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Is the Rapture Really in the Bible? NT Wright on What Happens When Jesus Returns

Premier Unbelievable?

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Could the Rapture happen at any moment? And is the popular idea of Christians suddenly being taken away from the earth actually what the Bible teaches?

As interest in the end times grows, Tom Wright and Mike Bird return to one of the most controversial ideas in modern Christianity: the Rapture.

A listener asks whether it is worth challenging family members who deeply believe in Rapture theology. Tom explains why he thinks the traditional interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 4 gets the Christian hope wrong, and why passages such as 1 Corinthians 15 and Philippians 3 point instead towards Jesus returning to rule, resurrection bodies and the renewal of creation.

As Tom puts it: “When Jesus comes back, he comes to rescue, to rule, to reign.”

Chapters
00:00 Can Christians still be apostles and prophets today?
02:40 Does the Bible support modern-day apostles?
05:23 When church leaders claim spiritual authority
06:19 “I am an apostle” – Tom Wright’s warning
07:00 The real signs of a genuine apostle
08:13 Does the gift of prophecy still exist?
09:45 When spiritual authority becomes dangerous
12:29 Sacrament or ordinance: does the difference matter?
16:45 Is baptism actually a means of grace?
17:25 How heaven and earth meet in the sacraments
22:26 Is the Rapture actually biblical?
24:30 Should you challenge family who believe in the Rapture?
26:15 Why Rapture theology is bigger than one Bible verse
27:23 What really happens when Jesus returns?
28:49 Does 1 Thessalonians 4 actually teach the Rapture?
Also in this episode:
Do apostles and prophets still exist today? Tom warns about church leaders who claim spiritual titles and authority for themselves.
And are baptism and communion sacraments or ordinances? Does the distinction matter, and what do these practices tell us about heaven and earth coming together?

Tom Wright and Mike Bird answer your questions about Jesus, the Bible and the life of faith.

Jump to the questions...
01:29 — Are there still apostles and prophets today?
12:23 — Sacrament or ordinance: does it matter? Are baptism and communion simply things Jesus commanded, or are they genuine means and signs of God’s grace?
22:26 — Should we try to change people’s minds about the Rapture?

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20 Comments

@lark8356 3 days ago

Blessings, Everyone. Pretrib Dispensationalist here.

@JohnYap-x2x 2 days ago

Alertness and readiness for the upcoming of the Lord is good for all Christians because maintaining continuous spiritual vigilance, moral wakefulness, and faithful service is good for every Christian ✝️.

@thephilosophybook 4 days ago

*WHY SHOULD WE NECESSARILY PRIORITZE ANY ONE SAID-SACRED END-TIME VIEW, where and as it's otherwise (seemingly the more basic case) God's first muse re. the aforementioned falls to what is conditional (first to us) no different (in precedence) from that of the Ninevites of old vis-a-vis the kind of end-time to manifest (now unto us) is actually, arguably first conditional relative to the kind of basic moral muster we ourselves take or do not take!

@davidlittlewood4215 3 days ago

The gifts in Ephesians 4 are functions not titles. Some of our wise Pentecostal forefathers were totally against the title of ‘apostle’ and ‘prophet’ even though they believed in them.

@johnenglish4119 1 day ago

Paul plainly states in 1 Thessalonians 4, For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Paul was neither a dispensationalist nor a covenant theologian . He was an apostle. I will take him at his word.

@michaelwood4478 1 hour ago

I’m a pre trib dispensationalist and serious student of the Bible but sadly the belief in the rapture is a minority view in the UK.😔

@robinwhitmire8250 1 day ago

As far as my eschatology I am undecided and okay with it. What’s most important is that I am ready.
My question is about the gift of tongues as in a “private prayer language “ context. I have church members ask me do I pray in tongues as if I don’t, somehow I haven’t received the gift and am somehow lacking spiritually. I know that when I am in a season where I don’t know what to pray for that the Holy Spirit will intercede on my behalf. Why isn’t it okay that when I pray in such a season, since it is private, that I sit quietly holding my prayer in my heart. Does it matter that I make utterances that I don’t understand? I usually put on worship music and hold my longing/yearning for Gods presence/will in my heart. Your commentary on this would be much appreciated.

