ONE DAY BEFORE AND AFTER THE "RAPTURE"

Pastor Art Watkins of Coden Bible Church (Coden, Alabama)

February 25, 2014

According to the theories of many modern dispensationalists there are two future comings of Christ. (Some even say there are three.) One before a seven year tribulation they call the “rapture” and another at the end of the tribulation they call the second coming. They say the church must be taken off the earth before the tribulation begins. One reason they believe this is because of a theory they have about the gospel and doctrine in the tribulation. They say the gospel and doctrine in the tribulation will revert back to what is was before God saved Paul. They say for that reason the church must be removed from the earth otherwise the doctrine and gospel of today, which they say is recorded in Paul’s epistles only, would contradict the doctrine and gospel in the tribulation. In other words many dispensationalists would have us to believe that truth will turn around and go backwards in the future. Present truth will become past truth, and past truth will become present truth again according to their speculations about the tribulation and kingdom.

This is not an article about how many times Christ will come in the future. It is not written to promote any particular view about the time of Christ’s coming. It’s a study about the future of the gospel and doctrine. It is written to get people to consider the implications of this theory about the gospel and doctrine in the future. It is written to provoke Bible believers to look at the scenario this theory would create. If we follow the logic of this theory, here is the scenario it would create.

Those who promote this theory would have us to believe:

----The day before the rapture sinners will be saved by grace through faith without works, but the day after the rapture they will be saved by faith and works.

----The day before the rapture those who preach faith and works for salvation will be cursed of God, but one day after the rapture they will be blessed of God for preaching faith and works.

----The day before the rapture any man who adds works to the cross will make the cross of none effect, but one day after the rapture works will no longer make the cross of none effect.

----The day before the rapture believers will be told that they have eternal security in Christ, but one day after the rapture they will be told that they can lose their salvation.

----The day before the rapture the books of Romans through Philemon will be preached as present truth, but one day after the rapture Romans through Philemon will be preached as past truth.

----The day before the rapture men will be told to follow Paul, but the day after the rapture men will be told to ignore Paul.

----The day before the rapture men will be taught that water baptism cannot save them, but one day after the rapture they will be told to be baptized for the remission of sins.

----The day before the rapture men will be taught that salvation is a present possession, but one day after the rapture they will be taught that salvation is a future possession received at the second coming of Christ, if they endure unto the end.

----One day before the rapture all believers will be under grace not law, but one day after the rapture believers will be under the law and no longer under grace.

----One day before the rapture men will be taught that the death and shed blood of Christ is sufficient to save them and keep them saved, but one day after the rapture men will be taught that the death and shed blood of Christ is not sufficient to save them or keep them saved, but they must do works along with believing in the cross to be saved.

----One day before the rapture Cambellites who preach Acts 2:38 will be condemned, but one day after the rapture they will be praised.

----One day before the rapture those who preach Hebrews through Revelation and the Four Gospels as doctrine for today will be accused of “wrongly dividing the word of truth” according to some dispensationalists, but one day after the rapture those who teach Hebrews through Revelation and the Four Gospels as doctrine will be praised for “rightly dividing the word of truth”.

----One day before the rapture those who teach works for salvation as the Catholics will be called heretics, but one day after the rapture they will be considered as great men of God.

----One day before the rapture those who go back under the law will fall from grace, but one day after the rapture those who go back under the law will advance in the truth.

----One day before the rapture the Spirit of God who is the only one who convicts and calls and regenerates sinners will be present on earth and in the believer, but one day after the rapture the Spirit will retire and disappear.

----One day before the rapture gentiles will not have to become Jewish proselytes to be saved, but one day after they must become Jewish proselytes to be saved.

----One day before the rapture God will save any sinner no matter how evil he is, but one day after the rapture the only sinners God will save are those who fear God and work righteousness.

----One day before the rapture men will be told to follow Paul’s gospel and doctrine, but one day after the rapture they will be told not to follow Paul any longer and if they do they will be accused of teaching false doctrine, preaching the wrong gospel and wrongly dividing the word of truth.

