Resurrection, Judgment, and the Eternal State
The Resurrection of All People
The Bible teaches that there will be a resurrection of all people and that all will be judged (John
5:28-29).
The Final Judgment of All People
Though some liberal theologians have often denied the fact, it is quite certain that the Bible
teaches a final judgment, after which individuals will go to their allotted destinies, i.e., heaven
and eternal bliss or hell and eternal punishment. Biblically speaking, this “day of judgment” is
most certain and will be the culmination and fulfillment of numerous judgments of God against
sin and evil throughout history.
Examples of God’s judgment against wickedness and his rewarding of righteousness abound in
the Old Testament. He judged man for his sin in the Garden (Gen 3) and he later judged him in
the Flood, though he rewarded Noah’s faith and righteous behavior (Gen 6:8-9). He judged
Abimelech (Gen 20), Pharaoh and the Egyptians (Exod 7-11), the Amorites and those living in
Canaan at the time of Israel’s conquest (Gen 15:16; Joshua 10-12) as well as unbelievers among
the Israelites (Joshua 7). The Lord judged king Saul and rejected him as king over Israel (15:26).
He also judged David for his sin with Bathsheba; David’s son died (2 Sam 11-12; cf. 12:18) and
his kingdom fell into turmoil (2 Sam 13-20). God repeatedly judged the nation of Israel for their
sin (e.g., Judges) and threatened to send both the northern and southern kingdoms into captivity.
This eventually occurred in 722 BCE (Israel in the north) and 586 BCE (Judah in the south;
Lamentations). He also judges the nations of the earth for their continuous sin and rebellion (Isa
13-23; Jer 46-51; Ezek 25-32; Dan 2-7). Though his ways in judgment are not always easy to
discern or accept (Hab 1-3), he is nonetheless the just judge of all the earth (Gen 18:25).
In the New Testament, Paul makes it clear that God still judges today. In Romans 1:18—a verse
that heads up a rather long section on God’s judgment in 1:18-3:20—the apostle says:
For82 the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness…
Notice that Paul does not say that the wrath of God “was revealed,” but rather “is revealed” or
“is being revealed.” The wrath of God (ojrghV qeou`, orge theou) refers not to some irrational
passion within the Godhead, but to his settled hatred for sin expressed or continually revealed
(ajpokaluvptetai, apokaluptetai; cf. 1:17) in his giving people over to debilitating entrenchment
in their sinful folly (vv. 24, 26, 28).83
People and nations today continually suppress the knowledge of God, deliberately turning from
knowledge of the true God to idolatry (the worship of money, sex, power in its various forms,
etc.). As a result, just as the Israelites demanded that God give them a king, so people today
demand that they be left to their own devices; they demand autonomy. Therefore God gives them
over to their sin (cf. 1:24, 26, 28; Eph 4:17-19). The fallout involves escalating wickedness,
sorrow, grief, pain, and misery. Man is by nature as incurably religious as he is morally and
spiritually foolish.
2 Peter 2:9 also talks about God’s present, ongoing punishment of certain people: “if this is so,
then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day
of judgment, while continuing their punishment.”
So God has been and continues to judge individuals and nations for their sin. He does it
retributively as well as therapeutically (i.e., so that people might “wake up” and turn from their
sin). But all these judgments will find their culmination and vindication at the final judgment.
There will come a day when God will finally judge all men (and angels) and in the process all sin
will finally be condemned and all God’s acts of judgment will be shown to have been necessary,
just, and holy. At that time every mouth will be silenced (Rom 3:20) and every knee will bow
(Phil 2:9-11). Again, the Scriptures make it abundantly clear that there is coming a “day” when
there will be a final judgment.
In Matthew 25:32-33 our Lord compared the final judgment to the separation of sheep and goats.
The sheep will go into eternal life and the goats will go into eternal punishment (25:46). The
point is, there will come a day when there will be an irreversible and final reckoning. This is
often referred to variously as “the day of the Lord” (Isa 13:6, 9; Jer 46:10; Joel 3:1 Eng; Amos
5:18-20) or in light of NT revelation, “the last day” (John 6:39), “the day of Christ” (cf. 1 Cor
1:8; 5:5; 2 Cor 1:14; Phil 1:6, 10; 2:16) or “the day of God’s righteous wrath” (Rom 2:5) and
“the day of God’s visitation” (1 Peter 2:12; cf. 2 Pet 3:12; 1 John 4:17). To be sure, that “day”
does include vindication and reward for God’s people, but it involves only judgment and loss for
the world apart from Christ.84
Again, Romans 2:5 speaks to this final day of judgment: “But because of your stubbornness and
your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath,
when his righteous judgment will be revealed.” 2 Peter 2:9 says that God is holding the
unrighteous for the day of judgment. Jude 6 speaks rather vividly about God’s final act of
judging: “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own
home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great
Day.”
