Purifying The Church By Fire?

Q. I appreciate your site so much. I have a friend who keeps telling me Christians are going to go through The Great Tribulation, because it is the “cleansing fire” we must go through to “purify” for our redemption when Christ comes back, he says, according to Matt 24:29 and 1Thess 4:17 I have been a Pre-Trib Rapture believer since my conversion many years ago. Can you help me here? Thank you so very much.

A. People who talk about the Church needing purification for our redemption usually haven’t thought about what that means, because what they’re saying is that while Jesus paid the price in full for all the other generations of believers, He just couldn’t get it done for us, so we have to finish the job ourselves by suffering through at least part of the Great Tribulation.

This “purification” view shows a lack of faith in the sufficiency of the cross, a lack of understanding of the nature of Grace, and a lack of trust in the Lord’s promises.