A Biblical Rebuttal of John MacArthur’s Statement that the Lord’s Return is “Imminent”

SolaScripturaToday summary.

[Dr. MacArthur's quotes appear highlighted like this.]

The statement that the Lord Christ could return “at any moment” is so common in today’s churches that it is accepted as “Bible truth”. While I’ve heard this error repeated hundreds of time since I was saved in 1970, I’ve never heard a biblically accurate defense of the claim.

As the old saying goes: “A lie repeated often enough becomes the truth.”

When a very well-known Christian leader and prolific author repeats such a claim, then the power of that error is multiplied exponentially.

But the Scripture is very clear:

Jam 3.1
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.

In his article Dr. MacArthur cited more than 60 Scripture references. However, when each is considered in its own context, along with the use for which Dr. MacArthur cited it, not a single reference was used legitimately to prove the main premise or its several subpoints!

Each one either is quoted out of context, is irrelevant or is misused.

This topic is something which Dr. MacArthur does not understand and should not attempt to teach (at least not if he still believes what he wrote in his article).

Those who may think that I’m “picking on” Dr. MacArthur misunderstand my purpose (as I stated upfront in this article): he is a highly respected leader, but nonetheless if he teaches error—which he certainly did in the cited article—then he must be called out just as any other Christian who teaches error should be.

It is his highly-regarded position within that which is called conservative Christianity which necessitates this rebuttal.

So, we come full circle:

Christ could come at any moment. I believe that with all my heart—not because of what I read in the newspapers, but because of what I read in Scripture.

What "Scripture" would that be, Dr. MacArthur!?!? You certainly made no appeal to even one!

I can't find that "truth" in my Bible, and as I've shown in this series, you couldn't either.