Is the Rapture credible?

[1Tonne]

Eph 5:29 For no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ also does the church;

Do people really believe the body of Christ is going to suffer the wrath of GOD during the tribulation?

It’s true that Christ loves His church deeply — Ephesians 5:29 is a beautiful picture of that care. But love doesn’t always mean escape from suffering. In fact, Scripture repeatedly shows that believers are called to endure tribulation, not be removed from it.

Jesus Himself said in John 16:33, “In this world you will have tribulation; but take heart, I have overcome the world.” He didn’t promise His followers exemption from hardship — He promised His presence and ultimate victory through it.

The early church knew this well. In Acts 14:22, Paul and Barnabas encouraged believers by saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” And Paul himself wrote in Romans 8:36, “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet, he adds that in all these things “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

The idea that Christians will be raptured out before tribulation assumes that God's wrath and the tribulations of the end times are the same thing. But there’s a distinction. God knows how to preserve His people through His judgments — just like He protected Israel during the plagues in Egypt (Exodus 8–12), or Noah in the ark, or the faithful remnant in Babylon.

And what about the martyrs in Revelation 6:9–11 and Revelation 20:4 — those who were killed for their testimony during the tribulation? They are called blessed, and they reign with Christ for 1,000 years. These aren’t people who missed the rapture — these are faithful believers who endured and overcame.

Christ nourishes and cherishes His church, yes — and sometimes that means walking with her through the fire, not lifting her out of it.

 

[ARBITER01]

It’s true that Christ loves His church deeply — Ephesians 5:29 is a beautiful picture of that care. But love doesn’t always mean escape from suffering. In fact, Scripture repeatedly shows that believers are called to endure tribulation, not be removed from it.

Jesus Himself said in John 16:33, “In this world you will have tribulation; but take heart, I have overcome the world.” He didn’t promise His followers exemption from hardship — He promised His presence and ultimate victory through it.

The early church knew this well. In Acts 14:22, Paul and Barnabas encouraged believers by saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” And Paul himself wrote in Romans 8:36, “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet, he adds that in all these things “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

The idea that Christians will be raptured out before tribulation assumes that God's wrath and the tribulations of the end times are the same thing. But there’s a distinction. God knows how to preserve His people through His judgments — just like He protected Israel during the plagues in Egypt (Exodus 8–12), or Noah in the ark, or the faithful remnant in Babylon.

And what about the martyrs in Revelation 6:9–11 and Revelation 20:4 — those who were killed for their testimony during the tribulation? They are called blessed, and they reign with Christ for 1,000 years. These aren’t people who missed the rapture — these are faithful believers who endured and overcame.

Christ nourishes and cherishes His church, yes — and sometimes that means walking with her through the fire, not lifting her out of it.

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him.

Wrath and tribulation are not synonymous in scripture.

We are not the subject of GOD's wrath in scripture, in particular, Revelation. We won't be here when the vials are being poured out upon the ungodly., and that's because we are not the ungodly.

You can try to make that case all you want, but I'm not about to accept it. Not one bit.