Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
Debating the Rapture
I have been a part of many discussions on the rapture. In plenty of them, I have been accused of twisting scripture, simply because they did not agree with me. A few have gone as far as to twist the things I said and accused me of saying things I never said. In one case, I had someone threaten to tear down my credibility. All because I have a different stance than them in the rapture. Not because of salvation teaching, but because of my belief in the rapture.
Then I realized how wrong I was.
No, I was not wrong in my support of the Pre-Trib rapture. I was not wrong in how I understood scripture. I was wrong to debate it so strongly.
What does it matter if I believe in the Pre-Trib and someone else believes in the post-trib? Is it a salvation issue? Will one group go to hell for their beliefs? Will your stance on the rapture change your faith in Christ? If you think it will, then you have far deeper problems than the rapture to deal with.
If you believe in the Post-Trib rapture, have at it. Preach it if you want. But do not turn it personal against your brother in Christ.
I do not just believe in the Pre-Trib Rapture. I am absolutely certain of it. I have 13 articles at this time. Nine giving different reasons why the Pre-Trib rapture is correct. Four of them listing the post-Trib rapture arguments and explaining why they are wrong. If you are interested in learning my stance, you can find all 13 articles here.
Pre-Tribulation Rapture Articles
However, if you are not interested in looking at the Pre-Tribulation stance and only want to argue for the Post-Trib, do it somewhere else. Feel free to preach the Post-Trib rapture. Just don't turn it into a war of division. Do not get personal with the other side.
Some think the other stance is dangerous. It is not! Whether one believes in the Pre-Trib or Post-Trib, it will not change how they deal with the Tribulation if it happens. It will not change how happy they are if the rapture happens. If we do face the Tribulation, how we get through it has nothing to do with what we believed ahead of time on that subject. The only thing that will matter is how strong our faith in Christ is, and our faith does not come from our understanding of the tribulation. If you think your knowledge of the Tribulation will save you through it, then you are greatly misunderstanding where faith comes from. It comes from knowing the Lord. It comes from growing closer to Jesus in our personal relationship with Him. Not from whether we are right about the rapture or not!
Those who have strong faith in the Lord because of a closer relationship with Him, will be the ones who get through the Tribulation the best. But no Pre-Trib rapture believer's faith in Christ comes from their belief that He will rapture us.
In the end, we should see this as a friendly debate and nothing more. We will see who is right when it happens. When the rapture happens, I will nudge a post-tribulation believer in the ribs and say "Told you" with a smile. If we get into the tribulation, you can nudge me and say the same thing back to me with a smile. But there should never, NEVER, be animosity between us over this subject.
Then I realized how wrong I was.
No, I was not wrong in my support of the Pre-Trib rapture. I was not wrong in how I understood scripture. I was wrong to debate it so strongly.
What does it matter if I believe in the Pre-Trib and someone else believes in the post-trib? Is it a salvation issue? Will one group go to hell for their beliefs? Will your stance on the rapture change your faith in Christ? If you think it will, then you have far deeper problems than the rapture to deal with.
If you believe in the Post-Trib rapture, have at it. Preach it if you want. But do not turn it personal against your brother in Christ.
I do not just believe in the Pre-Trib Rapture. I am absolutely certain of it. I have 13 articles at this time. Nine giving different reasons why the Pre-Trib rapture is correct. Four of them listing the post-Trib rapture arguments and explaining why they are wrong. If you are interested in learning my stance, you can find all 13 articles here.
Pre-Tribulation Rapture Articles
However, if you are not interested in looking at the Pre-Tribulation stance and only want to argue for the Post-Trib, do it somewhere else. Feel free to preach the Post-Trib rapture. Just don't turn it into a war of division. Do not get personal with the other side.
Some think the other stance is dangerous. It is not! Whether one believes in the Pre-Trib or Post-Trib, it will not change how they deal with the Tribulation if it happens. It will not change how happy they are if the rapture happens. If we do face the Tribulation, how we get through it has nothing to do with what we believed ahead of time on that subject. The only thing that will matter is how strong our faith in Christ is, and our faith does not come from our understanding of the tribulation. If you think your knowledge of the Tribulation will save you through it, then you are greatly misunderstanding where faith comes from. It comes from knowing the Lord. It comes from growing closer to Jesus in our personal relationship with Him. Not from whether we are right about the rapture or not!
Those who have strong faith in the Lord because of a closer relationship with Him, will be the ones who get through the Tribulation the best. But no Pre-Trib rapture believer's faith in Christ comes from their belief that He will rapture us.
In the end, we should see this as a friendly debate and nothing more. We will see who is right when it happens. When the rapture happens, I will nudge a post-tribulation believer in the ribs and say "Told you" with a smile. If we get into the tribulation, you can nudge me and say the same thing back to me with a smile. But there should never, NEVER, be animosity between us over this subject.
