Sometimes when I bring up the topic of the Rapture, it seems to make some Christians nervous, rather than excited.

Yet the promise that Jesus will one day suddenly return in the clouds to resurrect all deceased Christians, transform all living Christians from mortal to immortal, and then take us all to heaven with him before the Tribulation begins is called our blessed hope (Titus 2:13). Paul tells Christians to encourage each other by reminding each other of the coming Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

One reason that many Christians may not be looking forward to the Rapture is because they were told that only some Christians will be raptured, while the rest will be left behind on Earth to suffer and be martyred during the Tribulation. These Christians might worry that they will be one of the ones that will be left behind.

But if this were a possibility, then instead of the Rapture being a source of encouragement, hope, and joy for Christians as the Bible says it should be, the Rapture would become something to fear. So already, we can see that this argument that only some Christians will be raptured is false, because it removes the encouragement that Christians should have when they think about the Rapture.

Fortunately, there are many more solid biblical reasons why we can be confident that all true Christians will be included in the Rapture. In this post I will lay out these reasons, and also explain a few verses that are often misused to teach that not every Christian will be raptured.

I hope that by the end of this post, if you are a Christian, you will never again worry about being left behind, so that you can look forward to the Rapture with excitement and hope.

A Disclaimer

First, there is one thing I need to address. It is true that there are going to be many "Christians" who will be left behind when the Rapture happens. This is because although they call themselves Christians, these people have never personally trusted in Jesus as their Savior who died for their sins so they can have eternal life.

Some of these people will likely be the first ones who will speak out after the Rapture and deny that it just happened. They will say "Well, I'm a Christian, and I'm still here, so it wasn't the Rapture." Entire churches may even still be here after the Rapture if their pastors never preached the true gospel to their congregations.

Sadly, these "Christians" will have thought they were true Christians because of how they may have:

• lived in a 'Christian' country
• been 'good' people
• had Christian parents or grandparents
• attended worship services on Sundays
• participated in Sunday school as a child
• celebrated Christmas and Easter
• read the Bible
• were baptized
• participated in Communion/the Eucharist/the Lord's Supper
• tithed
• volunteered at church in various ways
• worked as pastors, priests, or other high-level church officials
• written theology books
• taught at Bible colleges

Or really, you could add to this list almost anything else that might define a Christian other than having personally believed in Jesus.

Jesus warns that people can do all sorts of amazing things such as prophesying in his name and casting out demons, but still not have a personal relationship with him which comes through faith (Matthew 7:22-23). So if you think you are a Christian for one of the above reasons, but you have never admitted that you are a sinner who needs Jesus to die to pay for your sins, then you should expect to be left behind at the Rapture.

However, as long as the Rapture has not yet happened, there's still time for you to believe in Jesus and be saved, and then you will be ready for whenever the Rapture happens. If you would like more details about the gospel and how to accept Jesus as your Savior, check out my post here.

So in the rest of this post, when I use the term Christian, I am referring to true Christians, which are those people who have personally trusted in Jesus for eternal life.

All Christians Will Be Raptured

The quickest way to answer this question of whether any true Christians will be left behind at the Rapture is to review the key Bible verses about the Rapture:

For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord for ever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, NRSV)

Note how there is nothing in the above verse which says that only some of the Christians who are still alive at this time will be caught up to be with Jesus. If it were a possibility that some true Christians would be left behind at the Rapture, then why didn't Paul mention this possibility and warn his audience about how to avoid being left behind?

Usually, those false teachers who argue that only some living Christians will be raptured make it dependent on the individual Christian's personal holiness or worthiness.

Yet what the false teachers often forget is that the Rapture is not just an event for living Christians, but also for deceased Christians. Just as the above verses in 1 Thessalonians say, those who have died after putting their faith in Jesus will be resurrected, and then living Christians will be caught up along with them to meet Jesus in the clouds.

I have never heard anyone who claims that only some living Christians will be caught up also argue that only some of the deceased Christians will be resurrected at the Rapture. I suppose that's because you can't scare Christians who are already dead. So if false teachers want to scare Christians by threatening them with not being raptured unless they do what the false teacher says, the false teachers naturally have to target only living Christians.

However, to be consistent, these false teachers should at least claim that only some deceased Christians will also be resurrected at the Rapture. This is because there is nothing different between deceased Christians and living Christians in terms of personal holiness or worthiness that could explain why all deceased Christians will be resurrected at the Rapture, but only some living Christians will be included in the Rapture.

