15th
FUNDAMENTAL
TRUTH
THE FINAL
JUDGMENT
There will be a final judgment in which the wicked dead will be raised and judged according to their works. Whosoever is not found written in the Book of Life, together with the devil and his angels, the beast and the false prophet, will be consigned to everlasting punishment in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Matt. 25:46; Mark 9:43–48; Rev. 19:20; 20:11–15; 21:8).
At the end of this life, what happens to us? This is one of the most important questions a thinking person can ask. How wonderful that the Book of books supplies the necessary information to relieve the anxiety about our existence beyond time! Although the details are not given, sufficient light has been provided by the inspired writers of Holy Scripture so that believers need not dread the unknown.
What happens at death? Death is the separation of the spirit and the body (John 11:11,13; 2 Cor. 5:1–9). Death is the wages of sin, and everyone dies because everyone has sinned (Rom. 6:23; 5:12). Death is also the ultimate manifestation of sin from which we will finally be delivered (1 Cor. 15:26). Christ has vanquished death, annulling its consequences through His mighty triumph on the cross (2 Tim. 1:10). However, until the final disposition of things, everyone—believer and unbeliever—is subject to death. The triumph is that death is not final for the believer. For unbelievers (although there is a resurrection of the “wicked dead” for purposes of judgment), their ultimate state is eternal separation from God, which is the second death (Rev. 20:14).
Every human being will have immortality, which means a future in which existence is not subject to annihilation (Rom. 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:53–54). Even if immortality is a future condition beyond the grave, eternal life, Christ’s life in us, is a present possession of believers. Through the Holy Spirit we have the first installment of our inheritance and we are already sealed, accepted by God as His children, because of the living Christ who lives within (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 1:13–14).
Between the time of death and the resurrection of the body is the intermediate state. Some have taught psychopannychy, soul sleep: the whole person dies and the soul and spirit go out of existence until called back into existence at the resurrection. But the Bible teaches a conscious existence. When Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, they were still Moses and Elijah (they had not been reincarnated into someone else) and they knew what was going on (see Luke 9:28–31). The account of the rich man and Lazarus points in the direction of consciousness for the departed (see Luke 16:19–31). And from the cross Jesus promised the dying thief, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). The apostle Paul, reflecting on death, indicated that to die would mean being ushered at once into the presence of the Lord (Phil. 1:21–24).
The location of the godly dead is pictured in the Old Testament in several ways. David wrote, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Ps. 23:6). Proverbs 15:24 reads literally, “The path of life is to the place above for the wise in order to avoid (keep away from) Sheol beneath.” The sons of Korah wrote of those who trust in themselves, “Like sheep they are destined for the grave…. But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself” (Ps. 49:14–15). The psalmist Asaph added, “You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you” (Ps. 73:24–25). These verses have structure that shows the guidance is on earth and the glory is in heaven. Asaph goes on in the next verse to say, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Though the Old Testament does not give details, it seems clear from these passages that the righteous had a hope to be with the Lord in heaven.
The meaning of the Hebrew term She’ol is debated: Some take it to mean the grave; others interpret it as the place of the intermediate state between death and resurrection; still others take it to have a broader meaning, including both the grave and the place of the intermediate state. In most contexts Sheol is something to be avoided. It is often, as in Psalm 9:17 and Proverbs 15:24, the destiny of the wicked in contrast to the destiny of the righteous. Because Jacob spoke of going to Sheol to his son Joseph (Gen. 37:35), some later rabbis decided there must be two compartments in Sheol, separated by a handbreadth or perhaps even a fingerbreadth.1 But Luke 16:26 declares there is a great unbridgeable, “yawning” space between the fires of Hades and the place where Abraham and Lazarus were.
In the New Testament the Greek word Hadēs is substituted for the Hebrew She’ol, and Hades in the New Testament is always a place of punishment. It is also a place of conscious existence “in torment” (Luke 16:23). Some make the Greek Gehenna2 (Matt. 5:22; 23:33, for example) the equivalent of Hadēs, but it is rather a term describing the lake of fire, which is the second (i.e., eternal) death.
