One of the criticisms I often hear in the midst of contending for the truth regarding the Lord’s return is that somehow doing so detracts from the gospel, as if the second coming is somehow not part of the gospel. This seems to be a fairly popular opinion judging from the numerous comments I have received on the subject. Here are a few examples taken from comments to some of my articles.
“None of this debate is fruitful for the ‘Great Commission’………..Pointless…….” -Tick
“I find it so sad that church leaders are back biting over something like the timing of the Rapture. Real believers have enough to contend with in every day life without watching leaders bicker over something like this.” -Colette
“…this rapture stuff is taking people’s eyes off of what they should be on – fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives, which is to spread the gospel of Christ to the whole world…” -Karen
“The great thing about eschatology is time will tell. Whether you are right or wrong is immaterial. This topic is a not essential and really only worthy of the small amount of time devoted to it. Now the good news, Jesus died for sinners of whom I am chief. The substitutionary death of Christ makes us family and as such I wish to encourage you to pursue the calling of God in Jesus. You were made for so much more than this vain disputation.” -Jeff
“Why do you want to waste your precious time arguing about this when there are lost souls all around you to witness to? You aren’t leading them to the Lord with this arguing. Time will tell. We need to be edifying the church!” -Paula
“Pre or post, I’m not in the least concern. I will be a soul winner either way. Do you obey our Lord in going to all the world and preach the Gospel to every person. Think of all the useless energy and time wasted in these sites. How many people will be in heaven because you led them them to Christ. One thing you can’t do in heaven is win Souls.” -Tim
“Does it really matter when?? The fact is that He is coming back!! Stop fighting about it and let’s try to win as many souls as we can before He does come and its too late!!” -Cindy
“I wish the author of this article would put more effort in writing posts about salvation to sinners rather than nitpicking at pre-trib believers.” -Joey
“I think (and more importantly God feels) that the great commission is where our focus should be, not attacking other believers for a belief they hold about the end times. God is more concerned with souls than proving His next coming will or will not happen a certain way.” -Joseph
Sounds pretty serious, right? After all, if if we neglect the gospel for the sake of a pet doctrine, wouldn’t that be sinful? I agree, it could be. But let’s take a little closer look this. For those that think an emphasis on the second coming detracts from the gospel, I will prove that the gospel apart from the second coming is no gospel at all.
Contending For The Faith
When Jude wrote his epistle, his intention was to write about our common salvation. Instead the Spirit of God compelled him to write, “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” Jude 1:3
From this we see that Jude and by extension the Holy Spirit are telling us that it is not sufficient for Christians to only focus on the issue of salvation in the proclamation of the gospel. The reason being that Satan seeks to corrupt the message of the gospel through false teachers. If this were not the case, Jude would never have been written. So let’s establish this fact according to God’s word. It is vitally important that we “contend” (to argue for and defend) “the faith.” The doctrines surrounding the second coming are an integral part of the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints, and is in fact part of the gospel itself.
The Gospel of the Kingdom vs The Gospel of Grace: a False Dichotomy
Pre-tribulationists will often say that it is important to understand the New Testament in a Jewish context. On this point I wholeheartedly agree. As we look to understand the Jewish mindset of the 1st century it is important to understand that the rabbis of the day understood that the Messiah seemed to have two roles based on Old Testament prophecy. Some believed that there would in fact be two Messiahs. One role was as the suffering servant who they referred to as Messiah son of Joseph, and the other as Messiah son of David. It would be the son of David who would rule as the King of Kings subduing the gentile nations under His rule, and it was this manifestation of of Messiah’s appearance for which they longed. This is plainly evidenced in how Jesus was received into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
Just as there is only one Messiah, there is only one gospel. This is a very important point, and it is at the heart of the debate when it comes to the timing of the rapture. Most pre-tribulationists will tell you there is more than one gospel. They will say there is the gospel of the kingdom which is for the Jews and the gospel of grace which is for the Church. Saying that there are two or more gospels is not much different than the error of the 1st century Jews. Messiah is not divided and neither is the gospel. Notice I said, “the gospel?” that is the way the term appears in most of the New Testament. The definite article “the” appears before the word gospel in most instances even where other qualifiers like kingdom, Jesus Christ, grace, God, His Son, peace, salvation, or everlasting are not specifically indicated in the text. Such language should make it abundantly clear that there is just one Gospel, that gospel is the gospel of salvation and the gospel of the kingdom. The two are inseparable. Therefore when someone says, “Hey! you should be focusing on the gospel.” My response is, “That’s exactly what I’m doing.” It is good news that He died and rose to pay for our sins, and it is good news that He is coming to establish His kingdom.
