The Foundation

Christ’s real Death and bodily Resurrection are foundational and indispensable to the Apostolic Faith.

The Apostle Paul discussed the future resurrection of believers in 2 Timothy, in response to denials of this “sound teaching” by false teachers. Faith in the promised resurrection of the righteous is central to the hope of salvation taught by Jesus and proclaimed by his Apostles. This teaching is unquestionably reliable because it is based on the past Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

The Last Enemy

The arrival of Jesus at the end of the age will mean the end of the Last Enemy, namely, Death - 1 Corinthians 15:24-28.

Certain members of the Corinthian congregation denied the future resurrection of the righteous. In response, Paul stresses how necessary our resurrection is by appealing to Christ’s past Death and Resurrection. His resurrection is the precedent for the future consummation of our salvation. We will be raised bodily from the dead when he “arrives.” His sudden appearance will mean the termination of Death itself.

The Final Harvest

The saints will be assembled before Jesus on the Last Day, and the wicked will be collected for judgment and cast from his presence.

On the Last Day, the righteous and the unrighteous are “gathered” before Jesus, the former for vindication and salvation, and the latter for judgment and condemnation. This event is linked in the New Testament to Christ’s “arrival” at the end of the age. On that day, he will resurrect the dead, judge the dead and living, terminate the “Last Enemy, Death,” and consummate the Kingdom of God.

What Rapture?

Discussions on the doctrine of the ‘Rapture’ normally revolve around the question, “When will it occur?” For example, will the ‘Rapture’ take place before the “Great Tribulation,” at its midpoint, or end? But this question misses the critical point. Nowhere does the New Testament even mention any ‘Rapture’ at all, or at least, not by that term if by it we mean the physical removal of the church from the Earth and its transportation to “heaven.”