The Bible Explained, part 35/40: Understanding Judgement

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THE BIBLE EXPLAINED

A Guide to the Holy Bible
for Parents and Teenagers

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Where did you come from?
What is your purpose?
What happens when you die?

These questions--and more--are answered in 'The
Bible Explained', which is based on the teachings
of the Holy Bible. The Holy Bible is a collection
of ancient books which claim to be the word of the
one and only God. This one and only God claims to
be the sole creator, owner, and sustainer of all
things; he further claims to hold the one and only
key to eternal life. Are these claims true? Get
the facts and then decide for yourself.

This document is meant to be understood by everyone,
and is therefore written in plain, simple language,
avoiding complex religious jargon.

Understand the Bible like never before.

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Introduction
Quest for Truth
The Holy Bible
Origin and Destiny
The Big Picture: Good and Evil
The Story of Man
The Purpose of the Earth
The Standard and the Test
Work: The Key to Success and Life
Pyramid Society
Failure of Man
Male and Female
Family Relationships
Marriage and Family
Sexual Immorality
The Value of Life
Multiplication and Overpopulation
Racism
Creation and Evolution
Government
Politics
Justice
Words, Speech, and Censorship
Church Matters
Monotheism, Jews, and Christians
Temptation
The Nature of Evil
Life and Death of Satan
Reincarnation
The Rapture
The End Times
The Near Future
Preparing for the Future
Groups and Labels
Understanding Judgement
Preparing for Death
Conclusion
Appendix A: Questions and Answers
Appendix B: The Ten Commandments
Appendix C: Marriage

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Understanding Judgement

'Judgement' is defined as "the sentence of a court of justice; a decision by a judge; a deserved recompense." [Oxford Dictionary] The execution of justice requires the existence of a qualified judge, valid laws, subjects of the law, and equitable recompenses for both criminals and victims. Who is a qualified judge? Who is qualified to decree valid laws? Who are subjects of the law? What are equitable recompenses?

Legitimate Authority: The only legitimate authority over a thing is the one who owns it; the owner of the thing is the one who created it. Who created the universe and man? If man is not created, then he has no owner; if he has no owner, then no one has authority over him; if no one has authority of him, then no one is qualified to judge him: without a creator, the concept of justice is null and void, since no one is qualified to render judgement. If God is the creator of all things, then he owns all things -- and is therefore the only legitimate authority over all things.

Qualified Judge: The only one qualified to judge is truth, since truth is the only absolute. Without an absolute standard, justice is impossible, since justice cannot vary. Who is the truth? "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life.'" [John 14:1] Not only is Jesus the truth, but he is also the standard/law by which all will be judged: "In the beginning was the Word (Law/Torah), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." [John 1:1,14] Because Jesus was the absolute in flesh and remained sinless while in the flesh, he is qualified to judge the flesh. In other words, Jesus has the authority to judge man by the Law because he lived a sinless life as a man by the Law: "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgement also, because He is the Son of Man." [John 5:26-27] Although Jesus has the authority to judge man, he has delegated judgement to his saints: "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?" [1 Corinthians 6:2]

Subjects of Judgement: All things that are subject to law are also subject to judgement. Therefore, all created things are subject to judgement, since nothing can exist without laws to guide them: before something can come into existence, laws must be present to guide it. Since God is the creator of all things, including laws, he is also the judge of all things: "But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one." [1 Corinthians 2:15] Can God be judged? God can be judged if he should ever stop being truth; however, if God should stop being truth, then all things -- including God -- would go out of existence forever, since truth is the only absolute; if the absolute should go out of existence, then all things would also go out of existence, since all things must be founded on the absolute: "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." [Colossians 1:16-17]

Justice Defined: Justice is defined as "the exercise of authority in the maintenance of right." [Oxford Dictionary] Justice assumes the existence of right and wrong. The owner of a thing is the only one qualified to decree rights and wrongs over said thing. If God created all things, then he also owns them, and therefore has legitimate authority over them. Here is God's definition of justice: "You shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." [Exodus 21:23-25] Anything more is unjust; anything less is unjust: thus, justice is equality.