The Gospel Includes The Second Coming
Eschatology is and should be part of the evangelistic message. This is what the early Church did. They spread all over the earth proclaiming Christ’s sacrifice for sin and His coming in judgement in flaming fire. It was because of this preaching that Nero was able to blame the Great Fire of Rome on Christians because they were preaching Christ returning in a fiery judgement.
The expectancy of Christ returning in the midst of desperate times has been mistakenly reinterpreted into a false doctrine of immanency with respect to the rapture. The early Christians did not expect an any moment rapture. Instead, they looked to the signs that Jesus gave in the Olivet discourse. Namely that there would be apostasy, tribulation, Antichrist, and cosmic signs preceding His return. In the first and second centuries there was great apostasy and heresy as is well documented, as well as a succession of Caesars that were thought by many to be the Antichrist. Later many believers thought that various Popes were the Antichrist. But all those believers expected to see the things in the Olivet discourse being fulfilled soon, perhaps in their lifetimes. In the context of pre-tribulationism, we are told we are not to expect those things. If the early Christians were really pretrib as the pretrib teachers affirm, they would not have tried to connect their own experiences with the Olivet discourse. But history documents that at many times in history, Christians had believed themselves to be in the tribulation, and thought they knew who the Antichrist was.
This is the reason pretib teachers have tried to compartmentalize the gospel. Because the second coming of Christ is every bit the gospel as forgiveness of sins are. If you have two different gospels, it’s a lot easier to wiggle out of the condemnation that the Apostle Paul lays at the feet of those who distort the gospel.
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! Galatians 1:8-9
If we preach a different gospel with respect to the second coming, it is no different than preaching a different gospel with respect to forgiveness of sins. It’s no wonder that Jesus said, “…when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8b
I fear that just as the Jews by and large did not recognize Messiah’s first coming, the Church by and large will be unprepared for Messiah’s second coming and the events that immediately precede it. Here is the perseverance of the saints.
Actually, the “Jewish Wedding Tradition” is a myth. It does not exist in any Jewish tradition. There are many traditions from many different writings. Has anyone ever seen a Dispensationalist articles which actually cite any of these traditions, telling us where they came from? Dispensationalists always cite each other, but never the supposed original Jewish source. The Jewish writings are varied and complex, and what Dispensationalists have done is to take bits from here and there and piece them together into a “story” and then embellish them so that it seems to fit Scripture. For example, nowhere in any Jewish writings is the phrase, “I go and prepare a place for you, and if I go, I will come again…” found, yet Dispensationalist make it appear that Jesus was quoting directly from the Jewish writings. He wasn’t. As for the many rooms, the Father’s House is the Church, the Body of Christ. The Church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the Chief Cornerstone. And you (Gentiles) too, are being built together to become a dwelling place for God in the Spirit. In other words, this is not referring to the Second Coming or a rapture. Jesus returned in Spirit to those He was talking to on the day of Pentecost. He came to them and received them unto Himself, He didn’t leave them as orphans, but took them into the Father’s House, His Body. And throughout the past 2000 years He has continued to receive those who believe. He has come and made His home with us. A prophecy in Psalm 139 refers to this. Jesus, speaking to the Father, says, “For you created My inmost being, You knit Me together in My mothers womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw My unformed Body. All the days ordained for Me were written in Your Book before one of them came to be.”
Dispensationalist grab onto any and every verse they can in an attempt to prove their PreTrib theory, and the passage in the gospel of John is one of them. Are believers still waiting for Jesus to receive them unto Himself? Has He not come to us yet? Of course not! Jesus and the Father have already received us and made their home with us.