The New Testament does make it clear, however, that there is a hell. Hades to the Greeks was a shadowy place. But Jesus refers to its fire that causes torment (Luke 16:24,28). This is a subject from which we naturally turn away, for it is grim indeed. Yet it is part of the biblical record. God could not be the holy God He is without providing an appropriate place for those who have chosen to rebel against Him.
Just as hell is real, so is heaven. It is the abode of those who are children of God (joint heirs with Jesus Christ, those sharing in eternal life), a place in the very presence of God himself.3 We live here in the world not by sight but by faith. In heaven we will find the reality of everything we took by faith on earth.
The intermediate state is followed by resurrections and judgments, issuing ultimately in the final destination of the righteous and the wicked.
Hebrews 9:27 speaks pointedly of the coming time of accountability, when all will stand before the righteous Judge to give account of what they have done during their lives on earth. “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” There is clearly no second chance, no reincarnation, after death. The Scriptures do not teach, however, that there will be a single, general judgment of everyone. Some passages do speak of the judgments in a general way, without showing time in between them. But, just as the Old Testament can speak of the first coming of Christ in one verse and His second coming in the next (compare Zech. 9:9–10), so the Bible does not always give the time in between the resurrections or between the judgments. But there is a progressive revelation that makes it quite apparent that there are at least four specific episodes of judgment during the final stages of time’s great dramatic climax.
There is the judgment seat of Christ. This judgment is for believers only. It is not a judgment on sin, for the believer by accepting Christ as Savior has had his sins judged at the Cross already. This judgment is a matter of appropriate rewards for stewardship of opportunity and energy during one’s life on earth. A system of rewards is part of Christ’s teaching about the hereafter, given elaborate treatment in the Gospels, especially in the parables. The same principle is clearly stated by Paul in Romans 14:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:10. In 1 Corinthians 3:11–15 Paul points out that all believers are building an edifice, some of permanent material: gold, silver, and precious stones; some of impermanent material: wood, hay, and stubble. Our deeds will be examined by the fire of God’s judgment. Motives especially will be judged (1 Cor. 13:3).
Before whom do believers appear for this judgment? Revelation 1:13–17 pictures the glory of the triumphant Christ, before whose eyes nothing can be hidden. In view of the responsibility entrusted to believers as stewards of precious opportunity, it is necessary that we first subject our own lives to judgment so that we will not come under later judgment (1 Cor. 11:31). If we are responsive to the gentle urging of the Holy Spirit and seek daily to allow Christ to live through us, “we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming” (1 John 2:28).
There will be a judgment of Israel. Who can read Old Testament prophecy, such as Isaiah 43:5–10, and New Testament comments, such as Romans 9 to 11, without being keenly aware that the entrance of the modern state of Israel onto the stage of world affairs is surely a miracle of God? But before their millennial restoration there must first come a time of suffering, the time of “Jacob’s trouble,” the Great Tribulation which will take place between the Rapture and the revelation of Christ (see chapter 14). Out of this time of deep difficulty Israel will call upon the Lord (Zech. 12:9 to 13:1).
There will be a judgment of angels. This is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:3, but no details are given except that believers will be with Christ, sharing in that judgment. He will be there, for the Father has given all judgment to the Son (John 5:22).
Some interpret the parable of Matthew 25:31–46 as a separate judgment of the nations just after the Battle of Armageddon: upon the revelation of Jesus Christ and just at the close of the Great Tribulation period. There are two common interpretations of this parable. One says that there will be some saved during the Great Tribulation. They will be living among the lost who have survived the Tribulation. The judgment will make a separation based on works of love and kindness to those belonging to Christ, perhaps especially converted Jews (cf. Gen. 12:1–3; Isa. 10:12; 47:5–6).
