The Righteous Judge

The dead were judged out of the those things which were written in the books according to their works. Revelation 20:12

Summary of Argument:

God punishes sin based upon the record of each life. men are punished according to their own sins. therefore each will be treated differently.

On the following Thursday, the night was clear and the air was crisp and unusually cool as the elders crossed the lawn in front of John’s home. Across the sky a billion stars had been cast from horizon to horizon by the hand of God. Psalm 19 was in the thoughts of all because indeed the heavens declared the glory of God that night.

Chairs and cups of hot chocolate sat by the fire awaiting the men who came to visit.

“My friends,” said John, “Let us continue our search of the Word of God to see if scripture teaches that all of the unredeemed will be tormented for the rest of eternity. But rather than studying texts that do not teach of this awful thing called eternal torment, let us instead go directly to the heart of the matter and look that the scripture that does teach it. I speak of Revelation 20:10. That scripture states unequivocally that following the end of the thousand millennium, Satan will be cast into the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be 'tormented day and night forever and ever.'"1

“Well, John, there you have it.” Said the First Elder. “This is the scripture that we missed last week. It is eternal torment plain and simple.”

“You are correct,” said John, “It could not be clearer than that. It is neither an implication nor a conclusion. It is right there in scripture.”

“Absolutely.” Said the First Elder.

“Just goes to show,” said John, “That the Holy Spirit does not hesitate to speak to the issue unequivocally and clearly. ”

“Certainly!" Said the First Elder, "And when He says eternal torment, He does not mince words."

"Right," said John. "But does he mince words when He is speaking of the eternal torment of the unredeemed? Does He mince words then?"

"What do you mean?"

“The Holy Spirit inspired the scripture that tells us about the ultimate fate of Satan. The words are clear and unequivocal and they leave no doubt whatever," said John, “But this is the only scripture in the Bible that mentions eternal torment for anyone, and it specifically applies only to Satan, the antichrist and the false prophet. If the same punishment is to be applied to billions of unbelievers, where is the scripture that says so?"

"Just because it isn't specifically in scripture," said the First Elder, "does not mean that it is not true. There are other scriptures that imply it."

"So you admit then that there is no specific mention of eternal torment for the unredeemed in all of scripture? All we have are implications that can mean eternal torment or eternal death? "

"Well," said the First Elder, "I found no specific mention of it. But I am going to continue my search."

"And if you find no scripture that actually teaches eternal torment for the unredeemed, what will you do then? Will you nevertheless conclude that God will torment every single unbeliever in the history of mankind for the rest of eternity-for any one sin-but never state it clearly?"

"Yes."

"And you would conclude this even though there is no foundational scripture that says so?"

"Yes."

John continued, "What about the other side of the question? What if there are other scriptures that do specifically state something different? For instance there are numerous scriptures that say the final end of the unredeemed is death. What about them? Revelation calls what happened to them the 'second death.' Why then is it not death that happens to them."

But the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murders and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. 2

“I have read about that verse," said the First Elder. "That term 'second death' is just another word for the lake of fire.3† And just because the lake of fire is called the 'second death' doesn't mean anyone or any soul actually dies there."

"Really?" Said John. "Then why does the Holy Spirit use the word 'death' if nothing dies in the lake of fire? And do you know that this word for death used there is the Greek word 'thanatos' which means death plain and simple?"

"No," said the First Elder. "The word death does not really mean actual death. Death in the Bible just means separation from God. Everybody knows that!"

"Just like everybody knows that God is going to burn everybody alive forever even though He states clearly that the wages of sin is death?"

"That's what I'm saying. Nobody every actually dies because the second death is not an death even though the Bible says it is. I am not sure why they call it the second death. And I don't know why they don't just say directly that the unredeemed never actually die. But I do know that the scripture does say that all those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be cast into the same lake of fire where Satan is suffering eternal torment.”4

“First of all," said John, "There is no scripture that says death in the Bible is not really death. The Greek word for death means real, actual, plain death as we know it. But I suggest we discuss that later."5

"And are you are saying," continued John, "that simply because the unredeemed and Satan end up in the same place, they will suffer the same punishment? That simply does not follow. Just because they are thrown into the same place of punishment does not mean that they all will suffer the same punishment any more than different prisoners with different crimes thrown into the same prison will serve the same sentence. On the contrary, my friend, scripture says that they will not suffer the same punishment. Scripture says that each person will be judged individually, based on his own works."

