The Christ in Prophecy Journal

Answering Questions About the Eternal State: Judgment and Purgatory

Questions About Eternity

What is the Judgment of the Just?

[Note: This series of questions about Heaven and the Eternal State were sent in to Lamb & Lion Ministries and answered by Dr. David Reagan, Nathan Jones, and Tim Moore on our television program Christ in Prophecy.]

Dr. Reagan: Christians are going to be judged based on their works when they stand one day before the judgment seat of Jesus. The timing would be right after the Rapture. People are saved by grace through faith and not by works, so how do you explain this judgment?

Nathan Jones: Yes, the judgment seat that every Christian will one day stand before is called the Judgment of the Just. You can find the scriptural reference in 2 Corinthians 5:10. Every person who has ever been created will stand before God and be judged, but with the Judgment of the Just, there’s a big difference from the Great White Throne Judgment, which the latter is for the unrepentant. Christians will be judged for our works, and since we accepted the only work that matters, that being Jesus’ saving work on the cross, our sins are forgiven. Therefore, this is not a judgment where our salvation hangs in the balance, rather it’s a judgment based on the good works that we allowed the Holy Spirit to work through us while we were living on this earth.

The Bible says there will be rewards as the result of the Judgment of the Just. We will be judged on the quality, the quantity, and the motivations behind our works. The Bible compares this judgment to a fire burning away the chaff. If we did something selfishly and so we received all the attention we craved during that moment, well that will be our only reward for that work.

Christians will receive eternal rewards for the good deeds that the Lord has done through us. Those heavenly rewards will be given in a variety of ways. There will be tangible gifts, such as crowns and robes. There will be intangible gifts, such as Jesus will grant us new names. For example, I won’t be called Nathan anymore, for I’ll have been given brand new names etched on a marble rock.

The true source of these eternal rewards rests on the fact that since Jesus Christ has saved us we will get to dwell with our Creator forever. The Bible even says that we are honored before the Father. What? That’s just amazing to contemplate! These are just some of the eternal rewards that we can be looking forward to.

Tim Moore: I picture when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ that He will look over all of our works. Should the Father ask, “Is there anyone willing to testify and affirm this person’s sinlessness, their righteousness, their merit, so they can enter the Kingdom of Heaven?” And, Jesus Christ will reply, “I Am.” Jesus will testify that He has covered all of our sins by His own shed blood.

The only thing that remains after the chaff of wasted effort is burned away will be our good deeds. Our works will be judged, but even then Jesus Christ will get the credit for our good deeds, for it is His sacrificial work alone that cleansed us of our sins. That’s why crowns are granted to each believer. We will cast our crowns before God’s thrown giving Him glory and honor forever for the good deeds we are able to accomplish by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Dr. Reagan: Christians don’t work to be saved, but we are saved to do good works. While we wait for Jesus to return, we are supposed to be doing God’s will. What people need to understand is that when you are born again you are given at least one supernatural gift from God, and maybe given others over time. Jesus is going to judge us based on how we used those spiritual gifts to advance His Kingdom. So, ask yourself, if you have the gift of teaching, did you ever use it to advance His Kingdom?

Tim Moore: The Apostle Paul said: “Therefore, in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. For I will not presume to speak of anything except Christ who has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles, by the word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.” Even with Paul’s calling he credits his ministry to Jesus Christ alone. And so, Christians will be giving back to Jesus the glory and honor due Him through worship.

Is there a Purgatory we will all face in the afterlife?

Tim Moore: No, clearly not! No ands, ifs, or buts. Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” So, there is no second chance after this life. Only in this life is there a second, a third, a fourth, a fifth, and so on chance to accept Jesus Christ as one’s Savior. You are not promised another moment after death to reconcile with God.

Dr. Reagan: There are so many people who live thinking that they are going to get a second chance once they stand before God. What’s interesting about that misconception is that even if they were given a second chance, they would probably say no, because they have rebelled against God all for their life. They don’t want to subject themselves to anyone, and so they would probably say no even then.

Nathan Jones: And that brings up the misconception about Purgatory. The Catholic teaching about there being a Purgatory came about hundreds of years after the Bible was completed. This false teaching that saved people will still suffer for our sins for a period of time in Purgatory is pure nonsense. The blood of Jesus purifies us from all of our sins, as 1 John 1:7 teaches.

Dr. Reagan: Yes, the teaching of Purgatory is all based upon one verse out of the Apocryphal scriptures and not the biblical canon.

Nathan Jones: Right, there’s no afterlife where you spend time burning off your sins in order to become purified. Such teaching is totally unbiblical.

Dr. Reagan: When you say you’ve got to be cleansed of sin after this life then you are actually blaspheming the cross of Jesus Christ because Jesus is all we need in order to be cleansed and made pure.