Another common view notes, however, that (1) the acts of kindness are acts of individuals toward individuals; (2) Jesus counted His disciples as His family (Matt. 12:48–50); (3) His disciples are the “little flock” who are to receive the Kingdom (Luke 12:32); therefore, they are “the least of these” (Matt. 25:40,45); and (4) the issue of this judgment is not simply a matter of entering into the Millennium. For those on the left hand it is eternal punishment in fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for those on the right hand it is entrance into an eternal inheritance prepared since the creation of the world. This view also notes that at the judgment seat of Christ and also at the final Great White Throne Judgment, works, or deeds, are judged. They suggest therefore that in this parable Jesus put both the judgment seat of Christ and the Great White Throne in the same picture for the sake of the lesson.4 Consequently, He did not show that the thousand years of the Millennium come between the two judgments. In fact, that period was not yet revealed. Not until Revelation 20 is the time in between judgments made known. Revelation 20 shows also that prior to the Great White Throne Judgment, Satan leads a final rebellion.
After Christ’s millennial reign, Satan will be released for a short time. God probably allows this as another evidence that His justice is righteous. It is a terrible thing to throw people into the lake of fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41) and was never intended for the human beings God created. It would seem reasonable that if people could only know how wonderful the reign of Christ will be, they would all believe in Him and follow Him. But the release of Satan shows that even after the world has seen peace and blessing for a thousand years under Christ’s rule, some will still follow Satan when they get the opportunity to do so. Clearly they are self-willed rebels, saying to God, “Leave us alone!” Therefore, there is nothing a holy God can do but separate them from His presence forever.
Satan’s rebellion after his release ends with his followers being consumed by fire from heaven. Then Satan himself is cast into the lake of fire forever. After that the Great White Throne appears.
Though the throne is God the Father’s judgment throne, Jesus declared, “The Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22): The one Mediator between God and humankind becomes the Mediator in judgment. Therefore, Jesus will be the One actually sitting on the throne. And so great will His majesty in judgment appear that the present earth and heaven will “flee away” (KJV), there being “no more place in God’s plan” for them.5 Thus, the way is made for the creation of a new heavens and a new earth (discussed further in chapter 16).
Those who appear before the Great White Throne are “the dead, great and small” (Rev. 20:12). Since the righteous who take part in the first resurrection already have their new bodies, which are immortal and incorruptible, they are the living, not the dead. Therefore, the dead who stand before that throne to be judged must be “the rest of the dead” (Rev. 20:5) who did not have part in the first resurrection to life at the time of the Rapture.6 They are the “wicked dead,” including those who were killed after the Millennium when they chose to follow Satan.
Some suppose that those who were not killed during the Tribulation and were brought into the Millennium plus those who are born during the Millennium will have an opportunity to be saved and follow Christ and then come before the Great White Throne to receive rewards. But the Bible does not tell us this. Only the “dead” appear in this second resurrection, which is the resurrection to judgment (John 5:29). Those saved during the Millennium will probably receive new bodies before the thousand years are over—possibly after a period of probation.
For the judgment, books are opened. The wicked will then be judged according to what they have done. Then the Book of Life is opened. Though the wicked are judged by their deeds, salvation is not by works. Their works, their deeds, are simply the evidence of their unbelief. In other words, the Book of Life is opened as a witness to the fact that they were not among those who had placed their faith in Jesus and followed Him with trust and obedience.
The Great White Throne Judgment makes a final disposition of the unsaved. The epoch between eternity past and eternity future, this brief interlude called time, is a period of probation. There is opportunity for choice in this fleeting season, but once a settled character has been achieved in this world, and one passes out into the world beyond, there is no more opportunity for change. The decisions in this life are irreversible; they are utterly crucial, since the destiny of the individual is for eternity. No, the Scriptures do not teach the annihilation of the wicked, nor a mindless state of Nirvana, as the Buddhists teach, nor the opportunity for a second chance after death. This is why it is urgent that our lives be geared to the strategic, utterly important task of evangelism, of being ambassadors for Christ, seeking to win men and women to Him. Witnessing is the chief task of the Christian. Those we meet day by day are never-dying souls who have an eternal destiny at stake. And apart from the salvation provided in Jesus Christ, there is no hope for the unregenerate.
After the witness from the Book of Life that their names are not included, the wicked are thrown into the lake of fire, the lake of burning sulfur,7 which is the second death. In the Bible, death often means separation: The second death is a final separation from God and from the inheritance of the saints. The wicked will miss the glories of the new heavens and the new earth as well as the new Jerusalem.
