Will There Be a Rapture?
My first question to you is, why do you want one? If it’s to escape suffering, then you haven’t understood the gospel. The good news is that we get to share in Christ’s sufferings—not run away from them.
Consider these Scriptures:
1 Peter 4:1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.
2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
2 Timothy 3:12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
James 1:12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
Philippians 3:10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Romans 5:3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
1 Peter 4:12-13 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
There are many other Scriptures, but you get the point. Nowhere in the New Testament are we told that God will rescue us out of suffering for our faith. So my question to those who hope in a rapture, why are you holding that hope? Is it that you wish to avoid any suffering for Christ? If so, you are out of step with the Scriptures and the experience of the church in this world. Think of it, approximately 13,000.000 Christians were killed for their faith in the first two centuries of the church.[1] Christians continue to be persecuted every day in various parts of the globe.
Now, I have heard people use the verse, “God did not appoint us to suffer wrath,” (1 Thessalonians 5:9) to explain the need for a rapture. What these people fail to do is read the rest of the verse: “But to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” You see, Paul is not talking about suffering for the faith. He is talking about suffering for our sins before God. The glorious truth is that God saved us from His wrath. He did not save us from suffering on His behalf.
One of the reasons I don't believe in the rapture is because it goes against all the Scriptures I read in the New Testament about suffering for the gospel—and there are a lot of them. In fact, it is a theme of the New Testament and a normal part of being in Christ. Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it very well, “Just as Christ is Christ only in virtue of His suffering and rejection, so the disciple is a disciple only in so far as he shares his Lord’s suffering and rejection, and crucifixion.”[2]
Now, lest I leave you without hope, I firmly believe that God will make us adequate to any persecution we suffer, if we will walk in Him. Edith Schaeffer wrote, “I believe that the sufficiency of the grace of God on the basis of the blood of Christ, shed to give victory in the battle against Satan, has been and is being and will be proven to be not just academically ’sufficient’. This grace will have been, in instance after instance, historically proven to have been sufficient indeed in every conceivable kind of affliction and suffering, in every kind of trouble and persecution.”[3]
So, I would say that my main reason for not believing in the rapture is that it seems to want to say that Christians will be saved from the suffering of the Tribulation. There is no evidence of this in the Book of Revelation itself. In fact, my opinion is that the Book of Revelation was given by Christ to show the church that, although suffering will get intense and many will die for their faith (as they have in every age), he who endures to the end will be saved. I look at it as a survival manual for those in the faith. And the great message of the book? Jesus will win and establish His kingdom forever in the end. As Paul wrote, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18).
Let us all continue to strive to gain the mind of Christ and to walk in Him no matter what.
[1] The Dangers of a Shallow Faith, by A. W. Tozer, pg. 86. See also, Early Christian Fathers, by Cyril C. Richardson, pg. 64, 75
[2] The Cost of Discipleship, pg. 96
[3] Affliction, by Edith Schaeffer, pg. 81,
My first question to you is, why do you want one? If it’s to escape suffering, then you haven’t understood the gospel. The good news is that we get to share in Christ’s sufferings—not run away from them.
Consider these Scriptures:
1 Peter 4:1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.
2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
2 Timothy 3:12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
James 1:12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
Philippians 3:10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Romans 5:3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
1 Peter 4:12-13 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
There are many other Scriptures, but you get the point. Nowhere in the New Testament are we told that God will rescue us out of suffering for our faith. So my question to those who hope in a rapture, why are you holding that hope? Is it that you wish to avoid any suffering for Christ? If so, you are out of step with the Scriptures and the experience of the church in this world. Think of it, approximately 13,000.000 Christians were killed for their faith in the first two centuries of the church.[1] Christians continue to be persecuted every day in various parts of the globe.
Now, I have heard people use the verse, “God did not appoint us to suffer wrath,” (1 Thessalonians 5:9) to explain the need for a rapture. What these people fail to do is read the rest of the verse: “But to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” You see, Paul is not talking about suffering for the faith. He is talking about suffering for our sins before God. The glorious truth is that God saved us from His wrath. He did not save us from suffering on His behalf.
One of the reasons I don't believe in the rapture is because it goes against all the Scriptures I read in the New Testament about suffering for the gospel—and there are a lot of them. In fact, it is a theme of the New Testament and a normal part of being in Christ. Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it very well, “Just as Christ is Christ only in virtue of His suffering and rejection, so the disciple is a disciple only in so far as he shares his Lord’s suffering and rejection, and crucifixion.”[2]
Now, lest I leave you without hope, I firmly believe that God will make us adequate to any persecution we suffer, if we will walk in Him. Edith Schaeffer wrote, “I believe that the sufficiency of the grace of God on the basis of the blood of Christ, shed to give victory in the battle against Satan, has been and is being and will be proven to be not just academically ’sufficient’. This grace will have been, in instance after instance, historically proven to have been sufficient indeed in every conceivable kind of affliction and suffering, in every kind of trouble and persecution.”[3]
So, I would say that my main reason for not believing in the rapture is that it seems to want to say that Christians will be saved from the suffering of the Tribulation. There is no evidence of this in the Book of Revelation itself. In fact, my opinion is that the Book of Revelation was given by Christ to show the church that, although suffering will get intense and many will die for their faith (as they have in every age), he who endures to the end will be saved. I look at it as a survival manual for those in the faith. And the great message of the book? Jesus will win and establish His kingdom forever in the end. As Paul wrote, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18).
Let us all continue to strive to gain the mind of Christ and to walk in Him no matter what.
[1] The Dangers of a Shallow Faith, by A. W. Tozer, pg. 86. See also, Early Christian Fathers, by Cyril C. Richardson, pg. 64, 75
[2] The Cost of Discipleship, pg. 96
[3] Affliction, by Edith Schaeffer, pg. 81,