And as for the Church ceasing to exist throughout Revelation, Dispensationalist don’t seem to have a grasp of what or who the Church is. Here are a few descriptions of the Church, most of which can be found throughout the entirety of the New Testament. Brothers, servants, those slain for the Word of God and the Testimony they carried, fellow servants, brothers and sisters, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel (early Jewish believers, Firstfruits), Great Multitude (grafted in Gentiles saved through the witness of the early Jewish believers), those who have the seal of God on their foreheads, the Temple of God, Witnesses, Lampstands, Olive Trees, those who overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their Testimony, those who keep the commandments and hold fast their Testimony of Jesus, those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Those with the Father’s Name written of their foreheads (the 144,000 Firstfruits from all the tribes of Israel), etc.
The end times apostasy, the falling away, is about the return to the Old Covenant. Sarah vs. Hagar. New Jerusalem vs the Jerusalem below. Earthly vs, heavenly. Carnal vs. spiritual. Two examples of this apostasy is the Hebrew Roots movement which believes we are still in the Old Covenant (which has merely been “renewed”), and Dispensationalism, which believes there will be a return to the Old Covenant for Israel and during the Millennium. To return to the Old Covenant is spiritual adultery, represented by the Harlot in Revelation. Through His death, Jesus put to death the old creation and all that pertains to it. He is the Firstborn from among the death, the Firstborn over a New Creation, and we are the Firstfruits of this New Creation. The old is gone the new is come. There will never be a return to the old. The old creation is as in the pains of childbirth, waiting for the sons of God to be revealed. Out of the death of the old, a new is born. Fleshly Israel was put to death, for in Adam, all die. Those who believed were raised up with Christ to become a new, reborn spiritual Israel, and to this new Israel, Gentiles have been ingrafted. Jesus has redeemed and restored Israel. That redemption and restoration happened at the cross.
Hi Todd, I agree mostly with your comment. As to the Jewish wedding tradition, I have also searched for the source of this teaching. The earliest mention I can find of it came from the late Zola Levitt. I have not seen a single expositor that has repeated this supposed tradition ever provide a source, yet is repeated over and over again as if it were a verifiable fact. Even if it were true, which I doubt, we should never elevate tradition above scripture or use tradition in order to attempt to prove a doctrine. As for apostasy, I think your definition is somewhat limited. Falling away from the faith manifests itself in many ways, not just returning to the law for justification.
It is simply incredulous (or is it?) that there are believers who insist on separating the ‘Second Coming’ of the Lord Jesus from the ‘Gospel of salvation’. The two ARE inextricably linked to the point that they cannot be separated. Granted that there may be many of the Lord’s people who cannot grasp the finer points of biblical eschatology (the thief on the cross springs to mind here), but, nevertheless, unlike him, should we not all attempt to “grow in grace, and KNOWLEDGE of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3.18? Do we not all have a little more time than the repentant thief?
The heresy of Marcionism comes to mind here (Simply put; the teaching being that the so-called ‘harsh’ God of the OT is a different God to the so-called ‘loving’ God of the NT).
Yet Hebrews 13.8 speaks contrariwise; “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”
Do not be deceived, there is but ONE Second Advent for all His people, in the OT & NT dispensations; that is there is one Church of God in all ages, from Adam to the great white throne.
The pre-trib doctrine is satanic.
God bless.
Hi Mr. Ford,
I think that eschatology is extremely complex and takes years, even decades to study. In fact, we should never stop studying it. Of course, we are told that we should never stop studying Scripture itself daily, period. I believe that God generally made prophecy difficult on purpose. No one has a perfect understanding of it in all areas. We simply can’t find out all we need to learn in one chapter or in one book of the Bible. Also, much of prophecy is written in such a way as to be very, very cryptic. To me, some verses and biblical teachings that look “simple” are at times actually quite complex and there is frequently more information in the Bible than we may know is there. You are aware that the more you know the more you realize how much you don’t know?
