Based on:
John 10:27-29
1 Corinthians 3:1-3
1 Corinthians 5:5
1 Corinthians 15:2
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
In order to have an answer, we must first have a question. What sort of question could we ask within the context of Christianity that might have an answer that must be deemed taboo?
The question is actually a two-parter:
Part 1 – Is there eternal security?
Part 2 – Will all who are saved be Raptured?
These are such touchy questions that few people will even discuss them. They’re dismissed with a simple, “Yes, of course”, and we can’t even have a conversation without people being offended.
Transcript
In order to have an answer, we must first have a question. What sort of question could we ask within the context of Christianity that might have an answer that must be deemed taboo?
The question is actually a two-parter:
Part 1 – Is there eternal security?
Part 2 – Will all who are saved be Raptured?
These are such touchy questions that few people will even discuss them. They’re dismissed with a simple, “Yes, of course”, and we can’t even have a conversation without people being offended.
I was told once by a popular website that focuses on the pre-Tribulation Rapture that it doesn’t want articles that deal with these issues because they create such contention. I certainly understand that, although with these types of Scripture issues, I think we must address them. I was also recently disassociated by someone upset at these ideas and was told my articles on any subject were no longer welcome on that person’s blog. So much for examining the Scriptures to come to a deeper understanding, i.e. being a Berean. Maybe my conclusions are right, maybe they’re wrong, but apparently, we can’t even have a conversation without offense!
So as not to make this an extensive dissertation, I’ll just give a brief discussion to the questions.
Part 1 – Is there eternal security?
My answer is yes and no, and of course, it’s the “no” that raises hackles. More than that, it seems as if that no is almost always misunderstood.
First – yes. The Bible tells us in John 10:27-29 that Jesus said:
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
That seems pretty straightforward, and I agree. No one can take away someone’s eternal security, i.e. they will never perish at the instigation of someone else’s efforts. But that’s where it gets sticky for me.
Second – no. There’s this little thing called free will that those of us who are not Calvinists believe in. A Calvinist would say that because God predestined a person’s salvation, he can never lose it. In the same vein, if God predestined someone to go to hell, that’s the end of the story.
Not a Calvinist, I say that God foreknows all things, but He gives us free will to make our own choices, whether good or bad.
In 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, Paul tells the church at Corinth:
But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?
These are brothers in Christ whom he is addressing. Presumably they are saved. Yet, there is some number of them who are not spiritual; in fact, they are of the flesh and acting according to the world.
There’s a situation so bad in the church that Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 5:5:
. . . you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
He was put out of the church in the hope that he would repent of his sins because of what he’d experience in the world under Satan’s not-so-tender ministrations. Did he repent? I’m not so sure we get a definitive answer in the text. Even if he did, does that mean that every person who sins in the same manner and is given to the world will also repent? Or will there be some number of people in that situation who deliberately choose to reject God’s mercy through the free will that He gives to all?
Are there some individuals who will suffer for such choices? How will they suffer? Can someone himself cause his own demise? Can he be the one responsible for the loss of his salvation? Paul concludes in 1 Corinthians 15:2:
. . . and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
Is there a person who might believe in vain because of the decisions he makes which put him at odds with God? Here is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10:
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
This is a definitive statement on Paul’s part. The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. The man who committed adultery in the Corinthian church had a choice to either repent or not, to remain in his sin of adultery, or forsake that sin by putting it under the blood of Jesus. He had the ability to choose which direction in life he would go. Is this not true of all in the church who sin?
Being indwelt with the Holy Spirit, we will receive His nudging, guidance, and rebuke if we sin either inadvertently or deliberately. Given that, we can correct course and come back into alignment with God, or decide of our own free will to further dive into sin. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that we’ve seen many people in the church over the years – presumably saved – who have chosen to further pursue those things which are not of God.
Now, the issue is always in these cases whether a person was actually saved or not. Given the example at Corinth, it appears that the man in question was saved. If he didn’t repent and return to the protective umbrella of the church, then Paul’s declaration as to his fate seems sure: adulterers will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Obviously, this is a subject that has many elements, and people can get quite emotional in discussing it. As I said earlier, maybe my conclusion is incorrect. but then again, maybe it’s not. Perhaps in having the conversation someone considering a poor choice will rethink what he is planning because he sees the extreme consequence for his actions. Maybe because we talked about this subject, a person will be saved when he otherwise wouldn’t have been.
This brings us to our next consideration.
Part 2 – Will all who are saved be Raptured?
Once more I have a yes and no response. Yes, I think anyone truly living for the Lord will have no issues in this regard.
But on the no side, what about that fleshly, non-spiritual person that Paul brings up in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 who then makes very poor choices and deliberately sins by doing any of those actions noted in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10? Let’s say this person plunges headfirst into sexual immorality. He was saved, but fleshly temptation got him, and he chooses to pursue it. How about if he’s in the midst of this purposeful sin when the Rapture occurs? What happens to him? Is he snatched to heaven in his sin regardless of his rebellious actions? Or are Paul’s words operative that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Given the circumstances I’ve outlined, I don’t think it’s beyond the pale that someone may definitely be saved, but through his deliberate sinful deeds, not be Raptured. Actually, that could a mercy.
If Paul’s definitive statement is true, then in any other circumstance it could lead to such a person going to hell if he died in his sins, even as we discussed in Part 1. But, what if instead, he is thrust into the Tribulation because his unrighteousness prevented him from obtaining the kingdom of God through the Rapture?
Is it conceivable at that point that this person might have buyer’s remorse? In other words, might he reconsider his sinful acts because he missed the Rapture? It wouldn’t be pretty for him, but does his situation provide a second chance that he might not have otherwise had?
Once more, if we don’t discuss such things, how will anyone understand the consequences and peril if he is on the cusp of disaster?
If nothing else, perhaps an article like this will give someone that extra nudge to move into the plus column with God. He wants none to perish. It may be with some people that they – in effect – require persecution and suffering so as to get right with the Lord.
They’d certainly get that and more during the Tribulation.