As with the previous two judgments considered, the Great White Throne judgment is future. It occurs at the close of the Millennium, a thousand years after the judgment of the nations. This is not a scene which takes place on earth, but will take place during or after the renovation of the earth by fire (2 Pet. 3:7). The judgment of the Great White Throne is the judgment of the wicked dead of all ages past by God the Father and the Son (vv. 11-12). Job declares that the wicked are reserved to the day of destruction and will be brought forth to the day of wrath (Job 21:30). The resulting judgment will see the lost cast into the lake of fire (vs. 15).

The question before the Great White Throne for the wicked or ungodly dead will not be whether they are entitled to eternal life, but to ascertain their degree of punishment. The “book of life” is opened verifying the eternal destiny for each of the wicked, while the “books” are also opened in which the deeds of all men have been recorded – thus verifying the life which each one lived in rejection of Christ. Sadly, there will appear at this judgment many whom we would call kind, loving and lovable - “good” or “not so bad” people, who were not saved. They will be classed with the “ungodly” and spend eternity in the lake of fire (vv. 14-15) because they are “without God” and “without Christ” (Eph. 2:12, 11), having rejected Jesus Christ as Savior. “Every man [will be judged] according to [his] works” (20:13). As a result, some will be sentenced to a more severe punishment than others, but none will escape. Friend, consider a serious question – Where will you spend eternity, in heaven or hell? Please receive Christ as Savior today – be assured of heaven!

As saved people, we need to be aware of our present responsibility to the Lord and of our future accountability to the Lord Jesus Christ. Unlike the past judgment of our sin as it was borne by our Sin-Bearer, this judgment does not have to do with condemnation for sin. The Judgment Seat of Christ will be a place of commendation for service. A determination of reward or loss will be made for each believer as to his service for Christ (vv. 14-15). This judgment is future, and it will take place at the rapture, in the air before the “Bema” (Greek term) – Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10).  As suggested by the place of judgment, the Judge will be the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 14:10), and believers are the persons judged. It will not be a judgment in the sense of a trial to see whether the judged are innocent (saved) or guilty (lost), for it is a judgment of the saved only. Christ bore “our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24), and God has entered into covenant with us to “remember them no more” (Heb. 10:17). Yet every work must come into judgment; that is why we labor to be well-pleasing to Him (2 Cor. 5:9).

In the final analysis, we will receive either reward or loss of reward. The basis of judgment appears to be threefold – motive (1 Cor. 4:5), quality (3:12-13), and quantity (3:10b). Everyone’s work will be “revealed by fire” – perhaps the “flame of fire” of His eyes (Rev. 1:14). The result of this judgment is reward or loss at the Bema of Christ. The foundation of our lives is laid (vs. 11); let us be careful how we build and with what materials we build. “Look to yourselves…that [you] receive a full reward” (2 Jn. 8).

As saved people, we need to be aware of our present responsibility to the Lord and of our future accountability to the Lord Jesus Christ. Unlike the past judgment of our sin as it was borne by our Sin-Bearer, this judgment does not have to do with condemnation for sin. The Judgment Seat of Christ will be a place of commendation for service. A determination of reward or loss will be made for each believer as to his service for Christ (vv. 14-15). This judgment is future, and it will take place at the rapture, in the air before the “Bema” (Greek term) – Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10).  As suggested by the place of judgment, the Judge will be the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 14:10), and believers are the persons judged. It will not be a judgment in the sense of a trial to see whether the judged are innocent (saved) or guilty (lost), for it is a judgment of the saved only. Christ bore “our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24), and God has entered into covenant with us to “remember them no more” (Heb. 10:17). Yet every work must come into judgment; that is why we labor to be well-pleasing to Him (2 Cor. 5:9).

In the final analysis, we will receive either reward or loss of reward. The basis of judgment appears to be threefold – motive (1 Cor. 4:5), quality (3:12-13), and quantity (3:10b). Everyone’s work will be “revealed by fire” – perhaps the “flame of fire” of His eyes (Rev. 1:14). The result of this judgment is reward or loss at the Bema of Christ. The foundation of our lives is laid (vs. 11); let us be careful how we build and with what materials we build. “Look to yourselves…that [you] receive a full reward” (2 Jn. 8).

Three of the judgments that we will consider are yet future. However, today, we begin with a judgment that is past – the sin of man. Today’s text declares that justified ones (5:1) are freed from the guilt of sin and secure from the punishment for it. In light of this marvelous truth, we have the utmost reason to rejoice and be glad. On the basis of our connection to Christ, there is now no condemnation. There was condemnation as long as we were in Adam (5:12-19), but now we are in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) and, therefore, as free from condemnation as He is.

This judgment is past; it occurred when Christ died on the Cross at a place called Calvary – “the place of a skull” (Mk. 15:22). The Judge was God the Father – “the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6; cf. 2 Cor. 5:21), and the Person judged was Christ as our Sin-Bearer – “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust…” (1 Pet. 3:18). God the Father laid our sin on Christ. He was the Lamb of God (Jn. 1:29) “which taketh away the sin of the world.” He is the propitiation (the wrath-appeasing sacrifice) for not only our sins, but the sins of the whole world (1 Jn. 2:2). The result of this judgment was the death of Christ (1 Cor. 15:3) and the justification of the believer (Rom. 3:24, 28). Now, whosoever will may come. God is not “willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9) is the message of grace. John 5:24 declares the wondrous truth that “he that heareth my [Christ’s] word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”

There are theologians who maintain that there will be one general judgment of all mankind. It is a tenet strongly entrenched in Christian theology. However, a careful, inductive study of all the Scriptures involved demonstrates that there are as many as eight distinct judgments described in the Bible. It will be our intent to look at four in particular over the course of these next days. However, before moving on to the specifics, we need to examine that claim of a general judgment.

The common opinion of many is that the Millennial Kingdom is to be ushered in by the Church, through the preaching of the Gospel. Then, after the Millennium, there is to be a “general resurrection,” followed by a “general judgment” (during which determination will be made for all of eternal life or eternal damnation), and then the earth is to be destroyed by fire. This idea of a “general judgment” is not Scriptural. Consider please, that the Scripture speaks expressly of different judgments. For instance, one judgment is described as being in the air (1 Thess. 4:16-17; cf. 2 Cor. 5:6-10), another is seen on the earth (Matt. 25:31-46) and a third will be in eternity, after the destruction of the present creation (Rev. 20:11-15; cf. 2 Pet. 3:10). Furthermore, three different thrones are mentioned. The Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10) will be “in the air” and is for believers only, where rewards will be gained or lost. The Throne of His Glory (Matt. 25:31-32) will be on the earth and will involve the living nations (Gentiles), when the populating of the Millennial Kingdom will be determined. The Great White Throne (Rev. 20:11-12) will be in eternity for the wicked dead, when their degrees of punishment in the lake of fire will be decreed. Clearly, a “general judgment” of saved and unsaved is not in God’s plan.