After all, no Christian has ever become perfect or sinless in this life, because we are all sinners: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). Jesus instructed us to pray "forgive us our sins" (Luke 11:4) as part of the Lord's Prayer because he knew that there would never come a time in our lives when we would no longer sin.

So all Christians who have died were not living perfectly holy lives, and all Christians who are alive at the Rapture will not be living perfectly holy lives, either.

The same is true for any other criteria that someone might want to use to argue that only these sorts of Christians will be caught up at the Rapture. To be consistent, people who argue this way would need to say that only some of the deceased Christians would also be resurrected at the Rapture (the ones who met the particular conditions to be included in the Rapture).

However, there is nothing in the Bible that says there is some particular condition that deceased Christians must have met before they died in order to be resurrected at the Rapture. Likewise, there is nothing that gives any particular condition(s) that living Christians must meet in order to be included in the Rapture.

If false teachers argue that the last generation of Christians living before the Tribulation are so immoral that some of these Christians will need to be left behind in order to be 'purified' by suffering in the Tribulation, then these false teachers clearly haven't read 1 and 2 Corinthians to see the scandalous things that were going on in that church. Yet Paul never hinted that the Corinthian Christians were not true Christians. Instead, he called them his brothers and sisters (1 Corinthians 1:10, NRSV) and said they were sanctified in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:2).

The result is the same in any other period of church history. There was no time when Christians weren't struggling with sins of various sorts, some of which we would be shocked by if we imagined them being committed by people in our churches today.

Thus, if some Christians today need to be spiritually purified by suffering in the Tribulation, then why do all the deceased Christians get to skip such 'purifying' when they were not any better? So the argument that only living Christians need purification doesn't make any sense, except, again, if the argument is being made by a false teacher who is trying to scare Christians by threatening them with missing the Rapture.

So if all deceased Christians will be resurrected at the Rapture, then all living Christians will be transformed and caught up at the Rapture. To argue anything else is to be inconsistent.

Now, although this thought experiment was worthwhile in order to point out flaws in the false teachers' logic, ultimately, it doesn't matter because in another verse, we are told explicitly that all Christians who are alive at the Rapture will be included:

Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:51-53, NRSV)

Did you catch that? We will all be changed. The Bible couldn't be any clearer than that. Therefore, if you believe that Jesus died for your sins so that you can have eternal life, then you will be included in the Rapture.

The Church Is The Body of Christ

A further argument for why all Christians will be included in the Rapture comes from how the Church—made up of all true Christians regardless of their particular denomination—is described as being the body of Christ.

Paul used this analogy a few different times in his letters:

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:12-14, NLT)

Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. (Romans 12:4-5, NLT)

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. (Ephesians 4:15-16, NLT)

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)

Notice here that in two of the verses above it is the Holy Spirit that joins individual believers together to form the body of Christ. We also know that no one can say that Jesus is Lord without having the Holy Spirit in them (1 Corinthians 12:3).

Therefore, if you have trusted in Jesus as your Savior, and you can say Jesus is Lord, then you have the Holy Spirit in you, and you are part of the body of Christ.

The Holy Spirit is a seal and a guarantee of your eternal salvation which you received the first moment you believed in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:13-14). Therefore, you cannot lose the Holy Spirit, and you will never lose your salvation.

Now according to these verses, it means that at the Rapture, Jesus will be uniting his body with himself, who is its head. So it wouldn't make sense for Jesus to unite only some of the parts of his body with him at the Rapture. Why would he tear his body apart like that, when he says his purpose for his body is for it to grow together and build itself up in love (Ephesians 4:16)?

Furthermore, Jesus' death on the cross was enough to pay for all sin (1 Peter 3:18, Hebrews 7:27, 9:25–26), so there is no reason for any part of his body to have to suffer again because of sin. Therefore, no true Christians will be left behind to suffer through the Tribulation because of their own sins.

Also, due to being part of Christ's body, Christians are credited with Jesus' own perfect righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 3:21–25, 1 Corinthians 1:30-31). Therefore, there is no need for us to become more righteous by suffering through the Tribulation.

