What happens to believers who are alive and remain at the coming of the Lord?
Those alive and remaining at the Lord’s coming will not precede believers who have died. They will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, as Paul describes in I Corinthians 15. The Lord Himself will descend with a shout, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Les explains that for believers, the body is placed in the grave, but the soul and spirit are absent from the body and present with the Lord. At the coming of the Lord, God will bring those departed souls and spirits of believers only from heaven down to the atmosphere. Believers who are alive and remain will not precede or go ahead of those who are asleep in Christ. Instead, they will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, as Paul describes in I Corinthians 15. The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Those who are resurrected will be brought out of the tomb and reunited with their soul and spirit. The alive believers will be changed instantly, not preceding the resurrected dead in Christ.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
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Who are 'we who are alive and remain' in 1 Thessalonians 4:15?
In 1 Thessalonians 4:15, 'we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord' refers to the body of Christ.