Three Views on the Rapture

There are three basic views concerning the rapture that the majority of Christians believe. First we must define the term rapture and discover its Biblical foundation. The English word rapture comes from the Latin word rapio which literally means “to seize or snatch away”. The Biblical basis for the rapture is found primarily in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 where this Latin word rapio is often translated into English as “caught up”. Believers in Christ (dead and alive) will be “caught up” with Christ in the air and taken from this Earth to the place He has prepared for His saints. This takes us to the differing views concerning the rapture. All of these views differ mainly on the point in time that the rapture will occur in relation to the Great Tribulation, which is a time of intense suffering and persecution unlike any the World has ever seen or faced (Matt. 24:21). These three views of the rapture can be identified quite easily by their names. They all are named based on when they believe the rapture will take place in relation to the Great Tribulation.

The Pre-Tribulation view holds that the Believers in Christ that have already died and the Believers still alive on earth will be taken up to heaven prior to the Great Tribulation. John MacArthur is a widely known Pastor who holds this view. According to MacArthur, “For many reasons, the pretribulation view seems most faithful to New Testament teaching.” (“1 Thess. Commentary”, 65).

There is a total absence of New Testament instruction to the church as to how it should endure and conduct itself during the Tribulation.
Rev Chapters 2-3 speak of the church on earth and then chapters 4-5 speak of the church in heaven. If it were to happen at the end of the Tribulation then the Church would be taken away and then brought right back for Christ’s reign on earth. This would make the rapture pointless.
The Thessalonians were worried their loved ones who had died would miss out on the rapture. If the Believers alive would be left on earth to endure the Tribulation they would have rejoiced that their loved ones who had died would miss this great persecution.

The Mid-Tribulation view believes that the rapture will happen during the Great Tribulation, “in the midst of a period of apocalyptic woe and distress prior to the second coming of Jesus”. (Blaising, 158). This view is perhaps the least prominent view held. The majority of those who believe this view hold to a belief that Christ’s return is not imminent. The Scripture clearly teaches that Christ’s return could be at any time (John 14:2-3; 1 Corinthians 1:7; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thess. 1:9-10; 4:16-17; 5:5-9). Often times Midtribulationists will cite the fact that the Church will endure trials, suffering, persecution and tribulation in order to prove that we will go through at least some of the tribulation. It is true that the Church will suffer great persecution, as can be seen in reading many history books, or “Voice of the Martyrs”. Persecution has and will continue to be a part of the life of every Christian. Even Jesus said, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:20). Persecution is not sufficient proof that Believers will suffer through the Tribulation.

The Posttribulation view holds that “the rapture and the second coming both occur in one event of Christ’s second coming, which will transpire at the end of the Tribulation” (Blaising, p. 158). Many of the arguments for this view have been dealt with above. The Church enduring tribulation (does not necessarily mean the “Great Tribulation”), Christ’s return not being imminent, etc. This views strongest argument is that the Scripture does teach about the Great Tribulation and the things that will transpire during this time. The answer to this argument would be there will be some Believers on earth during the Tribulation. These will consist of people who have accepted Christ as the Messiah after the rapture has taken place. The teaching of these things is for them to know what is happening and turn to Christ.


References

Blaising, Craig, A. “Three Views on the Millennium – Premillennialism”.

Hodge, Jim. “Three Views of the Rapture”.

MacArthur, John. “Commentary on 1 Thessalonians”.

MacArthur, John. “The Second Coming: Signs of Christ’s Return and the End of the Age”.

Inerrancy

The following post is my first presentation in Round Table.

1. What does inerrancy mean? And why is it important?

Simply stated inerrancy means the Bible tells the truth or the Bible is without error. It is important to note that the doctrine of inerrancy is held to the original autographs.

A more detailed definition of inerrancy would be “the Bible tells the truth, which may include approximations, free quotations, the language of appearances, and different accounts of the same event as long as these do not contradict”.

If you remember our discussion last week I posed the question why does it matter today that the Bible is inspired or inerrant? Let me give you a few reasons why it is important.

