Here read I Thessalonians 5:23 I Thessalonians 4:17 I Corinthians 15:51
Third, those that are "alive and remain" shall be "changed" and "caught up to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." The conventional interpretation of this event is that the remaining saints will not die, but a precise reading of I Corinthians 15:51 does not indicate that the remaining saints will not die. A precise reading of v.51 states that "we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed."
As mentioned before, both Jesus and Paul constantly referred to dead saints as being "asleep." This indicates that God evidently divides the church into two groups: those that are "dead in Christ," or in other words "asleep," and those that are "alive and remain," carrying on the work of the church.
When Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, writes "we shall not all sleep," he simply means that the whole church will not be in the category of "asleep" when Jesus returns for His church, but that there will still be those that are "alive and remain" that are still carrying on the work of the church. Paul does not write and does not mean that those who are "alive and remain" will not die.
However, Paul does teach that the remaining saints will be "changed" "in a moment, in the twinkling an eye." Note that this refers only to the third event in the process of the Rapture and not to the Rapture as a whole. Paul simply means that the "change" of the living saints from a mortal to an immortal body will happen so quickly that the remaining saints will not feel the "sting of death" as revealed in I Corinthians 15:55, and that "death is swallowed up in victory" as recorded in I Corinthians 15:54. According to I Corinthians 15:50, "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."
Therefore, when the remaining saints are "caught up;" which means suddenly seized, then their "change" from a mortal to an immortal body will mean that the world will be littered with the dead bodies of the remaining saints wherever the church of God resides.
Further evidence for this fact occurs in I Corinthians 15:52 and 53. Paul writes that "the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." The "we" in this verse refers to the church as a whole, both the dead and the living. Both will be "changed;" that is , "raised incorruptible."
This "change" is further described in v.53: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality." This same "change" happens to the whole church because of the "we" in v.52. The verb "put on" in v.53 means "to change" as one would change one's clothes. It simply means to discard one thing and put on another. This constitutes a perfect description of that which happens to the living saints. Their old "corruptible" bodies fall down and their new "incorruptible" bodies rise "to meet the Lord in the air."
A further refutation of the doctrine that the living saints do not die in the Rapture occurs in two descriptions of the resurrection in I Corinthians 15:20-23, I Corinthians 15:35-50 and II Corinthians 5:1-5.
Here read I Corinthians 15:20-23 I Corinthians 15:35-50 II Corinthians 5:1-5
I Corinthians 15:22 clearly states that "in Adam all die." To the Fundamentalist, this must mean exactly that which it states. This death must happen to everyone, not just in spirit and soul, but in body as well. This also has to be true because of the curse that God put on Adam in Genesis 3:19.
Here read Genesis 3:19 I Corinthians 15:22 Romans 5:12 Romans 6:23 Hebrews 9:27 I Corinthians 15:50
The curse that God put on Adam in Genesis 3:19 is an absolute, universal curse. All men must bodily die and return to dust. There can be no exceptions. Therefore, all references to death in Hebrews 9:27 and in all the verses listed above, must also refer to the bodily deaths of all men, including the living saints at the Rapture, since all men have inherited original sin from Adam. Here read Romans 3:23.
Furthermore, the teaching that the living saints do not die in the Rapture violates a universal pattern established in God's entire Word. In all of scripture, God never attempts to reform or to re-use sin or sinful systems. God always destroys or discards sinful systems and creates something new to replace them. God may use the effects of sin to create something new, but never sin itself.
For examples, God destroyed the sinful world system in Noah's day, but saved righteous Noah and his family in order to create a new human race. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, but saved righteous Lot and two of his daughters. God destroyed Pharaoh's army but saved the children of Israel. Someday, God will destroy this corrupt earth and create a new one. This pattern is repeated again and again in scripture.
The Word of God states in I John 3:8 that Jesus came to "destroy the works of the devil." When Jesus suffered and died on the cross, He shed His blood to wash away man's sins, as recorded in Revelation 1:5. He came to completely destroy and rid the human race of its sin. Sin is the work of the devil. However, only believers will actually be washed in the blood of Christ and receive the gift of everlasting life. All unrepentant sinners become a part of their own sinful systems, and will thus suffer everlasting destruction in a "lake of fire." Here read Revelation 20:15.
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