Law and Judgement: Law without judgement is merely advice. If God issued the Law/Torah, then there must consequently follow a time of judgement.

The Day of Judgement: God has appointed a Day of Judgement in which all who are subject to judgement will be judged and rewarded accordingly. The Day of Judgement is also known as the Day of Justice or the Day of Recompense -- in which all things will be made equal, for justice is equality. The standard by which all will be judged is the Torah, which is summarized in the Ten Commandments. The judgement is between good and evil for the receiving of life or death, respectively. Good is selfless benevolence; evil is selfish ambition. The Ten Commandments is the standard which divides good from evil: he who keeps the Ten Commandments does good; he who transgresses the Ten Commandments does evil. In the Day of Recompense, this scripture will be fulfilled: "As you have done, so shall it be done to you." [Obadiah 15] The LORD is the God of justice, and is therefore obligated to administer perfect justice by making all things equal. Whatever a man has done, the same must be done to him: good for good; evil for evil. Each will receive the wages he has earned: "For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." [Galatians 6:7] If you have sown good things, you will reap good things; if you have sown evil things, you will reap evil things.

The Standard: Since God has appointed a Day of Judgement, it is incumbent upon him to make his standard known and understood by all who will be judged by said standard, else said Day would be null and void. Therefore, it is the duty of God to preserve the integrity of his word and ensure its availability to all who will be judged by it. If God fails to make his word known to those who will be judged by it, then they will have an excuse in the Day of Judgement, saying: 'How could we have kept your word, Lord, since it was unknown to us?' If we claim the Bible is not the word of God, then we deny the claim of its author: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." [2 Timothy 3:16] If we claim the Bible has been corrupted by man, then we propose that man is greater than God, which is contrary to scripture: "'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.'" [Isaiah 55:9] If God is greater than man, then surely he possesses the power to preserve his word in all its integrity and make it available to all who will be judged by it.

The Gathering: Contrary to popular belief, one is not judged immediately after death. Upon death, the body is returned to the dust and the spirit (personality) is placed in a "holding cell", awaiting the Day of Judgement -- in which it will be resurrected for judgement. (Note: the "holding cell" is not a place; it is a state -- the state of "suspended animation".) The "imprisoned" spirit is not aware of anything -- neither pain nor pleasure nor the passage of time. (When a person dies and is subsequently resurrected for judgement, it will appear to him as if no time has elapsed between the two events.) Why is one not judged immediately upon death? Because human lives overlap. For example: if a person just died, those whom he has offended and who have offended him may still be alive and, hence, judgement cannot commence -- since relevant parties may be missing. In order for the Day of Judgement to commence, all who are subject to judgement must be gathered together, so that they all may have the opportunity to accuse each other and to defend themselves.

The Spirit of Man: It is a popular notion that the spirit of a man is an entity separate from his body, which leaves his body upon his death: This is false. There is not a separate entity which enters a person during gestation and leaves that person upon his death. Nevertheless, all the living draw their life from the Holy Spirit; there is no life apart from the Holy Spirit, since the Holy Spirit sustains all things. As a computer without electricity is dead, so a man without the spirit is dead: "The body without the spirit is dead." [James 2:26] The spirit is immaterial. Lacking a body, the spirit cannot express itself, making the spirit effectively non-existent. God alone has power over the spirit -- to clothe it with a new body, which is often referred to as 'the resurrection of the dead'. The dead must be resurrected before they can be judged, as it is impossible to fairly judge the dead, since the dead cannot defend themselves. From the time a person dies to the time he is resurrected, it is as if no time has passed for him. It is commonly believed that the spirit is immortal, which is false: "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." [Matthew 10:28] Hell is the second death, which is the death of the spirit, from which there is no resurrection -- the second death is absolute and permanent.