The Church is the Bride of Christ

This argument is even more true when we see that the Church (made up of all true Christians) is not just Jesus's body, but we're also his bride:

In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:28-32)

So Jesus loves the Church not just as his body, but also as his bride. Using this metaphor, it wouldn't make any sense for Jesus to take only part of his bride to heaven to be with him, and leave the rest of his beloved bride on Earth to suffer and be killed during the Tribulation.

Yes, there will be many people who will believe in Jesus after the Rapture, and so they will be eternally saved. They are the ones who will have to endure through the Tribulation, and many of them will be killed for their faith (Revelation 6:9-11). They are also the ones who will be resurrected to rule along with Jesus and the Church during the Millennial Kingdom as a reward for being killed (Revelation 7:9-17, 20:4).

However, this group of believers are not the Church. How do we know this?

Because Jesus promised that the gates of hell will not overcome the Church (Matthew 16:18). Yet God will allow the Antichrist to overcome believers who are on Earth during the Tribulation (Revelation 13:7). Therefore, they are two different groups of people.

There is confirmation of this in how we see that Christians who make up the Church are promised that we will not face God's wrath:

But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. (Romans 5:8-10, NRSV)

So this verse says that being justified is different from being saved from God's wrath. Being saved from God's wrath is a benefit for Christians who live before the Rapture, in addition to having our sins forgiven by God. This is confirmed in the following verse:

For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-11, NLT)

The reason that all Christians who believe in Jesus before the Rapture will be saved from the Tribulation is because the Tribulation is when God will pour out his wrath on the Christ-rejecting world (2 Peter 3:7). Yet Jesus promised Christians who live before the Rapture that we won't even experience the time of the Tribulation (Revelation 3:10).

This is because God's wrath is only meant for those who reject him (John 3:36, Ephesians 2:3, Romans 1:18, 2:8). One second after the Rapture, the only people who will be left on Earth will be those who had not yet put their faith in Jesus (John 6:28-29).

Paul instructed the Thessalonian Christians to "wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming" (1 Thessalonians 1:10, NRSV). This is a clear promise that the Rapture will happen before the Tribulation.

Thus, the Church will not be on Earth during the Tribulation. Instead, Christians will be safely with Jesus in his Father's house (i.e., heaven), just as he promised us (John 14:2-3, Isaiah 26:19-21).

This makes sense when we remember that there is no reason for the Church to be on Earth during the Tribulation.

The Tribulation is the last seven years that are assigned to Israel in order for them to complete God's purposes for them (Daniel 9:24-27). One of these purposes is for God to bring Israel to the point of recognizing that Jesus is their true Messiah, which is the condition that must be fulfilled before Jesus' second coming (Matthew 23:39, Zechariah 12:10–11, 13:8–9). For more on this, see my post here.

The Tribulation period will also be a second chance for everyone who didn't believe in Jesus before the Rapture to believe and be eternally saved before Jesus' second coming.

But the Church already knows that Jesus is our Messiah, and we have already believed in him. Therefore, there is no reason why Christians who have believed in Jesus before the Rapture must go through the Tribulation.

However, there are still some verses that can trouble Christians because if these verses are not interpreted correctly, it can appear that they teach that true Christians will go through the Tribulation. These verses will now be addressed to show how they do not contradict the clear verses we have already seen that say that no true Christians will be left behind at the Rapture.

Objection: The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids/Virgins

This parable in Matthew 25:1-13 is frequently used to claim that only Christians who are somehow "ready" for Jesus' return will be raptured, while the rest will have to go through the Tribulation.

Alternatively, I have also heard this parable used in a number of other ways, so there is not much consistency in how this parable is interpreted.

The best interpretation of this parable that I've come across is from Zane Hodges. He explains that this parable is not talking about Christians and the Rapture at all, because it's actually about believers who will live through the Tribulation period.

The setting of this parable is that ten bridesmaids are waiting with their lamps/torches in order to perform what was called a "torch dance". This was a common part of a Jewish wedding celebration during the first century AD. It would have been considered an honor for the girls who were chosen to perform this dance for the bridegroom, bride, and their guests at their wedding feast.1

Thus, the bridesmaids are not the bride (i.e., the Church), and they are not the ones getting married to the bridegroom. Yet the bridesmaids are to have a special role in the wedding celebration.

In the parable, while waiting for the bridegroom (and bride) to come start the wedding feast, all the bridesmaids fall asleep. When they get woken up by a shout that the bridegroom is coming, only half of the girls were wise enough to have brought extra oil to re-light their torches/lamps.