A. The first is the most important and if there were no other reasons, this one would be sufficient for us to understand its importance. To deny inerrancy denies the truthfulness of Scripture.
B. Denying inerrancy removes any objectivity of the scripture and gives no sure way of knowing whether any of the teaching of the Scripture is truthful. Think of the implications of this. If we cannot know what is true or untrue in the Bible how do we know Christ is really the way to God? How do we know anything about who God is or how he relates to His people?
C. Also denying inerrancy denies the very character of God. If God is perfect, omnipotent, loving, omnipresent, omniscient, and completely truthful then how could God give us something other than that which is completely truthful?
- Heb. 6:18 – “it is impossible for God to lie”.
- John 14:6- “God is truth”.
- Ps. 119:160 ; Rom. 3:4– “All your words are true”.

2. What is the logical problem if one error exists?

The problem that occurs if one error exists is that how then is the Bible trustworthy? If one error exists then the Bible cannot be trusted, and we could all be deceived about who God is and how we can know Him.

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, wrote “Nay, if there be any mistakes in the Bible there may well be a thousand. If there is one falsehood in that Book it did not come from the God of truth”.

This can also be seen in some of Martin Luther’s writings. He said, “It is true absolutely and without exception, that everything is believed or nothing is believed.”

This is the logical problem. If one error exists it might as well all be in error.

3. What does evangelical, conservative, and fundamentalist mean?

First of all these terms are very hard to give an exact definition to because they mean different things in different arenas, to different people and they are changing in meaning. I was going to say that even since our parents generation these terms have changed meaning, but then I remembered Rick and King Arthur are here so it might be better to say even since Rick and Ronnie’s generation these terms have changed meaning. Conservative and fundamentalist can be used for different religions and positions in politics. For our discussion we will look at these terms as they relate to Christians.

Evangelical is the broadest. “Simply put an evangelical believes in the Gospel”.

Conservative is less broad than Evangelical but more broad than fundamentalist. Conservative can be defined as “the theological position that affirms the basic doctrines of Christianity such as the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, and the divine inspiration of the Bible.

Fundamentalism is even less broad than Evangelical and Conservative. Fundamental can simply mean believing in the fundamentals or basics of the faith. But it is more the fundamental movement I am addressing. In this movement it can be seen that fundamentalism is not a broad category. Christian Fundamentalists tend to separate themselves from the modern world and even Christians who they feel have not separated themselves enough from the world. They believe the Scripture but tend to add extra biblical teaching to it. An example of this would be Christians who believe in the King James only as the accurate Bible.

It makes more sense to look at these categories with Evangelical at the bottom of a pyramid, conservative in the middle, and fundamentalist at the top. A Christian Fundamentalist is a conservative because they do believe in the “fundamentals” of the Christian faith. They would also be Evangelical because they believe in the Gospel. A conservative is an evangelical (because they believe in the Gospel), but not necessarily a fundamentalist. And one could be evangelical but not necessarily a conservative or a fundamentalist. They believe in the Gospel but reject some of the other Doctrines that a Conservative would hold to.

4. How do you know the autographs are inerrant, since we do not have them?

One of the arguments used against inerrancy is that since we do not have the original autographs we cannot know that it is inerrant. It is true that we do not possess the originals but we do possess the original text. We possess nearly 5,700 New Testament manuscripts that contain all or nearly all of the original text. We can reconstruct the original text with over 99% accuracy, and 100% of the truth comes through. An example would be this quote “Y#U HAVE WON 10 MILLION DOLLAR”. You would have no problem understanding 100% percent of the message even though this quote is in 4% in error. The Bible we hold is less than 1% in error.

The Bible in our hands is the infallible inerrant word of God insofar as it has been copied accurately.

Demons

The following post is my 2nd presentation in Round Table.

1. What are demons? How do you know?
There are several different views on what demons actually are. The only thing the Scripture specifically states is that they are unclean spirits or evil spirits(Matt 8:16 ; 17:18, Mark 9:25). In Matthew 12:24 Satan is called the prince of demons. Therefore if he is the prince of demons he is one of them, He is their leader. We know from Ezekiel 28 that Satan is a fallen angel. 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude v. 6 speak of other fallen angels. Therefore, we conclude that demons are the other angels that fell. If Satan is a fallen angel and the “prince of demons” it would be logical that demons are also fallen angels. (2 Pet. 2:4 , Jude 6).

Other evidence is Matthew 25:41 – “The devil and his angels”.

