ETERNAL JUDGMENT
Foundation Principles Series - Part VI
“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ,
let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance
from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of
laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal
judgment. And this will we do, if God
permit.” - Hebrews 6:1-3
In the above verses, we
find six concepts that St. Paul refers to as “the principles of the doctrine of Christ,” and, in chapter 5 of
Hebrews, “the first principles of the
oracles of God.” We have explored
the first four principles, Repentance
from Dead Works, Faith Toward God,
The Doctrine of Baptisms, The Laying On of Hands, and The Resurrection of the Dead in earlier
messages. Now, let’s turn to the sixth
and final principle, Eternal Judgment.
Eternal Judgment
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this
the judgment: so
Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for
Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
(Hebrews 9:27, 28). The Bible teaches
that we are given one opportunity to live out our natural lives before being
raised from the dead to one day stand before the Judge of all the earth to give
account for what we did with that life.
There are no “do-over’s,” and
we are not going to be endlessly reincarnated as some other person, creature,
or plant until we finally get it right and attain a mystic state of peace. What we do with this one life that we have
been given matters. The seeds that we
sow through the choices that we make in this life will surely determine what we
reap in the next life (Galatians 6:7, 8).
In the natural world, if I scatter thistle seeds in my garden, then I
can’t expect to have nice tomatoes come up later. In the same way, if my life is marked by
lawlessness, willfulness, and rebellion against God’s moral laws, how can I
expect to be rewarded in the afterlife?
God is a just God and He gives every soul a fair chance to make a
decision for or against what is right and godly. It all comes down to a choice of what or whom
we will serve. The best definition for
sin is, “…him that knoweth to do good,
and doeth it not.” (James 4:17). If
we transgress our own conscience by the things we do, is God not greater than
our conscience, and will He not judge us for those things we condemn ourselves
for? Happy indeed is that person who can
walk with a pure conscience and not condemn themselves for the things they
allow themselves to do (Romans 14:22, 23).
The Apostle Paul wrote
concerning the final judgment that, “…we
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may
receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it
be good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
And on the same subject Jesus said, “For
the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with His angels; and then
He shall reward every man according to his works.” (Matthew
16:27). It is clear from these verses
that we must not only stand before the Judge to give account of ourselves, but
that that Judge will be the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Every knee will bow to Him in that day, and
every tongue will confess that He is Lord and Judge. He Who is both the Word of God and the Wisdom
of God, Who was with God in the beginning, and Who lives forevermore, Who is
the express image of God, and Who is the fullness of the Godhead: He it is that
will sit on the seat of judgment to try the sons of man in the final day. “For
the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that
honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent Him.” (John 5:22, 23).
There is coming a day when
the Lord Himself will return to earth and ultimately destroy all the works of
man which have defiled, polluted, and destroyed God’s creation from the
beginning. Like a thief in the night, He
will not announce the day nor the hour of His return. The righteous (His faithful servants) will be
aware of the signs of His coming, will have prepared themselves, and will be
looking for His coming. The unrighteous
on the other hand will be taken by surprise when He returns and will not know
until too late that their final hour has come.
Peter describes that day with these words: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the
which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be
burned up.” (2 Peter 3: 10). God
will recreate new heavens and a new earth in which all things will be in
harmony with Him. Peter continues by
writing, “Seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy
conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the
day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat?” (2 Peter 3:11, 12).
None of us is without
excuse. Everyone has some sense of shame
over the bad choices that they have made.
“For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).
Whether saint or sinner, it is evident that in man there is some degree
of understanding of right and wrong. If
not, then governments wouldn’t bother making laws by which they can
differentiate between good and bad behavior, and they wouldn’t establish
deterrents to ensure that the citizens of their nations choose the right and
are punished for the wrong. Neither
would people bother with religions that promise heavenly rewards for righteous
acts done on earth if they had no sense of right and wrong. Paul writes, “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law [of God], do by nature the things contained in the
law [of God], these, having not the
law [of God], are a law unto
themselves: which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or
else excusing one another;) in the day when God shall judge the secrets of
men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” (Romans 2:14-16) Even in the absence of the law of God,
mankind still has a sense of right and wrong.
