Are the unsaved left behind?

Answer:

"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words" (I Thessalonians 4:13-18).

To understand a passage, we must first understand why it was written. There were Christians in Thessalonica who worried that brethren who died would not make it to heaven since they would not be alive when Christ returned. There was a very strong Greek belief that once a person dies, he cannot return to life. This is why the Greek philosophers scoffed when Paul mentioned the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 17:32). It appears the Thessalonians accepted that Jesus arose, but they didn't realize that it meant they would rise as well. Therefore, in this context, Paul focuses on what happens to Christians after they die. What happens to the wicked is not under discussion.

It is an easy mistake to assume that if the wicked are not mentioned, they must not rise; however, we have to avoid assumptions. Our assumptions are not inspired and can easily be wrong. Jesus stated, "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment" (John 5:28-29). There is a single moment ("an hour") when all will rise -- both the good and the evil. The good will continue on to life, and the wicked will face punishment. "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats ... These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:31-32, 46). God doesn't discuss multiple resurrections. At Jesus' coming, there will be a single resurrection, and, in the Judgment, the good and the bad will be separated for different destinies. "So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear" (Matthew 13:40-43).

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad" (II Corinthians 5:10).