Building Christians Up From The Foundation & Unto Perfection
Hebrews 6:1-3
Hebrews 6:1-3
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Skip To Questions And Objections List
There are often disagreements about any given theological topic. Often they are a result of a bad understanding of more foundational doctrines and like a house with a bad foundation the roof will not fit properly. This is why I encourage you to begin our Christianity 101 course from the beginning.
Even then there can still be disagreements. We have put this list here of FAQ and objections raised by others related to this study. Often there may be verses we will explain in greater detail since as humans we sometimes read things into the scriptures that are not there without even knowing it. This can normally clear up any confusion.
There are however some objections that are common to every topic. These objections will normally be the first ones you will find in any of our objection pages to quickly put them to rest.
Common Objections
1. This goes against orthodox Christianity and what the church has taught for centuries.
4. No one else believes this! In fact, the majority believe something totally different!
5. Such and such scripture says what you are saying is untrue.
Study Specific Objections
11. Who will populate the world during the millennium if Christ did not take His saints out first?
12. The resurrection isn’t mentioned in Revelation 19:11-21 which is an image of the second coming.
14. The Lord comes with his saints in Zech. 14:5. That proves they are already with Him.
17. Would the Lord bring the elect (from Heaven) and take them (from Earth) at the same time?
18. If He brings them (from Heaven) where did they come from and how did they get there?
19. If He is taking them (from earth) why does He say that they are coming with Him?
This goes against orthodox Christianity and what the church has taught for centuries.
First let me explain that this statement is incorrect in the first place. Since the beginning of the church there have been many things taught and often there have been opposing doctrines. To this day these same doctrines and oppositions still exist and we have come to the point of splitting into denominations rather than coming together to seek out the truth.
So when you make a statement like “This goes against what the church has always taught” you would have to make the claim that no one is a part of the church since we all have different beliefs in one thing or another. The church itself is made up of Christians and thus if any Christian teaches something then it is being taught by a part of the church.
This does not however mean all Christians are teaching what is true. There are false doctrines which have been believed for centuries along with the truth of scripture which has also been believed for centuries. So the church actually HAS taught this for centuries.
The argument that this goes against “orthodox” Christianity is another matter though. The term orthodox means: conforming to what is generally or traditionally accepted as right or true; established and approved.
Basically all that orthodox Christianity is would be a majority of Christians who hold the same view. Orthodox teachings are not always true either though since the majority can be (and often are) wrong. For example: The religious leaders in the time of Jesus would have been considered orthodox. Yet time and again Jesus showed their teaching to be incorrect.
Our test for what is or is not true should never come from majority opinion or the age of a teaching. If that was our test for anything else we would still be in the dark ages thinking that you could cure sickness by draining a person’s blood. Our test is scripture and scripture alone. Any teaching on what the scripture says is subject to the scriptures themselves.
So it doesn’t matter if it has been taught by people for centuries. If they were wrong then they were wrong. The word of God is always right though. And, we should know the word of God from the Bible itself rather than the commentary of someone else (even me) about the word. Teachers can guide you, but you must know that only the Bible itself is 100% correct 100% of the time.
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Aren‘t you being prideful because you think you know better than the great theologians of the past?
No, not at all. Just because someone who is considered to be of high esteem says something different than a person of lower esteem it doesn’t mean the higher esteemed person is correct. This is not a matter of pride. It’s a matter of truth.
Jesus was also accused of being prideful since He acted and spoke as one with greater authority than others such as Moses. It wasn’t about pride though. It was about truth.
Why do I believe I understand the truth of these things? It’s not because I believe I am somehow greater than others. It is because I have read the Bible and come to a different understanding. An understanding that I believe is true based on the information given, not based on how highly I esteem myself to be.
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“Someone else (a link I would like to send or a well known teacher) can explain this subject and why the doctrine on this site is wrong better than I can. So please see…such and such”
There are many times I have been given links to other ministries which teach things against what I do. The funny thing about that is I often have already seen those articles and have included information on my own articles as to why they are incorrect.
So I find it both laughable and annoying when someone attempts to refute what I teach by showing me what someone else teaches which I have already proven to be incorrect.