2. Tell the Nature of Demons.
Ryrie gives 4 parts to Demons nature.

First Demons are Personal in Nature.
1. Demons exist. They are not forces or concepts that our minds have created. We know this from a number of characteristics they posses. They have intelligence (Matt. 8:29, Mark 1:24, James 2:19), emotions (Luke 8:28, James 2:19), wills (Luke 8:32), and personality (Luke 8:27-30). While demons are persons they do not have bodies like humans. They are spirit beings (Eph. 6:12)

Second Demons are Intellectual in Nature.
2. Demons have high intelligence. They know who Jesus is (Mark 1:24). They know there is only one God (James 2:19). They know their own eventual doom (Matthew 8:29). They have their own system of doctrine (1 Tim. 4:1-3).

Third Demons are Immoral in Nature.
3. Scripture gives us many references of demons being immoral. They are called “unclean spirits” (Matt. 10:1), “evil spirits” (Luke 7:21), “the spirit of an unclean demon” (Luke 4:33), and “spiritual forces of wickedness” (Eph. 6:12). Demons are led by Satan and we know that they carry out his goals. Many of these can be seen in Satan’s many names, characteristics, and activities. Adversary, accuser, tempter, liar, murderer, deceiver, Evil one, Opposer. All of these are evil characteristics. This is also very clear from the stories in the Bible we have of Satan and how he works (Job, Temptation of Christ)

Fourth Demons are Powerful in Nature.
4. The scripture describes many accounts of demons working through humans. Often times their strength is superhuman (Mark 5:3, Acts 19:16). As I already said, Demons are also very intelligent. This is due to them being created as a high order of being and their experience of having been around since the beginning of the world. Demons are not infinite like God. They are limited creatures. They are not present everywhere, yet they are not limited by normal barriers as humans are.
Ryrie sums it up as “Demons are not human; neither are they God. But they are superhuman with superior intelligence, experience and powers.

3. What do Demons do?
Demons do a number of things. They relate to the world in a number of ways. Satan is the ruler of this world, and therefore his demons have great power in affecting this world (John 12:31, 16:11). Demons ultimately carry out Satan’s purpose to thwart God’s plan. They do this by promoting idolatry (1 Cor. 10:20), promoting false religion (1 John 4:1-4; 1 Tim. 3:16 -4:3), and in end times they will bring leaders to war against God (Rev. 16:13-16). In direct relation to people demons can bring affliction in the form of disease (Matt. 9:3, 12:22, 17:15-18), cause mental disorders (Mark5:4-5), and in some cases can be involved in death (Rev. 9:14-19). Ultimately demons mode of operation is the same as Satan’s. They seek to deceive. This is how Satan attempts to thwart God’s plan. All of the things they do are their attempts to deceive men to believe in something other than God. But it is important never to forget that God is sovereign and he is even in ultimate control of Satan and his demons. There are a number of instances in the Scripture where God even uses demons to carry out his purposes (judges 9:23, 1 Sam 16:14, 1 Kings 22:22, 2 Cor. 12:7).

4. Can a Christian be demon-possessed?
First I feel it is necessary to define “possessed”. Ryrie defines demon possession as “the direct control by demon(s) of an individual by residing in him”. It conveys the meaning of “control” or “ownership”. It is definitely true that all people whether a believer or unbeliever are affected even influenced by demons. We as believers are commanded to “resist the devil” (1 Pet. 5:8-9 , James 4:7), and “Put on the whole armor of God that you may resist the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). The devil and his demons do attack believers. We are engaged in spiritual warfare (Eph 6:12). But this does not mean we can be “directly controlled” by Satan or a demon. There is not one clear example of a believer being demon possessed in the Scripture. Believers are never warned in the New Testament to watch out for being demon possessed. The epistles never instruct believers to cast out demons. Colossians 1:13 we have been “delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son”. 1 John 2:13 we have overcome the evil one and in 4:4 the Holy Spirit that indwells us is greater than Satan. 1 John 5:18 “the evil one does not touch him”. 1 Peter 1:5 when Christ reigns in a persons life, that person is kept by God’s power. In conclusion, with no evidence in Scripture of a believer being demon possessed, no warning against demon possession, the truth that the Holy Spirit that indwells the believer is greater than the evil one, the truths that those who are of God are kept by his power that no one can snatch him from his hand, then a genuine believer could never be “owned”, completely “controlled” or possessed by Satan or one of his demons.

Man In the Image of God

The following post is my 3rd presentation in Round Table (March 2, 2009).

What happened to the Image of God when Man Sinned?

