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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Judgment and Rewards
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:28,29)
The resurrection, the awakening of the physical body, is not eternal life. All persons are resurrected. It is the recompense, the experience that follows the resurrection, that may prove to be eternal life.
The awakening itself is neither eternal life nor condemnation. The issue is what we have done, what we have practiced. If we, having received the Lord Jesus, live a godly life, we will be raised to eternal life. If we practice evil we will be raised to wrath and punishment.
In the Kingdom of God, judgment and rewards are directly related to what we have done in the body.
What happens to a person after he dies?
His physical body "sleeps" in the ground, while his soul and spirit pass into that part of the spirit realm to which the Lord appoints him.
At some later point his physical body is "awakened" by the voice of Christ. This is the resurrection from the dead.
He stands before Christ and is judged for what he has practiced in his body.
He is recompensed based on the judgment of his deeds.
The awakening itself is neither eternal life nor condemnation. The awakening may be to life or to punishment.
The bodies of all persons who have ever lived will be awakened by the voice of Christ. Enoch and Elijah may be exceptions.
All of us will be awakened—we have that in common. The difference will be in the diversity of our eternal destinies.
Many Christians believe once we accept Christ we pass from death to life and never again can come under condemnation no matter how we behave. They may ask, "Why should we discuss the possibility of Christians being judged and punished for their behavior in the world?"
If it were true that as soon as we accept Christ as our Savior we have nothing more to do with judgment, a large portion of the writings of the Apostles in the New Testament would be meaningless (Romans 8:13; Galatians 6:8; for example).
However, it is not true that the behavior of Christians is not judged. The Apostles inform us repeatedly that our sufferings in the world are a Divine judgment on us so we will not be condemned with the world but will prove to be worthy of the Kingdom of God (I Corinthians 11:31,32; II Thessalonians 1:5; I Peter 4:16,17).
Some of the confusion over the relationship of Divine judgment to the Christian arises from our perception of what it means to receive Christ and to be in Christ. There is confusion over the definition of the terms eternal life, grace, and faith.
The following verse, if read from the standpoint of our traditions, appears to suggest every individual who makes a profession of Christ can forget about being judged. (Many other writings in the New Testament show that such is not the case—Ephesians 5:5,6; Galatians 5:19-21, for example.)
Verily, 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. (John 5:24)
To be continued.