Page 33 - The Rapture Question by John F. Walvoord

The Rapture Question: Revised and Enlarged Edition
The content of the mystery of the translation
In 1 Corinthians 15, following the general discussion of
the resurrection of the human body, the dramatic new revela­
tion is introduced: “Listen, I tell you a mystery': We will not
all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twin­
kling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will
sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be
changed” (1 Cor. 15:51-52).
Of major importance in this revelation is the fact that the
translation of the saints is declared to be a mystery. In con­
trast to the more general method of transformation embodied
in the doctrine of resurrection, the truth is plainly taught that
the bodies of believers on earth at the time of the Lord’s
coming for them will be translated and changed into im­
perishable and immortal bodies without experiencing physical
death.
It should be clear to all careful students of the Word of
God that it is not a mystery that saints who die will be raised
again. The doctrine of resurrection is taught in both the Old
and New Testaments and is not a hidden truth. Nor is it a
mystery that there will be living saints on the earth at the time
of the coming of the Lord. All passages dealing with the Sec­
ond Advent, as well as those that speak of Christ’s coming for
His church, assume or state that saints will be on earth
awaiting His coming. The precise mystery is the added revela­
tion of the fact of translation without dying in connection with
the coming of the Lord.

Significance of the revelation
In establishing the distinctive character of the church, the
revelation of the translation as a mystery is another distinctive
promise given to believers of the present age. Never in the Old
Testament are believers promised translation. The Old Tes­
tament saints anticipated that if the Second Advent was
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