The reason many people point to the teachings of others is because often they do not fully understand the subject well enough to defend it themselves. So they attempt to let others who “understand it better” do that for them.
What they do not realize however is that the reason they don’t have a full grasp on it is because the ones they point to as being great teachers do not have enough of a grasp on it either. Thus their students are left without understanding as well.
In fact, the same arguments the student would make are the very same ones their teacher will make. So if those arguments don’t hold water with the student then the teacher will also fail since they are saying the same thing. So do yourself a favor and don’t just pretend you aren’t smart enough to figure this out so you can simply ignore it while letting someone else who is “smarter” figure it out for you. Use your own brain.
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No one else believes this! In fact, the majority believe something totally different!
Since when has majority opinion been proof of something being true? Majority opinion is only an endorsement from many people who may themselves be incorrect. The objection that no well known, specific group, or intelligent person believes something was also used against Jesus. They said “Have any of the scribes or Pharisees believed on Him?!”
So denial of something because of this comes from peer pressure and not truth.
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Such and such scripture says what you are saying is untrue!
A common theme of never ending debate is when one person uses a scripture that may say one thing, but then another person uses a different scripture which seems to give a different view. Normally what we tend to do is keep quoting our supporting scriptures.
But this leads us only into frustration. Instead we need to lay down our arsenal and learn how to use it properly. The Bible will not contradict itself. So if we see two opposing views we need to ask ourselves how they work together.
Is it possible one of us is reading something into the scriptures that it doesn’t actually say? Is it possible that other foundational doctrines we believe are not true and thus force us to read other scriptures in a way to attempt to fit them in? I have often found that a misreading of scripture can cause this. A little lesson in how to understand what we read may be in order. For this kind of information please see unit 1:7 in this course.
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The rapture and the second coming of Christ are two different events. Some of these scriptures speak of the rapture while others speak of the second coming.
That statement isn’t actually true. You can find out why here: Are The Second Coming And Rapture 2 Different Events?
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2 Thessalonians 2:6-9 states that the Holy Ghost will be removed from earth to allow the Anti-Christ to rule. Since the Holy Ghost will not leave His church He must take us with Him.
It is not Biblically sound to believe the Holy Ghost will be removed from earth. The Holy Ghost is God, the third person of the trinity. If He is removed from earth that means God Himself has abandoned the world which is something scripture never teaches. Omnipresent means, everywhere present. Even David said “If I make my bed in hell thou art there.” (Psalm 139:7-9).
In order for someone to become a Christian they must have the work of the Holy Ghost done in them:
1 Corinthians 12:3
3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
We see saints in the time period of the tribulation and so that must mean the Spirit of God is on earth. There are also many other reasons this can not be true. I believe the point is clear though.
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After John is called up in chapter 4 with the voice of a trumpet the church is not mentioned again. Instead the church is called the bride. This means the church has been removed from earth.
If you read in context John is called up by a voice that only sounds like a trumpet and not a trumpet itself. Also note that in context it is only John being called to heaven to get an image of what is going to happen. In context you would not be able to say this was the church. Also just because the word church is not mentioned does not mean it does not exist in some form. The church is called the body of Christ and that body is made of many members. While a local assembly may not be practical in the tribulation there are still saints on earth who also are part of the body of Christ (which is the church). Just because something is not mentioned does not mean it isn’t there.
Another doctrine that needs to be addressed here is that of the bride, the groom, and the friend of the bridegroom. The belief is that the church (or Israel if it is convenient to hold the doctrine together) is the bride of Christ. Obviously Christ is the groom. But then there is someone known as “the friend of the groom.”
This is used to say that not all Christians are the bride of Christ. Or to put it another way, they are not all part of the body of Christ. This comes from only one set of scriptures that have not been taken in context.
John 3:28-30
28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. 29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Some have taken these scriptures and applied meaning to them that is not here. The meaning implied by this doctrine is that there is a group of people apart from the bride (the church, the body of Christ, all those who are filled with the Spirit of Christ) that are somehow invited to be with Christ, but are only guests and not one with Him in Heaven.
Reading the words of John in context however shows that he was NOT saying that he was part of some third party, but rather that he was NOT THE BRIDEGROOM.