Jesus refers to the final punishment of the wicked as “outer darkness” (Matt. 22:13, KJV), which implies final separation from God, for “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Revelation 22:15 also indicates that the wicked dead will be “outside,” not only outside the new Jerusalem, but outside the whole new creation of the new heavens and the new earth.8
Death and Hades will also be thrown into the lake of fire. That is, death and Hades will have no part in the new creation but will be merged with the second death, the lake of fire in outer darkness, and be forever separated from the light of Christ. In this way “the last enemy,” death, will be destroyed (1 Cor. 15:26), for in the new heavens and the new earth there will be no more tears, no more dying. Only in the outer darkness of the lake of fire will such lamentation be heard (Matt. 8:12; 13:49–50; Luke 13:28). It will be full of remorse, bitterness, frustration, and raging lusts that cannot be fulfilled. Death and judgment will not change a sinner’s nature. Only the blood of Jesus can do that.
Those thrown into the lake of fire “will be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Rev. 20:10). Jude 7 also speaks of the punishment of eternal fire. Some today claim that the word “eternal” means only “age-lasting.” This is a case where a little knowledge of Greek is a bad thing. The Greek word aionios, translated “eternal” or “everlasting,” is used of eternal life, eternal death, and the eternal God. We are all in trouble if God is only “age-lasting.” Moreover, the Bible describes the fires of divine judgment in ways that have nothing to do with time. By its very nature the fire is unquenchable (Matt. 3:12; Luke 3:17) and therefore endless.
It should be noted that God’s promise of life to the obedient believer means more than the gift of bare existence. Everyone already has that. The gift of eternal life brings blessings and eternal fellowship with God and Christ, as well as a sharing in the glory to come. So the second death as a penalty does not mean mere loss of existence. It means everlasting punishment and everlasting separation from God and from the faith (including trust), hope (including continuing blessings), and love that remain for the believer (see 1 Cor. 13:13).
It is not God’s will that any should perish. He wants everyone to come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). God has put many things in the path of humankind to turn them from sin and to the salvation He has provided in Christ. But the choice is up to the individual.
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Why do believers not have to fear death?
2. What is the evidence for conscious existence after death, in the intermediate state?
3. What hope did the Old Testament saints have?
4. What happens to the wicked and unbelieving at death?
5. How do we know that heaven and paradise are real?
6. Who comes before the judgment seat of Christ and what can they expect there?
7. Why is Satan allowed to lead a final rebellion after the Millennium?
8. Who comes before the Great White Throne and what judgment can they expect?
9. What is the second death and what will it be like?
10. What is God’s purpose in revealing in the Bible the coming judgments to the world?
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1 That is, they supposed there must be a place for the righteous in Sheol since Jacob spoke of going there and assumed his son was there already. However, since Jacob “refused to be comforted” (Gen. 37:35) and there is no record of his seeking God again until after he received the news that Joseph was alive, it may be just as probable that he thought Sheol was God’s judgment on them both.
2 Gehenna is the Aramaic name of the Valley of Hinnom, on the south of Jerusalem. King Ahaz made it a place of idolatrous worship (2 Chron. 28:3; see 2 Chron. 33:6; Jer. 7:31; 32:35). Therefore, King Josiah, under his reforms, had it polluted, making it a garbage and trash dump, a place of abomination. Jesus spoke of it as a type of place of eternal punishment (Matt. 25:46; Mark 9:47–48; cf. Rev. 14:11).
3 Paul identifies the third heaven (where God’s throne is) with paradise. See chap. 16. “Paradise” (Gk. paradeisos), from the Persian for “an enclosed park,” is used in the New Testament only of the place of blessedness in heaven.
4 See James Oliver Buswell, A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1962), 417–423.
5 Stanley M. Horton, The Ultimate Victory: An Exposition of the Book of Revelation (Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1991), 301.
6 Ibid., 303.
7 “Brimstone,” KJV, is an old word for sulfur.
8 Horton, Ultimate Victory, 336.