In the third part of this series answering questions about the Eternal State, we will take a look at the lie of Reincarnation.

Resource

This Q&A series is also available in a video album which contains two DVD discs that feature seven television programs in which David Reagan, Tim Moore, and Nathan Jones respond to questions about the Bible and Bible prophecy. These programs are great for both individual and group study and provide an excellent starting point for discussion.

Questions and Answers About Bible Prophecy

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Dr. Nathan E. Jones

As the Internet Evangelist at Lamb & Lion Ministries, Nathan reaches out to the over 4.5 billion people accessible over the Internet with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He also co-hosts the ministry's television program Christ in Prophecy and podcast The Truth Will Set You Free.

2 CommentsLeave a Comment

  • DR REAGAN…WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE THAT HAVE MENTAL ILLNESS. I’VE STRUGGLED MY WHOLE LIFE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS FROM WHEN I WAS A CHILD. IT GOT WORSE THE OLDER I GOT. I AM BI-POLAR AND HAVE AT TIMES DONE THINGS THAT ARE PRETTY WEIRD, USUALLY WHEN I’M MANIC. I’VE COMMITTED A LOT OF SINS ESPECIALLY WHEN I GOT MANIC. THE SINS WERE MOSTLY SEXUAL(MOSTLY GOING OUT WITH HOOKERS. WHAT MOST EXPECT FOR FREE I HAD TO PAY FOR MY COMPANY BECAUSE NO ONE WANTED ME. I’M JUST TALKING ABOUT THE COMPANY), MAINLY BECAUSE I GOT AND STILL GET SO LONELY. I HAVE JUST IN THE LAST FEW YEARS GOTTEN SOME CONTROL OVER IT WITH MEDICATION. WHEN I GOT MANIC I WOULD ALIENATE A LOT OF PEOPLE AND SPEND MYSELF INTO OBLIVION. I’VE BEEN AN UTTER AND COMPLETE FAILURE IN MY LIFE AND WASN’T ABLE TO HOLD A JOB BECAUSE OF MY MENTAL ILLNESS AND EVENTUALLY HAD TO APPLY FOR SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY. I’M 66 NOW AND HAVE BEEN ON SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY SINCE I WAS 5O. WHEN I WAS 28 I FELL INTO A HIGH VOLTAGE CABINET IN AN UNDERGROUND MINE (2300 VOLTS) AND GOT MY SHOULDERS BLOWN OUT TO THE MUSCLES. I WAS IN A BURN UNIT FOR ALMOST 3 MONTHS. I’VE DONE A LOT OF THINGS IN MY LIFE THAT WERE AMORAL MOSTLY BECAUSE OF MY LONELINESS BECAUSE OF THE MENTAL ILLNESS I’VE SUFFERED FROM. I’M STILL STRUGGLING AND SOMETIMES WONDER IF I’M ALREADY IN HELL. THE BIBLE SAY IT GIVES EVERYONE GIFTS. WELL I FEEL AS IF I GOT NO GIFTS. I WAS SAVED WHEN I WAS 16. IS IT POSSIBLE TO LOSE ONES SALVATION? THIS IS RAMBLING I KNOW BUT I JUST WANTED TO GET IT OUT. I COULD TELL YOU MORE ABOUT MY LIFE WITH MORE TIME…
    THANK YOU MARK

    • Eternal Security has been a subject of debate amongst the greatest of Church History scholars over the last 2,000 years, so you’re in good company.

      I fall on the side of believing that salvation is always secure in God’s promise, as John 10:28-30 (NIV) tells us: “28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.” Jesus made it very, very clear that if we are one of His “sheep,” then we will never lose our salvation.

      Others, like Dr. Reagan, argue in http://www.lamblion.com/articles/articles_doctrines3.php that the Bible also teaches that we can lose that salvation if we stop trusting in Jesus (Gal. 5:4, I Tim. 4:1, and Heb. 6:4-6). Rebellious, unrepentant conduct can ultimately lead a person to the point where he, in word or in deed (or both), rejects Jesus as Lord and Savior of his life. Since his acceptance of Jesus is what led to his adoption into the family of God, this subsequent rejection of Jesus will result in his being disinherited from the family. The book of Hebrews teaches this very strongly in the following passages: 2:1-4, 3:12-14, 6:1-8, 10:16-31, and 12:12-17. Another powerful passage that teaches the same principle is 2 Peter 2:20-22 where a person who has come to know the way of righteousness and then decides to return to the world is compared to a dog who returns to its own vomit. This is not a matter of losing one’s salvation one day and regaining it the next. The book of Hebrews says that once a person has “fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame” (Heb. 6:6).

      Best as Christians in life to remain unwavering in the faith, then we can most assuredly know our eternal destiny.

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