GRACE ANSWERS 51

These are questions sent to GraceLife Ministries by Internet E-Mail. We appreciate each person who sent the questions and hope our answers will be a help to many. If you would like to have a question answered for Grace Answers, please e-mail Mark McGee.

Will the Grace Gospel become a Mystery after the Church is Raptured?

QUESTION: I had a question regarding salvation and the gospel of the kingdom. After the church is raptured, will the Grace Gospel again become a mystery? Will people be saved in the tribulation by repenting and believing that Jesus is the Christ and enduring to the end? Can someone respond to the gospel of the kingdom and then fall away? In a sense, lose their salvation? Is Heb. 10:26 an example of a Jew who believes that Jesus is the Christ, but later turns back to Judaism and rejects Christ?

ANSWER: Jesus Christ explained to His disciples what He would require of people and what would happen to them during the Tribulation and Kingdom. We read about that in places like Matthew 25 and 26. We learn about the promises of the Messianic Kingdom in the early part of Acts. The Old Testament prophets wrote much about the Kingdom. James wrote a letter that reveals Kingdom theology. Hebrews is an excellent document that points people to the Kingdom of Christ. Jesus gave John the Apostle an astonishing insight to the Kingdom in his Revelation. We learn in those Scriptures how people become believes and what their lives will be like in the Tribulation. It won't be easy.

I don't believe the Grace Gospel will become a mystery in the future because God revealed it through Paul almost 2,000 years ago. The message may be lost to many because of neglect, but the mystery has been revealed. People may forget it. They may try to stamp it out. However, once a mystery is revealed it is known in some form. The people who become believers during the Tribulation and the Kingdom will know about the Mystery of Grace and the Body of Christ through written and oral teaching.

Jesus taught that believers in the Tribulation and Kingdom could fall away. "If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." (John 14:6) Some people who begin on the Path during the Tribulation and the Kingdom will fall away. The people who go into the Kingdom will be believers, yet Satan will be able to decive the nations after his release from prison and will gather them for battle. John estimated the number of people falling away to follow Satan "like the sand on the seashore." My guess is in the millions. "But fire came down from heaven and devoured them." (Revelation 20:9)

The writer to the Hebrews deals with the holiest of subjects in Chapters 9 and 10: the Sacrifice and Blood of Christ. The writers calls on Jewish believers (Hebrews) to persevere in their belief and not turn away. The writer seems to include himself when he writes: "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God." The writer places this statement in the context of someone "who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has insulted the Spirit of Grace?" The writer concludes with the saying, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Yes, it is a dreadful thing. That will happen to people in the Tribulation and Kingdom periods. We can thank God we are His children in the Dispensation of Grace.

Future Events from Matthew 24

QUESTION: I wanted to ask you about the future events described in Matthew 24. I used to read a lot of these verses and relate them prior to the tribulation. The more I read Matt. 24, it sounds more like a lot of these verses describe events that will be happening during the tribulation. Does this sound about right?

ANSWER: I agree with you. The disciples asked Jesus "Tell us, when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Christ's answer in Matthew 24 deals with those days, weeks and months leading up to His physical return to Earth to establish His Kingdom. We know that time as the Tribulation. Matthew 24:4-44 relates to events we read about in Revelation 7 - 19. The parables of the faithful and wise servant, the wicked servant, the ten virgins, the talents, and the sheep and goats from Matthew 24:45 - 25:46 also refer to the Tribulation and the Physical Return of Christ to Earth.

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