Rapture changes in the dead and surviving believers

This promise of being “transformed into incorruptible bodies” applies not only to believers who die and are resurrected, but also to those who are still alive at Christ's second coming. This point is made clear in the same apostle Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17:

16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18Therefore comfort one another with these words. 

Key Points of Paul's Teaching

1. order of resurrection

At the Second Coming, first the “dead in Christ,” or those who have died in faith, will be resurrected. Then, believers still alive on earth will be changed along with the resurrected. 2.

2. physical transformation

The surviving believers will not experience death, but will be transformed into “incorruptible bodies. This is also implied in 1 Corinthians 15:51:

51Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Here “changed” refers to the change from a decaying body on earth to a resurrection body (a body that will not decay forever).

3. the hope of those who remain alive

The emphasis is on the hope that at the moment of the Second Coming, the surviving believers will be given the privilege of directly receiving a “glorified body” without passing through death.

Conclusion.

Thus, this “transformation into an incorruptible body” applies not only to the resurrection of the dead, but to living believers as well. It is the biblical teaching that all believers will be transformed to perfection by the power of God at the Second Coming. This hope is an important aspect of Christ's saving perfection and gives believers confidence in eternal life.