2 Timothy 4:1 “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom.”
We have seen in this section thus far that our eternal destination is determined by the one crucial decision that we all make while on the earth. But there is more to it than that, for although the one decision we make determines “where” we will spend eternity, it is not that decision that determines “how” each of us will spend eternity in our final destination. That is where eternal judgement comes in, for there is coming a day on which each one of us, believer and unbeliever alike, will be judged. In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit reveals to us that everyone will be judged by the Lord Jesus on that day. The living that He refers to are the believers, while the dead that He refers to are the unbelievers. What we will see as we examine the subject of eternal judgement is that each person’s short life on this planet will be judged in perfect detail and absolute impartiality. The result of that judgement for the believer will determine their place and inheritance in God’s kingdom for the rest of eternity, while the result of that judgement for the unbeliever will determine the degree of torment that they will suffer in the lake of fire for all eternity.
John 5:28-29 “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice (29) and come forth-- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”
What we will also see as we examine the subject of eternal judgement is that there will in fact be two separate judgements that will take place. We will see that each judgement is directly linked to the resurrection of the dead at the end of the age. In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord refers to two resurrections. The first, He calls the resurrection of life, which is the resurrection of His saints, and the second; He calls the resurrection of condemnation, which is the resurrection of the unbelievers. And so we will see that the saints will be judged first at the resurrection of life, while the unbelievers will be judged second at the resurrection of condemnation.
Michael E.B. Maher
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