----One day before the rapture the gospel will be the Gospel of Grace, but the day after the rapture the gospel will be a gospel of works not grace.

----One day before the rapture there will be no difference between the Jew and gentile, but one day after the rapture the Jew will be exalted above the gentiles as in the Old Testament.

----One day before the rapture the middle wall of partition will be broken down, but one day after the rapture it will be built again.

----One day before the rapture the law will be abolished, but one day after the rapture it will be constructed again.

----One day before the rapture Romans through Philemon will be considered as the books written to, for and about us, but one day after the rapture they will become what the Old Testament is today.

----One day before the rapture Ephesians 2:8-9 will be preached as truth, but one day after the rapture it will be considered heresy to preach Ephesians 2:8-9.

----One day before the rapture salvation by grace through faith will be the one and only way to be saved, but one day after the rapture it will be heresy to preach salvation by grace through faith without works.

----One day before the rapture the Pharisees in Acts 15 who said that gentiles had to keep the law and be circumcised to be saved will be considered false brethren, but one day after the rapture they will be considered true and faithful brethren.

----One day after the rapture the Jews who Paul prayed would be cut off from the church for putting the Galatians back under the law, will be welcomed back into the church with open arms.

----One day after the rapture believers like the Galatians who were hoodwinked and bewitched for believing that salvation was by works, will no longer be hoodwinked or bewitched but enlightened and wise.

----One day before the rapture those who do not walk uprightly according to the truth of Paul’s gospel will be rebuked as Peter was, but one day after the rapture it will be OK not to walk uprightly according to the truth of Paul’s gospel.

----One day before the rapture those who depart from the faith Paul delivered to the church (1 Tim. 4:1) will be considered apostates, but one day after the rapture they will no longer be considered apostate.

----One day before the rapture circumcision will be of no avail, but one day after the rapture it will be profitable and needful.

----One day before the rapture feast days, holy days and Sabbath days will remain nailed to the cross, but one day after the rapture God will take them down from the cross and impose them on believers again.

----One day before the rapture Christ’s work in saving sinners will be complete, but one day after the rapture Christ’s work on the cross will not be considered complete.

----One day before the rapture, believing that Christ died and shed his blood for sins will be enough to save anyone, but one day after the rapture believing that Christ died and shed his blood for sins will not be enough to save sinners.

----One day before the rapture Calvary will cover it all, but one day after the rapture Calvary will not cover it all.

----One day before the rapture “Amazing Grace” will be the anthem of believers, but one day after the rapture “Work for the Night is Coming” will become the anthem of believers.

----One day before the rapture believers will be saved from the wrath to come, but one day after the rapture believers will suffer the wrath to come.

----One day before the rapture the Spirit of God will comfort, guide, teach, empower, indwell, baptize, intercede, sanctify all believers, but one day after the rapture he will disappear and desert believers leaving them without power, comfort, an intercessor, teacher, defender, guide and baptizer.

----One day before the rapture the office of apostles will have long since concluded, but one day after the rapture God will raise up and send more apostles.

----One day after the rapture the doctrine of justification by faith alone without works, which brought about the Protestant Reformation and cost the lives of thousands of Christians, will be considered heresy.

----One day before the rapture there will be no unpardonable sins or sinners, but one day after the rapture certain sins and sinners will not be pardoned.

----One day before the rapture all believers are delivered from the yoke of bondage, but one day after the rapture God will put the yoke of bondage around the necks of believers again.

----One day before the rapture believers will not be ashamed to preach the Gospel of Christ, (Romans 1:16) but one day after the rapture they will be condemned for preaching it.

----One day before the rapture all believers will celebrate freedom from the law, but one day after they will suffer under it again.

----One day before the rapture sinners will be saved by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law (Gal. 2:16), but one day after the rapture they will be saved by the works of the law and not by the faith of Christ.

