Is Partial Rapture Scriptural
Harold Primrose Barker
Table of Contents
Is "Partial Rapture" SCRIPTURAL?
Belief in what is popularly called a " Partial Rapture " has gained currency among some Christians to-day. Their theory is that when the Lord Jesus descends into the air, He will call only some believers to meet Him, and the others will be left on earth to go through the terrors of the Great Tribulation. Those who are caught up to meet the Lord in the air will be, according to this theory, those who have been zealous and faithful, and have been watching for His return. This is the theory which we propose to examine in the light of Scripture.
The Letter From Paul
The Christians of the ancient city of Salonika are gathered together for one of their weekly meetings. One of the elders rises and says: " Dear brethren, you will be pleased to know that a letter has come from the beloved Apostle Paul. This letter I will now read ".
Great interest manifests itself on the faces of all present as they set themselves in a listening attitude. Notice especially that keen young brother over there, as he leans forward on his elbow and fixes his gaze on the speaker. Shall we, for convenience, call him Aristarchus? It may, indeed, be he of Acts 20:4.
The elder begins to read. First comes a loving greeting, and words which show how warm a place the Thessalonian saints have in the apostle's heart. He reminds them how they had turned to God from their idols, and were now waiting for His Son from Heaven. Our young friend's eyes gleam with pleasure. How well he remembers the day when he received the glad tidings, and committed himself to the Savior for time and eternity. Now he is waiting for His return.
But he is not, let us suppose, quite certain as to what his Lord's Coming will mean for him. He has a tender conscience, and mourns over the many times he suffers defeat in his daily conflict with temptation and sin. Is it possible that such as he may not share in the joy of that day?
The elder continues. The letter speaks of the Thessalonian converts being Paul's " crown of rejoicing " at the Coming of the Lord. Aristarchus whispers to himself: " At all events I am one of these ".
Then comes a thrilling moment. The reader, slowly, and with added emphasis, utters the memorable words of the fourth chapter: "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord". Attention is strained to the utmost. Something of transcendent importance is to follow. What is it?
" We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (i.e., precede) them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are—."
Aristarchus can hardly contain himself. Oh, what will the letter say next? Will it be: " we which are faithful", or " we which are watching ", or what?
The reader proceeds: " We which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air ".
A look of intense thankfulness comes over the face of our youthful friend. Tears of gratitude come into his eyes. " Thank God," he says to himself, " if I am dead when Jesus comes, I shall rise; if I am alive, I shall be caught up. Unworthy as I am, and full of failure, I have the promise of `the Word of the Lord ', and that is sure ".
There are many who, like the young brother we have pictured, have received assurance of having part in the translation of the saints through the golden words of 1 Thess. 4:17. With Denham Smith they now joyfully sing:
" And this I shall find, for such is His mind,
He'll not be in glory and leave me behind".
Another Letter From Paul
It has been argued that the Thessalonian converts were bright and zealous, and for this reason Paul could speak so unreservedly of their sharing in the rapture of the saints.
Contrast the Corinthians. " Saints," they were, washed, sanctified and justified (1 Cor. 6:11). But they were " carnal " (3:3), earthly-minded (4:8), indifferent to gross evil in their midst (5:2), and quarrelsome (6:6). They were turning their love-feast into an orgy of selfish eating and drinking, and many had come under the extremest discipline of the Lord (11:30). But for all this they were saved people; they were Christ's (3:23). That they were faithful, watching Christians none can affirm. But the Holy Spirit had made their body His temple (6:19).
How sad that those, of whom these wonderful things were true, could bring such dishonor upon the worthy Name that they bore!
In chap. 15 of his first epistle Paul writes to these people about the Coming of the Lord. He says that all who are in Christ, even though they have died, shall be made first-fruits, but they that are His will share in the same glorious resurrection at His coming (v. 23).
It does not say " they that are watchful ", or " they that are faithful ", but they that are Christ's. So, when the Savior comes, not only the zealous and the watchful, but all who are His, even if they be like the Corinthians, will be raised.
But what about those who will still be alive when He comes? Read v. 51, and lay the emphasis of your voice on the second " all "" We shall all be changed in a moment ". What! Even they whose ways are like those of the Corinthians? The whole question is not, " What kind of people are they? " but, " Whose are they? Are they Christ's? " If so, the Word of truth declares, " We shall all be changed ". Is the reader prepared to say: " Then it must be so "?
