Gleaned from searching God's word.....my ultimate authority...
and put into my imperfect words, the beliefs I hold about judgment...
I am real uncomfortable with the "Catholic" designation given about judgment.Or any other "label" that designates it as from a particular denomination.
As I understand it - we make the decision about where we will spend eternity by either accepting or not accepting Jesus Christ as our personal savior - and we believe with our heart and confess with our mouth our acceptance of it. We cannot 'earn' salvation - it is a gift.
A question was raised about judgment, and here are my thoughts....
(and I had to get some help from my pastor-hubby about this) - there are actually two:
The Judgment Seat of Christ
( 2 Corinthians 5:10 - For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.)
This is for the saints - the saved - the ones who HAVE accepted Jesus as their Savior.
This is not a judgment of whether or not we go to heaven - we've already decided that question - this is where we receive rewards for how well or not well we have used the opportunities in our lives to do the 'good things that Jesus prepared beforehand for us to do'.
Some will have many rewards, some will have none - but all will be in heaven. This happens after the rapture and during the time the earth is going through the tribulation.
The Great White Throne Judgment
This is the final one - which occurs when Jesus returns after all is done - the 1000 year reign is over - Satan has been loosed and thrown into the lake of fire.
At this judgment, all the saved will be standing behind Christ - who is the judge - and all those who have not received Christ will be standing before Him.
If they died, they have been waiting for the judgment - waiting in hell, and have now been raised for this judgment. If they were among the living - those who survived the tribulation, but did not accept Christ.
This is the final resolution - the sentencing phase for the condemned. (Revelation 20:11 - 15: Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.)
And here, the condemned will hear their judgment - to be thrown into the lake of fire.
Recent Comments
weaselmomma said (3 months ago)
My views on how the actual judgment takes place are different from this to a degree. I am a Catholic, and my faith provides fro leaning on Sacred Tradition as well as Sacred Scripture. Protestant Christian faiths typically rely only on Sacred Scripture. However, different doesn't mean bad. As a Catholic, I am also totally lacking in the ability of quoting scripture( a fault that Priests need to get on their Parishioners about BTW). But once again, if I were to try and type my thoughts on the matter, it would become a thesis style document. I just wish you all could come over for drinks and spend an entire day just hanging out discussing together.
trysh said (3 months ago)
I think what may be confusing you is that there are 2 judgments - the first one is for all those who HAVE accepted Christ, the ones who are saved. It is not for everyone. It's more of an 'awards ceremony' as it were - these people are all in heaven because they accepted Christ - and this 'judgment' is handing out the rewards for the way we have lived out our Christian life. The second judgment -the White Throne one - is for all the people who did NOT accept Christ - they have already made the decision as to where they will be spending eternity - and this judgment is like receiving the consequences of your decision. One judgment of rewards for those who have accepted Christ, one judgment of punishment for those who have not accepted Christ. I hope this helps a little?
Mrs.4444 said (3 months ago)
"Some will have many rewards, some will have none - but all will be in heaven." So it sounds like you're saying everyone goes to heaven. But later, you say "If they died, they have been waiting for the judgment - waiting in hell, and have now been raised for this judgment." Thanks for posting your thoughts. (who are you, BTW?) I'm confused. Maybe I should join an in-person bible study.
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Mrs.4444 said (3 months ago)