GNITN Lesson 185

Guess Who’s Going In The Rapture

A Confusing Question

To start with, the doctrine of the Rapture is somehow confusing enough without people adding requirements to it that aren’t in the Bible. Mind you, this happens with a lot of doctrines in Scripture, at the top of the list is who’s going to Heaven when they die after they’re saved. There are the “once saved, only saved” crowd, and there are those who believe you can lose your salvation at the drop of a hat. I’m certainly not tackling that debate now, but you get the point. The doctrine of the Rapture and the doctrine of Salvation should be simple enough even a child can understand them, but folks just can’t keep them that way. I, on the other hand, will do my level best to keep the Rapture straightforward for us now. But rest assured, someone will be kind enough to set me straight when I do this now. I think it’s human nature to want to debate, at least for some, however I think Occam’s Razor should be our guide on this one which is to go with the simplest solution. Or use the kiss rule, but in our case it is “keep it simple, saints.”

A Big Presumption

Before we dive into this, I am presuming that everyone believes in the Rapture. It would be silly to not start with that premise. If you don’t for whatever reason, I’m not going to try and convince you of it with this little diatribe. I’ve spent weeks on providing biblical proofs for the reality of Jesus coming for His Bride in the air and that discussion won’t be happening here. Again, I’m up for a good intellectually honest debate. Anyone that knows me will tell you that. But there is something about the great snatch that sparks controversy with some, to the point that they have the need to spend endless hours and thousands of words to opine on the error of our ways if we support it. So, for clarity and brevity, if you don’t accept as true that God hasn’t appointed us to wrath and we somehow all need to be persecuted to be strong Christians, well, get your own social media platform, and knock yourself out. Jump in, the water’s still warm. And we’re walking…

What Are The Requirements To Be Raptured

That is the question, isn’t it? Only the qualified get to go, and if you haven’t read the directions to playing the proverbial game, well, you may end up not being accepted at all. Trust me when I tell you, I’ve heard quite a few knowledgeable and well-meaning ministers and teachers who taught me things I later learned to be incorrect on the Rapture over the years. I don’t have ill will for them, however doing a little more digging and then asking the right questions helped me sift through by belief system and allowed me to find the right answers. The good news about the Rapture is, as I will define more, is that grace is a powerful thing. We won’t fully know how much grace was given to us this side of Heaven, whether it was a car that ran out of gas just before hitting us, or a delay in our schedule that kept us away from being somewhere where danger lurked. And I could talk a lot longer about that theme.

A Distracted Church

One theory about who goes in the Rapture is that those who aren’t looking for His appearing will not meet Him in the air. This is based on these verses:

In the future there is reserved for me the [victor’s] crown of righteousness [for being right with God and doing right], which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that [great] day—and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved and longed for and welcomed His appearing. (2 Tim 4:8, AMP)

Awaiting and looking for the [fulfillment, the realization of our] blessed hope, even the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One … (Titus 2:13, AMPC)

And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. (1 John 1:28, NKJV)

Based on these verses and the general principle of being ready or prepared found in the Parable of the 10 virgins found in Matthew 25, many see that the opposite is grounds for not being Raptured. Somehow, if one stops looking for the blessed hope and looks to other things, worldly things they are like the 5 foolish virgins that didn’t have enough oil in their lamps and will miss the Bridegroom when He comes. While I certainly agree that promoting living a holy life is a noble thing, the theory that even a scintilla of not looking will disqualify one from being raptured is not a correct interpretation of things. As much as it may gall you to see carnal Christians go to Heaven when you live as pure of a life as you can, both of you go not because of good works, but because of grace.

Being In Christ Is The Key

I like how this quote from compellingtruth.org explains this point:

The rapture will occur when Jesus bodily returns to earth and those who believe in Him as God's Son and have put their faith in Him as Savior will rise to meet Him. The only way to be ready for the rapture is to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior before it happens.

Paul wrote these words to the church in Thessalonica; to believers: "For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:15–18). This is a description of the rapture. If you are "in Christ," you are ready for the rapture.

Those who are not in Christ, who have not accepted Jesus as their eternal Savior, will not be raptured. In fact, the day of the Lord, which follows the rapture, "… will come like a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2). Yet to believers, Paul said, "But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief" (1 Thessalonians 5:4).

What About Those Foolish Virgins?

This parable has been the source of a lot of confusion on being rapture ready. Doing other things and not having enough oil in their lamps kept them from meeting the bridegroom when he came for his bride. Because oil is a type of Holy Spirit, I have even heard that not being baptized in the Holy Spirit is grounds for not going up in the Rapture. Some teach that a partial rapture based on the previous verses and this parable is supported. Again, works, not grace is needed. How do we know that this thinking is not true? Going back to the parable we see this verse which I hope will help clear things up:

“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ (Matt 25:11-12, NKJV)

The short answer is they weren’t in Christ or believers at all. They were in fact unbelievers. All believers goes in the Rapture, carnal or not.

A Dirty Church

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Eph 5:27, KJV)

Adding to this is what we read in Revelation 7:14 about having white robes to wear, many hold to the thinking that Jesus is only rapturing a holy church, whose robes are without spot or wrinkles, washed in the blood of the lamb as the old hymn goes. Again, I agree that we, as Christians should live our lives to the highest of standards, but none of us attain perfection this side of Heaven. None. It’s that grace thing again that makes us holy enough to merit eternal life in the presence of Jesus. Even now, as we live in a world that is dirty with sin and filled with corruption we are allowed to enter the thrown of grace with filthy shoes. But we aren’t supposed to leave like we came because it is a throne of grace. We all are dirty at times and have moments of weakness when we sin in even some small way. To live like that single flash of failing will keep us from leaving in the Rapture is a cruel teaching even though it sounds really good when it's preached.

What Are The Takeaways In All Of This?

While I still maintain the stance that we should all strive to be focused like a laser on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, and while I still encourage all of us to live purely in an impure world, not all of us will constantly hit those standards all the time. And some of us may not be living in a pristine manner when Jesus parts the skies and takes His bride with Him to Heaven, but we will all be changed in the twinkling of an eye. All. No exceptions. Like I’ve said, it will disappoint us to see believers who soil their robes with worldly living and worldly passions. I’m sure those living like that will have tears over it when they stand before the throne, but even those tears will be wiped away. Their rewards will suffer, but their salvation will not. And after the dead in Christ rise when the Rapture occurs, they will also rise to meet Him in the air. I pray we all live worthy of our calling and that we will speak the truth in love to those who are not. Even so, come Lord Jesus, come!