The Rapture theory is a delusion and yet we are told to wait.
We are waiting for the hope of righteousness (Gal 5:5) and the redemption of the body, Rm 8:23. These two references seem to refer to the same thing.
The promise of Ga 5:5, For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith, is understood more clearly through a comparison with Lev 26:13.
Lev 26:13 I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.
- Very simply we are waiting for God to make us “right (the hope of righteousness) in His sight” through His Grace, which teaches us to deny ungodliness, Titus 2:11-12
- Romans 8:18 KJV — For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
1 Cor 1:7 so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ; ASV
In other words, God is enabling us through His grace to do the right thing in all circumstances, conforming us to the image of Christ, thus revealing Christ in us.
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
Ro 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (KJV)
Ro 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
The same author that God used to write “we are waiting for the redemption (liberation through the payment of a ransom) of our body” also wrote and understood that if a Christian is absent from the “body” they are present with the Lord, 2 Cor 5:8.
2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
So if we then are waiting for the redemption of the body, we are waiting for something to happen in our lifetimes and while we have a body.
We cannot be waiting for the physical return of Jesus because as Heb 9:28, says that not every eye will see His Second Coming.
All the verses which indicate that “every eye” will see His Coming refer to “wailing or mourning” at the sight of Him.
Re 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. Mt 24:30, 26:64
Mt 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mt 26:63 But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. 65 Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.
This is not the reaction of a faithful Christian who “loves His appearing” , 2 Tim 4:8. These statements were made about His coming in judgment, which means that this is not the “Second Coming” but the “Day of the Lord”.
The “Day” is a time of reaping what we have sown – Ob 1:15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
When the references are made to every eye seeing Him, it is with reference to “seeing or becoming aware of His judgment, not necessarily His person, as is seen in Isaiah 19:1.
Isa 19:1 ¶ The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
Obedient Christians are told to hide from that occurrence of the “Day” in Isaiah 2:10-11.
Isa 2:10 ¶ Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
Isa 2:11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
We are waiting (in this life when we are in a body) for the redemption from sin to be revealed in our physical bodies and we become able to put sin to death in our mortal bodies, Rm 8:11 and 1 Cor 4:11.
Ro 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
2Co 4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
Our bodies can be free from corruption when we are free from sin and made into the image of Jesus.
Ro 8:29 ¶ For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Paul said that He died daily and we also need to die to sin daily, 1 Cor 15:31.
1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
Now, this will inevitably be opposed by those who site a “sinless perfection objection”. These opposing people willingly forget that if we sin we can be forgiven for sinning before it becomes willful, and incurs the judgment of the “Day” of the Lord. As Isaiah 2:10 shows, Christians can hide from the “Day” in the “Rock”.