Acts 17:31 also speaks about the final day of God’s judgment:
For he has set a day (hJmevra, hemera) when he will judge the world with justice by the man he
has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.
Perhaps the passage that speaks most clearly to the certainty of final and irrevocable judgment is
Revelation 20:11-15:
20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his
presence, and there was no place for them. 20:12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing
before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life.
The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 20:13 The sea
gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and
each person was judged according to what he had done. 20:14 Then death and Hades were
thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 20:15 If anyone’s name was not
found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
There are many indications that John is speaking about the final judgment in Revelation 20:11-
15: (1) it occurs after the second coming of Christ (19:11-21), the completion of the millennial
kingdom and the final judgment of Satan (Rev 20:1-10); (2) no further judgments are mentioned
in Revelation before the final state begins (21-22); (3) the vision as a whole is predicated on
Daniel’s vision of the Ancient of Days who comes to judge every human being at the end of
history (Dan 7:14); (4) John refers to a great white throne which suggests not only a just
judgment, but also a climactic or final reckoning; (5) the outcome of the judgment involves
eternal consequences; thus no further judgment is necessary (20:10, 15); (6) earth and sky have
fled suggesting the end of human history as we know it under Adam and sin; and (7) all the dead
will be there, both great and small.
Though virtually every evangelical commentator on scripture agrees with the doctrine of a final
judgment, some would argue that it actually involves three different judgments: (1) a judgment
of believers after the rapture (i.e., the judgment seat of Christ; 2 Cor 5:10); (2) a judgment of the
nations at the second coming to determine who will enter the millennium (cf. Matt 25:31-46);
and (3) a judgment of all the wicked dead at the Great White Throne judgment after the
millennial reign of Christ (Rev 20:11-15). Others would argue that all these judgments are really
just one judgment, i.e., they all take place at the Great White throne judgment. We do not have
space to develop the differences and the strengths and weaknesses of each view, but what is
more important than whether the “final judgment” is at one time or spread out over three times is
that (1) all men will most certainly be judged; (2) the outcome cannot be changed; there is no
further appeal.
But there is more to the final judgment than just its facticity. First, although it is obvious that
God will be the judge, within the councils of the trinity, the Father has determined to give all
judgment to the Son (John 5:22-23, 27; Acts 17:31). Jesus Christ, Daniel’s Son of Man, will be
the judge of all humanity, including the living and the dead (Matt 25:31-33; John 8:26, 50 [the
Father is the judge]; John 9:39; 12:47-50; 2 Tim 4:1, 8). Further, the Son will judge wisely and
justly (2 Tim 4:8).
Second, both men and angels will be judged (Acts 17:31; 2 Pet 2:4; Jude 6), but there is an
interesting twist to this idea; saints will also be involved in carrying out judgment (1 Cor 6:2-3)
The idea that God will use his redeemed people in the execution of judgment has antecedents in
the Synoptic tradition (Matt 19:28; Luke 12:29-32; 16:25) and may ultimately go back to the Old
Testament where we see God using certain individuals to judge his people (cf. Judges) and the
Israelite nation as a whole to judge other nations (e.g., the conquests in Joshua).
The fact that God has used his people to judge other people in the past and will do so again at the
future, final judgment, may be connected to man’s charge to rule in light of the imago dei (Gen
1:26-28; 9:6-7; Psalm 8:4-6). If this is so, it is understandable that glorified Christians, as those
who have been completely restored in God’s image, will judge angels and people in the final
judgment. Thus, the saints will judge angels and people in the final judgment because this is a
function of the restored image. In another way of speaking, believers will judge the living and
the dead because of their inseparable connection to Christ the Judge, their personal share in his
kingdom with its power and authority (cf. Rev 5:10), and the fact that they love what He loves
and hate what he hates. In an important sense, and to an important degree, we will be just like
him in our glorified states and will know his mind on these issues in a way only faintly grasped
now (cf. 1 Cor 2:15-16).