John 3:26-27
26 And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. 27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
This comment, made by those who followed John, is what John is answering to. This gives us the context of John’s answer. He is not speaking of some new doctrine of a third party. He is simply saying he is not the groom because he doesn’t have those God is giving to Jesus. Instead John HIMSELF is a friend of Jesus watching Him build His church (His bride) at this time.
This does not imply that there is a third group of people who are not part of that bride which Jesus calls His own. For more on what the church is please visit our page here: https://onthelineministries.com/we-are-the-body-of-christ/.
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How can the 24 elders be in heaven and have crowns if they have not been raptured? We can not have our rewards until we are all home with Jesus.
These crowns are crowns of authority…not reward. Many mistake the crowns as being the rewards given to the saints. Instead these are part of the garments of the priests. I encourage you to do a study on what the elders are wearing and what they are doing. You will find them to be priests. This should not be a shocking revelation though since we are called kings and priests by God.
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Many other examples of scripture show men being taken out before destruction. This is a pattern for the rapture.
This is true. Noah was removed before God destroyed the world. Enoch was taken before the flood. Lot was taken out of Sodom. But did you notice in all of these that it was the wrath of God on man and not the wrath of Satan? The tribulation is a time when God lets Satan war with the saints. AFTER the tribulation you will see the judgments of God.
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Who will populate the world during the millennium if Christ did not take His saints out first?
For the answer to that question please see https://onthelineministries.com/who-will-occupy-the-millennial-kingdom/
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The resurrection isn’t mentioned in Revelation 19:11-21 which is an image of the second coming.
Omission is not proof of anything. In the same way people deny God exists because they fail to see Him. Besides, this event continues into Revelation 20 where we DO see the first resurrection. So this argument is wrong on both accounts.
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If the rapture is after the tribulation we will be able to know when Christ returns which is something the Bible says we will not.
This is based on the thought that the second coming of Christ is at the last day of tribulation. There is actually an amount of undisclosed time AFTER the tribulation in which God pours out His wrath.
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The Lord comes with his saints in Zech. 14:5. That proves they are already with Him.
Think about this… Christ is coming in the clouds and His armies with Him. Where are His armies? They are in the clouds. The last trumpet gathers the saints together into the air with Christ. They were not with Him the whole time… they are gathered… also note that the dead in Christ are in heaven and are now to be resurrected. So this does not prove they are already with Him, only that they WILL BE with Him at that time.
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Rev. 3:10 says the church will be kept from the hour of temptation. So the church must not be here during the tribulation.
Notice in Revelation two churches are mentioned that Christ has no issue with. One He says will be killed and one He says will be kept from the hour of temptation. It is a misunderstanding to believe the hour of temptation is the tribulation. It is actually the time of judgment from God. That is why the bible records the sealing of the 144,000. This is not a seal of salvation. This seal is one of protection. Notice God will not allow the angels to harm the earth until these are protected. God is about to “tempt” or otherwise worded as bring a trial on the whole world. This happens AFTER the tribulation.
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Matthew 13:39-41 says that the angels will gather both the wicked and the righteous. So this is not the resurrection.
Note that in the seventh trumpet the bowls are poured out. Then suddenly you have men gathering to do battle with God. At the same time the saints are called to be with Christ at this same place to watch as Christ destroys those evil men. Again other scriptures have already been given to show the resurrection happens at the last trumpet.
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Would the Lord bring the elect (from Heaven) and take them (from Earth) at the same time?
First the dead in Christ, then we which are alive and remain. So both the dead in Christ and those living on Earth are gathered together at the last trumpet. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
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If He brings them (from Heaven) where did they come from and how did they get there?
They came from the same place the dead in Christ are at now. While their bodies may be in the ground, their spirit is with God. They got there by death. This is seen in the story about the rich man that lifted his eyes in Hell, as well as in Revelation where we see the souls of those under the alter who were killed. (Luke 16:23, Revelation 6:9)
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If He is taking them (from earth) why does He say that they are coming with Him?
The earth is a large planet. When He calls us to meet Him in the clouds He is gathering us from the ends of the Earth to be where He is. So it is like a gathering together in the clouds to come with Him to one location.
It is sort of like pulling your army out of three locations and then sending the combined force of your troops into one area.
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August 28, 2020 at 7:31 pm | | No comment
