With what is going on in the world, pretrib rapturists thought they would gone by now, since things are only going to get worse, their voices and FR threads - like this one - are only going to get shriller as we go along.
Some of the more studious ones are abandoning their former superficial reading of the Bible, sadly some like MHG in Tennessee are so adamant they will take the mark of the beast (MOB) before they’ll admit they are wrong...and dam their souls for eternity.
Their doctrine demands that they be raptured BEFORE the beast/antichrist, therefore, when the antichrist and his mark does get here, they’ll say, “my pretrib doctrine says this cannot possibly be the antichrist, this absolutely cannot be the MOB, so, sure I’ll take the mark, I’ll be proving these pesky post-tribs wrong by doing it.”
Fully understanding the mysteries of God’s apocalypse is not required for salvation. Belief in Jesus Christ—the only name given under heaven whereby men may be saved—IS.
God will not “send a powerful delusion” to ANY believer, regardless of their errant prophetical musings. They love the truth and are thus saved, unlike those who do not love the truth and “will believe the lie”. The Father does not play silly Gotcha! games with his children, as we are kept by Him in His beloved Son.
You are way off base. Not one of us would take the mark. I don’t pretend to know it all, but the pre trib rapture fits the best with the 20 or so years of study I have been doing regarding the end times for numerous reasons. If the rapture is not pre-trib, Christ will get me through it, but in no way am I in danger of losing my salvation over end times doctrine. Again, the mark of the beast is not something you will be able to take without knowing its import.
Who cares WHEN the rapture will happen?
Why get into a spitting contest over something that is not critical to one’s salvation?
Whoever is wrong is wrong and whoever is right is right and there’s nothing to brag on in either case.
“Their doctrine demands that they be raptured BEFORE the beast/antichrist, therefore, when the antichrist and his mark does get here, they’ll say, “my pretrib doctrine says this cannot possibly be the antichrist, this absolutely cannot be the MOB, so, sure I’ll take the mark, I’ll be proving these pesky post-tribs wrong by doing it.””
Bingo! That’s why this false doctrine is so insidious. It’s exactly what Satan wants Christians to believe so that they will be unarmored and unarmed for the conflict to come.
The pre-trib rapture is stunningly deceptive. Unless one does a complete reading of scripture without a guide, simply taking notes of what each book says, it is easy to simply parrot what you hear that has been cherry-picked.
Another thing that bothers me is the word anti-Christ. There are three involved. An anti-Trinity, the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. There are great signs and wonders. No healing, no feeding, no words of eternal hope. Probably just redistribution of wealth after the owners are murdered.