The famous last verse of the sixth chapter of Romans, "the wages of sin is death," refers to the Christian who has not chosen to turn away from slavery to sin.

I think the issue is centered on the body. It appears we shall be rewarded in our body or punished in our body. Some shall be raised to eternal life in their body. Others shall be raised to judgment in their body.

I am not speaking now of Heaven. Nor am I referring to Hell or the Lake of Fire, the destinies of the wicked. I am pointing toward the idea of dying spiritually, or reaping destruction, of receiving at the Judgment Seat of Christ the bad we have done.

I believe we are overemphasizing the idea of destiny (be it Heaven, Hell, or the Lake of Fire) and not calling attention to the sowing and reaping aspect of judgment.

We imply to the unsaved that if they will receive Christ they will not go to Hell but to Heaven. However this is not the emphasis of the New Testament, particularly of the Epistles. Paul does not even mention Hell in any of his Epistles, which would not be the case if the Gospel of the Kingdom had to do primarily with going to Heaven and escaping Hell.

Rather, the Gospel has to do with the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth and our status in the Kingdom (greater or less in the Kingdom). The Gospel of the Kingdom has to do especially with attaining to eternal life in the age to come.

Will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. (Mark 10:30—NIV)

"In the age to come, eternal life."

But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, And they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection. (Luke 20:35,36—NIV)

"Worthy of taking part . . . in the resurrection from the dead."

There will be some believers who lead a victorious life in Christ and then, at His return, receive from His hand a body like His all-powerful body. These are God's conquering saints. They have attained to the resurrection into eternal life.

There will be some people, unfortunately, who finally are lost to God. They will be thrown into the Lake of Fire with the devil and his angels. This is a fate so terrible as to be incomprehensible.

It may be true that in between these two extremes will be a multitude of people who have not lived a victorious life in Christ, and yet have not been wicked enough to be cut off from God's Face for eternity. Perhaps some of these shall receive lashes. Others will have their talent taken from them and be thrown into the outer darkness. Still others will be resurrected to shame and everlasting contempt, as in the twelfth chapter of the Book of Daniel.

This is the only scheme that appears to me to satisfy the whole New Testament.

To be continued.