The popular declaration in Christendom today is, "Do not take the mark of the beast, because if you do, you will go to hell." A related question is, "Can you lose your salvation by taking the mark of the beast during the tribulation?" There is a great deal of confusion about the mark of the beast, and few sermons adequately address this subject. Rather than just accept the mantra, "Do not take the mark of the beast!," let's carefully dig into the scriptures for help.
This issue really involves a number of corollary questions, and if you don't answer these questions with careful biblical analysis, you can end up making assumptions that have no biblical support. Let's unpack this whole issue with several smaller questions:
What is the mark of the beast?
What the mark of the beast is not.
Who will take the mark of the beast?
What does it mean to worship the beast?
What will happen if one refuses to take the mark of the beast?
What will happen if one does take the mark of the beast AND worships the beast?
You'll get solid Biblical answers to all of these questions with a very careful hermeneutical approach, and you'll be very happy to know for sure how this all works out, even if you are not here for the tribulation.