Those girls who had the extra oil and re-lit their torches/lamps are able to go directly into the wedding feast with the bridegroom and bride to perform their dance and enjoy the celebration, while those girls who were foolish and unprepared are locked out of the party while they are away trying to buy more oil.

Zane Hodges interprets this parable as saying that during the Tribulation, only some believers will have spiritually prepared themselves to make it through the extra-difficult last three-and-a-half years of the Tribulation. Those believers who remain faithful despite the severe persecution of Christians during this time will be rewarded by ruling with Jesus and the Church during Jesus' Millennial Kingdom.2

In contrast, those believers who do not remain faithful are still eternally saved, but they will lose their physical lives and will not be resurrected until after the Millennial Kingdom is over. This outcome would fulfill Jesus' warning that only those who endure (in faith) to the end (of the Tribulation) will be (physically) saved (Matthew 24:12-14).3

This judgment on unfaithful believers during the Tribulation seems harsh, but it makes sense.

At the Sheep and Goats Judgment in Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus judges everyone who has physically survived the Tribulation to see if they will be permitted into his Millennial Kingdom, apparently based on whether they did particular good works. However, there is no category at this judgment for true believers who did not do good works. So the only possibilities are either:

1. The Holy Spirit will guarantee that all true believers during the Tribulation will do these good works, or
2. Any true believers who did not do these good works are not alive to be judged at this judgment.

The possibility of option 2 makes sense when we consider the specific things that Jesus commends the faithful believers for doing in Matthew 25:35-36.

It can seem that these faithful believers pass Jesus' judgment because of the good works they do, while those who do not do these things are condemned to the lake of fire (Matthew 25:46). Yet that seems to be salvation by works, rather than faith, which is contrary to Scripture (e.g., Galatians 2:16).

However, we can say that these things that Jesus mentions the faithful believers will do during the Tribulation will actually be evidence of their faith in him. This is because these believers will have been cut off from all ability to buy and sell, since they will not take the Mark of the Beast. Due to this, sharing their food, water, and extra clothing with other persecuted believers would require strong faith that God will provide for them in the future.

It would also take strong faith for believers to visit those who are in prison if the Antichrist's government is jailing and executing known Christians (Revelation 13:10). Visiting those who are sick would also require believers to trust God to keep them healthy if they are now cut off from the ability to buy medicine in case they get sick.

In contrast, believers who do not do these things would demonstrate that they have weaker faith. Under the intense pressure of the last half of the Tribulation, these weaker believers may be tempted to give up their faith and take the Mark of the Beast in order to survive. But since taking the Mark leads to eternal negative consequences that aren't compatible with eternal salvation (Revelation 14:9-11), God could graciously allow these unfaithful believers to be killed in various ways in order to prevent them from taking the Mark.

These believers in category 2 who die will still be eternally saved, but by not enduring in faith, they won't be resurrected with the faithful martyrs after Jesus' second coming (Revelation 20:4). The unfaithful believers will have to wait to be resurrected at the final judgment, after the Millennial Kingdom is over.

This means they will have missed out on the joy of seeing the Millennial Kingdom, even though they will still experience eternity in the New Heaven and New Earth. Missing out on the Millennium is depicted as the foolish bridesmaids not being able to join in the celebration of the wedding feast.

Overall, Hodges' interpretation is far more convincing to me than other interpretations I've heard because it is theologically compatible with the earlier verses which clearly teach that all Christians who live before the Rapture will be raptured.

Objection: You Must Be Strong Enough/Counted Worthy To Escape The Tribulation

One of the more difficult verses that often scares Christians into thinking they might not be raptured is Luke 21:34-36.

After Jesus gave his disciples many details about things that will happen during the Tribulation, he said:

But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:34-36, ESV)

On the surface, it does seem like Jesus is saying that Christians need to pray to be somehow 'strong' enough to be included in the Rapture, and thus escape the Tribulation period. But because this is not taught anywhere else in the Bible, especially in the clear passages about the Rapture, it cannot be the correct interpretation.

Now, it is possible that Jesus could be referring to the people who will live through the Tribulation. As was discussed earlier in the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, those people who will believe in Jesus after the Rapture will need to pray that they will be strong enough to hold onto their faith and survive the judgments of the Tribulation in order for them to "stand before the Son of Man" at the Sheep and Goats judgment.

