The Doctrine of Judgment, Hell, and Eternal Punishment

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Lesson #18

• The Doctrine of Judgment, Hell, and Eternal Punishment
  • In lesson #16 of this series we have already discussed divine justice.
    • Divine justice requires a judgment of good and evil.
    • It is the judgment of the non-believer and their impending punishment that we need to understand in this lesson.
  • Read Gen 18:25
    • The idea of judgment that began in Genesis becomes more imminent with the crucifixion of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in New Testament believers.
    • Read Joh 9:39
    • Read Joh 12:31
    • Read Joh 16:8
  • Judgment in Greek and Roman mythology:
    • During the time that the New Testament was written, Greek and Roman mythology were well known among the people.
    • The gods of the Greeks and Romans made unpredictable judgments not based on eternal principles according to some standard but based on whim. One day they would punish a man for an action and the next day they would reward him for the same action.
    • Man never knew whether he pleased his gods or not. Therefore he was at the mercy of the gods that did not have his best interests at heart.
  • The God Jehovah is a just God and His judgments are based on eternal principles that do not change over time.
    • We have already discussed that God’s justice is righteous.
      • Man is already told through the Word of God what to expect from God.
      • Man is already told through the Word of God how to please God. (Heb 11:6)
      • Therefore, man should not be surprised at God’s judgment.
    • Read Psa 96:13
  • At the second coming of Christ, Jesus Christ will come to judge the world.
    • Read Rom 2:15-16. The Bible speaks of a judgment day.
      • Believers will stand in the judgment seat of Christ where their works since salvation are judged for reward. (Rom 14:10 2Cor 5:10)
      • God will judge the nations at the Battle of Armageddon and separate the good nations from the bad nations at the beginning of the Millennial Reign of Christ of earth.
        • Read Mat 25:31-46
        • Nations will be judged as to how they treated the Jews and the Christians.
        • Nations will be judged as the degree of the freedom given to the preaching of the gospel.
      • God will judge all non-believers from all history at the Great White Throne judgment.
        • Read Rev 20:11-15
        • This is the judgment of all non-believers from the time of the creation of Adam and Eve to the end of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ on earth for 1000 years.
    • While there is a judgment day, that day will arrive at different points in time for all people depending on whether the person is a believer or a non-believer.
  • The Great White Throne Judgment of Non-believers:
    • All non-believers from all history are resurrected to stand before God at the great white throne for judgment.
    • Notice in Rev 20:11-15 it tells us that every non-believer is judged according to his works.
      • Why is that important?
        • Human nature has the idea that man can work his way to God, that if he does enough good, God will look favorably upon him.

The problem is that man cannot do enough good works to pay the price for his own sins.

All religions created by man have at their center, a works mentality.

The religion created by God is not so much a religion but a relationship with God based on faith in Jesus Christ and not on works.

Read Gal 2:16

Read Joh 3:16

• • • • • The Bible tells us that man’s works are useless in approaching a Holy God. Man cannot do enough good works to bridge the gap of sin that separates man from God. This is why we need Jesus Christ who is the perfect man and the perfect God.
      • Then why does Rev 20:11-15 tell us that the unbelieving man is judged by his works?
        • This is how we know that this judgment of the Great White Throne is a judgment of non-believers.
        • The believer in Christ is judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ based on the righteousness of Christ.

He is judged for salvation based on the perfect work of Christ.

His works after salvation are judged at the judgment seat of Christ so as to determine the reward they will receive.

• • • • Therefore, we can say that man decides how he will be judged. Man has two choices:
        • (1) He can choose to be judged by the righteousness of Christ.

This is the decision that a person makes when he invites Jesus Christ to come into his heart and life.

When God looks at the believer in Jesus Christ, he does not see the person’s failures and sins. Instead He sees Christ’s perfection.

• • • • • (2) He can choose to be judged by his own works.

This is the decision the unbeliever makes when he neglects the call of God in his life.

This is the decision the unbeliever makes when he chooses to trust in his own works and not to trust in Jesus Christ for his salvation.

• • • • The criteria of judgment at the great white throne:
        • =1= The law of conscience: (Rom 2:12)

God has given every person a conscience to know right from wrong.