God has placed a conscience in each of us to help act as a moral
compass. It is part of the function of
the human spirit that God has placed in every man. “The
spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the
belly [heart].” (Proverbs
20:27). That conscience is most
effective when it is inspired by the laws of God, a noble example, or (best of
all) the Holy Spirit. Since the day that
Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, mankind’s
conscience has been enlightened to a certain extent, and we feel the guilt of
our wrong actions. Adam and Eve knew
immediately after eating of the forbidden fruit that their nakedness was wrong,
and they hid themselves from God’s presence.
The Law of God was later given to Moses to further define a moral
plumbline for men to order their lives by.
Outside of Christ, however, man found it impossible to keep those laws
without transgressing. It would require
a Savior to deliver man from sin, the world, death, and the devil - and that’s
just what God provided!
So, just what happens to
man when he dies? There is not a simple
answer to that question because there is only one Man that has ever been in
heaven and hell; but fortunately, Jesus has left us many clues so that we can
piece together just what we can expect when we die. There are many theories and sentiments about
what occurs after death, and what the state of the dead is after they depart
this life which adds to the confusion in many people’s minds. Some believe that the dead go directly to
heaven when they die to be with the Lord and that they are aware of everything
going on with the living and can hear their conversation and prayers. Some believe that the dead can leave “signs”
to guide the living or encourage them through difficult times and are always an
unseen presence in their lives. There
are even those who believe that by using a medium with special gifts they can
speak to the dead and have them answer them.
Others believe that the dead enter purgatory where they must endure
suffering in order to purify them of their sins before going to heaven. Still others believe that the dead simply
enter a state of peaceful sleep and are not awakened again until the time of
judgment – or never awakened at all!
Clearly, there is an abundance of contradictory ideas concerning what
happens to the dead. While many of these
beliefs are comforting to those who have lost loved ones, they are not based on
what the Bible really teaches, and can give a false sense of security to those
who should be preparing themselves in this life to give account to their Maker
in the next.
When we die, our spirit
returns to God Who gave it, and our bodies are placed in the grave to
eventually turn to dust (Ecclesiastes 12:7). There is a place (apparently in
the lower parts of the earth) however, where the souls of the departed go after
their physical bodies die and are laid in the grave. “For as
Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of
man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
(Matthew 12:40). “…now that He [Jesus] ascended,
what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the
earth?” (Ephesians 4:9). In Old
Testament Hebrew this place is referred to as “Sheol”, and in the New Testament Greek it is called “Hades”.
Both these words are translated as “hell” in our English Bibles. Scripture speaks of Sheol/Hades as a place
that is “down” in the lower parts of
the earth. “Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the
pit.” (Isaiah 14:15). “And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to
heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.” (Luke 10:15).
In Luke chapter 16 Jesus
tells the story of the rich man and the beggar named Lazarus. In the story, the underworld appears to be
divided into two separate regions. One
region is that place of torment where the wicked are sent until the time of
their final judgment. This area is
evidently comprised of a number of different levels. “Thou
hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.” (Psalms 86:13). “For a
fire is kindled in Mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell…” (Deuteronomy
32:22). The other region is a place of
comfort and peace where, before Christ’s death and resurrection, the righteous were
sent to wait until their resurrection.
This second place is referred to in Jesus’ story as “Abraham’s bosom” (See Luke 16:19-31). Neither of these places was intended to be
permanent, but only meant as a temporary holding place for the souls of men
until they come to their final judgment.
From Jesus’ story it is
evident that the souls of the just and of the unjust are both awake and aware
of their surroundings. The wicked feel
the heat of their torment in Hades while the righteous know the peace and comfort
of Abraham’s bosom. It is also clear
from the story that the dead cannot send back word to their loved ones about
their state or the conditions of the place that they are in (See Luke
16:27-31). Man looks for comfort from
many things in this life besides the Savior and Lover of our souls. We hear stories of a dead loved one
communicating in some way to their living friend or relative, but this is not the
norm unless the Lord were to ordain it for some unique purpose as when Samuel
appeared to Saul after Samuel’s death.
Scholars are divided on this story, however. Some argue that God allowed Samuel to briefly
appear to Saul to pronounce his fate, while others attribute the black arts employed
by the witch of Endor for a deception.
If this were commonly allowed to happen, then every tormented soul would
be getting word to everyone they care about, and every righteous soul would
send word of the comfort that they have found.
We would be hearing stories every day of such encounters with the dead,
but it just isn’t so. Neither does God
allow disembodied souls to roam the earth as “ghosts” who are able to appear to
living men. Any encounters that men
testify as having experienced with a departed friend or loved one are more than
likely brushes with demonic spirits posing as someone who is deceased. This is why séances are also very dangerous
and very deceptive.