A Plausible Objection
By way of comment on the foregoing section, someone may say: " It seems to me that what you affirm puts a premium on worldliness and a carnal life. If it is going to be all the same when the Lord comes, whatever kind of life we have led, what incentive is there to watchfulness and devotion? "
We will deal with this question, but let us note that it is not a matter of what we affirm, but of what the Scriptures teach. In the preceding section we have cited many passages from 1st Corinthians. He who objects to what is stated objects to what an inspired apostle wrote. It is always safe to accept the teachings of Scripture, whether we can understand the bearing of them or not.
Now let us examine the objection. It was to the Corinthians, the same Christians of whom we have been speaking, that Paul wrote: " We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ " (2 Cor. 5:10). Once again, mark the word all. We must all appear there. In the early part of his first epistle, Paul spoke of a day that will be revealed by fire, fire that will try every man's work. Some who, though they are saved, have not done faithful work, will be saved " so as by fire " (1 Cor. 3:13-15). The truth is, if we may put it in this way, that there are two doors in the future through which all believers will have to pass. The first one, through which we pass at the translation of the saints, bears the inscription " Home ". The second one through which we must also pass, is inscribed " Review and Reward ".
When the time comes for the Lord to call us to meet Him in the air, and for Him to make up the number of His jewels, the fact that our title to heaven has been purchased for us by His blood will ensure our being of that happy multitude; and, because we are children, we shall be welcomed Home to His Father's House. On that glad day we shall sit with all the rest of the family at Home.
But this will be followed by a day of review and examination. We shall have to give an account of our stewardship. Whatever faithfulness and obedience there has been will be rewarded. Where these are lacking we shall " suffer loss ".
Let no one, therefore, make the elementary mistake of confounding the Translation of the saints with the Judgment Seat of Christ. What Christ has done for us gives us the title to share in the one; what we do for Him brings us the reward at the other.
Future Salvation
While, thank God, we are saved from the moment when we believe the Gospel and turn to Christ; and while in another sense, we are being saved all the way, even to the uttermost of our need, and the uttermost of life's little span; yet, it is equally true that, in still another aspect, salvation lies in the future. It has not come yet, but it is " nearer than when we believed " (Rom. 13:11). This will take place when the Savior comes. We shall be saved from all possibility of ever sinning again; from every trace of the first Adam's likeness; from all liability to disease, decay and death; and out of this world altogether. It is to this, no doubt, that Jude refers when he speaks of " looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life " (verse 21). He will extricate us from this world, where death reigns, and will translate us to the fair world above of endless life and glory. It is His mercy that will do it.
And so the apostle reminds us that we " look for the Savior "; that is, for Christ in His character of Savior (Phil. 3:20). He will come as Savior, and will bring salvation that will mean the change of these bodies of ours into the fashion of His own body of glory. This will be the final chapter in the story of God's great salvation.
Now, salvation from first to last is all of grace. When first, as wretched sinners, we came to the Savior, we were not saved partly by grace and partly by works. Our own merits (for we had none), had nothing to do with it. We were saved by grace, and grace alone. And it was the atoning sacrifice of Calvary that earned for God the entitlement to show grace to sinners such as we are.
But the last chapter in the story of salvation is to be written by the pen of unmerited grace, as truly as the first. When Jesus comes to save us out of this world, and to redeem our bodies from their present condition, it will not be because of His grace and our merit; nor, the grace of God and our faithfulness; nor the grace of God and our watchfulness. It is pure, unmixed grace that brought salvation in the past (Titus 2:11), and it is the same unmixed, unmerited grace that will bring salvation in the future (1 Peter 1: 5 and 13). It is for divine, sovereign mercy that we look (Jude 21).
This surely disposes of the question as to whether or not any quality of our own has part in fitting us for the Rapture. For He, Who is our Deliverer from the wrath to come, will complete His deliverance by His own grace and power; and in that work of deliverance human merit, works of righteousness, zeal, fidelity, and watchfulness on our part have no place whatever. Salvation is wholly of the Lord, both in the past and in the future.