• • • • • =2= The law of memory: (Luk 16:25)

This is a call to remembrance of all wrong things done in a person’s life.

• • • • • =3= The law of character: (Heb 3:8-10 Eph 4:19)

God will judge how the person has allowed his character to develop–toward goodness or toward evil.

• • • • • =4= The law of the gospel: (Rom 2:12-16)

God will judge by how much of the gospel the unbeliever has heard–he is responsible for what he has heard–the light given to him.

• • • • • =5= The law of personal acts: (Mat 12:36 Luk 12:29)

God judges deeds (Joh 3:18 Rev 20:12)

• • • • • =6= The law of words spoken: (Mat 12:36-37)

God judges all oral, audible words spoken.

• • • • • =7= The law of secret words: (Rom 2:16 Ecc 12:14)

God judges all inaudible words or thoughts.

• • • • • =8= The word of God: (Joh 12:48)

What has the person done with the Word of God that he has heard or read?

• • • • “…and the books were opened…” (Rev 20:!2)
        • What are these books and what is in them?

=1= The Book of Law (Gal 3:10 Rom 2:12-16)

This includes the Ten Commandments that represent God’s standard given in the Old Testament.

This includes the Sermon on the Mount which is God’s standard given in the New Testament.

God looks on the attitude of the heart.

=2= The Book of Works (Ecc 12:14 2Cor 11:15 Mat 16:27)

The person who decides to live by works will be judged by those works.

=3= The Book of Life (Rev 20:15)

The person who does not choose to be judged by the righteousness of Christ must answer for his attempts to live up to Christ’s standard.

Because his name is not written in the Lamb’s book of life, he does not belong to nor believe in Jesus Christ. For that reason he must stand before the great white throne judgment.

=4= The Book of Tears (Psa 56:8)

This involves the unbeliever’s actions that caused suffering to Jews and Christians.

• • • The Great White Throne: Seven principles of judgment based on Rom 2:
      • =1= God judges according to truth. (Rom 2:2)
      • =2= God judges according to individual guilt. (Rom 2:5)
      • =3= God judges according to deeds. (Rom 2:6)
      • =4= God judges according to equality. (Rom 2:11)
      • =5= God judges according to performance, not intentions. (Rom 2:13)
      • =6= God judges according to the gospel; the light given. (Rom 2:16)
      • =7= God judges according to reality; a person’s oral profession and good intentions versus his actual actions. (Rom 2:17-29)
    • Who does the judging?
      • God and Christ (Act 10:42 Act 17:31)
      • Read Joh 5:22,27
      • God will judge all people through Jesus Christ.
    • What is the result of the great white throne judgment?
      • All non-believers are cast into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:15 2The 1:9 2Pet 2:9 Dan 12:2 Mat 13:30 Mat 13:49-50)
        • Because this is the determined end result of the great white throne judgment, why must the non-believer go through the process of judgment?
        • God does not bring judgment on anyone without an explanation.

God always announces judgment before he executes judgment.

Man will understand the choices he has made so that it will be clear that the judgment is a just judgment.

• • • • • As we will see, hell, or eternal punishment will not be the same for all people.

Because God is just, the person that has lived a supposedly “good” life will reap a different level of hell than a person that has spent his life in total evil and depravity

Hitler reaps a different degree of punishment than the average non-believer.

• • • • Death and hell are cast into the lake of fire. What does that mean? (Rev 20:14)
        • This is God’s way of saying that there will be no more physical death after the great white throne judgment because there will be no more mortal body.
        • There will be no more hell because that was the place of reserve for the dead waiting for the judgment. If there’s no more death, there is no more need for a place to put them awaiting judgment.
    • What is the lake of fire?
      • This is an eternal location separated from God where God never meant for man to go. (Mat 25:41) It was made for Satan and his fallen angels. (Deu 32:22)
      • The Lake of fire–who and what will be there?
        • First to go there is Antichrist and the false prophet at the end of the tribulation period. (Rev 19:20)
        • The next to go there is Satan at the end of the millennium. (Rev 20:10)
        • The next to go there are the fallen angels after their final judgment. (Mat 25:41)
        • The next to go there is death and hell. (Rev 20:14)
        • Finally all the non-believers go there. (Rev 20:15)
      • What will the lake of fire be like?
        • Characteristic #1= “everlasting destruction” (2The 1:9)

This is not annihilation as some believe.