The Image of God in man was marred when Adam sinned. It was not lost or erased, but as Ryrie says it was “defaced”. In the Genesis account of creation God said “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”. This is what set man apart from the rest of creation. If this Image and Likeness were lost or erased man would no longer be different than the rest of creation.

The reason we know that the Image of God was not lost or erased is the fact that the Scripture continues to teach that Man still has the Image of God after the Fall (Gen. 9:6, 1 Cor. 11:7, James 3:9).

After God had created Man he saw that all he had created was good (Gen. 1:31). But because of the entrance of sin we are less fully like God. The sin left man in a place of no longer having a righteous standing before God. The Scripture continues to unfold God’s entire plan for salvation and sanctification; a plan to restore man to a right standing before God. This restoration would take place through one man just as the Image was marred through one man. “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 (Also See Rom. 5:12-17). Hebrews 1:3 states Christ is the perfect image of God. And Romans 8:29 says We are being transformed into Christ’s image. (Other examples 1 cor. 15: 21-22, 47-49; 1 John 3:1-2 ; Col. 3:10).
Wayne Grudem in his Systematic Theology sums this up nicely. He says “it is encouraging to turn to the New Testament and see that our redemption in Christ means that we can, even in this life, progressively grow into more and more likeness to God.” Grudem also says “the full measure of the excellence of our humanity will not be seen again in life on earth until Christ returns and we have obtained all the benefits of the salvation he earned for us.”
One of the major aspects of the Image of God that was marred in the fall was man’s spirit. God is a Spirit being and man was created with a spirit. This is one of the distinguishing factors between Man and Animal. Man was created with the ability to have relationship with God. Daniel Akin defines the spirit as the part of man that gives him “the capacity for a relationship with God”. Before the fall man walked with God; he had fellowship with God. His Spirit was alive to God. After the fall man no longer would seek relationship with God. Romans 3:10-12 “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Colossians 2:13 “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven all our trespasses.” (Also see 1 Peter 4:6) John 14:6 says that no one can even come to the Father except through Christ. The Spirit of man was dead to God once sin entered the world. God’s plan is a process of restoring his Image in us. This process is begun through Christ in Salvation, continued through sanctification (Rom. 6:19), and ultimately will be completed upon our glorification (Romans 8:30; Phil 3:20-21).

How is the image of God transmitted from one generation to the next?

The answer to this question has been formulated in three prominent views. We all know that the material part of man was transmitted through Natural Generation or Procreation. We all come from our parents just as they came from theirs. As far as the immaterial part of man there have been the following different explanations for how it is transmitted.

The first view is preexistence. This view basically believes that in “the beginning God created all human souls, which were confined in physical bodies as punishment. Souls go through various incarnations throughout history and in the process incur sinfulness.” This view has no scriptural basis and therefore has never been held to by Orthodox Christianity.

The second view is Creationism. This view believes that “God creates the soul at the moment of conception or birth and immediately unites it with the body.” This view often cites Numbers 16:22 and Hebrews 12:9 which call God the Father of Spirits. It also states that since the nature of the soul is immaterial it could not be transmitted by natural generation. Another one of its points is that Christ’s sinlessness could only be true if His soul were created.

The third view is Traducianism. This view believes that the soul is transmitted along with the body through the processes of natural generation. Arguments for this view are that on the seventh day of creation God rested because his work of Creation was finished. No where in Scripture are new acts of Creation recorded. Also, if God created the soul then it would be a perfect soul because God could not create a sinful one, so at some point it would have to fall just as Adam did. Also Genesis 5:3 says “he (Adam) fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.” Logically if Adam was made in God’s image and then Adam’s son was in Adam’s likeness and image then the Image of God would be transmitted through Natural Generation.

Ryrie sums up his position with a quote from J.O. Buswell:

“In our ordinary thinking when we observe such perfect uniformity and regularity in other matters, we usually ascribe the results to the secondary forces which God has created and which He maintains by His divine providence. For this reason, and for this reason only, I am inclined toward the Traducian view, but I do not feel that it can be firmly established on the grounds of any explicit scriptural teaching.”

I will close my presentation by mentioning the tremendous implications the doctrine of Man being created in the Image of God has. Every single human being no matter the age, sex, race, illness, religious belief, weakness, or disability is God’s image-bearer. If this truth is lost, we will begin to depreciate the value of human life. Man will be seen as an animal and treated as such. This truth is vitally important.