Third, we said that all men will be judged. Therefore, Christians will be judged as well. Paul,
speaking of believers in Romans 14:10, 12, says that “we will all stand before God’s judgment
seat” and “each of us will give an account of himself to God.” He says basically the same thing
in 2 Cor 5:10 although this time he refers to the judgment seat of Christ:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back
according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or bad.
The judgment of Christians, however, seems to contradict Paul’s teaching about justification by
faith. If we are justified, why then are we judged? It seems that the idea of justification precludes
entering into judgment. After all, didn’t Paul say, “There is now no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1)? But the problem is not as insurmountable as first appears. It is
true that the doctrine of justification includes both the idea of eternal forgiveness as well as the
eternal possession of the righteousness of Christ. But Christ’s judgment of the believer is not to
determine eternal destiny, per se, but to determine degree of reward. Though some evangelicals
have spurned the doctrine of rewards for believers it seems fairly certain that the Bible does
indeed teach it:
1 Cor 3:10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a
foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build
on it. 3:11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that
foundation is Jesus Christ. 3:12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay, straw—3:13 the work of each builder will become visible, for the
Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work
each has done. 3:14 If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a
reward. 3:15 If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but
only as through fire.
Again, Jesus talks about reward for faithful service (Luke 19:11-27) and Paul talks about
receiving what is due according to our deeds (2 Cor 5:10). Again, the point about degree of
reward seems to be clearly taught in Colossians 3:23-25:
3:23 Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters,
3:24 since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward
(antapovdosin, antapodosin); you serve the Lord Christ. 3:25 For the wrongdoer will be paid
back for whatever wrong has been done, and there is no favoritism.
Thus, according to these texts Christians will be judged to determine their degree of reward or
the measure of their inheritance (e.g., ten cites, five cities, etc.[Luke 19:16-19]). This does not
mean that throughout eternity men will suffer pangs of conscience for what they should have
done with the grace of God given them while on earth. In the eternal state there will be neither
death or mourning or crying or pain (Rev 21:4) and each man who enters, enters into the joy of
his master (Matt 25:21, 23).
Therefore, the problem with the doctrine of rewards is not that the scripture does not teach it.85
The problem involves coming up with a model that satisfactorily integrates ideas of justification,
reward, and the absence of shame/presence of joy in the eternal state (though many will
experience shame at Christ’s second coming [1 John 2:28]). This is a similar kind of struggle we
face with other clearly biblical doctrines, e.g., the trinity, the incarnation, the imputation of sin,
the concursive inspiration of scripture, etc. Some have suggested that the degree of reward is
known only to God and the person who receives it. Perhaps it involves nearness to God and/or
greater roles of service in the eternal state. But the bottom line is that we will each be rewarded
for our service, though we know very little about the precise nature of these rewards. Finally, the
idea of judgment is actually consistent with the doctrine of justification, since one aspect of
justification is vindication and the final judgment of the Christian will vindicate God’s
righteousness in their lives (cf. James 2:21).
Nonetheless, rewards are a source of motivation to holiness and godly living. This, of course, is
the way in which they are used throughout Scripture (Luke 19:11-27; Rom 14:10, 12; 2 Cor
5:10). They are not the only source of motivation for the Christian (cf. 2 Cor 7:1; 1 John 3:2-3;
4:11), however, nor does motivation for reward necessarily entail selfishness, as some suppose.
They are one of several means of grace the Lord uses to sanctify us and move us along in the
Christian life (cf. Rev 22:12).
The Doctrine of Hell
Arguments for Universalism
There are a number of different views regarding the fate of the finally impenitent.86 Universalists
argue, in one form or another, that all men and angels, including the devil, will some day be
brought back to God as personal recipients of his eternal love. Many universalists argue there
will be no punishment at all, while others argue that some really obdurate sinners will experience
some suffering until they come to their senses and respond to God’s love (cf. Origen). Thus, in
the apokatastasis (“restoration,” cf. Acts 3:21) of all things, all sentient beings will be restored to
God. There are a number of passages in scripture that appear to suggest universalism. Some
include: Rom 5:18; 11:32; 1 Cor 15:22; Phil 2:10-11; Col 1:19-20; 1 Tim 4:10; Heb 2:9.
