1 Thessalonians

Tight wires frighten me. I heard a speaker tell about a daredevil who stretched one across Niagara Falls. Before walking across, he asked the audience, “Do you think I can do this?” Yes!, came the unanimous reply. After his return, he put a wheelbarrow on the wire. “Who thinks I can…

Incidental evidence can provide satisfying confirmation of an assertion. Such is the case as I conclude my remarks on Paul’s “rapture passage” (1 Thess 4:13–5:11).  In my last post, I summarized the inmillennial view—Paul used figurative language to describe the Mosaic-age-to-messianic-age transition. The dead in Christ would “rise first,” then the…

In my Tidying Up post, I promised to summarize Paul’s “rapture passage” (1 Thess 4:13–5:11) from my prophetic perspective (i.e., per inmillennialism). I missed my self-imposed deadline but am now ready to fulfill the promise. My previous posts have provided background information that anticipated this moment. The following synopsis of them…

Paul expected “mighty acts” of God in his generation and declared that expectation in his writings. The other apostles did, too. They based their anticipation on Jesus’ statements, especially his Olivet Discourse. He had said the worldwide preaching of the gospel, the abomination of desolation, the great tribulation, his coming,…

“You need to clarify some things in your last post,” says a friend. I promised him I would do so this week. This pledge prompted me to use this post to do some tidying up. I will address the two items he mentioned and then sort out some points I…

Paul’s “rapture passage” (1 Thess 4:13–5:11) does not imply that he envisioned physical bodies flying through the air in his generation. He was addressing a specific concern among the Thessalonians. Would those who lived to see the end of the Mosaic age and subsequent parousia (presence) of Christ in the…

I am looking at four Old Testament passages to help us understand the resurrection language in Paul’s “rapture passage.” He said, 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 Thessalonians feared that those who were alive and remained to the parousia—Christ’s presence with his churches in the messianic age—would have some advantage over their dead loved ones (1 Thess 4:15 HCSB). Paul calmed their fears by reinforcing the truth: The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we…

In this series of posts, I am proposing a better way to understand Paul’s comforting words to the Thessalonians: 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.…

Jesus spoke of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob entering the messianic-age kingdom on multiple occasions. One time was in the early part of his preaching career, during his “Great Galilean Ministry.” Matthew says a Roman centurion expressed faith in him by affirming his absolute authority: When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said…