After all, an important principle of Biblical interpretation is that clear Bible verses must be used to interpret the unclear verses, not the other way around.

So, we have already seen earlier in this post that the two major passages in Scripture about the Rapture do not include any warnings or conditions that Christians must meet in order to be included in the Rapture. Therefore, we cannot interpret this verse in Luke 21:36 as saying that there is some condition that Christians must meet in order to qualify to be raptured.

We also can't interpret these verses in a way that overrides what we saw in the previous section of this post about how all Christians are equally members of Christ's body/bride, and the verses that say all Christians will be saved from God's wrath that is to come on the world during the Tribulation.

However, there is an alternative interpretive possibility for Luke 21:34-36. This verse is one of the rare instances in which there is a significant difference between the few Greek manuscripts that different English Bible translations use.

Most modern English Bibles translate Luke 21:34-36 in ways similar to the verse shown at the start of this section from the ESV. Alternatively, the KJV and NKJV use a different manuscript and translate this verse as:

But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:34-36, NKJV)

Now my academic background is theology, not Biblical studies, so I'm not going to discuss the history of these different manuscripts or how these variations arose, or which variant is more likely to have been in the original manuscript. However, some scholars would say the original is the one used by the KJV/NKJV.

In this case of the KJV/NKJV variant, it is easier to explain how this verse is compatible with the Rapture in a way that does not imply that only some Christians will be raptured.

For example, let's compare this verse with 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3:

For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

Yet Paul goes on to say:

But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:4-11)

So this entire passage in 1 Thessalonians seems to parallel quite well what Jesus says in Luke 21:36, KJV/NKJV.

Both passages discuss an "escape" in relation to the disastrous events that the world will experience in the end times. In Luke, the focus is on some people who will escape the sudden start of the Tribulation, and in 1 Thessalonians, the focus is on others who will not escape from the sudden destruction.

Both passages include instruction for Christians to stay alert and watch for Jesus' return, and behave properly while watching. These verses also include hints that some people who are not watching will be very surprised when the Rapture happens.

But again, neither of these passages teach that some true Christians will be left behind.

However, the Bible does warn in several places that not all Christians will be equally ready when Jesus returns at the Rapture. In fact, this is exactly what Jesus is warning about at the start of these verses. Some Christians will be too caught up in sinful behavior or worrying about the things of this life to want to think about being caught up at the Rapture.

The same warning is repeated elsewhere in the Bible.

Paul explains that if Christians are paying attention, we will be able to see the day of Jesus' return at the Rapture approaching. The appropriate behavior then is to give up living in ways that sinners do, and to soberly watch and be ready for Jesus to return in the clouds (1 Thessalonians 5:4-8, Romans 13:11-14).

This may be why the crown that Paul says Jesus will give to everyone who is eagerly looking for Jesus' return is called the "crown of righteousness" (2 Timothy 4:8). In contrast, Christians who scoff about the nearness of Jesus' return are said to do so because they want to keep indulging their own sinful desires (2 Peter 3:3-4).

So yes, Christians should watch for Jesus' return, and pray that the Holy Spirit will help us avoid living in ways that look no different than the unsaved world world that we will be leaving behind at the Rapture. Not all Christians will do this though, and so some will be living in ways that make them look like they should not have been "counted worthy" to escape the Tribulation. Yet even these Christians will still be raptured.

The story of Lot is a potentially helpful illustration of this.

Remember that Jesus said that when he returns, it will be like it was in the days of Lot (Luke 17:28). Lot lived in a very sinful city named Sodom, along with his family.

However, Lot, his wife, and his two daughters were considered righteous by God. Thus, they were counted worthy of escaping the judgment and destruction that God was about to bring on the city. God sent angels to take Lot and his family out of the city just in time before the destruction came (Genesis 19:15-16).

Lot, though, is a rather unusual character. He is called righteous and is said to have been "greatly distressed" by the sin he saw around him (2 Peter 2:7-8).

Yet in the story in Genesis, Lot shockingly offers his two unmarried daughters to the crowd of men who have surrounded Lot's house, saying that the crowd can "do to them as you wish," as long as the crowd leaves Lot's two angelic visitors alone (Genesis 19:6-8). But that doesn't really seem like something a 'righteous' father would do, does it?

Furthermore, after Lot and his family escape the destruction of Sodom, they end up living in a cave, where Lot's two daughters act in another shocking and indecent way (Genesis 19:30-35).