... shall He not render to every man according to his works?6

They were each judged each one according to their works.’7

…I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct…8

"No matter. Every one of them is going to be roasted for the rest of eternity. That's how much God hates sin."

“Quite so,” said John. "God certainly does hate sin, but that does not change the fact that God is just.9 Each person who does not trust in Christ will be judged according to his own life, not someone else’s life.10 So, how can it be scriptural to say that God will judge each according to his own works and in the same breath say that all of the unredeemed will be punished with the same punishment as Satan?”

“God will do what He will do,” said the Second Elder.

“Quite true,” said John, “but is He doing it or are you reading something into scripture that is not there? Scripture says that God will judge each according to his own works, and not the according to another’s works, especially not according to Satan's works. Look at this passage in Psalms:

"Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work."11

“These verses,” said the First Elder, “mean that all the lost are lost and all of them will be judged and the judgment for all of them is the same and that judgment is to be burned alive forever in hell. That is what we have always believed.”

“Read them again. Neither these verses nor any other say that. God judges each person according to what each did during his life and no verse says that they will be burned forever in hell.” Said John.

"They are not actually burned alive," said the Second Elder. "That is what death in the Bible means. It means that they are conscious and aware and can feel pain forever but they never actually die."

“They are judged according to what they did and any sin is enough to be condemned to be burned for eternity.” Said the First Elder.

"Any sin? There is absolutely no scripture that says a man will be turned for eternity if he commits any one sin. There is no scripture that says a man will be burned for eternity for any reason. And there is no scripture that says that the word for death does not mean actual death just because it is used in the Bible."12

"Yes, John, any one sin will cause eternal torment."

“Then why is each judged differently?” Asked John.

“Different judgment; same torture.” Said the First Elder.

“Is that what it means when Revelation 20:12 says that the unrepentant are to be judged according to the ‘things written in the books?’” Asked John.

"…the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."13

“Yes.” Said the First Elder.

“So they all are condemned to the same punishment?” Asked John.

“Yes.”

“Then why does it say that each one was judged according to his works, the works that are recorded in the books?” Asked John.

“Because,” said the First Elder, “each one is judged according to his works and without Christ, their sins, condemn them to hell to be burned forever. You may be right that there isn't any particular scripture that says that plainly, but taken together they all mean that. I will find them for you.”

"We are still looking," said the Second Elder.

"Just one." Said John. "All I need is one."

"They are all tortured forever in the lake of fire no matter what they did." Said the First Elder.

“Then why have any books at all? What possible relevance is a judgment based upon the works that are recorded in the books if whatever is recorded in the books makes no difference to the outcome?”

“Because you have to have books!” Said the First Elder, his voice rising. “You have to have books to show how come they all go to hell.”

“Really!” Said John, “Show who? Is God saving His books in case He is audited? The term ‘books’ in this scripture refers to the record of what each man did during his life and the very existence of the books is for the stated purpose of judging each person fairly - and therefore differently.”

“They are all guilty! He's going to judge them just like He is going to judge Satan and then burn them all alive forever in hell just like Satan!”

“I hate to tell you,” said John, “but Satan never has a trial and he doesn't have a book .”

At this point, the Second Elder, who had seen World War II, entered the conversation. “They don’t need any books for him or the antichrist. Those guys are so bad, you know. They are the absolute worst of anything you can imagine!” Said the Second Elder.

“Why no books for them?” Asked John.

“It’s obvious,” said the Second Elder. “Their whole purpose is to lead people away from Christ and in the end, they lead the entire world into war and destruction. They cause horrible suffering and death; they are totally malicious and they do it all because they enjoy it. Can you even imagine the evil that Satan has done over the millenniums? No wonder he is not given a trial!”

“You are certainly right,” said John “Satan deserves what he gets. But why then does everybody else get the same thing? Isn't that just a little bit unfair? And what about the scripture that says each one of the unredeemed is judged according to his own works and life?"

