Question of the Week: Will Some Christians Be Left Behind in the Rapture?
The short answer to this question is no. Born-Again Christians by definition of what they are before God will not miss the Rapture. In order to understand this more completely, a distinction has to be made between a born-again Christian and someone attending church. Once we have properly identified what it means to be a Christian, anything apart from that will not benefit from what applies to them.
What is a Christian?
Christian is a term used to describe someone as a follower of Christ. The term originated in the city of Antioch and historically documented in Acts 11:26. Jesus described His followers as those who;
1. Believe in the One whom He (God) has sent. (John 6:28-29)
2. Do the Will of the Father. (Matthew 7:21)
3. Have been drawn by the Father. (John 6:44)
4. Believe in the Son. (John 3:18)
5. Believe and are Baptized. (Mark 16:16)
Hopefully you’re seeing a common theme. The fine line between someone who is and isn’t a Christian is where and when they have personally received a relationship with Christ through belief in His claims and what He’s done to verify them.
He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
John 3:36 (NKJV)
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Romans 10:9-13 (NKJV)
What is a Church?
A church is a gathering of like-minded people. In the context of Christianity, it is referring to the gathering of those who share the same mindset and perspective about Jesus. In modern society, it has more commonly been associated with a building where these like-minded people gather. While this isn’t necessary wrong in so far as those with the same mind towards Jesus are the focus, the error is replacing the building with those in it. Jesus Himself clarified that where His followers gather is irrelevant. He would be present wherever His followers are gathered to fellowship with Him and each other.
For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.
Matthew 18:20 (NKJV)
This is where the distinction is made. Your presence in a building doesn’t result in you having eternal life. Having a relationship with Jesus through belief in who He is and what He did to prove it results in you having eternal life. This is what brings us to the question about the Rapture. Who benefits from it? Christians. Who doesn’t? Not Christians. The wrath of God remains on those who have not received His mercy. This includes those alive at the time where He comes to take His people from the wrath that will be poured out on the world during the Great Tribulation.
For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.
1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 (NKJV)
Salvation and your qualification for the Rapture go hand in hand. If you understand what it means to be saved, then you won’t have to worry about being left behind.
A Reason For Hope is a ministry of Calvary Christian Fellowship of Tucson
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