StudyGrowKnow

PreTrib Rapture and Christ’s Bride

October 4, 2009 at 4:14 PM Leave a comment

I remember when my wife and I were starting to date.  We fell in love and it was not long before we began speaking of marriage and, eventually, I asked her to marry me, she said “yes!” and the day came for her to walk down the aisle toward me, as we prepared to say our marriage vows.

One of the things I was looking forward to during our engagement period was making sure that my wife went through military basic training.  I was anxious for her to learn the ropes of fighting, handling a rifle, fighting hand to hand combat, getting up at 4am every day, going on five to ten mile marches and hikes with a 90-pound backpack on her shoulders!

I was also sure that each time she would go through practice fights, target practice, fighting techniques and the like, she would become much of a committed wife to me after our wedding day.  Not only would all of her muscles be tightened and in shape, but her mental acuity would become much more heightened, enabling her to focus much better than at any previous time in her life!

I knew with all my heart that in order for our marriage to be a success, my bride would need to be in top physical shape, mentally prepared and fully focused.  If my wife came through all of that training and tempest, with bruises, broken bones and more, that’s to be expected.  If she looked as though she had seen better days, then that is certainly understandable because of all that was necessary for her to participate in before she was ready to be my wife.

I did not want a wife who was beautiful on the outside necessarily.  I wanted someone who was strong within and I knew that they best way for her to get there would be to enlist in the military and possibly need to participate in war exercises and even the real deal.  It would honestly (and quickly!) make a “real” woman out of her.  No whimps for me, thank you very much.

Prior to deciding on the military route, we also thought about having my future wife enter the pro-wrestling circuit.  Ultimate Fighting was also something that was considered.  We felt that each one of these routes would work very well.  Each had their pluses and a few minues.  All would place my future wife in a situation where she would be faced with potential abuse, and this abuse would create within her the ability to gain the upper hand, or she would crash and burn.

After much prayer and consideration, as mentioned, the military seemed the best choice, if for no other reason than the fact that it was more of a controlled situation.  Sure, it was a slight cop-out, however with the fact that she might be called to active duty, from which she would not return alive, then this alone seemed to outweigh all the minues.

Does the proceeding scenario seem stupid and ridiculous?  If so, that’s because it was something that was never considered.  In fact, during the engagement period, I did everything I could to ensure the safety of my bride-to-be.  I worried about this or that, made sure she understood how important it was for her to lock her car doors as soon as she entered her car, locked her doors to her apartment, and generally did what I could to be sure that she was as safe as possible.

I had found the woman of my dreams and the last thing I wanted, was a woman who needed to be brutalized before she would be actually “ready” to be my wife.  Yet, this is what we believe about the Bride of Christ.  Some people believe that the Church needs to go through a period of trials and tribulations.  This process – we are told – will cleanse the Bride of Christ.  Apparently, Christ is unable to purify His Bride by the “washing of the Word,” and needs to send His Bride through the perils of the Tribulation/Great Tribulation.

This entire belief fails to understand the meaning of the Church, nor does it give credit to Christ Himself for purifying His own Bride.  They self-righteously believe that this process of purification (going through the Trib), is necessary because the Church is so apostate today.  Again, what is being confused is the difference between the visible Church, and the invisible Church.  The invisible Church is the TRUE Church.  A good deal of what we see today, and what passes off as the “Church,” is the visible Church.  This INCLUDES, but is not limited to the invisible Church.

Many folks see the shenanigans of the visible Church, and believe it to be the ENTIRETY of the invisible Church.  Because of the amount of apostasy in evidence, then it is stated that the Church needs to be purified.  The apostate members of the VISIBLE Church will NEVER be purified.  They are the tares and while they may look like the real Church, they are not the wheat, which represents the real, invisible Church.

When I die, Paul tells me that I will INSTANTLY be like Him, even though I am not sure what He is like now, nor what I will be when I die.  The fact remains though, that in death, I will instantly be transformed into His likeness.  I do not need to go through any period of great trial, or tribulation to be conformed to His image.  It will occur the instant I die.

So why am I still here on this earth then, if not to be purified?  I am here because I still have things (good works) that the Lord has predestined for me to complete.  I am here because of the Great Commission and it is important to realize that my main job is to evangelize the lost.  Satan would like me to believe that I am not giving up enough, not purified enough, not perfect enough and because of that, God is not happy with me.  Because He is not happy with me, then I either better get my life right, or risk the fiery trials of the Tribulation (if I am alive when it happens).

There is NOTHING I can do to make my salvation sure, because it is already sure.  There is nothing I can do to purify myself, because Christ Himself does that by the washing of the water of the Word.  My job is to obey Him in all things and when I do, the good works that follow result in His glorification and increased humility for me.

There are many who self-righteously believe that they deserve to go through the Tribulation/Great Tribulation period.  It is through this process that they will be conformed more and more to the image of Christ.  If that is the case, then they will actually be able to give themselves credit for how they lived their life here.  Salvation is an act of God; we are saved, justified, sanctified and glorified all by the Holy Spirit.  Our good works occur when we submit to Him and His will.

We are purified (glorified) at death.  Once I die, my sin nature will be removed, my corruptible body will become instantly incorruptible, and I will no longer have the capacity to sin.  I will be truly in the position to glorify my Lord and my God with every breath I take, every thought I think, every word I say and every action I do.  That will ONLY occur AFTER I die.  Then, the catepillar becomes the butterfly.

Those of you who firmly believe that the Tribulation/Great Tribulation is something that you NEED to go through in order to be purified by Christ, you’re welcome to it.  John has a simpler solution.  He stated that those who look to His coming purify themselves (or, better yet, ARE purified).

By my considering the FACT that He will return (or that one day, I will die and be ushered into His presence immediately), I am being purified because I then get rid of the things that have no eternal value.

Entry filed under: Atheism and religion, dispensationalism, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology. Tags: allegory, christianity, dispensationalism, dispensationalist, earning salvation, end times, great apostasy, great tribulation, posttribulation, pretrib rapture, prophecy, purified by Christ, purified in Christ, rapture, second coming, tribulation.