TWO JUDGMENTS

Now,before some bible student explodes and sends me ugly email,yes,I know there are more judgments. Here I am dealing only with the two main,future,judgments that affect people of this age.These are "The Judgment Seat of Christ" and the "Great White Throne Judgment".

There is considerable confusion in the Christian community about these two.Some can't seem to separate them and so,believe the two are the same judgment.Nothing could be further from the truth.They are separate judgments and the bible clearly shows this.

As far as God is concerned there are only two classes of people in this present age.Those who have accepted Jesus as their Saviour and those who have not.The "Judgment seat of Christ" is for saved people only and is for judgement of their works only;never for salvation.The "Great White Throne" judgment is where those who have rejected Jesus,along with the fallen angels are judged. Most of the lost in our generation,seem to think that they will get to argue their "goodness" with God.In other words,they will be their own lawyer.This isn't so as a persons fate is completely dependent on their acceptance of Jesus Christ or their rejection of Him and as such their fate is already decided.I picture it this way;you come up before Jesus and your life is played back before you for all to see.There are no excuses,you accepted Jesus or you did not.Off you go for an eternity in the lake of fire.

Now that we know what these judgments are,lets look at the differences so that we can keep them separate in our minds.

The Judgment Seat of Christ described in 2Cor 5 vs 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.More can be found at 1 Corinthians Ch 3 verses 11 through 15. This judgment takes place in the air and is for believers only.It takes place between the Rapture of the Church and the end of the Tribulation period.

The Great White Throne is described in Revelation ch 20 verses 11 and 12. And I saw a great white throne,and him that sat on it,from whose face the earth and heaven fled away;and there was found no place for them.And I saw the dead,small and great,stand before God;and the books were opened:and another book was opened ,which is the book of life;and the dead were judged out of these things which were written in the books,according to their works. We are not told where this judgment takes place.We do know that it is not on the earth as this is the time of the renovation of the earth by fire.It takes place at the close of the Millennium.Now,it is incorrectly assumed ,by many that this judgement is only for the unsaved and the fallen angels.This view does not take into account those people saved during the Tribulation period and those saved during the Millennium.These saved people will be judged here since all must face judgment at some point.It would be pointless to have a "Book of Life"here if only the unsaved were to be judged.

Finally,if you have not accepted Jesus as your Saviour,consider this;ten thousand years from the day you read this,you will be alive somewhere.You decide where.