And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
1 John 2:28
“Partial rapture” is an uncomfortable possibility, generally rejected by our “prophecy experts” and seen as manifest judgmentalism. “You’re just trying to scare people. Jesus never gave a list of requirements for the rapture. He just said you must be a believer. The rapture is our ‘blessed hope’ and it’s for every Christian,” they protest. Well, yes and maybe. Let’s take a deeper look at this.
And I want to say at the outset that I am also somewhat uncomfortable with the “partial rapture” position, though less than I used to be. But we can’t simply ignore the explicit texts that deal with it, or the admonitions in scripture that suggest it. So let’s try to be honest and see what the scripture says. And as always, feel free to leave a comment.
Jesus set the bar really low for the rapture. He gave just ONE requirement:
Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
Rev. 3:10 NKJV (emphasis added)
Those who keep His command to persevere may claim the promise. So the next question is, “what does ‘persevere’ mean?” Can it be measured or quantified? Who decides how much “perseverance” is necessary, since we all slip up? Well, without being silly, let me suggest that if someone said, “give me a definition of ‘perseverance’ or you will be shot at sunrise” you would be able to come up with a very satisfactory definition. Continue, maintain, uphold, persist, abide, remain … lots of ideas come up and all will work.
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 NKJV (emphasis added)
The New Testament is replete with expansion on this. As John wrote:
But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
1 John 2:27 NKJV (emphases added)
This takes away the “ignorance card.” The tenor of the passage is that we are to abide in Christ, and “ignorance is no excuse.” We all know this stuff.
I believe that the rapture IS for all believers. Jesus does not divide His body into “prime believers” and a “not quite good enough” group. He loves us all, we were ALL unworthy, He paid for ALL of our sins, and we ALL have a blessed hope. So, if it’s for all of us, then who decides who goes and who stays?
WE do. Surprised? Take another look at the top scripture quoted in this post. John said “ashamed before Him at His coming.” The trumpet sounds and every believer hears it. The heavens are opened – the doorway to the Throne of God is visible. Jesus stands at the door in all His glory, and His blazing holiness lights up all of creation. A booming voice commands, “Come up here!” And then what?
Some Christians, for whom Jesus Christ is their consuming passion, will eagerly obey the command and, literally, fly to Him. But what about those believers who have spent their lives in carnality? Those who have saving faith, but have not been transformed by the renewing of their minds, have not been conformed to the image of Christ, have not abided in Him, have not “persevered”?
What about them? John suggests they will “shrink back.” They will choose to not go. THEY – not you, me or Jesus – will choose. In a sense, they make that choice every time they turn on the TV. They have sown their lives with habits that leave Jesus out. Their names are written in His book, but their lives — up to this point anyway — have been squandered. They can’t bear to look at Him; they are totally engulfed by their own shame.
The Greek word John uses for “ashamed” is aischynō (pronounced ice WHO know) and it means “to disfigure, to dishonor, to suffuse with shame, make ashamed, be ashamed.” BlueLetterBible suggests “that we may not in shame shrink from him” which may be a literal, or perhaps idiomatic translation (they don’t say). I can imagine the disfigured facial expression of someone who stands ashamed or acutely embarrassed when His Savior calls him and he’s unprepared for the meeting.
No, on second thought, I really can’t. And I really don’t want to try.
The definition of aischynō also includes “to dishonor.” Does that not jump out at you? If not, please re-read A Fuller Dignity and decide for yourself how this may pertain to rapture-readiness.
But God, Who is rich in mercy, still does not abandon them (our God truly is AWESOME!). They get the “crash course” this time. “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Rev. 2:10) Welcome to Smyrna/Thyatira – a remnant of the end-time church that will go through some “great tribulation” (Rev. 2:22). But it’s short, the choice is clear and binary, and the rewards are astonishing.
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Rev. 20:4 NKJV
This is how things WILL play out for some.
In my previous post of Aug 20th entitled Adamantine Hearts I closed with three questions. The third question was “we clearly DO see believers on the earth after the rapture. Who are they?” I believe this is the answer to that question. These are “the rest of her offspring,” (Rev. 12:17), the saints who are overcome, (Rev. 13:7), those who “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:12), and the victorious ones in Rev.15:2. My point is that these saints who are killed after the rapture were saved before the rapture. After the rapture, we see no repentance or lost people being saved.
There is a gospel proclamation after the rapture:
Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth — to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people — saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
Rev. 14:6-7 NKJV (emphasis added)
This is the “everlasting gospel” and not a message of salvation. It appears to be chronologically and conceptually connected to the “second woe” described in Rev. 11:13 where the survivors of a massive earthquake “were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
Final note: many of the “prophecy experts” teach that the blessed hope in Titus 2:13 is the rapture and, specifically, our deliverance from the so-called “seven year tribulation period” which is NOT seven years long. Once again, the “experts” are off target. Our blessed hope is to be with Jesus Christ forever. Our hope is not an event; it’s a Person. A focus on the event takes our eyes off Christ and puts the focus on our comfort. Those who, for whatever reason, choose to be left behind do not lose their blessed hope.
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