I'll deal with several related posts together -
Jesus in John 5 speaks of spiritual resurrection at conversion & a final bodily resurrection for judgment - life or damnation.
The first resurrection is for all & only believers - it is seen by John (Rev. 20) as a spiritual resurrection of souls to reign with Christ in heaven. Jesus describes as conversion, when dead sinners hear his voice & live, John 5:24-25, taking place as he spoke - and now is. Paul confirms this truth in Eph. 2. Many other Scriptures speak of salvation being eternal life, born again, & baptism figures that truth. Rom. 6:1 makes that point very strongly, as does Col 3:
12 buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
The only people not suffering the second death are the souls who have enjoyed the first resurrection, aka salvation, aka new life by faith in Christ. These have their names in the book of life. Rev. 20:15. John continues with a vision of the NH&NE, the new, heavenly Jerusalem of which we are citizens. (Gal. 4, Heb. 12:18-28 .)
This seems to be the generally used proof-text for the rapture, but it is of all believers, the souls rising first, immediately before the living are caught up together with them. It takes place at the return/coming of the LORD Jesus for resurrection & judgment on the same occasion as Jesus final coming for sudden destruction of the wicked.
Note that 1 Thes. 4 is followed by ch. 5 which begins -
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.Paul repeats the "watch & pray etc" admonition to believers that concludes Jesus Olivet prophecy.
No! The time period between the first & second resurrections is the whole Gospel age, so far 1,900 years for first century believers & one day for those converted before Jesus final coming. (2 Peter 3) A spiritual resurrection for believers throughout the Gospel age, & a general resurrection when Jesus comes for resurrection & judgment, to establish the NH&NE.
Note what Jesus said -
John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
Rapture Top Dogs Admit no Proof Exists
Discussion in 'Other Christian Denominations' started by 1689Dave, Jul 29, 2018.
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Covenanter Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
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The pre-tribulation rapture of the church is the teaching of scripture when rightly divided. It needs to be approached as the Jews should have approached the study of the first coming of Christ. There were 2 sets of prophecies which did not seem to be compatible but even contradictory (Jn.12:34, Mt.11:3, Ac.1:6) concerning Christ suffering and dying for sins but destroying the wicked out of the land and reigning as King over all the earth. You must understand the mystery of the body of Christ and the nation of Israel to correctly understand prophecy.
I would invite you read the scriptures more closely. There are too many to post here but I have done that here:
conceal a thing
Also answer common objections to a pretrib rapture here:
conceal a thing: rapture -
Second one is just for thelost, as its the GWT one... -
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Covenanter Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
Read my post above - #61 - and read the Scripture I refer you to. If you disagree, refer to Scripture, not just tweet. -
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“And even though you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions.” (Colossians 2:13)
“even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved!—and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,” (Ephesians 2:5–6) -
You should also see a distinction between the body of Christ, his church dwelling in his city New Jerusalem and Israel his people dwelling in the land of promise. There are other gaps in scripture, notably between the 1st and 2nd comings of Christ which is the church age:
conceal a thing -
Covenanter Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
It will take you more than 10 minutes. -
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Dave,
I gave 11 examples, notably between the 1st and 2nd comings of Christ which cannot be gainsayed. Perhaps you should look the passages up for yourself:
conceal a thing -
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Dave,
Where in 10 of those examples (you reject 1) do you see it specified that there is a gap? If you were a first century Jew reading about the coming of the Messiah you would accuse the New Testament writers of working for the devil by saying there will be a 2nd coming of the Messiah thus introducing a gap. The disciples didn't even understand this in Acts 1:6 and Jesus said the Spirit would teach them of things they could not bear at that time (Jn.16:12). But we should know by now (Heb.5:12-14) -
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Dave,
You have insinuated I am working for the devil without demonstrating it from the scriptures I posted. I will leave you to do the subsequent study to reinforce this. -
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