Life’s a lot easier if you plow around the stumps.
But sometimes you gotta get ’em out of the way or nothing else fits together. So, I think it’s time to expose a distortion of Scripture that’s been taught in many of our congregations for well over a century.
The term “rapture” was inserted into Biblical doctrine during the 19th Century to help validate a subversive form of Christian theology known as Dispensationalism. The concept is built around a passage in 1Th. 4:17:
“…we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air…” [my emphasis] [ἁρπάζω: (har-pâ-zō) take by force, take away, carry off, catch up]
This event, which the apostle Paul recorded to bring hope and comfort to the saints in Thessalonica, describes the second arrival of Jesus Christ and the future resurrection of the righteous dead He often spoke about. It is, however, unfortunate that most traditional interpretations of this passage are wholly inconsistent with what the text of the Bible actually says–-and on more than one level.
[Read why at: Dead or Alive?…Safe in Christ!]
But perhaps the most important lie to refute about “the rapture” is that Jesus Christ’s disciples will not have to endure the tribulation—something that He assured them they would indeed need to prepare themselves for! [see: Matt. 24:4-51]
Why such a big deal?
That it contradicts the Written Word of God should be enough. Who’s to say why John Darby and his colleagues picked up on this preposterous suggestion that the Lord’s grace is cheap and ran so successfully with it over a hundred years ago? Nevertheless, the costs associated with the good news that the Man Jesus Christ and His disciples gave up their lives for have been continually diluted over the centuries.
[How costly is God’s grace? see: High Rollers in His Grace]
If I choose to believe that, as a disciple of Christ, I have nothing to do but wait for the day Jesus is gonna zap me up onto a cloud, I really don’t know His character nor am I willing to read what the Bible actually says for myself.
Human free will is the facilitator of truth.
Make it work for you!
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Last Updated: April 2, 2024 by cjournalme
Taming the Rapture Frenzy
Life’s a lot easier if you plow around the stumps.
But sometimes you gotta get ’em out of the way or nothing else fits together. So, I think it’s time to expose a distortion of Scripture that’s been taught in many of our congregations for well over a century.
The term “rapture” was inserted into Biblical doctrine during the 19th Century to help validate a subversive form of Christian theology known as Dispensationalism. The concept is built around a passage in 1Th. 4:17:
“…we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air…” [my emphasis] [ἁρπάζω: (har-pâ-zō) take by force, take away, carry off, catch up]
This event, which the apostle Paul recorded to bring hope and comfort to the saints in Thessalonica, describes the second arrival of Jesus Christ and the future resurrection of the righteous dead He often spoke about. It is, however, unfortunate that most traditional interpretations of this passage are wholly inconsistent with what the text of the Bible actually says–-and on more than one level.
[Read why at: Dead or Alive?…Safe in Christ!]
But perhaps the most important lie to refute about “the rapture” is that Jesus Christ’s disciples will not have to endure the tribulation—something that He assured them they would indeed need to prepare themselves for! [see: Matt. 24:4-51]
Why such a big deal?
That it contradicts the Written Word of God should be enough. Who’s to say why John Darby and his colleagues picked up on this preposterous suggestion that the Lord’s grace is cheap and ran so successfully with it over a hundred years ago? Nevertheless, the costs associated with the good news that the Man Jesus Christ and His disciples gave up their lives for have been continually diluted over the centuries.
[How costly is God’s grace? see: High Rollers in His Grace]
If I choose to believe that, as a disciple of Christ, I have nothing to do but wait for the day Jesus is gonna zap me up onto a cloud, I really don’t know His character nor am I willing to read what the Bible actually says for myself.
Human free will is the facilitator of truth.
Make it work for you!
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