"To Them That Look for Him "
We are not bidden in Phil. 3:20 to look for the Savior. It is said that we do it. Our salvation is not yet complete; for the consummation we wait or look. It is the normal sequel to conversion. When we turn to the living God it is to serve Him, while waiting for His Son from Heaven. This is the normal Christian attitude. To " look for " or " wait for " in this sense does not necessarily mean to expect with gladness, or to be alert with anticipation. The words rather have the force of this-knowing that a certain event lies ahead. So we read of some whose future outlook was gloomy indeed, " a certain fearful looking for of judgment " (Heb. 10:27).
Remembering this, and that we Christians are not looking for judgment, but for " the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life "; not for a Judge, but for a Savior, let us examine an objection that is based on Heb. 9:28. It is said that, since it is " unto them that look for Him ", Christ will appear unto salvation, it follows that only those who are zealously watching for Him will be translated at the Rapture.
But look carefully, not only at the verse itself, but at its immediate context. The habit of dragging texts from their context, and building theories upon what they then appear to mean, is a most pernicious one.
In verse 24 (Heb. chapter 9) we are told that Christ, our High Priest, now appears in the presence of God for us. Our blessing is thus secured; we have not to wait for our acceptance before God, nor for our title to enter even the Holiest of all, until we leave this earth. Is there, then, anything yet to look for? There is. There is the future salvation, and it will be ours at the Coming of the Lord. His " appearing " is not the Rapture, but it is a wide term that sometimes includes, as here, all that pertains to the period of His Coming. When Christ returns, it will not be again to take up the question of sin. This question He forever settled by the sacrifice of Himself at His first appearing (verse 26). His future appearing will be " without sin " (i.e. having no reference to that matter), and " unto salvation ".
Now, the contrast here is plainly between what we have as the result of Christ's present appearing, and what we shall have as the result of His future appearing. The people addressed, being Hebrews by birth and training, would readily understand this. They would understand how the Jewish priest was accustomed to go into the Tabernacle to offer incense before God, and then come out to bless the people who waited outside. We have a scene like this depicted in Luke 1:9, 10. Zacharias, the priest, went into the temple to burn incense, " and the whole multitude of the people were praying without ". They waited for his reappearing, and " marveled that he tarried so long" (verse 21).
In the same way the disciples saw their Lord ascend with uplifted hands, and thus He disappeared from their sight. But—
" He Who, with hands uplifted, Passed from this world below, Shall come again, all gifted, Rich blessing to bestow ".
Like the waiting people in Luke chapter 1, we are looking for the reappearing of our Great High Priest. He has entered Heaven itself, there to appear on our behalf, while we are waiting for Him here. And the promise of His return is sure, though we may be kept waiting and looking for Him for years.
The first thing He will do, when the time for His reappearing comes, is to summon all who are His, living or dead, to meet Him in the air. This, as we have seen, is salvation. We look for Him as Savior, and, to our longing eyes, He will assuredly " appear the second time without sin unto salvation ".
If any one can find one class of Christians distinguished from another class in Heb. 9:28, he must be singularly incapable of discerning the line of truth expounded in these verses.
It is sometimes argued that, since the Coming of the Lord is spoken of as a " hope ", uncertainty is implied as to whether we shall share in the Translation or not. But hope may be certain as well as uncertain, and in Scripture the word is often used merely to indicate what is future, and not to suggest uncertainty. " Hope maketh not ashamed," and for the unseen hope we patiently wait (Rom. 8:25). When we believe in Christ much immediately becomes ours. We do not, however, receive all that we shall eventually possess. For God has predestined us, " to be conformed to the image of His Son " (Rom. 8: 29), and therefore we are saved in hope; that is, saved with something further to follow in due course.
Now, in order to be operative in producing holiness of life, the hope has no need of being turned into a threat. Some seem to imagine that we need to be urged on to zeal and watchfulness, by a threat of being left behind at the Translation, unless we come up to the mark. But the Scripture declares, not " he that remembereth this threat purifieth himself ", but " he that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure " (1 John 3:3). The hope in this verse is that we shall be like Christ at His appearing.
Saved by grace, then, we continue " looking for that blessed hope "—a hope that is unspeakably precious and that has no element of doubt connected with it (Titus 2:3).
Of course, nothing that we have said has any reference to those who show by their lives that they are not true believers. They may make a profession, and take for granted that nothing more is needed. But it is only of those who truly believe, and who " belong to Christ ", that we have written.
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