God sent His Son into the
world to partake of flesh and blood, and to experience all of the things that
you and I experience in our lifetimes.
He knew joy, and He knew sorrow; He knew life, and He knew death; He
knew strength, and He knew weakness.
Jesus was tempted in every way that we are tempted, and yet He did not
yield to sin (Hebrews 4:15). It was
necessary also for Him to experience those things that come on man after
death. Therefore, when Jesus died He
descended into Hades for three days where He took the keys to the gates of hell
and led those who were in Abraham’s bosom up to a place referred to as
Paradise. Keep in mind that this was not
a resurrection of these souls, but merely a relocation to Paradise where they
would wait until the resurrection day.
They will remain disembodied souls until that time, but they were no
longer captive in the lower parts of the earth.
Jesus led the captivity captive! “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and,
behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of
death.” (Revelations 1:18). From
that time, the region of Hell or Hades that was referred to as Abraham’s Bosom
was emptied, and all the souls of the righteous now go to Paradise when they
die. As Jesus said to the thief who was
crucified beside Him, “Verily I say unto
thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43).
At the time of Jesus’
return to earth (which is His second coming), Satan will be bound and locked in
the bottomless pit for 1000 years (Revelations 20:1, 2). This bottomless pit is the same as hell or
hades. All of the righteous will be
resurrected at this time. Everyone who
was waiting in Paradise and all of those who are alive at Jesus’ coming will be
changed and receive their celestial bodies.
After this there will be thrones set up for judgment, and the righteous
will be judged. Every man will be judged
“…according to his deeds: to them who by
patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality,
eternal life: but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth,
but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon
every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
but glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first,
and also to the Gentile: for there is no respect of persons with God.”
(Romans 2:6-11). Christians are not
exempt from judgment just because they name the name of Christ. God is not interested in those who say they
know Him but don’t do the things that He says.
“For the time is come that
judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what
shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Peter
4:17).
In 1 Corinthians chapter
3, Paul likens God’s people (His Church) to a building. “…ye
are God’s building.” (1 Corinthians 3:9).
He writes that the foundation of that building is the gospel of Jesus
Christ (v. 11), but he gives us a stern warning when he writes, “But let every man take heed how he buildeth
thereupon.” (v. 10). Paul argues
that the quality of the material we use to build on that foundation makes a
difference and we will either be rewarded or suffer loss depending on how well
our work holds up (vs. 12-15). God
distinguishes in this chapter between those works that don’t build up the
Church and those that actually defile or weaken the Church. “Know
ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in
you? If any man defile the temple of
God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye
are.” (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17). What
we do with the gospel is going to determine how we spend our eternity – or even
where we spend it. Jesus’ parable of the
talents reveals that what we do with the gifts that God has given us translates
to the quality of our standing in heaven.
Every believer has received spiritual gifts from God that we are to use
to build up our fellow Christians and minister grace to the lost. It is essential that we learn to operate
those gifts in the Spirit and not according to the flesh or according to the
wisdom of man. “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John
6:63). “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to
worship him. God is a Spirit: and they
that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23,
24). At the end of the day, it is better
that we judge ourselves during this lifetime so that we will not require
judgment in the afterlife (1 Corinthians 11:3).
After the first
resurrection, the Lord Jesus will establish His visible Kingdom on earth. He will rule and reign among men for 1000
years, and afterwards Satan will be loosed from the bottomless pit for a little
while to try and deceive those nations of people who were unbelievers and still
alive after the great tribulation. Many
of those will indeed be duped into believing the devil’s lies and will come up
to the holy city Jerusalem to war against the Lord and His saints. God will send down fire from heaven and
destroy this army which will then set up the second resurrection and final
judgment. At this time Satan will be
cast into a lake of fire and brimstone where he will be tormented for
eternity. This lake of fire is a
different place than Hades and is referred to in the Old Testament as “Gehenna” or “Gehenna of fire”. According
to the “Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
of the Bible,” “This was originally
the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead animals of
the city were cast out and burned; a fit symbol of the wicked and their future
destruction.” This answers to “Tartaros” in the New Testament and is
only used once in 2 Peter 2:3 to describe the place where God will send the
angels that sinned to suffer their eternal punishment. Both these words, “Gehenna” and “Tartaros”
along with “Sheol” and “Hades,” are all translated as “hell” in the English
Authorized Version of the Bible and can be confusing if we consider them all to
be referring to the same place. This
lake of fire will be the final hell where the wicked will ultimately
reside. In the end, even death and hell
(Hades) will be cast into this lake of fire.
