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Spititually, salvation means to have your sins forgiven and to have your relationship with God restored. The result is that your will spend eternity in heaven, not in hell. It is very simple, so simple that many people cannot accept it. It is based on faith. It is simple, because Jesus Christ does all the work. The good news is that God loves you and wants you to save you from your sin. 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. (John 3:16) Anybody can get saved, anywhere and at any time. Many preachers claim anyone who has heard the Gospel message prior to the rapture will not be able to get saved afterwards. The Rapture is an event when Jesus supernaturally takes his followers out of the earth and to heaven in an instant. A seven year period know as the Tribulation will follow. The truth is that anyone can be forgiven of their sins or get saved after the Rapture. Salvation is open to all during the Tribulation whether or not they have heard the Gospel prior to the Rapture.
Revelation 14:13 says, "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them." You are not truly blessed unless you're saved. Revelation 15:2 says, "And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God." Those who got victory of the beast were saved. Revelation 16:6 says, "For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy." Again we see reference to saints in the Tribulation. It will happen.
| The Church Will Have All New Members | |
| Revelation 12: | |
| 1 | And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: |
| 2 | And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. |
| 3 | And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. |
| 4 | And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. |
| 5 | And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. |
| 6 | And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. |
The 1,260 days are one of the halves of the Tribulation. The woman: is this not a reference to the church? How can there be a Tribulation church unless new people get saved? Matthew 24:24 mentions the elect during the Tribulation. Jesus said, "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Jesus also said in verse 31, "And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." There will be elect during the Tribulation.
Another reference to Christians in the Tribulation is found in Revelation 15:1-2
| 1 | And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. |
| 2 | And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. |
Daniel 7:25 says of the anti-christ, "And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." Saints are true believers not special people. This also confirms that people will get saved in the Tribulation.
Revelation 7:4 says, "And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel." This is a reference to the 144,000 male virgins from Israel who are saved during the Tribulation. It does not limit other Jewish people from getting saved. It does not stop non-Jewish people from getting saved.
| Revelation 7: | |
| 9 | After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; |
| 10 | And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. |
| 11 | And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, |
| 12 | Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. |
| 13 | And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? |
| 14 | And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. |
If the number of the multitude was so great it could not be numbered by any man on earth it has to bigger than the 144,000 mentioned in the verses just prior in Revelation 7:4-8. It also has to be bigger than the 200,000,000 numbered in Revelation 9:16 where it says, "And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them."
There will be a great spiritual harvest at the end of the age or Tribulation where the forgiven and unforgiven will be separated. Jesus told a parable about a crop of wheat where tares or poisonous weeds were mixed in with good grain.
| Matthew 13: | |
| 24 | Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: |
| 25 | But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. |
| 26 | But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. |
| 27 | So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? |
| 28 | He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? |
| 29 | But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. |
| 30 | Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. |
Afterwards he was asked to explain the parable.
| Matthew 13: | |
| 36 | Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. |
| 37 | He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; |
| 38 | The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; |
| 39 | The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. |
| 40 | As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. |
| 41 | The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; |
| 42 | And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. |
| 43 | Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. |
We can see here at the end of the age that there will be a great number of children of the kingdom present. Since the rapture will take all of the believers out of the world there will be have to be many more that get saved for a "harvest" to occur.
Many people think the Holy Spirit will not be present in the Tribulation. Even my favorite prophecy teacher claims the Holy Spirit will be removed at this time. I may love him and pray for him but that does not make him right. He cites this passage.
| 2 Thessalonians: | |
| 1 | Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, |
| 2 | That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. |
| 3 | Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; |
| 4 | Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. |
| 5 | Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? |
| 6 | And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. |
| 7 | For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. |
| 8 | And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: |
| 9 | Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, |
| 10 | And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. |
| 11 | And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: |
| 12 | That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. |
Teachers are saying the Holy Spirit is the restrainer in verse seven who is removed and without the Holy Spirit no one can get saved. The Holy Spirit is in the believers who will be removed in the Rapture but we also find from other scripture the Holy Spirit will be present in the Tribulation. We see it with the 144,000, with the great multitude that gets saved and with those present at the end of the age. In Matthew 28:18-20 we learn, "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen" In Matthew 24:3 Jesus's disciples asked, "...when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Jesus went on to discuss times before the Tribulation until the end of it. The word for world used in Matthew 24 and Matthew 28 is the same. The Holy Spirit will be there until the end. He will not be removed preventing people from repenting, turning to Jesus and calling upon him to save them from their sins.
