Paul stated: “This I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom,
Upon dying in faithfulness during Christ’s presence, each one of the remnant of spiritual Israel instantaneously receives his heavenly reward. “In the twinkling of an eye,” he is resurrected as a spirit creature and “caught away” to meet Jesus and to serve as a coruler in the Kingdom
This has nothing to do with a rapture at the end of the world
Paul added: “Afterward we the living who are surviving will, together with them, be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (Verse 17) “The living” would be those alive during Christ’s presence. They would be “caught away” to meet the Lord Jesus. As in the case of faithful early Christians, death as a human is necessary for them to be united with Christ in heaven.
Thessalonians speaks of the resurrection hope not a rapture which word is not in the scriptures
1 Thessalonians 4:17 as the basis for their belief. Let us examine this scripture in its context. Paul wrote:
“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant concerning those who are sleeping in death; that you may not sorrow just as the rest also do who have no hope. For if our faith is that Jesus died and rose again, so, too, those who have fallen asleep in death through Jesus God will bring with him.
The congregation in Thessalonica was relatively new when Paul addressed his first letter to Christians there in about 50 C.E. Members of the congregation were distressed that some of their number were “sleeping in death.” However, what Paul wrote comforted the Thessalonians with the resurrection hope.