Question: My roommate and I have been discussing the views of salvation after the rapture. We are trying to understand if God lets anyone get saved after the rapture or does God harden the hearts of those who have been witnessed to and have rejected Jesus Christ. Is it true that only those who have not rejected Jesus Christ before the rapture can come to salvation after the rapture? Do you have a view on this subject matter?

Thank you!

Patricia

Answer: Dear Patricia,

In order for me to answer your question, you will have to examine other questions:

1. You need to examine the presuppositions and background of dispensationalism. You can check references in the library regarding John Nelson Darby, born in London in 1800. Darby actually started to share his ideas about dispensationalism in the 1830’s. In the early 20^th century, men such as C.I. Scofield (the Scofield Reference Bible) popularized Darby’s teachings.

Believe it or not, Christians prior to Darby did not believe in what has today become known as dispensationalism. Of course that neither proves or disproves dispensationalism – but at the very least such a fact should help us to understand that Christians "got by" for 1800 years without the prophetic interpretations of dispensationalism – which includes the rapture. That fact should also cause us to wonder how important, in terms of core doctrinal beliefs, the related teachings of dispensationalism are. For example, the Reformers apparently felt there were more important issues to deal with.

2. Dispensationalism proposes that Jesus will return before a 1,000 year millennium. This is a minority view among all Christians in the world today – but is enormously intriguing and well publicized, through such writings as Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth and more recently Tim Lehaye’s Left Behind series. One compelling reason for taking a close look at dispensationalism is that it leads to speculation and date-setting. The failures of dispensationalism have also been well-publicized, particularly by the secular press, and it seems that this method of understanding the Bible has caused many non-believers to stumble, or have a justification for not accepting Jesus Christ.

For example, in early 1999 Christian books were being sold by the hundreds of thousands predicting unbelievable chaos on or around January 1, 2000 – some well-known Christian ministers and ministries went on record predicting apocalyptic-like results (for more details, see our website – scroll down the first page and see "Special Features"). But they were all wrong! Why?

3. For a wider view we recommend the Plain Truth Ministries video, Millennial Madness – and/or the study guide we produced. For a specific, easy to read, short little book on the topic of the rapture, we recommend End Times – Rapture, Antichrist, Millennium – written by James Efird, professor of biblical interpretation at Duke Divinity School. The book was first published by Abingdon Press in 1986, and although it has not sold as many copies as Lindsay or LaHaye, it is based upon a solid and mature understanding of the Holy Bible.
4. There is only one passage in the New Testament that can remotely be understood as teaching the rapture – that would be 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. But upon close examination (Efird makes this clear in his book, pages 38-52), we find no reason whatsoever to conclude that Paul is teaching that Christians are removed from the world before or during the Great Tribulation. The only "removing of believers" from the world happens at the Resurrection, which the Bible speaks of as being at exactly the same time as the Second Coming (not before) – and at this time there is no removal of believers, but the glorification of their bodies, along with those who are dead in Christ. Paul clearly teaches in 1 Corinthians 15 that those who are in Christ and alive at his Second Coming, and those who are dead in Christ, will all be changed at the same time.