----One day before the rapture the law will be considered as weak and beggarly elements (Gal. 4:9), but one day after the rapture they will not be considered weak and beggary.

----One day before the rapture a persons salvation will be doubted if he observes days, months and times and years (Gal. 4:10) but one day after the rapture their salvation will no longer be doubted or questioned.

----One day before the rapture the law will be a schoolmaster to bring men to Christ to be saved, but one day after the rapture Christ will bring men back to the law to be saved.

----One day before the rapture those who put gentiles under Jewish law will be rebuked, (Gal. 2:3-6) but one day after the rapture they will be applauded.

----One day before the rapture those who build the law again will be considered transgressors (Gal. 2:18), but one after the rapture they will no longer be transgressors.

----One day before the rapture those who preach works for salvation will frustrate the grace of God and make the cross of none effect, but one day after the rapture they will not.

----One day before the rapture Paul through his epistles will condemn those who rebuild the law and preach works for salvation, but one day after the rapture Paul will look down from heaven and applaud those who rebuild the law and preach works for salvation.

You say all this is absurd and you are right, but everything I have written is exactly what many dispensationalists teach about doctrine and the gospel in the tribulation. I did not make this up. This is the teaching of many and is found throughout their sermons and books.

Peter “cash register” Ruckman a “wet” hyper dispensationalist preacher wrote a booklet called: Millions Disappear: Fact or Fiction? In this booklet Ruckman says: “If the Lord comes and you remain behind, then start working like a madman to get to heaven, because you’re going to have to. You must keep the Ten Commandments (all of them, Ecclesiastes 12:13), keep the Golden Rule (1 John 3:10), give your money to the poor, get baptized, take up your cross, hold out to the end of the Tribulation, wait for Jesus Christ to show up at the Battle of Armageddon, and be prepared to die for what you believe. In the Tribulation you cannot be saved by grace alone, like you could before the Rapture. Ruckman of course is loony, but you would be surprised how many people buy into this non-sense.

Concerning Paul’s doctrine and gospel:

Throughout the Bible there is a steady progression of truth and doctrine. As time progressed, truth progressed. God revealed more and more truth to his people throughout the Old Testament and into the New. Paul’s doctrine and gospel concerning grace and the gentiles is the last and final truth from God to man. The revelation God gave to him completed and filled up the word of God.  There are no future revelations and epistles to come. God’s word is finished. The doctrine and gospel God gave to Paul is present truth and will remain that way forever. But according to the theories of some dispensationalists this is not true. They say God will replace Paul’s doctrine and gospel with past truth that contradicts it. If a person today applies truth from a past dispensation that contradicts present truth, dispensationalists say they are wrongly dividing the word of truth. But yet some dispensationalists tell us that one day after the rapture God will do just that! They would have us to believe that God is going to replace present truth with past truth from a past dispensation that contradicts Paul’s doctrine and gospel! They believe God will do in the future what they condemn men for doing now!

Even though most dispensationalists believe that Christ’s death and shed blood is sufficient to save them and keep them saved today, they believe that in the tribulation this will no longer be true.

They really believe that the same God who offers salvation as a gift today will turn around and tell sinners in the tribulation that they will have to do certain works to be saved!

----They really believe that the same God who abolished the law will turn around and require men to keep it again.

----They believe that the same God who abolished circumcision will turn around and impose it upon men again.

----They believe that the same God who broke down the middle wall of partition will build it again!

----They believe that the same God, who gives men eternal security today, will turn around and threaten to take it away from men in the tribulation.

----They believe that the same God who abolished animal sacrifices will lead men to offer them again in the Kingdom!

According to them truth will turn around and go backward!  Past truth will become present truth to a man in the tribulation. They say that in the tribulation Law will replace grace, works will replace faith, the Old Covenant will be resurrected and replace the New Covenant, conditional security will replace eternal security, salvation by works will replace the gift of salvation, Moses will replace Paul, a modified weak version of the cross will replace the all powerful cross, and the blood of animals will replace the blood of Christ in the Kingdom!