I don't think any here are saying believers will not ascend.
The debate is concerning the timing.
It's partly that.
All agree with 1 Thessalonians 4 that when the Lord returns the dead shall be raised, and with them those who alive and remain will be transformed and taken up to meet Christ in the air.
There are two fundamental points of contention:
When does this take place? The Rapturists/Dispensationalists teach that Christ has a Parousia before His Parousia, and thus that Christ returns twice; once in the air to take Christians into heaven, and then Christ returns again as Judge. The historic confession of the Church, and the clear teaching of Scripture, is that the Lord's Parousia is His Parousia--Christ returns, as Judge of the living and the dead, and when He returns all who are in Christ--dead in the body or alive in the body--will be raised, transformed, and meet the coming Christ who shall judge.
The second point of contention is this: When Christ returns, does He just spend some time up in the upper atmosphere before disappearing with the resurrected saints? Or is Christ coming, as Scripture consistently teaches, to judge. The direction is from heaven to earth--the rising of the dead and catching up of the living to meet the returning Christ describes a royal entourage meeting the returning and victorious King, who escort the King back.
When the New Testament uses the word
parousia to describe Christ's return, it is a deliberate choice. The word invokes the sense of appearing and coming near. When a city watchman is looking over the horizon and sees something approach from afar, that is parousia. Christ uses the language of virgin-brides awaiting the bridegroom, looking into the distance for his arrival; Christ also speaks of the master returning to His estate where the servants have been left to continue, is the servant faithful or unfaithful, the servant shall be judged when the master returns. When a king returns, he approaches victoriously, the people would go out to greet him, and escort him into the city--we see this exact sort of thing happen when the Lord came on the foal of a donkey into Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday, and the people went out to meet Him and laid down palm leaves and sang
Hosanna! When the Lord comes, He shall be greeted by His people--the dead and the living--and they shall meet Him in the air, as He comes, in His glory, as Judge and King and Lord and it shall come to pass, as long ago promised and foretold, that God will make new the heavens and the earth, and there shall no longer again be a child who dies, or man who dies of old age. Instead a river shall flow out of the heavenly Zion come-down, carrying leaves which are for the healing of the nations, and the earth shall be filled with the glory of God as waters cover the seas--and all things shall be made new, every tear wiped away, and God shall be their God and they shall be His people--forever and ever.
It is with this hope that we may comfort ourselves, that those who have fallen asleep in the Lord shall not remain as corpses, but there is resurrection--all who have put their faith in Christ shall have His victory over death when He comes. Therefore we do not grieve as those without hope, for our hope is in the Lord, and in Him none shall be put to shame. Death has lost its sting, the Grave has lost its victory, Christ is risen and all who are His shall rise too. And there shall be life everlasting, forever and ever, for God makes all things new.
-CryptoLutheran
