Immortality, endless life in a flesh and bones body (although glorified according to our rank in the Kingdom of God), is the goal of our discipleship. God gave His Son that whoever believes in Him would not perish in his inward spiritual nature and physical body but would be able to gain eternal life and immortality.

In the eighth chapter of the Book of Romans the Apostle Paul describes how the grace of God frees us from the Law of Moses that we might gain true inward eternal life and then the redemption of our physical body.

The redemption of our body will take place at the time the Lord appears and raises us from the dead.

We who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, Paul says, are waiting for our body to be adopted so our entire personality might be filled with the Life of God.

Our change will take place in a moment of time. If we have sown to the Spirit of God, laying hold on eternal life, then, when the last trumpet sounds, our mortal body will be swallowed up by incorruptible life, thus becoming immortal.

The resurrection to immortality is our goal. It must be attained by obeying the Spirit of God throughout our lifetime. It is a reaping of seeds of life that were planted during our Christian walk on the earth.

The fundamental error of Christian thinking is that we will be raised to life and glory on the basis of a profession of belief. It is true rather that we will be raised to life and glory as a result of the cultivation of eternal life in us during our discipleship.

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." (I Corinthians 15:51-54—NIV)

Notice that the catching up (rapture) is not mentioned here. This is because our great hope is not that of being caught up but of attaining immortality. The dead are to be raised imperishable. This is referring to John 3:16, "should not perish but have everlasting life." The catching up to meet the Lord in the air is not an act of redemption, it is merely the first step of our new life after we have attained the resurrection from among the dead.

The mortal shall be clothed with immortality. Once the perishable clothes itself with the imperishable and the mortal has clothed itself with immortality, then we shall have no fear of Antichrist or the great tribulation. This is one of the basic flaws of the teaching that we will be "raptured" to avoid Antichrist and the great tribulation.

To be continued.