Some people try to say that if someone has heard the gospel before the Rapture it will be impossible for them to believe later during the Tribulation citing this passage in Hebrews 6:
| 4 | For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, |
| 5 | And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, |
| 6 | If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. |
Notice above it refers to those enlightened. How can they be truly enlightened without being a Christian? How can they taste of the heavenly gift without a relationship with Jesus? How is it that anybody other than a believer can be made a partaker of the Holy Ghost? They can't. Isn't this talking about Christians?
Romans 1 tells us that everybody has a witness to them now.
| 19 | Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. |
| 20 | For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: |
Psalm 19:1 says, "To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork." Everybody has had some form of witness available to them. Everybody in the Tribulation will have already had some form of a witness given to them prior to the rapture.
Will people have a second chance after the Rapture? A lot of people say no. The term second chance has a subtle teaching in it that is incorrect. It suggests that unless someone puts their faith, hope and trust in Jesus the first time they hear about his saving grace, they can't get saved. It suggests that if you don't accept him you are rejecting him forever and will never have another chance to get saved. This is not true. The scholars, preachers and teachers who state this in most cases heard the good news about Jesus dying on the cross for their sins many times before they ever trusted him. It is very arrogant for them to think they got saved the first time they had chance. Their line of thought suggests you would get one and only one chance. No, that's not true. The standard they apply to those in the Tribulation is not the standard they live by today. As long as you are not dead, you have a chance.
A new teaching has come that says that how people are forgiven will change with the Rapture. The truth is that the way God forgives people of their sins and provides eternal life in heaven to those who trust him will not change. There are those who say no one will get saved or only some will get saved. Also, many believe you have to survive the Tribulation to get saved. If God forgives your sins through Jesus Christ you will get saved or spend forever in heaven. Without forgiveness you will spend eternity in hell. Some are saying that the way people treat the Jews in the Tribulation will dictate whether they will get saved. Following the Tribulation scholars are trying to say believers will offer animal sacrifices for sin. People will be lead to believe they should give animal sacrifices in the tribulation at the temple in Jerusalem yet to be built. God is not looking for animal sacrifices.
God's plan for forgiveness of sin and saving people will not change. Christ Jesus offered himself as the ultimate and complete sacrifice when he was crucified on the cross. He became our high priest. Hebrews 6:20 says, "Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." It does matter if you know who Melchisedec was. It matters that the priesthood of Jesus will not be replaced. Hebrews 10:12 says, "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;" The sins in the Tribulation and the sins in Millennium have already been paid for by the blood of Jesus. There is no longer any work or sacrifice that can or should be given for them. John 19:30 says "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." When Jesus died our debt was paid. Jesus paid for the sins of the world on the cross. There will not be a need to pay for any sins in the future. To offer a sacrifice for those sins today is a rejection of Jesus's atonement for those sins on the cross. To provide any work for those sins will be meaningless. Hebrews 10:18 says, "Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin." Hebrews 13:20-21 says, "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." The covenant Jesus brought in is an everlasting covenant and will not be replaced. In Matthew 26:28 Jesus said at the last supper, "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." The New Testament is also mentioned in Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20, Corinthians 11:25, 2 Corinthians 3:6 and Hebrews 9:15. The Old Testament no longer applies for salvation. Works and sacrifices belong to the Old Testament. Hebrews 13:8 promises us "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." Revelation 7:14 mentions the great multitude being saved by the blood of the Lamb. Concerning believers in the tribulation Revelation 12:11 says, "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." Salvation will be no different in the tribulation than it is now.