I believe that most of the popular teachings on the topic of the Second Coming and the Resurrection are far too simplistic. The Rapture/Resurrection is actually a complicated study. I’ve been researching all the various interpretations regarding eschatology and the Rapture for decades. No matter what the “experts” claim to prove their own particular view, I find their explanations woefully incomplete, missing valuable sections of Scripture that would actually point them to a more complete and more accurate understanding of prophetic subjects and timelines.
It is also extremely important to recognize the major differences between Bible translations. I am amazed how much they can differ. Ones conclusions on many prophetic verses could be determined by which translation one reads or believes over another. You believe the Pre-Trib view is satanic. I believe it is a God-given teaching taught in the Bible. But I believe that the majority of the popular pre-trib teachings, as well as the other various popular views, are loaded with errors, have incorrect time-lines and are missing key prophecies. One reason I believe that Jesus warned about deception in the last days is because the majority of the church will have a wrong understanding of events. I think this deception lies within ALL the various popular eschatological opinions and view points.
When we come to a conclusion on the details of the Rapture, I would caution everybody, and I include myself, to still keep an open mind that maybe you or I can be mistaken. Stating that the other persons view is “satanic” is an extreme way of showing that you disagree with some other interpretation, simply because it differs from your own.
Yes, I certainly agree “satanic” does appear “extreme…” as you say.
I use such terminology because if something is not taught in God’s word, then what is it? “Hath God said” Genesis 3.1?
The sophistries of pre-trib theology are so confusing that even its adherents can’t understand what they are teaching-Scripture must bend to its theology rather than vice versa. It is riddled with holes and their numerous typologies.
Whatever knowledge of prophecy I may or may not have, I fully own that I am saved by God’s grace…ALONE! Not by my knowledge. But nevertheless the Scripture says Antichrist must come first, then he is destroyed by the Lord at His coming; “And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of His mouth…and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2.8. The Lord plainly says that His Advent shall be “After the tribulation of those days” Matthew 24.29-30.
Simply put, the world will get more and more anti-Christian until the Antichrist himself arrives on the scene. There will be no “any moment”or “secret” rapture seven years or whatever, prior to the the Lord’s Advent in glory.
Just as well Martin Luther didn’t say “I have a THEORY that we are justified by Faith”? We would still be shackled by popery! No! he was dogmatic, because he could see it plainly taught in the Scripture of truth. As Spurgeon used to say “Dogmatism, where are you? Come back to earth glorious dogmatism! where are have you been?” Spurgeon even called Darby “a thorough pope”.
Dispensationalism is a devilish theology, what else?
I disagree with a lot of theology that I see and hear taught in the Christian world. But as long as it is a difference of interpretation and opinions on non-salvation issues, I would try not to accuse other believers’ view point as devilish, even if I believed it to be. But that’s just me.
In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus, speaking on the end of the age, taught and warned about a man who believed in the Second Coming of Christ. But he believed that Jesus delayed His return. So he began to live and behave wickedly because he thought Christ would not come back for a long time. Then, Jesus came when that man wasn’t expecting Him and was judged for it. Isn’t this a warning about deception for those who think He won’t return for a while? My point is that those who believe in the Return, but think it’s years away may find out the hard way that it was right around the corner. (I personally DON’T believe that the Rapture is right around the corner at this time, but it will be someday).
Also, since you believe that the Rapture/Resurrection occurs after Armageddon and the tribulation, how is it that there will be Christian people on earth who still believe that the coming of Christ was delayed, only to have it happen unexpectedly? Wouldn’t they know as a believer in the second coming of Christ that if they witness the coming of Antichrist and all the great plagues of Revelation, and witness the great slaughter of believers from around the world, and know that the nations are converging on Israel that Jesus must be returning soon? How could they be so stupid?
I am a dispensationalist. But I don’t agree with many of the popular interpretations and timelines within dispensationalism. One particular area where I think many dispensationalists are wrong is the belief that the “tribulation saints” are not part of the Church. From my study, I have concluded that there is a Pre-Trib Rapture. But Jesus makes it clear in the Olivet Discourse that many living “believers” within the Church will not be included in the Rapture and will be left behind to go through the tribulation. These are the 5 foolish virgins who actually expected the “bridegroom,” but ran out of oil and left to buy oil at the wrong time. Those left behind are also the “servants” that think Christ has “delayed His coming” and are surprised when it happens.
