"Another Jesus, another spirit, another gospel" 2 Cor. 11:4 --- Another Rapture?
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FOUR: GOD'S WRATH
The greatest supportive argument that Pretribulationists use to justify that the Church will not go through the tribulation is the truth that the Church will not be subjected to God's wrath. This argument is contradicted by the Pretribulationists' own assertion acknowledging that there will be saints living during the tribulation period in which God's wrath is being poured out on the earth and all the unbelieving and rebellious people living at that time. According to the Pre-Trib position the main rationale why the rapture must occur prior to the tribulation is so that the saints of God will not be subjected to God's wrath. The inference is that if the saints are existing on earth during the tribulation period they will be subjected to God's wrath and therefore cannot exist on earth during that time. For the Pre-Trib argument to hold true the saints who exist during the tribulation will be subjected to God's wrath. Did you get that? Pretribulationists state that the saints of God living during the tribulation will be subjected to God's wrath. This contradicts their earlier assertion that saints are not subjected to God's wrath. John 3:36 states: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." And 1 Peter 1:18-19 states: "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:" And Hebrews 9:11-12 states: "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." The implication is that whoever does not believe in the Son of God's, Jesus', sacrifice of blood for him or her the wrath of God remains on him or her and whoever receives the sacrifice of blood provided by Jesus the Son of God is not subjected to the wrath of God. Revelation 12:11 makes is abundantly clear that this protection from God's wrath applies to the tribulation saints as well. "And they overcame him, (the Antichrist), by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death," Rev. 12:11. On the one hand Pretribulationists have equated the tribulation to being the same as the wrath of God which is their justification for being raptured prior to the tribulation. Yet on the other hand Pretribulationists acknowledge that Christians will be living during the tribulation, during the out-pouring of God's wrath and therefore subjected to it. There is no logic to their theory regarding this point. No bible believing Christian would state that Christians would be subjected to the wrath of God. Technically speaking, Pretribulationists have exchanged the tribulation with the wrath of God in order to avoid the tribulation. If Pretribulationists state that tribulation saints will not subjected to God's wrath in order to be consistent with those scriptures declaring as such, then Pretribulationists destroy the foundation of their rationale for being raptured prior to the tribulation; that rationale being not to be subjected to God's wrath. Rom. 5:8-9, 1 Thess. 5:9 and John 3:36 do not state that believers will not be subjected to the tribulation of Mathew 24 and Revelation they state that believers will not be subjected to God's wrath. There is no scriptural nor logical basis to assert that the rapture must occur prior to the tribulation or for that matter prior to Daniel's 70th week/the Antichrist's 7 year covenant reign in order to avoid God's wrath. God doesn't say He will keep His own Children from the 7 year Tribulation, He says He will keep us from the hour of His wrath. To the world and the Antichrist and Satan it will appear that they are obtaining victory over God's children, yet despite these apparent victories of the forces of evil just as it appeared on the Calvary's cross, God's people will be strong and do exploits and overcome the powers of the Antichrist and Satan the devil by using the blood of the Lamb who was the true victor at Calvary and reign with Christ for a 1,000 years. |
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