Re: Do people who have never heard the gospel go to hell?

"It's just too strange that you can read 1 Thess 4 and come away not understanding it when it says ..."that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep"....."Will Not Precede". That's because the dead in Christ will rise first and go and be with the Lord. The one's that are left...are the alive christians that are raptured."


But read it closely again:

1 Thess. 4:
13But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words.


First of all verse 13 refers to those who have died as "asleep". How can they be "asleep" if they are already in heaven dwelling with Jesus?

Then it says in verse 14 that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. How does that make sense if they have already been actively dwelling in heaven with God?

Yes, in verse 15 Paul says those who are alive will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
But he goes on in verse 16 to say "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first." Verse 16 is an answer to why in verse 15 he says those who are still alive will not precede those who have fallen asleep and it's because Jesus is going to descend from heaven and raise them from the dead. "The dead in Christ will rise first". Why would it refer to them being dead there if they have already been alive the whole time dwelling in heaven?


Tweet