Therefore, the best explanation is that Lot and his family were "counted worthy" to escape the judgment on Sodom because they believed in God, just as Abraham did (Romans 4:3-5, Genesis 18:23-26). It is not because they were morally flawless, since the Bible tells us they were not.

Similarly, all Christians will be "counted worthy" of escaping the Tribulation simply because we have faith in Jesus, even if, judging only based on outer actions, some Christians will not appear to be living in ways that are any different from the world around them.

But in either case, both variants of Luke 21:34-36 are explainable in ways that do not conflict with the clear Bible verses that say that all true Christians will be included in the Rapture.

However, it turns out that the KJV/NKJV variant about being "counted worthy" may be more consistent when we consider how it fits with the Parable of the Faithful and Wicked Servant in Matthew 24.

Objection: The Faithful and Wicked Servant

After Jesus tells his disciples about the coming Tribulation in Matthew 24, he ends with a short parable:

Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, "My master is delayed," and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:45-51)

This is another passage that is often used to claim that Christians who are not being watchful for Jesus' return at the Rapture will experience negative consequences.

Here, the behavior of the wicked servant parallels with the behavior Jesus warned against in Luke 21:34-36. Yet the servant goes beyond simply being drunk and un-watchful, since the servant denies Jesus's soon return and mistreats fellow servants.

This wicked servant's behavior matches well with how Peter predicts that

scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation" (2 Peter 3:3-4).

So this parable is yet another way of saying that at Jesus' next coming at the Rapture, not all Christians will be found to be faithfully watching for Jesus' return and serving God as they should be. Those who are found faithfully serving God will be rewarded, but others will suffer negative judgment.

Now, the judgment that the wicked servant faces can seem very harsh. The phrase about "weeping and gnashing of teeth" reminds many Christians of verses like Matthew 13:41-42 or 13:49-50 which talk about wicked people being eternally destroyed in the lake of fire after the final judgment (Revelation 20:14-15).

However, as Zane Hodges points out, we shouldn't interpret the punishment of the wicked servant as him being eternally destroyed.

After all, the servant is still a servant, as is the wicked servant in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:26-30. See also the Parable of the Minas in Luke 19:11-27, where the wicked servant is differentiated from the nobleman's enemies who are killed (Luke 19:27). And we know that all Christians are eternally secure, based on Ephesians 1:13-14 and other verses.

So whatever the fate is for the wicked servant, it is not eternal destruction.

Instead, Hodges says that weeping and gnashing of teeth was a common expression of intense grief in the Middle East during Jesus's time. The expression "cut in pieces" is likewise talking about the experience of receiving God's severe judgment, but is not meant to be taken literally. This wicked servant is called a hypocrite because he claimed to be a servant, but he was not found acting in ways that a servant should act, and so he is deprived of some sort of reward that causes the servant to feel intense grief.4

That grief is not caused by missing out on the Rapture, but rather, it is the loss of some sort of position of ruling authority in eternity. As Wilkins explains:

In v.25, Jesus speaks of the faithful and wise servant whom his master made ruler over His household to give them food in due season. That's in this life. But then He says that if the servant-ruler is still fulfilling his task when the Master comes, the servant-ruler will be made ruler over all His goods. In other words, the servant-ruler now, if he's faithful until Christ comes, will be a ruler over much more in the life to come. This seems to be a promise of eternal rulership. A loss of such rulership would cause great grief.5

It would surely be embarrassing to be caught being a bad servant at Jesus' return (1 John 2:28). These verses along with others imply that some Christians will face deep regret and loss when their lives are judged for eternal rewards (Luke 19:26, 1 Corinthians 3:15), versus the blessing and commendation that is promised to other Christians who have been more faithful during their lives (Matthew 25:21, Luke 19:16-19, 1 Corinthians 3:14).

Yet this feeling of loss will be temporary, as Hodges explains:

So since this passage is about a real servant of Christ who has lost the promotion and the rewards that could have been his by being faithful, he experiences intense grief. Some Christians experience a muted form of this grief now when they look back at wasted years and opportunities, but when we stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ, we will no longer have our sin nature and the grief will be intensely acute. We will be perfect and will be able to see with painful clarity what we have lost. Grief is an appropriate response to that. This does not mean that such servants will weep and gnash their teeth forever, for we know that God will wipe away all tears from every eye (Rev 21:4).6

Thus, this parable is an encouragement to Christians that because Jesus could return anytime at the Rapture, we don't know how long we will have to serve God. Therefore we should be diligent and do our best to serve God now in whatever ways he calls us to, because we will be rewarded for doing so, especially if we are found serving him when Jesus returns.

