Tuesday, September 27, 2011

 Pondered Question 37 - The ELECT - Jews or Church?
  Before continuing to look closer at Antichrist and his activities, we must identify Antichrist's enemies. Pre-Trib says Antichrist has never and will never have any dealings with Christ's Church. Pre-Trib says that during the Tribulation, the Jews will be Antichrist's foremost enemy, and the Jews are "The Elect." However, in many Pre-Trib sermons and literature the Church is referred to as the Elect.  It is important to know, because, during the Tribulation, Antichrist's and Satan's main purpose will be to force each and every person within the Elect to give up their obedience to God and His Commandments or "be killed" (See Rev.13:15)!  For more details, see The Bride of Christ and Is the Church Israel.

The Elect are important because Jesus made it abundantly clear that the Elect will be here on earth all the way through the Great Tribulation until Christ's Second Coming. He said that, 'Immediately after the Tribulation,... the sun will be dark, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall, the powers of the heavens will be shaken,... and the tribes of the earth will mourn,' "And they shall see the Son of man Coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His Angels with a sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather His Elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Matt.24:29-31).  

Who are the Elect?
"If it were possible, they [the false prophets during the Tribulation] shall deceive even the Elect" (Matt.24:24).
"For the Elect's sake, those days [Tribulation days] shall be shortened" (vs.22).
"And He shall send His Angels with the sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His Elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (vs.31). 
"One [the Elect] shall be Taken, and the other [lost wicked] Left" (vss.40-41).

Pre-Trib says the Elect are Jews that convert to Christians during the Tribulation, and that the Bride of Christ is the Church. We suggest that the Elect is the Bride of Christ, and thus the Church. The Pondered Question is, who are the Elect, REALLY?

Peter Writing to the Elect
In a letter to the Churches, Peter wrote, "ELECT according to the foreknowledge of God, the Father" (1Pet.1:2). Point to Ponder - Did Peter write his two letters specifically at some Jews that would be "Left Behind," or did he write to the Churches. Of course he wrote it to the Churches. If he wrote to the Churches, then the Church and the Elect are the same. A simple reading of Peter's Epistles makes this clear.

James Writing to the Elect
James the Brother of Jesus was the Leader of the whole Christian Church when he wrote his Epistle. In a letter to the Churches he wrote, “James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the TWELVE TRIBES which are scattered abroad, greeting” (Js.1:1). James called the Church, "The 12 Tribes," thus he considered the Church and Israel one and the same. Pre-Trib's whole movement is based entirely on Israel and the Church being two completely different and separate groups.

Paul Writing to the Elect
Did Paul call the Church the Elect? "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's Elect"(Rom.8:33)?"Paul, a servant of God, and an Apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the Faith of God's ELECT, and the acknowledging of the Truth which is after Godliness" (Titus1:1)! "Put on therefore, as the ELECT of God, holy and beloved, tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering" (Col.3:12). "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal.3:29).

Pre-Trib says Paul is the Apostle identifying and establishing the Pre-Trib Rapture, yet Paul, more than any other Bible Prophet, identifies the Elect as the Church.

Why Does it Matter?
If the Elect, the Church, Christ's Bride, Israel, and those in the New Covenant relationship with Jesus are all the same, it makes no difference, and all prophecies about these fit together perfectly. If the Elect and the Church are separate, none of the prophecies fit together. The Point to Ponder here is, if the Elect and the Church and the Bride of Christ are all the same, then the Elect cannot remain here on earth for seven years after the Church has gone to Heaven. 
 
SERIOUS Point to Ponder
If the Church and the Elect and Israel and the Bride of Christ are all one and the same, then Pre-Trib must explain something about "Grace." If the Church will be taken away at a Rapture, and that Rapture ends the "Grace Age" during which time the Church is instructed by God to disregard His Ten Commandments, and, after that Rapture, the Elect (Israel) is once again instructed by God to obey His Commandments, the Church has no reason to be concerned. However, if the Church is the Elect, then the Church does not presently have a "Grace Age" during which time Church members are "Free to Disobey God's Law!" This problem becomes even more serious because Pre-Trib says Grace demands we disregard God's Law at this present time. Thus if the Church THINKS they are instructed to disregard God's Law, and this notion is really a deception from Satan, would not the Church be in BIG Trouble? Pastor, it MATTERS indeed what we believe, and what we teach our Congregations!

Thank you, Pastor, for your time. Please make this a matter of much prayer and Bible Study. For sure you want your congregation to be where God wants them to be when Jesus comes. Let's pray that we will all be where Jesus wants us to be when He comes!
Your Brother in Christ
Walter C. Martin Jr.

Other Blogsites on this subject are  The Bride of Christ and Is the Church Israel.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Check Our Other Blogsites:

Pre-Tribulation Rapture

Post-Tribulation Second Coming of Jesus

Will We Eat Pigs During the Millennium?

Planet Earth WILL be Destroyed After the 1000 Years!
New Jerusalem - How BIG is It?
Great White Throne Judgment Seat - When and Where
Christ's Kingdom - Millennial or EVERLASTING?

 Hell Fire
Is God Torturing People Now
Did Jesus Suffer ALL of Your Hell?
The Rich Man and Lazarus?
Death
The Dead - Dead or Alive - What is Death?
Did Jesus Die YOUR Death for You?
Will Satan Ever Die - Bible Says "YES!"
Testing Our Doctrine About Death
The Dead Stand Before Great White Throne Judgment Seat

 The Gnostics Attack the Sabbath
Were Gnostics Really Christian?
Were Gnostics Satan's Implants into the Church?
Is Gnosticism Alive and Well in Today's Churches
Church is Israel - Israel is Church
Is the Church Israel and Israel the Church?
Is the Bride of Jesus the 144 Thousand?
Did Jesus Offer the Jews a Millennial Kingdom in His Ministry?
Will New Jerusalem Sit in Israel? How Big is It?
Christ's REAL EVERLASTING Kingdom is for ALL Believers!

The Sabbath
Is it a Sin to Observe the Sabbath?
Is There a Connection Between the Rapture and the Sabbath?
Will the Sabbath Be Observed By God's People During the Tribulation?
Who REALLY Changed the Sabbath in Early Christianity?
Un-Answered and Un-Answerable Sabbath Questions For Popular Preachers
How to Test Your Doctrine Concerning the Sabbath

Heaven
Marriage in Heaven - Millennial Kingdom?
Strange Animal/Demons the Millennium?
Why Jesus Hasn't Come to Take Us To Heaven?
Teachers of Anomia (Law Annulling)
Good Ministers Teaching Against God's 10 Commandments?
Teaching of Anomia - The Reason Jesus Hasn't Come Yet?
Pre-Trib Rapture and Sabbath
Pre-Trib Rapture and the Sabbath?

Walter C. Martin Jr.
Everlasting Gospel Ministries

These are just a few of the questions we examine in our Websites.
Thank you, Dear Reader,  for checking them. Please feel free to give us your comments and feedback if you look at our Sites.  If you send us your questions or comments, we will try to answer and add your question to these Websites. We will Not give your name or E-Mail address to ANY ONE or ANY Church Group or Denomination! Nor will we send you ANY annoying E-Mails!! It is NOT our purpose to get you to withdraw from your present Church, but to invite you to present things you learn here to your Pastor and Friends.
Let's pray that God will continue sending His Holy Spirit to guide as we prepare for Jesus to come. Thank You!
Your Brother in Christ!
Walter C. Martin Jr
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)