What is Judged: Judgement is based on the Ten Commandments. The first four commandments teach us how to relate to our creator; the last six teach us how to relate to our fellow man. In the Day of Judgement, relationships will be judged -- how we related to God and our fellow man: "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You? Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." [Matthew 25:31-46] Notice that God judges action as well as inaction.

Separation of Good and Evil: God has promised that he will bring everything into judgement to determine if they are good or evil: "For God will bring every work into judgement, including every secret thing, whether it is good or whether it is evil." [Ecclesiastes 12:14] God will divide good from evil using his word: "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." [Hebrews 4:12]

God's Court of Law: In the Day of Judgement, you will once again meet everyone you have ever encountered while in the flesh -- and you will have the opportunity to accuse them, and they will have the opportunity to defend themselves; they will have the opportunity to accuse you, and you will have the opportunity to defend yourself. No one will be able to lie in the Day of Judgement, since Satan -- the father of lies -- will die before the Day of Judgement commences (see Revelation 20:7-
15).

Judgement Illustrated: Jesus illustrated the Day of Judgement in the following passage: "Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him (Jesus) a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?' This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, 'He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.' And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, 'Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said to her, 'Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.'" [John 8:3-11]

Exemption of the Saints: The saints are to be resurrected and/or given eternal life and incorruption at the beginning of the Millennium in order that they may reign and rule on the earth during said Millennium. Since the Day of Judgement follows the Millennium, the saints are not subject to same. Why are the saints exempt from the Day of Judgement? Judgement applies only to sinners; the sinless cannot be judged, since there is no charge against them. Although all men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, the saints have had their sins erased and have been reborn in the Spirit: "But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." [1 Corinthians 6:11] And, "Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God." [1 John 3:9] Remember that the saints have been chosen to reign and rule during the Millennium and to preside over the Day of Judgement. Therefore, if the saints are subject to judgement, who will rule the Millennium, and who will judge those of the second resurrection? Remember that God judges no one; and the angels are not qualified to judge the flesh, since said angels have never lived in the flesh. The Christ/Messiah is qualified to judge the flesh (since he has lived in the flesh), but he has delegated judgement to the saints: "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?" [1 Corinthians 6:2-3] Is it fair that the saints should not be judged? Each saint receives judgement while in the flesh; you will not find a saint who has not been judged while in the flesh: "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God." [Acts 14:22]

Order of Events: In summary, the Day of Judgement begins with the resurrection of the dead; followed by the judgement of each one's works; followed by the everlasting destruction of the evil; followed by the everlasting destruction of death and Hades (the place of the dead): "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire." [Revelation 20:11-15] Note: the Day of Judgement happens instantly, since it takes place outside of space and time, as indicated by the statement 'from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away': earth and heaven do not go out of existence, but the Day of Judgement takes place in the spirit realm -- not in the physical creation; it happens instantly because the spirit realm is not subject to physical laws, such as time.

After Judgement: After the Day of Judgement, God will restore his creation to its initial state of perfection and return to the earth to dwell with man -- as in the Garden of Eden: When God's creation was perfect, he communed with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; after man sinned against God, he left the earth; prophecy tells us God will return to the earth to dwell with man forevermore. When? After the Day of Judgement: "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.'" [Revelation 21:1-4]

God on Earth: Since it is a popular belief that humans will go to heaven to be with God, I feel it necessary to emphasize the following: Humans do not leave the earth to go to heaven to dwell with God; God comes from heaven to the earth to dwell with humans: "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.'" [Revelation 21:1-3]

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The above book is available for purchase at:

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TITLE: "The Bible Explained"
AUTHOR: "Arrant Knave"
ISBN-10: "1468197061"
ISBN-13: "9781468197068"

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The above excerpt from 'The Bible Explained' is copyright
2010 by Arrant Knave. All rights reserved. No part of this
document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means without the
prior written permission of the publisher, except by a
reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be
printed in a newspaper, magazine, or journal.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are
taken from the New King James Version (R). Copyright (C)
1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights
reserved.

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