Rapture
Question: Dear Greg,
On a recent radio program you seemed to imply that belief in what many Christians call “The Rapture” is erroneous. If I understood you correctly, then how do you explain 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, which, in part, states that “we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord”?
Pat
Answer: Dear Pat,
The Rapture teaching of pre-millennial dispensationalism doesn’t teach what the passage you quote teaches. The passage simply says that those who are alive in Christ, along with those who are dead in Christ, will be caught up in the air to meet Jesus when he returns. That’s it.
The Rapture teaching of pre-millennial dispensationalism teaches, in effect, that there will be two Second Comings of Jesus. The one you quoted is cited as “proof” of the first Second Coming, only for those who will be whisked away to heavenly safety for seven years followed the general second Second Coming. My Bible says nothing about two Second Comings of Jesus, so upon whose authority are we to accept that there will be a Rapture of all Christians to physically save and spare them from the Great Tribulation?
2. Question:
What is the "rapture"? Do you think it will happen before, during or after the Great Tribulation?
Daniel
Answer:
The rapture, as it is popularly taught, is the teaching that the church will be taken up in the air to meet Christ. Some believe that the rapture will take place before He comes, to protect God's elect from the great tribulation. Other believe that the rapture will take place as He returns, and is simply the change of those who are alive in Christ from mortality to immortality.
I do not see the word "rapture" in the Bible. I am aware of a number of passages which are used to teach a "pre-trib" rapture, to protect the saints from the great tribulation, but I see them as proof texting, and not conclusive at all. Comforting perhaps, something that Christians want to believe, but lacking clear and conclusive biblical support.
The only kind of rapture I believe in is the rapture I described above -- which is the change from mortality to immortality experienced by those alive in Christ, who will rise in the air to meet Him as He comes. 1 Cor. 15 is clear about this, but as clear as it is, many questions remain.
In short, the way the word rapture is used in popular Christianity -- I disagree with that for the Bible does not give specific and definitive proof. However, this is a point that we as Christians need not divide over, for we trust God to do with as He will in his providence and within His plan. He loves us and will never forsake us. We are in His hands, and He will takecare of us -- however all of the details may work out.
In Christ,
Greg Albrecht