Three important and valid hermeneutical considerations must be mentioned at this point. First,
any system of theology that rests primarily and almost exclusively on one attribute of God—as
many universalists do in their reliance upon their understanding of God’s love87—is going to
misinterpret God’s overall revelation to us in scripture; it is inevitable. Many universalists seem
to neglect the countless texts in scripture that speak about God’s utter holiness, hatred for sin,
and eternal judgment. But others, who recognize the significance of these texts in scripture, tend
to either completely eclipse their meaning in favor of a sentimental view of God’s love
(primarily from a modernized reading of Jesus’ ministry and teaching) or they severely restrict
their meaning by relating it only to the present age, not the future. It is true that we all come to
scripture, bringing along with us our presuppositions and preunderstandings. But it is not true
that we all allow our presuppositions to influence us to the same degree. In many universalist
interpretations of Scripture, it seems that a priori concerns have reached the level of agenda to
the point of smothering texts which contradict such agendas.88
Second, any text cited to substantiate any one particular doctrine must be read in a way
consistent with its immediate linguistic and historical setting, as well as its broader biblical
context. For example, Col 1:19-20 and Phil 2:10-11 actually refer to the subjugation of all things
to Christ, not that every person will be saved (cf. 2 Thess 1:8-9). The two ideas are related, but
they are not the same thing. In terms of 1 Tim 4:10, the fact that Christ is the only savior of all
men does not mean that all will be saved, for some may determine not to accept his offer of
salvation. Most universalists want to protect the freedom of the human will, but if they’re going
to do this, they must accept the likely consequences that some will be lost. Also, Heb 2:9 states
that Christ tasted death for all men, but the relevant question is, will all therefore necessarily
accept this? According to Hebrews 10:26-31, apparently not! Again, the love of God is not a
bulldozer that disregards human decisions and indiscriminately piles people up on the side of His
grace. The fact that many do not ultimately or ever accept his love is repeatedly and clearly
taught in scripture and it is simply wishful thinking, not to mention an irresponsible, handling of
scripture, to argue otherwise; Jesus’ discussion of hell as eternal should settle the issue for all
concerned Christians (Matt 25:46).
Texts like Romans 5:18 and 1 Corinthians 15:22 require a closer look. Romans 5:18 says:
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result
of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
It is often argued that if the first “all” means literally all men without exception, then certainly
the parallelism between the two clauses here would require that the second “all” mean all men
without exception, i.e., every human being that has ever lived. Therefore, it would seem that Paul
is espousing universalism in 5:12-21 when he compares the universal effects of Adam’s sin with
the effects of Christ’s righteous act? To argue for universalism in this text, however, is to neglect
other key Pauline texts (2 Thess 1:8-9), including the previous verse in Romans 5:17. This
passage plainly states that justification/salvation is for “those who receive” the abundant
provision of grace. It is sufficient for all men, but only those who receive it by faith, reign in life!
Paul has simply chosen the expression “all people” so as to keep the parallel between Adam and
Christ going throughout the passage. Also, universalism requires the questionable premise that
Paul is arguing in 5:15-19 that the group in Adam has now become the group in Christ. But this
is certainly not his point. He is arguing, rather, that in the same way as Adam directly affects all
those connected to him (i.e., all humanity), so also Christ directly affects all those connected to
him (i.e., all those who receive his grace).
1 Cor 15:22 is another text which on the surface appears to support universalism. Before we look
at it, however, it must be noted that as far as supporting universalism goes, it suffers from the
same fate as Rom 5:18. That is, it was written by Paul and, therefore, has to be legitimately
reconciled with texts like 2 Thess 1:8-9, which cannot on any sensitive hermeneutic be forced to
allow universalism.
That being said, the text of 1 Corinthians is as follows:
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
We note two things about this passage and it’s context. First, though the passage does say “all
will be made alive,” it says so only to those who are “in Christ.” That is, all who are in Christ,
both those who are living (v. 17) and those who are now dead (v. 18) will be resurrected, i.e.,
have hope for the next life (v. 20). Second, to further substantiate that “in Christ” delimits the
“all,” we see that Paul’s entire argument in 15:1-34 is really about the certainty of Christ’s
resurrection taken in light of its benefits for those who have faith in him. He makes this clear
when in vv. 17-19 he refers to the faith of the Corinthians and their future hope in Christ. Paul is
not holding out a universalistic hope here, but rather the hope proper to those who trust in God
concerning the preaching about the resurrected Christ (1 Cor 15:1).
Third, there are many texts which speak of judgment and hell as being eternal.89 In Matthew
25:46, it is quite clear that hell will be eternal.90 Every other argument for the doctrine of
universalism falls in light of this and similar texts (2 Thess 1:8-9; Rev 14:10-11; 20:10-15).
