This article continues our Prophecy Q/A series, where I do my best to answer questions from readers like you.
Have a question you would like answered? Email me here.
Q: What is the relationship between the rapture and the resurrection?
A: 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 are the primary texts that most clearly describe the resurrection/rapture. They are part of the same event.
This resurrection is for Church-age believers (all believers who have died since Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given in Acts 2). So, Pentecost began the Church Age and the rapture of all church-age believers (alive or dead) will end the Church Age.
As for Old Testament (pre-Pentecost) believers, I believe they will be resurrected at the end of the Tribulation period, just before the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom (see Isaiah 26:19 and other verses that indicate believers from the pre-church time period will experience life in the future Kingdom).
Finally, there will be a resurrection of all unbelievers after the Millennial Kingdom to stand before the Lord in what is known as the final or Great White Throne judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).
Q: Will a Christian who is willfully living in sin be taken in the rapture?
A: That’s a complex question with a simple answer. If the person in question truly accepted Christ, then, yes, he or she will be taken in the rapture. The rapture is connected to our salvation. It is not something we work for, but something Christ purchased for us on the cross.
By the same token, many people make professions of faith but have not really accepted Christ. It is hard to know the difference. We are not saved by our works, but if we are saved there should be some evidence of it in our lives.
To be sure, all who are true believers in Christ (regardless of how good they are) will be taken in the rapture. 1 Corinthians 15:53 says we will all be changed.
Q: Will the church be raptured before the one-world government is set up?
A: It does not appear that the globalists will fully achieve their goal of having a global government until after the rapture.
I tend to believe that the rapture will be the final (and largest) crisis that will allow the globalists to achieve their goal. We know for sure that the antichrist will not be able to rise to power (i.e., “be revealed”) until after the rapture has taken place (i.e., the restrainer removed). See 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8.