Our mortal body will die physically. It will fall into the ground and wait for the hour of the resurrection from the dead. When its time comes to be raised its elements will flow together. It will be made alive and our soul and spirit will reenter it.

Then we shall be judged (if we have not been judged beforehand). If our transformation has been total we will be clothed with a body of glory that corresponds to our renewed inner man.

If there are questionable areas concerning our behavior in the world we will be dealt with accordingly.

Here is one of the fallacies of the doctrine of the pre-tribulation "rapture." The concept of the rapture implies that grace will operate at the time of the resurrection such that the untransformed believer will receive a body of glory anyway, whether or not he has been faithful in overcoming the challenges that have been presented to him.

We know of no passage of Scripture that teaches grace will operate at the time of the resurrection. Grace operates now as God forgives us and enables us to become a new creation in Christ. But all the Scriptural passages of which we are aware teach clearly that when Jesus comes He will reward each one of us according to our works.

And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. (Revelation 2:23)

And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. (Revelation 22:12)

A Kingdom law is involved here. It is that we shall reap whatever we sow. The blood of Jesus gives us an opportunity to be forgiven and to begin to sow to the Spirit of God. But it is not true that the Divine forgiveness will operate in the day of resurrection such that we do not reap what we sow. Divine grace operates now, not in the day of resurrection.

For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Galatians 6:8)

Another fallacy of the concept of the "rapture" is that we all shall receive glorified bodies and after that stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. We shall be changed into incorruptible life, rise to meet the Lord in the air, and after that be judged. How can that be? If the glorified body is our reward, if the eternal weight of glory is given to us in terms of what is found when we are judged, how is it we can receive the reward before we are judged?

Is it true that God will clothe an untransformed believer with an all-powerful body like that of the Lord Jesus Christ, and after that judge him? What if the judgment reveals he has disobeyed the Lord in many areas?

To be continued.