If the condemned man stands before the judge, and the judge has mercy on him and forgives him, the assumption of the judge is that the forgiven man will go out and, by his reformed behavior, justify the judge's faith in him.

The story of the prodigal son is not one of unqualified forgiveness. The father did not go to the son. The son repented, left his filthy habits and returned to his father. Only then did the father restore him to his place in the family.

Today's teaching has the father going to the son in his filth, showering love and forgiveness on him, and promising him that no matter how he behaves he always will be an honored son and partaker of the family blessings. This is a corrupt doctrine, revealing the leaven of the various man-centered, humanistic philosophies that have evolved over the last two or three hundred years.

The Christian believer is not without condemnation while he is dwelling in lust, violence, occult practices, covetousness, reveling, and disobedience to God's call on his life. He is under condemnation and God will judge and punish him because of his sins. It is time today for the Christian people to repent of their sins and their lack of consecration.

If the Lord Jesus Christ, the Judge, should decree we are unworthy of redemption and remove our name from the Book of Life, the covering of forgiveness would be removed at that point. Our unconverted inner man housed in our flesh and bone body then would be destined to be cast into spiritual torment that does not consume our elements but leaves us as an eternal lesson to God's creatures.

It is the author's point of view that no individual will be condemned to the Lake of Fire until God has exhausted every means of bringing him to repentance, including fiery punishments (I Corinthians 3:13-15).

When the Lord Jesus returns with the inner man of those who are eligible to appear with Him in the first resurrection from the dead, the bodies of the returning saints will rise from the dead. They will be animated by the Holy Spirit rather than by the life of blood.

The living saints will have their life changed from blood to Spirit while they yet are standing on their feet.

Now the total company of saints will be caught up by the Spirit of God and ascend to meet the Lord in the air.

After this they will receive from the Lord their house, their reward, their robe, their crown (unless this has occurred previously). They will be adorned, as we have stated previously, in the consequences of their behavior while in the body.

Current Christian teaching holds that as soon as the saints are caught up to meet the Lord in the air they will stand before His judgment seat.

But the Scripture teaches, as we have pointed out, that the saints have been experiencing Divine judgment since the first century (I Peter, Chapter Four).

To be continued.