Will the Church go through the Tribulation?
No, the Body of Christ will not go through the Tribulation. The Apostle Paul makes this very clear in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, where he clearly makes a distinction between the Day of the Lord, which is a prophetic time of judgment for Israel, and the Rapture, which is an unprophesied taking away of the Church before the Tribulation.
Let’s look at 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. In verse 1, Paul wrote about “the times and the seasons.” This phrase has to do with Israel and is used only two other times in the Bible (Dan. 2:21; Acts 1:7). Paul said that there was “no need” for him to write to them about these things because they already knew that the Second Coming (vv. 1-3) takes place AFTER the Rapture (1 Thes. 4:13-18). And throughout 5:1-10, notice how Paul used different pronouns (you/them, us/those) to point out the distinction between the Rapture of the Body of Christ (you/us) and the Second Coming for Israel (them/those).
In verse 2, the “day of the Lord” is a term specific to Israel (Isa. 13:6-11; Jer. 46:10; Joel 2:11; Zeph. 1:14-18). If you look up these verses referring to the Day of the Lord, you’ll see that it will be a time of judgment and punishment, of gloom and destruction—not a good day for the unrighteous on the earth! The simile of “a thief in the night” describes the Day of the Lord (2 Pet. 3:10) and the Second Coming (Matt. 24:42-43; Rev. 16:15), but never the Rapture. The Day of the Lord encompasses all the prophetic events on earth of the Tribulation, but the Second Coming only to the Lord’s return at the end of it.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:3, the pronouns change to “they” and “them,” referring to the unbelieving left behind after the Rapture (in 4:13-18, the pronoun “we” was used in reference to our hope of the Rapture). But in 5:3, “when they shall say, Peace and safety” refers to when the Antichrist makes his 7-year covenant of peace with Israel. This enactment of the peace treaty is when the timeline for the Tribulation officially starts. The Antichrist breaks this covenant after three and a half years, bringing in the terrible second half of the Tribulation (Dan. 9:27).
And in 1 Thessalonians 5:4, we see the contrast “but ye, brethren.” We the Body of Christ are “not in darkness” and the Day of the Lord has nothing to do with us.
Verse 5 continues to show this contrast. “We” are not children of darkness (unsaved), but rather “children of light” (saved). The “day of the Lord” is associated with darkness and judgment (Joel 2:1-2; Amos 5:20; Zeph. 1:15).
Jumping to 1 Thessalonians 5:8, we should point out that what “salvation” or deliverance means depends on the context. Here, it refers to the Rapture, not our eternal salvation. We do not “hope” for our salvation because it is an accomplished fact—so much so that Paul consistently used the aorist tense of past completed action to describe it (“saved,” Rom. 8:24; Eph. 2:8; Tit. 3:5; “washed…sanctified…justified,” 1 Cor. 6:11; and “delivered,” Col. 1:13).
In 1 Thessalonians 5:9, “wrath” refers to the judgment of God that will be poured out on the world during the Day of the Lord. And like in verse 8, “salvation” refers to deliverance from the Tribulation. This salvation is “through” our Lord Jesus Christ because He is the one who snatches us away from the coming judgment (4:16).
In 5:10, when Paul said “whether we wake or sleep,” he was saying that whether we are alive or have died, we will both be raptured and live together with Him. This is the same thing he said in 4:14-17.
In 5:11, Paul concluded by saying that the knowledge that we will be snatched away to heaven, instead of having to go through the Tribulation, should be a constant source of comfort and assurance to us. This makes no sense if we have to go through the Tribulation.