Obviously, this shouldn't be taken to an extreme. Christians need to sleep, eat, and relax too, as this is an important part of keeping ourselves functional enough that we can serve God well, as I've written about here. No one can literally serve God every minute of the day.

But in general, this parable teaches that some Christians will be more actively involved in following and serving God when Jesus returns, while others will not be doing this, and so there will be different consequences for these two groups of believers when Jesus returns.

Practical Application Of This Parable

Given how close it seems the world may be to the Rapture, I hope all Christians will wake up and do what God calls us to do to for him before we no longer have the opportunity. Let's be faithful servants with whatever time we have left.

Anything we can do to tell others about Jesus and to encourage them to believe in Jesus so that they don't get left behind at the Rapture should be at the top of our priority lists, even if it risks making us look silly.

At worst, if your loved ones don't believe you now, hopefully they will remember what you said after the Rapture happens, and they will believe then, and avoid falling for the great deception that will come on the whole world (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).

An extremely easy thing you can do right now is to simply write a letter explaining what the Rapture is and why you have suddenly disappeared. You can also warn your reader about the coming Tribulation, to not take the Mark of the Beast, and most importantly, explain the importance of believing in Jesus to have eternal life.

Feel free to copy directly from (or even print out in full) my post titled "Read This When Millions of People Suddenly Disappear" if you like what I wrote there and want to use that as your letter.

Put your letter in a place where people will likely see it if they come into your house to look for you after the Rapture happens. Also put a copy with your will or other important documents. Some Christians I know plan to put such a letter in their pantries so that if anyone breaks into their home after the Rapture happens in order to look for supplies, they will find the letter then.

This way, even if your family, friends, coworkers, roommates, or landlord are not open to talking about God now, you can still reach them after the Rapture. Then, the fact that you warned about the Rapture ahead of time in your letter might convince them to seriously consider what else you have to say about Jesus, and motivate them to pay attention to your warnings about what will be happening in the world in the near future.

Conclusion

As explained in this post, there is no reason for any true Christian to worry about being left behind at the Rapture. All the clearest verses about the Rapture do not give any condition(s) that Christians must fulfill in order to be raptured.

Instead, those parables and other verses that are often used to make Christians nervous about missing the Rapture are best understood in other ways that do not contradict the clear and strong arguments that all Christians will be raptured. This is how consistent Biblical interpretation should be done.

However, there is a risk for people who only call themselves Christians, but who have never truly put their faith in Jesus. If they don't admit that they need Jesus to die for their sins and instead choose to believe that the things they do can earn them eternal salvation, they will be left behind at the Rapture.

Hopefully, the Rapture will cause many of these Christians-in-name-only to realize their mistake and to truly believe in Jesus then, although they will face the Tribulation which will be the worst time in the history of the world (Matthew 24:21).

As in the parables we examined in this post, it will be a challenge for these new believers to keep their faith due to the severe persecution they will face. However, if they are faithful to the end, whether they physically survive the Tribulation or are martyred, they will be eternally rewarded.

Footnotes:

• 1. Zane C. Hodges and Robert N. Wilkin, Tough Texts: Did Jesus Teach Salvation By Works? (Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2017), 63-65.
• 2. Zane C. Hodges and Robert N. Wilkin, Tough Texts: Did Jesus Teach Salvation By Works? (Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2017), 64-68.
• 3. Robert Wilkin, "Why Are All The Gentile Sheep Found Faithful, But Only Five of the Ten Virgins? — Matthew 25:1-13 & 25:31-46," Grace Evangelical Society, January 30, 2018. See also John Claeys, "Matthew 25:31-46: Salvation by Works?" Grace Evangelical Society, September 1, 2017.
• 4. Zane C. Hodges and Robert N. Wilkin, Tough Texts: Did Jesus Teach Salvation By Works? (Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2017), 58-62
• 5. Zane C. Hodges and Robert N. Wilkin, Tough Texts: Did Jesus Teach Salvation By Works? (Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2017), 60.
• 6. Zane C. Hodges and Robert N. Wilkin, Tough Texts: Did Jesus Teach Salvation By Works? (Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2017), 59.