“And I saw a great white seat and Him that sat on it, from
whose face fled away both the earth and heaven, and their place was no more
found. And I saw the dead, both great
and small stand before God: And the books were opened, and another book was
opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged of those things
which were written in the books according to their deeds: and the sea gave up
her dead, which were in her, and death and hell delivered up the dead, which
were in them: and they were judged every man according to his deeds. And death and hell were cast into the lake of
fire. This is that second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was
cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelations
20:11-15). This is truly a sobering
picture of the great final judgment of God.
At this time God will open the books in which there has been recorded
all of the deeds that men have done in their lifetimes, good and bad. Also, the book of life will be opened and if
anyone’s name is not recorded there, they will be cast into the lake of
fire. That book records the names of all
those who have accepted the gift of grace and salvation through faith in Jesus
Christ, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. A careful reading of Revelations 3:5, 6 seems
to indicate that it is possible for one’s name to be blotted out of the book of
life once it has been recorded there. “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest
heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them
slip.” (Hebrews 2:1).
Many Christians recoil at
the thought of any soul having to
suffer an eternal torment, and for this reason many false doctrines have been
spawned that offer a gentler outcome for the wicked. Doctrines such as Universal Reconciliation
(which teaches that everyone will be reconciled to God in the end), and
Annihilation (the belief that the wicked will just be destroyed completely and
not have to suffer after judgment) may soothe man’s softer inclinations, but
they find no foundation in scripture.
God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways
(Isaiah 55:8, 9). We should never
presume to know better than our Creator.
Many modern Christians seem to have developed an aversion to the fear of
God, but it is fear that motivates us to depart from evil (Proverbs 16:6). It is the beginning of knowledge and it
provides an effective incentive for mankind to want to resist their baser
tendencies. Yes, as our relationship
with our Lord develops, it is our love that also motivates us, but it should
never entirely replace our fear and reverence for the Almighty. I have seen parents give a plain, direct
command to their children only to see the children ignore that command and do
as they please without any correction or chastisement on the part of the
parent. This teaches the child to
disobey, disrespect, and dishonor the parent and it leads to more and greater
transgressions and outright rebellion. I
don’t blame the children for this behavior – it is the parents’ fault for
reinforcing and encouraging such behavior by their inaction. Kids who are consistently corrected by their
parents in patience and love (not in anger or frustration) learn to respect
their parents and to resist evil even when their parents aren’t right there
with them watching them. That’s how it
is with the fear of God. “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for
ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.” (Psalms
19:9). The fear of God is pure and it is
wholesome; it is based on a mutual love, and a godly reverence for the One Who
made us and is infinitely wiser than we are.
“But I will forewarn you whom ye
shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell;
yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” (Luke 12:2-5). “Knowing
therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” (2 Corinthians
5:11). “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved
with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house.” (Hebrews
11:7).
I would like to say one
final word about young children and those who have a mental health
condition. I believe that God will deal
with such ones according to the knowledge that they have. The Jews believed that once a child turned
13, they were then accountable for their actions. Before that, they were considered
innocent. I think that it depends on the
child. If the child is aware that his/her actions are wrong, and they
deliberately and defiantly choose wrong, they are accountable. This is why we must be willing as parents to
lead them to repentance through both love and chastisement. A child left to themselves will bring their
parents to shame. Jesus said, “Take heed that ye despise not one of these
little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold
the face of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10). As for those with mental health conditions, I
believe that God knows the heart and mind of each one, and He will judge
righteously according to their capacity to understand.
I am acutely aware of the
complexity of this subject. In writing
about this last foundation principle I found it to be the most difficult of
them all. I still have questions the
answers for which have not been fully revealed to me to my satisfaction, but I
have come away with a much greater understanding than I had to begin with. I know that I do not have all the answers to
the questions that can be gendered by this subject, but I am confident that I
have represented it faithfully according to my understanding at this time, and based
on much prayer and study. As we, the
Church, progress in the things of the Lord we will continue to receive more and
more light by which we will be able to see His truth more clearly.
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