Do people that have died have an opportunity to be saved?

This question was posed by a young believer at another blog which I visit. Let’s take a look at a couple of verses:

Hebrews 9:27: “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.”

John 3:18: “He who believes in Him (Christ) is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Once a person has died, if they have not repented and trusted Christ while alive, it is all over for them. There are no second chances.

After her question she then stated, “It doesn’t make sense to me that the people left behind after the rapture are given a second chance but not the people that die before the rapture.”

The prewrath position places Christ’s coming and the gathering of the elect (the dead and living in Christ) immediately after the great tribulation. Mt. 24:22 in fact states that the days of great tribulation are cut short for the sake of the elect who remain alive. If not, no life would be saved. (For a complete explanation of the prewrath position see my first post.) There are two groups of people that are not taken in the rapture. Those that TAKE the mark of the beast, denying the Lordship of Christ, and those that DO NOT TAKE the mark, but have not repented and trusted in Christ for salvation. Rev. 14:9,10 speaks of an angel announcing from the heavens: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives the mark on his forehead or upon his hand, he will also drink of the wine of the wrath of God…and he will 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 goes up forever and ever.”

Scripture is clear, once a person takes the mark, their fate is sealed as well, even when they are alive.

What about the group that does not take the mark, but has not repented and trusted in Christ? Who are in this group? Will any of them come to know Christ as Savior and Lord?

For sure the Jews who escape the persecution of the beast by fleeing into the wilderness do not take the mark. They receive God’s protection for the second half of Daniel’s 70th week. (See Rev. 12) Scripture speaks of another group of Jews that do not take the mark. They are the 144,000, 12,000 from each tribe. (See Rev. 7) Where are these Jews when Christ comes to gather the elect? The Bible doesn’t say but I would think it is possible that some are in the group that are in protection in the wilderness. The remaining would be scattered through out the world. They are not saved before the rapture therefore they are also left behind. God seals them for protection from His wrath which commences after the rapture and culminates at the Battle of Armageddon. Rev. 14:4 calls this group the first fruits (or first group) of Jews who trust in Christ as Messiah after the rapture. It is my conclusion their salvation occurs at Christ’s appearing and gathering of the elect, the Church, which cuts short the great tribulation. When Christ is revealed in the clouds their eyes are opened that He is Yeshua, the true Messiah, and they put their faith in Him at that point. They then become God’s evangelists for the remainder of Daniel’s 70th week, proclaiming the gospel to the other Jews and Gentiles that did not take the mark, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior. Israel was God’s evangelistic agency before the Church. When Israel rejected her Messiah, the Church then became God’s evangelistic agency. At Christ’s coming and gathering of the Church, the point in time at which the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, Israel will once again be God’s evangelistic agency.

So, there will be people that come to Christ after the rapture. Romans 11:26 tells us that all Israel will be saved. Will Gentiles be saved after the rapture? I believe so, because of the witness of the 144,000. Ron Wallace at Bible Fragrances says: “These Jews and Gentiles will be citizens of the kingdom. The kingdom dispensation begins with just believers, living in normal physical bodies and functioning as faithful subjects to the King and His Bride. There will still be normal procreation for these citizens and after several years, there will once again be a need for evangelistic activity throughout the world. Even with Christ personally present and reigning in righteousness, there will be many who inwardly rebel against Him.”

Click here to read Ron's excellent article in its entirety.

Mt. 25:31-46 tells us what happens to those who survive to the end of Daniel's 70th week but do not repent. They are represented as the goats in the Mt. 25 passage. They are sent to the eternal fire. For a more complete explanation, see the comment section. (I missed this information in the original post.)

Friend, if you have yet to repent and call upon the Lord for your salvation, now is the time to "confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead". (Rm. 10:9) There is no guarantee that you will have tomorrow, or even the next minute. To be absent from the body without Christ is not entering into nothingness. To die without Christ is to seal your eternity in agony and torment. John 3:16 says: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." Call upon Him now. Do not wait. Trust Him, today.



12 comments:

Teresita said...

Jesus said:

"And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come."

This is called the Unforgivable Sin. Since you assert that your "fate is sealed" if you take the Mark, are you indicating that taking the Mark is the Unforgivable Sin, or that there are two Unforgivable Sins?

Kathy Hall said...

Teresita,

Good question. First of all, Scripture is clear, if you take the mark, you will drink God's wrath in full strength. The torment will be forever. (Rev. 14:9-11) (You will be spared Satan's wrath via the persecution of Antichrist, but God's wrath is going to be a whole lot worse, and it will go on forever.)

The expression "the unpardonable sin" doesn't occur in Scripture. This is a label which people have put on what Jesus called, "the blasphemy against the Spirit". Jesus said in Mark 3:29 that whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness. That would make it the "unpardoned" sin. Christ's death covers all sin without exception. What Jesus is saying is that whoever commits this sin will never come to faith in Him.

Hope that answers your question.

