Expert: Logan - 5/6/2004

Question
Can a person really be saved if they do not believe in the Rapture, or if they believe the
Rapture and the Second Coming are the same.
I thought it was Biblical to believe what it  
says in Thessalonians and Daniel, that the
Rapture will occur before the Tribulation or
Jacob's Trouble?  Am I wrong?

Answer
 Hello.  I am sorry for my late answer.  I did not get to my computer until today.  Normally, I answer the same day a question is sent, or the next day.

 Absolutely, a person can be Saved whether they believe in The Rapture, Second Coming, or not.  Those things are not part of The Gospel(which I have posted at the bottom).  We are not to add anything to God's Word.  
 Pro 30:5-6 "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.  Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."  
 
 Did you notice that the first verse speaks of trusting in him?  The Saved trust in Him(or for instance, Christ). The Gospel is His Word, and we are not to add to His Word.  Therefore, if someone believes The Gospel, they are Saved, regardless of the other things they believe.  But they can not add anything to The Gospel, like saying that you must be baptized to be Saved, or that you must be confirmed, or any other work.

  Titus 3:5 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;"


 Rom 4:6 "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,"  

  In 1Corinthians 1:14-17, Paul says, "I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;  Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.  And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.  For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect."   Wow!  He couldn't even remember for sure, everyone he may have baptized, because it was not part of Salvation.  He says so.  


Did Christ speak to the thief on the cross, about The Second Coming, or The Rapture?  No.  He was never baptized, he did no work to Save himself.  He just trusted in Christ, that Christ was The Saviour.  

 Luke 2:11 "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

 Christ came to forgive the sins of the world.  Not many accept that.  See, subjects like The Rapture, and the Second Coming, Tribulation, etc., are difficult to understand, even for older Christians.  I do not understand every concept of The Tribulation.  Some parts we just will not know, until we get to Heaven.  Those who are unsaved, would understand even less.  How can they understand, when they are blind to God's Word?

 1Cr 3:2 "I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able."

 The "meatier" issues in The Bible are hard for the young people in Christ.  So they stay on the easier issues for awhile, like The Gospel, and then when they have matured, Spiritually, they will go on to the "meat."  

 The Rapture is when Christ appears in the clouds, and then all the dead Christians, will go up to Him, and then we which are alive will join them, and there we shall ever be.

 1Thessalonians 4:13-18 "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

 Then, after The Rapture, the Tribulation will begin, and will last for 7 years.  After this, Christ will return(Second Coming).  At The Rapture, he never sets foot on the ground.  But after the Tribulation, he will land, and set up a 1,000 year reign!  Now, that is a return!  It is a Second Coming.

 Some people believe that The Tribulation will occur first, and then The Rapture of the saints, and then the 1,000 year millenium reign.  Then that would mean that all living Christians would have to go through The Tribulation, and then be Raptured, and then immediately come right back down, to set up the 1,000 year reign.  Why would we need to meet him in the clouds, if he was going to come down anyway?

 The Rapture is first, and then The Tribulation, then the Millenium Reign, etc.  But even if a person has it all mixed up, as long as they have trusted in Christ as their Saviour, they are Saved!  Praise God.      

And this is The Gospel:


"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23   "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23   "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8   "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16   "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Romans 10:9-10