“Well, I know it seems unfair, but you know it just goes to show how much God hates sin. Any sin is enough to torment someone in flames forever.” Said the First Elder.

“Yes, I understand what you are saying,” said John. “But you can't show me the scripture that says it.”

“We have all fallen short of the glory of God,14” said the Second Elder.

“Of course,” said John, “we all fall short; we all sin. But where does it say that any one sin merits eternal torment? Where is any scripture that says that anything done by an unbeliever merits eternal torment?"

"There are several, I am sure." Said the First Elder.

"There is none, my friend; there is no such scripture. Your whole argument is based on scriptures that are broad enough to mean either eternal torment or eternal death and then you ignore the specific scriptures that say the wages of sin is death.15 And every scripture in the Bible that speaks explicitly of the eternal consequence of sin always says it is death.16 You can’t even show me one scripture that says any of the unredeemed will be eternally tormented for any sin no matter how bad. The scriptures that are used to support your doctrine are all broad enough to include either side.17 They have been included in the Bible because of their breadth and because death is established as the eternal state in some 50 other scriptures.18”

“There are many scriptures to support eternal torment,” said the First Elder after a pause.

“I am still waiting to see the first one,” said John.

"You have to read them all together," said the Second Elder.

"Ok," said John. "Where? You have to start somewhere. Some scripture has to say that the unredeemed will be tormented eternally in order to contradict Romans 6:2319 and Ezekiel 18:4.20"

“Well then," replied the First Elder, "you say yourself that the treatment of each one of the unredeemed will be different, but then you say that they will all just die. That is the same treatment for them all, just like eternal torment is.”

“Not at all,” said John. “Each of the unredeemed will bear full the weight of his own sins in hell just like the rich man in the Parable of Lazarus,21 and each will suffer some type of punishment, a consequence that is just and right for each life. Remember there are 1000 years between the second coming of Christ and the final Judgment and in the interim there is a very real hell. But in the end, every one of those unredeemed souls will die and their death will be eternal. No resurrections, no judgments, just total death."

“No,” said the Second Elder. “Dying is not enough punishment for them. You would have someone like Hitler just dying and that is all! He deserves more than that!”

“He must bear the weight of his sin in hell just like the rich man in the parable of Lazarus.22 But in the end he will die and never be resurrected. You may not think that being thrown into a lake of fire is much of a punishment, but I beg to differ.”

“Hitler deserves to burn alive forever. A thousand years of hell is not enough for him.”

"I understand how you feel, because you fought in World War II, but don't you think that Hitler's punishment is up to God alone?"

"I know what he deserves. You have no idea of the death, destruction and pain that he caused."

“There is only one Hitler, my friend." Said John. But what about the billions of young people who never started a war, never killed anyone, who were honest men who rejected Christ? Young men and women who were mislead. Are you saying that they will suffer the same eternal punishment as Adolph Hitler will suffer for causing World War II and engineering the Holocaust?”

“Yes. That is our doctrine.”

“It is indeed your doctrine. And your doctrine says that the boy who steals a $29.95 shirt will suffer not only as much as Hitler, but as much as Satan and with the same breath you say the God who does this is infinitely just."

“God hates sin so much that any one sin is enough to be burned alive forever …” Said First Elder.

“Then I submit to you, sir, that no amount of groanings and gratuitous sympathies about how reluctant God will be to torment that boy in flames forever for stealing a shirt or a hundred shirts will ever be able to reconcile that injustice.”

"You are saying that God is unjust!" Exclaimed the First Elder.

"I think not," Said John, "It is not I who is arguing that God punishes all the same without regard to the extent of their sin. I believe that was your argument.”

“Well,” said the First Elder, “maybe the shirt-stealer’s flames won’t be as hot as Satan’s…”23

“Well,” said John. “I think you are going to have to come up with something a little better than that.”

There was a long pause.

Despite their heated disagreement, each one knew that the other had trusted in Christ and that each one took scripture at its word. They did not speak for several minutes and they hardly noticed that their faces had turned to kindness in the soft firelight. They agreed to meet the following week.

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