So, does the church go through the tribulation? Yes and no. Many in the Church, a huge multitude (Rev. 8) will go through it and will pay a terrible price because they did not heed the warnings Jesus gave. Those that heed the warnings will be taken to escape the hour of trial. People need to really study the Olivet Discourse more. It is far more complex than most realize. If a believer enters the tribulation period, it will be a judgment on them. They, those in the church, disregarded Jesus plea to be ready. They did not “watch and pray always to be found worthy to ESCAPE the things that are coming upon the earth.” – Luke 21:36
There is no reason for you, in your alleged non-devilish interpretation, to watch and pray to escape all the things that will come upon the earth and to stand before the Son of Man, since you believe that there is no escape for anyone when that time comes. I have a choice to believe either the Post-Trib way, that there is no escape from the tribulation for all Christians. Or I can believe the Bible and accept that there IS an escape promised in Luke 21 and in the Olivet Discourse and in the letters to the churches in Revelation from that time of trouble.
My question to you then, how does one escape it? Commit suicide? Aren’t the 144,000 the only people on earth given a seal of protection, while the saints are given over to the Antichrist to be martyred? – Daniel 7:21 Revelation 12:17
Excellent article, the Pre-Trib rapture was never believed by the early church, it is a later addition that was introduced in the modern era of Christianity. It think that if you study the Scriptures diligently, you will come to the conclusion that we will be going through the first part of the tribulation, I lean toward the pre-wrath view of the rapture.
I’m waiting for a refutal attempt concerning the ancient Jewish wedding.
Betrothal “you haven’t chosen me, but I have chosen you.”
The promise of the groom, “I go to prepare a place for you”
The role of a Jewish dad in helping his son prepare for the night of the wedding “in my father’s house are many mansions (rooms)”
The role of the Jewish dad being the only one who can tell the son when it’s time to retrieve his bride, “no man knows the day nor the hour…but the Father only”
The coming as promised. “Parable of the virgins”
The time frame of the honeymoon being “safely tucked away” from the world which is the seven day period (7 year tribulation)
The church ceases to exist through most of the book of Revelation…disappearing in ch. 3 and not reappearing until the literal second coming. Which equates to the end of the 7 day honeymoon period where the groom makes a public appearance with his bride.
I mean what can you do to refute this? This is evidence of the pre-trib rapture, as illustrated harmoniously through the object lessons Jesus Himself gave.
Joey, there is nothing to refute. What you have laid out proves nothing. To prove pre-tribulationism you need to do so from the scripture, not from some subjective interpretation of Jewish tradition. Isa 8:20
We have been very successful in cramming the gospel into a tidy little box, packaging it with all the trappings of an inoffensive, come as you are, stay as you are, Rick Warren style wrapping paper and tied with the bow of militant anti repentance and anti humility.
We’ve disassociated the natural branches from its core message, from its foundation, claiming the bride of Christ to be exclusive of any remnant of Jacob, even though Jeremiah 3:14-20 is still in the book. We had to. How else could we claim that while the marriage supper of the Lamb is finishing its last course, those poor tribulation saints and those of Israel whom God promised as a remnant, will be left out in the cold.
There has ever only been one gospel, one way of salvation. The falling away of believers is coming en large and it’s coming on the heels of the realization that today’s elitist Christians, boasting themselves better than the natural branches and boasting that the servant is greater than the master, find out that they will be faced with a grim choice; the choice between holding fast as one of those tribulation saints or falling away into eternal damnation.
The focus of this article is on preaching the Gospel. The Two Peoples of God doctrine of modern Dispensational Theology has been extremely destructive to sharing the Gospel with the Jewish people. Why? Because much of the modern evangelical Church acts like the Jews are still under the Old Covenant. Most do not actually say this, but it is how many of us act. One modern televangelist has come right out and said that the Jews do not need Jesus, because they are still under the Old Covenant. Based on Hebrews 8:13, the Old Covenant has been made “obsolete” by the New Covenant. This idea of “Dual Covenant Theology” is not found in the writings of the Apostle Paul or any of the other writers or the New Testament.
