Eternal Judgment
The 6th, 1st Principle is the Doctrine Of Eternal Judgment. This section is most likely not what many would expect.
Throughout history there have been a multitude of teachings related to Eternal Judgment. The early church fathers believed that there would be a 1000 year period of judgment. Others, seeing how great the numbers were of those to be judged, thought that it would be a much longer time period.
Many agree that both the righteous and the wicked are going to be judged. The heathen is to be judged by the law of nature, Jews will be judged by the Law of Moses and Christians are to be judged by the Old and New Testament. The reason for this judgment is that only in judgment can the totality of man’s life be summed up either for good or evil. Sadly, most people, including believers, have bought into this simple outline of judgment to a lesser or greater extent. Simply, for most people it comes down to, if you do good, God is going to let you go to heaven. If you do bad, you are going to the other place.
The weakness of this position is, first of all, the time and place is uncertain. Secondly, the righteous and wicked are being judged at the same time. This concept does not deal with John 5:24.
24Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Yeshua states that God has taken believers out of the judgment of the unbeliever and has given them eternal life. Nor does it deal with 1 Corinthians 6:2.
2Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
Believers are to be the judges of that great time period.
Think about this, why would a believer ever think that just because an individual did not hear the Gospel that they would be judged based on the laws of nature. And that Jews would be judged on the basis of the law of Moses. That seem inconsistent with the Bible.
Why would God establish a different standard for various categories of people? The answer is, He has not. All mankind will be judged on one basis, John 3:36.
36He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
And Acts 4:12:
12Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Not thee different ways, but one way.
In the teaching of different judgments above, there is a total neglect of God’s standard of judgment. Unfortunately, it is our carnal desire as men to try to logically figure out how all of mankind will be judged based on our limited knowledge. All this does, is result in erroneous beliefs. When the truth is evident for all. All one has to do is simply read the Bible.
Isaiah 28:9-12
9Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. 10For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: 11For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. 12To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
In this section, scripture will be compared with scripture to understand God’s Doctrine of Eternal Judgment.
To understand Eternal Judgment, the various judgments in the Bible will be discussed. Eternal Judgment does not refer to the time of judgment, but whom the judgment is coming from. If I judge, that is not eternal judgment. It is when God judges that it is eternal judgment. God is the Eternal One.
There are 7 Judgments that will be discussed:
Judging Various Matters in the Congregation
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