The Jewish sect of the Sadducees in the Bible did not believe in the resurrection.

Instead they believed in total annihilation at death. This belief is one of hopelessness, depression, and anguish by the loved ones left behind.

Instead the lake of fire is an eternal, unending, forever death and ruin.

The word “everlasting” is the same word used for God and his eternal glory.

How do we know it is not annihilation?

Read Rev 20:10

This passage says that the Antichrist and false prophet are still there after 1,000 years of the millennium.

• • • • • Characteristic #2= “away from God’s presence” (2The 1:9)
        • Characteristic #3= “punishment” (2Pet 2:9)
        • Characteristic #4= “everlasting contempt” (Dan 12:2)
        • Characteristic #5= “burning” (Mat 13:30)
        • Characteristic #6 = “furnace of fire”–“wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Mat 13:49-50)
        • Characteristic #7= “torment forever” (Rev 20:10)
        • Characteristic #8 = “outer darkness” (Mat 22:13)
        • Characteristic #9= “second death” (Rev 20:14)

The second death is a term used interchangeably with the lake of fire.

The first death is physical death and the second death is spiritual death, the eternal separation from God.

The spiritual principle: “born twice, die once. Born once, die twice”.

If you are born twice (physical birth and spiritual birth) you will die once (physical death).

If you are born once (physical birth) you will die twice (physical death and spiritual death.)

• • • • • Characteristic #10= Jesus refers to the lake of fire as “gahenna”

Gahenna (the Valley of Hinnom) was a place in the Old Testament where human sacrifice was performed outside Jerusalem. (2Chr 33:6 Jer 7:31) The same place in Jesus’ day was the rubbish dump of Jerusalem where a perpetual fire burned, where the smell was horrible and vermin infested it.

Jesus used this likeness to the garbage dump of the city so that his hearers could relate to it. (Mat 5:22,29,30 Mat 10:28 Mat 18:9 Mat 23:15,33 Mar 9:43-47 Luk 12:5)

• • • • Will all people suffer the same punishment in the lake of fire?
        • Because God is a just God, the answer must be, no. A person who has lived a relatively “good” life without Jesus Christ will not suffer the same degree of punishment as a national leader who murdered thousands of people.

God is no respecter of persons. (Act 10:34) He does not play favorites to show partiality.

God is just.

God is a respecter of deeds. Just as God respects the deeds of believers in the judgment seat of Christ (1Cor 3:13), he will also respect the deeds of non-believers in the great white throne judgment. (Luk 12:42-48) These people decided to live their lives by works and God will judge them by those works.

Justice demands a difference between a “Hitler” and a “good person”. (Mat 16:27)

The “books” being opened at the great white throne judgment indicates that this is not an automatic, pointless gesture but a true judgment conforming to the life decisions made by each person. (Rom 2:6)

Jesus’ account of the rich man and Lazarus in Luk 16:19-27 indicate that the torment of the rich man was at the point of his greed. He suffered in his tongue for failure to feed the poor (verse 24).

The biblical principle of sewing and reaping is for believers and non-believers (Gal 6:7-9)

There is some reaping in this life.

There is an eternal reaping in eternity future.

• • • • • Read Mar 12:40
        • Read Luk 12:48
  • Hell
    • Usually in this New Testament age we refer to the place of eternal punishment of the non-believer as “hell”.
      • However, in the Old Testament period, the word “hell” as translated from the words, “Sheol” or Hades” more specifically referred to the place of the dead whether the person was a believer or a non-believer. (Luk 16)
      • It was a place of waiting for the final judgment.
        • The believers in Hades or Sheol were moved by Christ at the Crucifixion to a new location in heaven called Paradise.
        • The non-believing dead still wait in Hades or Sheol for the coming final judgment.
    • The Bible differentiates between Hades or Sheol (Hell) and the Lake of Fire.
      • The place of eternal punishment for the non-believers is called the Lake of Fire.
      • Hades or Sheol (Hell) is cast into the Lake of Fire at the end of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ.