229. What are some false teachings about the end of time and life everlasting?
A. Millennialism typically teaches a literal thousand-year visibile reign of Christ on earth before the final judgment, not recognizing that the Scriptures often use numbers symbolically. Lutherans and most Christian churches understand the thousand-year reign of Christ in Revelation 20:4-6 as a symbolic reference to Christ's reign over His Church on earth from His ascension until the Last Day (1 Corinthians 15:52).
B. Rapture teaching claims that the thousand-year reign follows a secret return of Jesus, when believers are "caught up ... in the air" and removed from the earth. This turns the simple, comforting hope of Christ's second coming (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) into complicated stages (contrary to 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3; Hebrews 9:27-28; John 5:28-29); denies that believers will suffer Satan's tribulations (contrary to Matthew 24:9; Acts 14:22); and claims that those who reject Christ will have a second chance to achieve salvation during an earthly reign (contrary to Luke 16:27-31; Revelation 20:11-15).
C. Reincarnation is the belief of some philosophers and religions that when people die, they are reborn in other bodies or in a series of other bodies. The doctrine of reincarnation is contrary to the biblical promise of the resurrection of our bodies at the return of Christ (see John 5:28-29; 11:24; 1 Corinthians 15:50-53; Hebrews 9:27).
Eventual commentary
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