Others claim the Jews will have their time of redemption in the future after the Church is removed at the Pretrib Rapture of the Church. They say God will then go back and deal with Israel under the Old Covenant system, outside of the Age of Grace. This concept is not found in the New Testament. Some have attempted to make it so by changing the word “so”, which is an adverb of manner, into the word “then” in Romans 11:26. The covenant in Romans 11:26-27 is the New Covenant paid for in Blood at Calvary. Paul provides no path of salvation outside of being grafted into the Olive Tree, which is a symbol of the New Covenant Church.
The third stance is that God will save modern Jews at the Second Coming of Christ. The problem is that the middle wall of separation between all races of people was broken down at the Cross. Based on the parable of the virgins from Matthew chapter 25, they must be ready “before” He returns.
If we want modern Jews to be saved they need to hear the Gospel, now.
Consider supporting an organization like “Jews for Jesus” or “Word of Messiah”, which is taking the Gospel to the Jewish people.
The “suffering servant” of Isaiah chapter 53, the New Covenant promised in Jeremiah 31:31-34, and the timeline of Daniel chapter 9 could be our greatest tools for showing modern Jews that their Messiah was Jesus of Nazareth.
If we want the modern State of Israel and Jews in other nations to be saved, they need to hear the Gospel of the One who died on a wooden Cross at Calvary.
No matter what your view of eschatology, thousands of Jews are dying every year without Christ.
Lets get to work.
Well said Joe. I would add to that list of organizations that preach Messiah to the Jews, oneforisrael.org. Their motto:
The battle between the Old covenant and the New Covenant began in Acts chapter 15, when the Judaisers said the early Christians must also be circumcised and follow the Law of Moses. The books of Galatians and Hebrews were written to address this problem. Paul’s frustration with the Judaisers is summed up in Galatians 5:12. We find the promise of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Christ said at the Last Supper that He would fulfill this New Covenant in His Blood at Matthew 26:28. In 2 Cor. 3:6, Paul says we are ministers of this New Covenant. In Galatians 4:24-31 Paul compels the Galatian believers to “cast out” the Sinai covenant of “bondage”. He says there are “two” covenants in verse 24. What is the other covenant he is referring to, if it is not the Sinai covenant? We find the New Covenant “now” in effect at Hebrews 8:6-13, with Christ being the minister of a better covenant made on better promises. In verse 13 we find that the New Covenant has made the Old Covenant “obsolete”. It is “everlasting” at Hebrews 12:24, 13:20. The Olive Tree in Romans chapter 11 is a symbol of the New Covenant Church made up of Israelites and Gentiles grafted together into one Olive Tree. Three thousand members of the New Covenant are found in “all the house of Israel” in Acts 2:36. The covenant in Romans 11:26-27 is the New Covenant promised to Jeremiah and fulfilled by the Blood of Christ at Calvary. Paul provides no path of salvation outside of being grafted into the Olive Tree in this chapter or in any of his other letters. In Galatians 1:6-9 Paul warns that there is only one Gospel to be preached.
The idea that God will go back to the “obsolete” Sinai covenant during a future time period of 7 years and will save modern Jews outside of the New Covenant Church is not found in the pages of the New Testament. It is one of the greatest errors of John Darby’s doctrine. God tore the temple veil in half at Calvary to symbolize the fulfillment of the Old Covenant and the bringing in of the New Covenant and nobody is going to repair it. The pretrib rapture doctrine is a way to get the Church off the planet so that God can go back and provide a path of salvation to modern Jews outside of the New Covenant Church. The Age of Grace is not going to end before the Second Coming of Christ. We find those under the Blood of the Lamb in Revelation 12:11. A person cannot be under the Blood of the Lamb and not be under the Grace of the New Covenant. If we truly love the Jewish people they need to hear the Gospel, now.
Those who claim there is a future part of salvation outside of the Grace of the New Covenant Church, are being modern day Judaisers.