"I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one."
I have written before on the I Thessalonians passage that some premilleniallists claim teaches a "rapture," i.e., that God will take the Church out of the world to avoid tough times.
But look at the words above, from the High Priestly Prayer of Christ. His exact words are a prayer to the Father that He not take His people out of the world. If Jesus says the opposite of what the rapturists proclaim, what are we to think of the rapturists?
Hello Mr. Cole,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post. You may want to reconsider. Jesus' prayer in John 17 seems to be mainly for the apostles (see v.12 and v.20). If you enter "His people"(I assume meaning all Christians forever) for "them" in the above verses, it makes them non-sensical. And we know Jesus doesn't make non-sensical statements. I would be very hesitant to argue against the rapturist view with that.
Blessings
John Gardner
I'm not following your argument here. If I do as you say, it becomes "I do not ask that you take his people out of the world, but that you keep his people from the evil one."
DeleteHow is this non-sensical? It seems perfectly in line with Jesus building His kingdom on earth while He reigns in heaven, putting all enemies under His feet.