Will You Be a Part of the Rapture?

 Will You Be a Part of the Rapture? - Nathele Graham - twotug@embarqmail.com “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1 The Rapture is coming, and many Christians are beginning to take a hard look at their salvation. There are some Scriptures that can scare us if we don’t take the full counselof God into consideration. When Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth, he was addressing a worldly congregation with many problems. They claimed to be Christians, but they embraced the world. That’s not good for any Christian. Because Paul cared deeply forhis brothers and sisters in Christ, he was compelled to address this problem. It’s a shame many pastors today won’t address sin, but watch as their congregation flounders. The number of pew-sitters may grow, but is there any repentance of sin? Paul was never afraid to address sin…he wasn’t politically correct. “Know ye not that the unrighteousshall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdomof God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. Sometimes the King James uses words that aren’t familiar to our modern way of talking, but it’s important to understand what this says. The first item on this list is theunrighteous. Are you righteous? I’m not. There’s nothing I can do to make myself righteous. I may not fornicate or commit adultery, but there are times when I harbor thoughts about others that aren’t very righteous. I do try to take my thoughts captive beforethe Lord and stop sinning, but so far, I keep on failing. By my own merit I am unrighteous. The good news is that God no longer sees me as a sinner deserving of punishment. He sees me through the blood of Jesus. “And such were some of you: but ye are washed,but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11. Thank You Jesus! These verses are often times used by Christians to judge another Christian’s faith and to condemn them. There’s a big difference between judgmentally confrontinga fellow Christian with sin, and lovingly leading the brother or sister to a closer walk with our Lord. First, let’s figure out what constitutes a Christian. People like to say you must be born again to be a Christian, and they’re right. I’ve noticed, though, what they reallymean is “You have to be as perfect as I am”. If you happen to be struggling with sin of any kind, then you’re not born again. At least in their opinion. Jesus did tell Nicodemus “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of waterand of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3:5-6. God doesn’t try to find ways to condemn us. He knows that it’s impossible for us, by our own effort, to be righteous. Many people stop reading after Jesus said to be bornagain. Jesus didn’t come to condemn. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the worldthrough him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:16-18. Don’t get me wrong. Our faith in Christ brings salvation, no works are involved, but our faith should bring repentance and a change in our sinful ways. We should see the sinin our life, repent, and live for Christ. Everything that we have on earth, everything we take pleasure in, will be left here when we die, or when the Rapture occurs. Heaven will be more wonderful than any sinful lust that tempts us here. Many people complicate salvation. The disciples didn’t complicate salvation, and neither did Paul. Paul had a lot to say about salvation. “That if thou shalt confess withthy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoeverbelieveth on him shall not be ashamed.” Romans 10:9-11. It’s people who have complicated salvation. Each denomination has its own set of rules that they require the sheep to follow. Then, if you happen to start attending a differentdenomination, you have to change rules. It’s much better to follow Jesus, our Good Shepherd, who never changes. After all, it’s the righteousness of Jesus that is our salvation, not our denomination. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners,so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness untoeternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:19-21. Jesus paid it all. Adam’s sin separated us from God, but Christ’s obedience brings us grace. It’s only through faith in Jesus that we can be assured of eternal life and have assurance that we will bea part of the Rapture. We all have a tendency to complicate things. When we simply believe God and trust His inspired Scriptures, we find out that it’s faith that saves us and we don’t have to studya catechism, or follow any rituals. Christianity is a faith, not a religion. On the other hand, we need to honor God. Our instruction book is the Bible. Paul’s sinful ways which he embraced prior to meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, are well known. Whenhe talks of being a living sacrifice unto God, he’s talking from experience. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be notconformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1-2. Most of us can justify our own sins and fool ourselves to think “I don’t sin”. Scripture tells us otherwise. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and thetruth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:8-9. What a blessing. That confession only needs to be between you and Jesus. You don’t need any human priestor clergy to decide if you’re forgiven or not. Your sin is against God, so only God needs to hear your confession, and He will forgive you. That brings me back to the first question, will you be a part of the Rapture? I’m not here to judge anybody. Only God truly knows if your faith is real. If you have trulyrepented of your sin – that means you know you’re a sinner and have changed your mind about continuing in it – you’ve been forgiven. If you keep falling into temptation, and embracing the sin in your life, well, that’s between you and God. It’s my opinionthat you shouldn’t be living in a “gray area” and get yourself away from temptation. If your faith is real, your salvation is secure. You can search Scripture all you want but you’ll never find a verse where a person is encouraged to continue in sin. God canwork through a sinner, but the sin isn’t condoned or encouraged. If you claim Christ for salvation, then you need to turn from sin. The Rapture will happen soon. It could happen before you’re done reading this. There is no event that needsto happen before the Rapture; don’t confuse it with the Second Coming. You might also consider that you may die before the Rapture. No matter how old you are, death is always a possibility. Take a stand today for Christ. Turn from sin, and live for Him. Jesusmakes it simple. One day, when Jesus was speaking to a group of people, they had a question regarding salvation…Jesus had the answer. “Then said they unto him, What shall we do that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This isthe work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” John 6:28-29. That means the only thing you can do to find salvation is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. There are few certainties in this life, but you can be certain that one day you will depart this life. Everyone will face death one day, unless you have placed your faithin the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Then the death of this body just means stepping into eternal life with Him. “Therefore we are always confident knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord (For we walkby faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 5:6-8. You should be very concerned about where you will spend eternity. The choice has to be made while you live on this side of Heaven. Every person who ever has been born hashad the same choice. If you have rejected Christ, eternity will be miserable, to say the least. The other possibility, for Christians, is that the Rapture will happen. This blessed promise from God should be on every Christian’s mind. The signs we were toldto watch for in Biblical prophecy are happening. Those signs point to the fact that the final seven years of Earth’s history will soon be here. After those seven years of tribulation, Jesus will return at the Second Coming. We will be with Him prior to thetime of Jacob’s Trouble (the Tribulation also known as Daniel’s 70th week) Christians will be taken Home in the Rapture, and we won’t be on earth to face the Great Tribulation. Will you be a part of the Rapture? It will happen quickly, so you need to be sure you’ve placed your faith in Christ. “Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep,but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must puton immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-54. Only faith in JesusChrist assures you that you will be a part of the Rapture, or if you die first, that you will step into everlasting life. Jesus loves you and died for your salvation. That faith will take you to Heaven when you depart this earth, whether by death or by the Rapture. Keep your heart turned towardHim and no matter what happens in the future, you have the Blessed Assurance that you belong to Christ. God bless you all, Nathele Graham twotug@embarqmail.com Recommended prophecy sites: www.raptureready.com www.prophecyupdate.com www.raptureforums.com All original scripture is “theopneustos” God breathed. If you would like to be on my mailing list to receive the commentaries just drop me an email and let me know. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.” Psalm 122:6.