Friday 18 March 2016

Will there be a second chance for salvation after the Rapture?

Some Bible interpreters believe that there will be absolutely no
chance for salvation after the Rapture. However, there is no place in
the Bible which says this or even hints to it. There will be many
people who come to Christ during the Tribulation. The 144,000 Jewish
witnesses (Revelation 7:4) are Jewish believers. If no one can come to
Christ during the Tribulation, then why are people being beheaded for
their faith (Revelation 20:4)? No passage of Scripture argues against
people having a chance to be saved after the Rapture. Many passages
indicate the opposite.

Another view is that those who hear the gospel and reject it before
the Rapture cannot be saved. Those saved during the Tribulation, then,
are those who had never heard the gospel before the Rapture. The
"proof text" for this view is 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11, which says the
Antichrist will work miracles to deceive "those who are perishing" and
that God Himself will "send them a powerful delusion" to confirm them
in their unbelief. The reason given is that "they refused to love the
truth and so be saved" (verse 10). Granted, those who are hard-hearted
toward the gospel before the Rapture are likely to remain so. And the
Antichrist will deceive many (Matthew 24:5). But "those who refused to
love the truth" does not necessarily refer to people who heard the
gospel before the Rapture. It could be anyone who wholly rejects God's
salvation, at any time. So, there is no clear scriptural evidence to
support this view.

Revelation 6:9-11 speaks of those martyred during the Tribulation
"because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they
had maintained." These martyrs will correctly interpret what they see
during the Tribulation and will believe the gospel themselves and call
on others to repent and believe as well. The Antichrist and his
followers will not tolerate their evangelism and will kill them. All
of these martyrs are people who were alive before the Rapture, but who
were not believers until afterward. Therefore, there must be
opportunity to come to Christ in faith after the Rapture.

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