15 Qualifications for the Rapture
1. Be born again
2. Have the Holy Spirit
3. Sealed by the Holy Spirit
4. Be watchful
5. Faithful unto death
6. Be in Christ
7. Be Christ’s:
8. Be holy
9. Be good
10. Be worthy
11. Be in the Church
12. Be pure
13. Be without spot or wrinkle
14. Live and walk in the Spirit
15. Walk in the Light
Jesus Christ did not say that everyone that professes to be His follower will make it to Heaven, but only those who believe in him, born again, receive the Holy Spirit and continue to obey the commandments of God and remain faithful unto death or until His return. That means there are qualifications one must possess before they can be raptured. Jesus Christ, in His doctrine of the Kingdom taught the following in the Bible verses below:
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
Matthew 7:21-22 “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works?”
Revelation 3:15-16 “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
These show that not everyone who calls the name of Christ will be saved if they refuse to repent and worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).
All these point to the fact that the doctrine of “once saved always saved” is false and unbiblical.
Below are some of the qualifications for the Rapture:
1. Be born again. No one can see the Kingdom of God except they be born again (John 3:3). “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5). The Word of God must give birth to us: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” (1Pe 1:23).
2. Have the Holy Spirit: Apart from being born of water and the Spirit we must have the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:9 says “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” The Holy Spirit seals us “unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30) hence we will be raptured by the Lord.
3. Sealed by the Holy Spirit: When Jesus Christ will return in the Rapture all those who died in the Lord and those who are alive will be resurrected and transformed respectively because the Holy Spirit seals them. Those who do not have the Holy Spirit of God do not belong to God. The Holy Spirit is God’s seal of ownership upon us.
Ephesians 4:30 “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”
4. Be watchful: Watchfulness is key to catching the rapture flight. To be watchful is to be sober, labour and occupy till Jesus Christ appears. Jesus warns:
“Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” (Revelation 3:3).
“But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.” (Matthew 24:43)
“Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” (Revelation 16:15)
Again, in another place it is written:
1 Thessalonians 5:2 “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”
5. Faithful unto death: God wants not to just be faithful at one point of our lives but to be faithful always and till death.
Denying Jesus Christ in word and in deed is backsliding from the Christian faith and it disqualifies one from entering the kingdom. Anyone that has been enlisted as a soldier of Christ must “endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:3) and be “faithful unto death” (Revelation 2:10) so that he can receive “a crown of life” from Jesus Christ.
In Luke 9:62 Jesus Christ warns against looking back and discontinuing following Him: “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
All those who endure hardship and martyrdom will even be resurrected and rewarded by the Lord, as seen in Revelation 20:4. This is how important faithfulness unto is to God.
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
6. Be in Christ: The Rapture is for only those who “sleep in Jesus” (died in Christ) (1 Thessalonians 4:14) and those who are alive and “abide in Christ” (John 15:1-5).
1 Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation”
7. Be Christ’s: The Rapture is Jesus Christ coming to take all those who belong to Him home before the Great Tribulation begins. All those who are Christ’s, both the dead and the living, will all be raptured.
1 Corinthians 15:23 “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”
Galatians 5:24 “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”
8. Be holy: Holiness is the lifestyle of the Kingdom. Every child of God has been watched in the Blood of the Lamb, therefore, they are holy. Holiness is a qualification for the Rapture. Anyone caught in evildoing by the Rapture will be left behind, no matter their faith in Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:15-16 “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
Heb. 12:14)
9. Be good: We Christians are Christ’s representatives on earth. We are expected to be good and continue in well doing till Jesus Christ returns in the Rapture.
John 5:28-29 “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
10. Be worthy: For us to escape the terror of the Great Tribulation must be counted worthy.
Luke 21:36 “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”
Only those who meet the requirements of the Rapture will be accounted worthy to partake in the fight.
There’s always a standard in entering Heaven, as against what many false teachers teach. Here’s another message from Jesus Christ Himself:
“Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.” (Revelation 3:4).
11. Be in the Church: The Church is the Body of Christ. Only those who are members of the Church will be raptured. The Church, which is the body of believers worldwide, is the extension of God’s Kingdom here on Earth. We become members of God’s Kingdom when we repent and get admitted into the Church through water baptism.
No Christian must live in isolation: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25).
Let’s consider the following scriptures confirming that fact that the Church is the Body of Christ:
1 Corinthians 12:27 “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”
Ephesians 4:12 “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”.
1 Corinthians 12:12 “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.”
Colossians 1:24 “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church”.
12. Be pure: As individuals and as the Body of Christ we must purify ourselves at all times so that we can be worthy to partake in the Rapture flight. All those who have the hope of participating in the Rapture must purify themselves.
1 John 3:2-3 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”
All Christians must continually “wash their robes, and make them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14 Paraphrased).
13. Be without spot or wrinkle: Jesus Christ is coming back for a holy Church that has been washed in the Blood of the Lamb of God.
Ephesians 5:27 “That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”
1 Peter 1:19 “But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot”
14. Live and walk in the Spirit: All Christians who have the hope of partaking in the Rapture must live and be led by the Holy Spirit, without which it is impossible to live in Christ. Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
Galatians 5:16 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”
15. Walk in the Light: We are the Light of the world and we are also commanded to walk in the Light because Jesus is the Light.
Colossians 2:6 “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him”
1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
Ephesians 5:8 “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light”
I also want to admonish us that nobody can meet these requirements by their own power. When we submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit, He helps us to live up to the standard of God’s requirements by His grace. There is no need to become discouraged because you feel the standard is too high for you to meet. Remember that “for by strength shall no man prevail.” (1 Samuel 2:9)
And again, “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.”(Romans 9:16).
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