Matthew 5:17 says, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." Jesus Christ fulfilled everything. There is nothing else left to complete. With the cross, salvation is focused on Jesus who will not change and bring in another covenant. Romans 5:18 says, "Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." As Jesus made all men righteous there is no longer a need for a sacrifice. There is no sin remaining for the sacrifice to take away. Christianity is not a covenant with the Gentiles, it is a covenant with all. There is no reason to do away with it at the Rapture and make another covenant with Israel again.
One prophecy teacher recently said that people in the tribulation are saved by how they treat God's people and or the Jews. This is based on a incorrect interpretation of teachings of Jesus in Matthew 25:31-46. Jesus never said this applied to the Tribulation only instead of applying to all time. There are two phases of judgment. The first is the verdict; whether or not someone is guilty. The next is the sentencing. What Jesus taught was a basis for the sentencing but not the basis for the verdict. How people treat the Jews in the Tribulation is an example of what is in their heart but it is not the basis for salvation. Jesus said, "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." People will not get saved because the endure to the end but instead they endure to the end because they are saved. Revelation 14:13 lets us know the end refers to the end of their life not the end of the tribulation.
Another false gospel teaches Ezekiel chapters 40 through 46 as being a third temple to be built in the Millennium. See the page on The Third Temple. This is really the second temple found in this passage. Regarding the temple in these chapters God directed the priests to offer animal sacrifices for sins. Because they believe this is the future they then believe that animals will be sacrificed for sin. God will never do this in the future because Jesus was the last and complete sacrifice. Romans 5:18 says, "Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." As Jesus made all men righteous there is no longer a need for a sacrifice. There is no sin remaining for the sacrifice to take away. We know from Matthew 24:15 the holy places will be brought back in Israel. As mentioned in Thessalonians 2 above the anti-christ will exalt himself and sit in the temple. Daniel 9:27 prophesies that he will, "cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease," In the beginning, people will offer sacrifices in the tribulation. The main reason for sacrifices is forgiveness of sin. The best we can see today is that a false gospel of animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin will be taught in the Tribulation. False teachers are laying the ground work for that heresy today by teaching that animals will be sacrificed in the Millennial reign of Jesus and by suggesting that there is an age of grace that will end with the Rapture. If the whole world is changed by the Rapture and believers will offer sin sacrifices in the future then why shouldn't people offer animal sacrifices in the Tribulation? Many can be misled by the incorrect application of Ezekiel 40-46 and put their faith in animal sacrifices instead of Jesus.
Salvation does not fall away, give up or give out. It is permanent. In John 10:27-28 Jesus told us, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." If someone truly belongs to Jesus they will not fall away. God, through Paul, in Ephesians 1:13 says, "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise," Ephesians 4:30 goes on, "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." When we believe we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. The world cannot break that seal. Many have heard John 3:16; "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." Everlasting life is everlasting. It does not give up, give out or fade away. If someone gets saved in the Tribulation or Millennium they will stay saved. In John 6:39-40 Jesus spoke of the promise, "And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."
Romans 9:33 promises, "As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." Whosoever is a word that includes everybody not just those who die before the Tribulation. Romans 10:13 says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Whosoever means who so ever. In John 6:37 Jesus Christ said, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out". This includes people in the Tribulation. Regardless of what people have heard before or ignored, as long as they are alive, they can still repent and ask Jesus to save them.
Hebrews 9:27 says, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" It does not say, "it is appointed unto men once to die or miss the rapture, but after this the judgment." It does not say "it is appointed unto men once to hear the gospel, but after this the judgment." A passage which remotely suggests an earlier cutoff is Revelation 14:9-11 which warns, "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." This refers to a special time and place in the future. It also says whoever takes the image AND worships him. Is this whoever worshipped him at any time or whoever still worships him when Jesus returns at the end of the tribulation? This may not be clear but missing the rapture will not condemn anyone to hell. The Bible will not change during the Tribulation and neither will the plan of salvation. There will not be a NEW New Testament. The unpardonable sin is not accepting Jesus before you die. It's not too late until you die.
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