11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
After
the final removal of Satan from the world, all are judged. All who have ever died. The general interpretation of this Great White Throne judgment is this is the sinner's judgment. This is the judgement of those who oppose Christ and do not accept God. The Book of Life contains the names of all
who follow Jesus. Those whose names are
written therein are not cast into the lake of fire.
Most scholars interpret that the saints are judged at The Judgment Seat of Christ. Everyone is judged and no person is exempt. Romans 14:10 tells us "For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God." 1 Corinthians 15:22-26 says, "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death." This would indicate that the saints are either judged prior to His second coming are just as He comes. Revelation has already indicated that the saints would be present for the millennium, therefore, they will have had to previously been judged. However, this is people's interpretation and I always encourage everyone to seek out the Spirit when reading His Word for wisdom.
We
are told in John 5 that the Son is the judge.
Acts 10:42 and 17:30-31 also indicate that Jesus is the One appointed by
God to be the judge. 2 Timothy 4:1 says
that Christ Jesus will judge the living and the dead. Jesus will sit as the judge at this great
white throne.
The
dead, those who have refused repeatedly to accept Jesus, will be judged
according to their works, their righteousness.
God knows all the secrets of the heart, every hidden thing is found out
and presented. Death, which claims the
body, gives up the dead, and Hades, which claims the soul, gives up the dead to
the lake of fire.
Hell is real. It is almost
impossible to hear anyone preach on it anymore, but it is real. Here we are told that anyone not found in the
Book of Life is cast to this lake of fire.
If someone does preach on it or talk about it they do not speak with the
intensity of it as it is described in the Bible, but just as a bad place. The theologian Clark Pinnock in his book
“Destruction” captures this sentiment.
“Let me say at the outset that I consider the concept of hell as endless torment in body and mind an outrageous doctrine, a theological and moral enormity, a bad doctrine of the tradition which needs to be changed. How can Christians possibly project a deity of such cruelty and vindictiveness whose ways include inflicting everlasting torture upon his creatures, however sinful they may have been? Surely a God who would do such a thing is more nearly like Satan than like God, at least by any moral standards, and by the gospel itself.”
How would you, dear Christian, respond to that? Surely all have doubted the Words of the
Scriptures at one time or another. Where
does such an argument find your faith?
Jesus used the word gehenna 11
times. It is only used 12 times in the
New Testament. In all instances it is
translated as hell. (Matt 5:22,29,30; 10:28;
18:9; 23:15,33; Mark 9:43,45,47; Luke 12:5)
If we summarize what Jesus taught on hell we can say the following:
- Hell is real
- Hell is separation from God
- Hell is for all the “accursed ones”
- Hell is eternal Hell is fire Hell is a prepared place
- Hell is eternity with Satan and his angels
- Hell is inevitable if you never come to Christ
- Hell is inescapable once you are there
- Hell is avoidable if you will repent and believe in Jesus
We know that Jesus believed in hell because He taught it. We also know that Jesus believed in hell
because of the cross. Why would He come
and live and die with no sin except to provide a way for people to not go to
hell. There is no greater love.
Our sins against God are far more serious than we can ever imagine. In fact, they are so serious that He had to
come and live, die, and be resurrected so that we could have a way to get to
Him.
Dorothy Sayers, a close friend of C.S. Lewis, wrote the following
regarding the doctrine of hell:
“Let us face the facts. The doctrine of hell … is Christ’s. It is not a device … for frightening people into giving money to the church: it is Christ’s deliberate judgment on sin. The imagery of the undying worm and the unquenchable fire derives … from the prophet Isaiah, and it was Christ who emphatically used it. … One cannot get rid of it without tearing the New Testament to tatters. We cannot repudiate hell without altogether repudiating Christ.”
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