Stacy said...

Katherine,

How do you explain the goat/sheep judgement with your explanation to Alesia?

You missed a very important part of those how reject the AC and still havent accepted Jesus as Lord and savior, I would recommend you continue to study the Word.

God Bless

Teresita said...

What Jesus is saying is that whoever commits this sin will never come to faith in Him.

Yet there could be someone who comes to faith in Jesus, but still takes the Mark, if the Mark is a credit card or RFID chip they need to get a job or buy food and they are, for example, a sincere Catholic or Methodist or Lutheran who is not aware of modern Evangelical eschatology. Thus Christ's atonement covers all sin except the sin of taking the Mark, because even those who come to faith in Christ as the Word made flesh for the redemption of the world still need to have the special knowledge of avoiding the Mark.

Kathy Hall said...

Hi Teresita and Stacy,

Apologies for not getting right back to you. I had other obligations and Stacy, I wanted to do some more studying. I did miss that. Thanks for pointing that out and the encouragement to study further. We will never know it all in this lifetime so it should be a lifelong pursuit!

Teresita,

God in His grace will give a warning via an angel about taking the mark. According to Revelation 14:9-11, the angel announces that if anyone takes the mark, they are destined to eternal judgment. Therefore, if a person takes the mark, they were never a true Christian in the first place. Taking the mark is tantamount to worshiping the beast and denying Christ. Mt. 24:10 speaks of a falling away. I believe this very well refers to those who say they are Christians but then take the mark proving they really weren't. The act of taking the mark functions the same as physical death. If a person dies physically without trusting in Christ his destiny is eternal judgment. The act of taking the mark accomplishes the same thing. Normally, as long as someone is alive they have the opportunity to trust in Christ and be saved. Taking the mark is the exception.

Stacy,

It is my conclusion that Matt. 25:31-46 is not the Great White Throne Judgment referred to in Rev. 20 which occurs at the end of the millennial kingdom. Mt. 25 appears to be describing a separate event that occurs after the Battle of Armageddon but prior to the start of the millennial kingdom. v. 32 says that “all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another.” It would include those Jews and Gentiles who come to Christ after the rapture. There appears to be another group that survives the outpouring of God’s wrath but never repent. v. 33 says “He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.” v.34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, INHERIT THE KINGDOM prepared for you from the foundation of the world”. 1 John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren, He who does not love abides in death.” The sheep give evidence of this “life love”. Jesus says in Mt. 25:35ff, “For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat...thirsty…you gave Me drink…you clothed, visited, came to Me.” The righteous, the sheep, ask when did we do all those things. The King answers in v. 40, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least…you did it to Me.” To the goats the King says in v. 41ff, “Depart from Me, accursed one, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devils and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me nothing…thirsty…you gave me nothing.” The goats also ask the King, v. 44, “Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty…?” He answers them, v. 45…”to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” Love for other Christians is an indication of one’s salvation status. The goats are sent into eternal punishment, the sheep into eternal life. v.46

Marge said...

Kathy,
I know you've been busy the last couple of days, so you probably didn't see me get 'blasted' yesterday on Joel's blog :( It was all about me deleting my past posts, and folding one Blog. As a result? (I chose not to reply to the attack against me) I pulled the plug on the other Blog, too. Anyway, if you want to get ahold of me, write on wjm's (Wilma) blog, okay? Or write on Joel's blog, because even though I'm 'backing off,' for awhile, doesn't mean that the anonymous has run me off, or anything. I just don't chose to act in strife, is all. Besides there is really nothing being discussed right about now, that I have anything to add too, etc.

Anyhow, I wanted you to know.
Much love, and God bless you!

Kathy Hall said...

Hi Marge,

I did see it. I was so saddened. I was going to stop by your blog and let you know I love you. So I shall say it here. I'm so sorry that happened. I commend you for responding in such a way that pleases the Lord.

I do love you!!

Kathy

Kathy Hall said...

And Marge,

You know you are welcome here at any time!!

Much Love from Kathy

Teresita said...

Why do they just attack people on Joel's blog without posting a scripture to support their attack?

PWTribune said...

It doesn't appear that the blog you speak of has a moderator at all. Most discussion boards are pretty difficult WITH moderators, but when it's a blog that has absolutely no structure or authority that attempts to keep the people speaking graciously it gets ugly quickly.

It's kind of like Moses going to the mountain only to find when he came back that all hell had broken loose and they were livin' it up and worshiping a golden calf!

When you've got that kind of atmosphere why bother posting verses? You're only speaking from the flesh anyway. Why even THINK of using scripture rather than preconceived ideas?!

Dave

PWTribune said...

PS Teresita, I noticed that you live in Des Moines. ME TOO! My wife and I live near Grandview Park on Easton Blvd.

Dave

Kathy Hall said...

Hi Teresita,

Dave hit the nail on the head. I'm careful to always back up my responses with Scripture. If I don't I hope someone will call me on it.

Kathy