Will There Be A Rapture?

I have ruminated for years over this topic. There is no reason why there should be a rapture of the Christian Church. Up until today the body of every Christian who has lived and died lies waiting for the return of Jesus Christ in the grave.

Up until today, Christians around the world have been persecuted and have died for their faith in Jesus Christ. Why should it be any different for us or the generation living before the tribulation time? I really have no answer as to why God will rapture the Church but there is a valid argument for why it will happen.

II Thessalonians 2: 3-7 “No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed.”

Now, most Dispensationalist Christians believe the one who restrains mentioned in the scripture above is the Holy Spirit. We also know that Acts 2:38 says “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” So, if all Christians have the Holy Spirit indwelling them. What happens to those Christians if the Holy Spirit is removed.

Is it likely that the Christians will remain behind as men without the Holy Spirit? No, I believe that that is most unlikely. Is it likely that this happens immediately before the Second Coming. No, because the scripture says that the Man of Lawlessness is not revealed until the Restrainer is removed and so this is the beginning of the Tribulation Time.

So, does this mean that the Holy Spirit indwells the Christians and that if He is removed so is the Church. I believe that to be the most likely solution to understanding about the coming Rapture. It fits in elegantly with the description of the role of Israel in the Book of Revelation.

Revelation 7: 1-8 “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back its four winds so that no wind would blow on land or sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, with the seal of the living God. And he called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have sealed the foreheads of the servants of our God. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel: From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, and from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.”

Just before the Tribulation begins God selects 12.000 people from the Twelve Tribes of Israel. 12,000 x 12,000 or, 144,000 selected from each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel to carry the gospel throughout the Earth in the Tribulation Time. The next scripture in Chapter Seven describes the great multitude who were saved as a result of the ministry of the Two Witnesses and the 144,000 sealed of God taking the gospel to the nations.

The obvious question here is why them and why not the Church? So, where is the Church in the Tribulation Time? Simply put, they have been Raptured and are in Heaven with Christ Jesus. They have been spared the time of testing.

Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

By Grace You Have Been Saved Through Faith

I have often heard the statement above preached in Church and taught in bible study but I have never heard it put in a simple way that I could understand. I decided with this article to endeavor to at least define what Grace is and who it is that applies that Grace. Also I want to state what I believe the outcome of that Grace is as an Arminian Christian.

Grace

Marion Webster defines Grace as “Unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification.” As a Classical Arminian I would say that Grace involves the action of the Holy Spirit as He applies the gospel of Jesus Christ to our hearts. In doing this we come under conviction of sin and are led to make a decision, in the affirmative, to believe on the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross or, in the negative, to reject the work of Jesus on the cross. I believe a person can hear the gospel and be convicted a number of times before either accepting the gospel or dying in their sins. I have seen this process in action and I believe it is how Grace is applied by the Holy Spirit when He convicts the lost of their sins.

Faith

Marion Webster defines faith in Jesus as “Belief and trust in and loyalty to God.” Ephesians 2:8-9 speaks about Grace and Faith like this “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” In Grace then you are given the unmerited assistance from God in the person of the Holy Spirit. So that you receive Faith from God as gift to enable you to believe on Christ Jesus and that He bore your sins upon the Cross.

You see, 1 Corinthians 2:14 states that “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” NKJ So when we are lost in our sins and have not through the Grace of God and conviction of the Holy Spirit acknowledged our sins. As natural men we cannot discern the things of God and we cannot respond to the gospel in that lost state. Only by the Grace of God are we able through the conviction of the Holy Spirit to come to Faith in Jesus Christ. Only then, can we receive the testimony of the gospel and believe on the redemptive work of Christ Jesus on the Cross. Only then, can we arrive at the destination of Salvation in His name. Through Grace alone in Faith alone by Christ Alone.

Unlimited Atonement

As an Arminian I am a proponent of something called Unlimited Atonement. This means that to me there is no limit on the amount of Grace that God has for humanity and as many as will, may be elected to Salvation in Jesus Christ. This belief puts me at odds with Calvinists, many Adventists, who believe in Limited Atonement where only those who have been elected from the foundation of the World will be atoned for.

