corruption of sin, at which point we shall be entitled to immortality and shall be granted such either after death (when we are raised) or at the return of Christ.
Salvation occurs in two phases. First, we are converted and begin to “put on Christ” (incorruption, sinlessness) then, he that endures to the end is granted immortality (he that endures to the end shall be saved).
5: SALVATION IS “RESURRECTION”
The discussion of the “mystery” in 1 Corinthians 15 is precluded with the following statements:
1 Corinthians 15: 47-50
47 The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from Heaven.
48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.
People get confused here when they read verse 50. They think it is saying that we cannot enter into the Kingdom in our current flesh and blood bodies! That is because they know 1 Corinthians 15 is actually about the resurrection and answers the question: “with what body” are we resurrected?
1 Corinthians 15:
“35 But some man will ask, 'how are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
36 Thou fool, that which one sows is not quickened, except it die:”
Notice the stark contradiction here. In verse 36 it says you cannot be “resurrected” unless you die first. This is logical. If you don't die, you need no resurrection. The contradiction occurs, however, when in verse 51 of the same chapter he says “we shall not all sleep (die) but we shall all be changed (resurrected).
1 Corinthians 15: 51
“Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, “
In one place he appears to say that we must die first, then we are raised with “different bodies” or “different flesh” and in another place he states that we don't have to die and that those who are “alive and remain” at the resurrection shall keep their former bodies but those bodies will be “changed.”
Many have read 1 Corinthians in such a way as to say that when we are raised from the dead (or changed) we will be given new “spiritual” bodies. They interpret the statement “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom God” to mean that we cannot enter Heaven in this current flesh.
There is a major problem with this interpretation, however. Christ, after the resurrection, had the same flesh he had in life.
Luke 24:
“37 But they were terrified and afraid, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
38 And he asked them, 'why are you troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?