@Polynuttery 22 hours ago

There are good scholars on both sides of this debate. I’m pre-trib.

@davidcrenshawphysicaltherapy 4 days ago

3:37 apostles are those who had seen the risen Christ in the flesh, but Paul saw some sort of a spiritual being. Yet you included Paul as an apostle?

@johnwashburn3793 4 days ago

Dr. Bird, I have liste listened long enough to know that you would almost always slam your fist on the kitchen table over a cup of coffee ☕️, but I love you anyway.

@stevedugas8988 19 hours ago

Whether one exegetes 1 Corinthians, et al. as establishing "the rapture" or not, the ultimate purpose of the Scripture is to prepare believers to meet Jesus. Whether "in the air," or through bodily death, all will meet Jesus. He told us time and time again to be ready for that eventuality. We should avoid internecine squabbling over the rapture, as well as other matters of Biblical interpretation of obscure passages, and concentrate on our personal salvation and living a holy life as God leads us in peaceful coexistence with fellow believers. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" Pssalms 133: 1. Belief in or denial of the rapture has never kept a single Christian out of heaven and never will but unnecessary antagonism between believers has the potential to do so.

@Gerryjournal 3 days ago

Does it matter what is, or is not, inside a book of fiction????

@byronumphress3805 3 days ago

Revelation 11:8, dead bodies,

Resurrection “ witness “
Revelation 12:5, a child is born, rule with iron rod, but caught up to God and to His Throne,

@davidcrenshawphysicaltherapy 4 days ago

As far as return of Jesus, remember that the return of Elijah, according to Jesus, was John the Baptist…

@dfkuz 2 days ago

Nothing said or written in Genesis through the Acts period applies to us personally because none of us would have been allowed to even hear the gospel according to Jewish prophecy, let alone be saved by it!

Only by the gospel according to the revelation of the mystery of Ephesians 3:9 and Colossians 1:25-27 KJV: the “gift of God, not of works,” (unlike the Acts period’s “works meet for repentance,” Acts 26:20 KJV, that every believer was told to perform by Paul himself) apply to us today!

You cannot have it both ways! Only Ephesians and Colossians apply to us living according to the mystery today, because only in them do we find the mystery that for the first time allows anyone (individuals not nations) to receive eternal life.

Rightly divide the word of truth!

@sheltonjethro2977 3 days ago

It seems to me that Wright's views cause him to either ignore or reject large sections of scripture. The old testament has passages about the second coming of Jesus, returning in anger and Wright has to ignore these. I am referring to passages such as Isaiah 66:15 - 16 etc. as well as Revelation 19 and other places in the bible. What does Wright do with the 21 judgements in Revelation?

@eugenejoseph7076 15 hours ago

Isn't it something when someone thinks he can just tell us what Paul really meant which of course, only N.T. can decipher Paul's real meaning. The arrogance of some 'scholars' is unfathomable. I read, I understand, I believe. Its not that difficult really. I don't need a man to interpret the Bible for me because the Lord Jesus sent me the best teacher and guide, His Holy Spirit who leads true beleivers into ALL TRUTH, not N.T.'s version of 'truth'.

@normgardner4560 1 day ago

I believe that N.T Wright is N.T. WRONG!

@stephenbailey9969 4 days ago

The 'taking up' and the resurrection of the body are the same event, as scripture attests, when Christ returns and initiates the new heavens and new earth.
The Nicene Creed: "He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead...We look forward to the resurrection of the dead and to life in the world to come. Amen."

@Pv1817-fg7uy 3 days ago

The rapture or Harpazo is a doctrine thoroughly grounded in scripture. It’s timing has seen much debate but it’s reality should not. Between the account of Enoch and the parousia of Christ there are numerous examples of the Harpazo to learn from, unless of course your theological schema and eschatology prevent you from doing so.
Also, the reference about the ‘gift of discernment’ is inaccurate.
There is a gift of the discerning of spirits according to scripture, not just ‘discernment’, the comment having evidently been made in the context of spiritual gifts.