So, I believe in a type of grace that enables all upon hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ to make a decision in Faith to believe on Jesus, or in unbelief to reject His work on the Cross. Arminians call this Prevenient Grace and believe that it is the Grace shown to the lost by the Holy Spirit when they hear the gospel preached. Upon believing the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts and reveals the person of Christ Jesus (God), in our lives. This is Grace as believers understand it in their lives.

Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” KJV

How are we elected?

The reason that I am at some length to discuss how we become convicted of our sins and how by Grace we are Saved through Faith. Is because it may seem very different to the average person. I mean for the Christian who has not read a lot of the bible it may seem that they heard the gospel preached, felt that they were being spoken to in their heart, came under conviction, and decided to believe on Jesus Christ. They would not agree that God enabled them to be convicted of sin and to make the decision through Grace because it did not seem to happen that way..

For the agnostic who has been preached to on many occasions and who has rejected the gospel every time. They would not believe that God either did not elect them to salvation or through grace enabled them to make the decision rejecting Christ Jesus. As a simple human being living out a life here on Earth it seems that we are completely in control of our own minds. So, the decisions that we make are our own and don’t require input from God. Yet the bible indicates that we are actually assisted by God to either accept or reject the gospel and indicates that the elect are chosen from the foundation of the Earth.

Ephesians 1:4 “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love”

Conclusion

As an Arminian Christian, I do quite love the Five Solas of the Reformation: sola scriptura (Scripture alone), solus Christus (Christ alone), sola fide (faith alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone).  Thus, we are saved by Christ alone, through Grace alone, by Faith alone, and all glory to God in the Highest. Classical Arminianism is a reformed movement by the way.

The Bible is our lone source of guidance and in it we find that man’s depravity (Romans 5:12), is such that we can only be saved by God’s Grace through Faith which is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9). There is no work that we can offer God on our own behalf to save our save out souls, so God saves us. This is how we are elected to the Bride of Christ, the Church.

1 John 5: 11-12 “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” NAS

Footnote from the Author

This article has really convicted me about what I believe about the election of sinners to Salvation? Calvinism largely teaches that the sinner is predestined from the foundation of the World and that this process involves God doing it all. The implication of this belief is that if God predestines the righteous then He also predestines the wicked to damnation. What this says of the nature of God or even His holiness is not something that I would willingly contemplate.God does not sin, at all or, ever. Neither does he condone sin in the wicked. So I am not a Calvinist.

Looking at Arminianism there are three potential groups. Classical Arminians of the first group believe that the gospel is used by the Holy Spirit as an instrument to draw sinners to Himself and to teach them and convict them of sin and their need for salvation. They believe that the sinner has a choice and is not forced to believe therefore is not compulsorily drawn to Christ Jesus.The second group believe in a weaker and stronger grace that works on the sinner to bring them to Christ. The weaker grace reaches all men and the stronger only those who are drawn to Christ Jesus and saved.The third position is the Wesleyan Arminian position which states that all men are drawn to Christ Jesus (John 12:32) and all are convicted of their sins by the Holy Spirit (John 16:8). They believe that God gives universal prevenient grace to all men. 

So what do I believe? I believe that people hear the gospel and either believe on Jesus Christ to eternal life, or disbelieve and stay in their sins. Simple as that! Does the bible support this. In John 66 it says "As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore." This was because of Christ was talking about people having to eat His flesh and drink His blood." My query about this is that if His disciples were drawn to Him and followed Him. How could they walk away if they were predestined to be His? My opinion is that one way or another God allows us to make up our minds for ourselves.

I have always believed that the bible speaks strongly of our need as Christians for the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to be justified and sanctified and I have always believed that God's grace comes to us from the Holy Spirit. I also believe that the bible says on one part that we can do nothing without God's input into our election but the bible also says strongly that God intends the Gospel of Grace to be available to all mankind. Thus every man and woman must choose or reject the Savior, Jesus Christ. This I believe is a God given directive. You have a choice to make. Salvation or the Second death. It's up to you!

Oh and what type of believer am I? Not a Calvinist or an Arminian. I'm a Christian. Always have been and always will be.

Reference:

What is Prevenient Grace https://www.gotquestions.org/prevenient-grace.html 10/03/24