How Will People Be Judged By God?

A final judgment is coming. The Bible states, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Every man, woman, and child will face judgment, but many don’t realize that there will be two different judgments—one court date for believers and another date for everyone who has rejected Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

The Judgment Seat of Christ, also known as the Bema seat, will take place in heaven immediately following the Rapture of the Church (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10). No defendants at this trial will receive condemnation. Everyone present will be a follower of Christ who surrendered their life and believed in Him. His grace will cover all their misdeeds. For Christians, the Judgment Seat will be a joyous occasion. Christ will reward the Church’s faithfulness to Him as their Savior.

For everyone else, the final judgment will be vastly different.

Judgment for Unbelievers

The final judgment—The Great White Throne Judgment—will be a day when all unbelievers, including anyone who pretended to be godly, will stand before God. Here they will face the consequences of rejecting Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. This hearing will be the final bar of justice in God’s plan for the earth’s inhabitants. Without Christ’s righteousness to wash away their sin, the accused will find no mercy when evaluated against the black-and-white standard of absolute truth.

Without Christ’s righteousness to wash away their sin, the accused will find no mercy when evaluated against the black-and-white standard of absolute truth.

In Revelation 20:13, John tells us that Christ will resurrect every unbeliever who has died. Then, they will stand judgment: “The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.” This resurrection takes place at the end of the Millennium. It will include all the unsaved dead from Creation to the end of the Millennium. After this resurrection, not a single human body will remain in a grave anywhere on earth.

Where Is the Great White Throne Judgment Going to Happen?

“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them” (Revelation 20:11).

Somewhere between heaven and earth, this judgment will take place. Jesus Christ Himself will conduct the trial (John 5:22, 27), and no one is better qualified. He went to the grave and back to save mankind. Anyone who has rejected Him must stand judgment before Him.

The unsaved dead from all ranks of life will stand before Christ’s throne. Regardless of their status on this earth, everyone summoned to the Great White Throne Judgment will have one thing in common: they will have died without Christ and have no hope.

Everyone summoned to the Great White Throne Judgment will have one thing in common: they will have died without Christ and have no hope.

The Purpose of the Final Judgment

Revelation 20:12 says the “books were opened.... And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.”

The purpose of the Great White Throne Judgment is not to determine an individual’s status before God. Anyone God calls to this judgment will be condemned. We can think of this event as sentencing for the evil works of the unsaved. Men and women will not go to hell because they are murderers or liars, per se; they will go to hell because they have not been washed clean by the blood of Jesus.

John tells us that men are judged “by things which were written in the books.” We do not know how many books are involved or the specifics of their contents, but we find verses throughout Scripture that give us clues to this final judgment:

But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. (Matthew 12:36-37)

For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

The day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life. (Romans 2:16, NLT)

Each person will have to account for their actions and words, whether secret or public. Afterward, Scripture tells us, “Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life…. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:12, 15).

What Is the Book of Life?

Scripture mentions the Book of Life several times (Exodus 32:32-33; Psalm 69:28; Daniel 12:1 Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 21:27; 22:19).

Cities in John’s day had a register that contained the name of every citizen. When someone committed a serious offense, the town tribunal could call them to witness the blotting out of their name from the register. That meant the individual was no longer considered a town citizen, and they would have to move elsewhere.

I believe this is a fair representation of the Book of Life—a register containing the name of every person born into this world, but they are subject to being removed. In Revelation 3:5, Christ states, “I will not blot out [the name of the righteous] from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” Presumably, at the Great White Throne Judgment, a “blot” in place of a name in the Book of Life means that person will not gain access to heaven.

The Final Sentencing

John explained what will happen when a person’s name does not appear in the Book of Life: “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15).

At the first death, the soul and body separate from each other temporarily. At the second death, body and soul reunite before being banished from God’s presence for eternity.

Humans experience physical death when the soul separates from the body. In the second death or spiritual death, the physical body and spiritual soul reunite—only to be cast into the lake of fire forever. The unsaved person, raised from the dead, is judged at the Great White Throne Judgment, found wanting, and consigned to eternal separation from God. At the first death, the soul and body separate from each other temporarily. At the second death, body and soul reunite before being banished from God’s presence for eternity.

Scripture offers a grim picture of hell. It is a place of “torment” (Luke 16:28) and “wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:42). In hell, “Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48); a place of “fire and brimstone” (Revelation 14:10; 21:8). It is also the final abode of the Antichrist and the False Prophet (Revelation 19:20; 20:10). At the end of the Millennium, God will cast Satan into the lake of fire, where he will be “tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10). Finally, He will cast the unsaved into the lake of fire at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:15).

One does not have to be a terrible sinner to land in the lake of fire; one just has to be an unbelieving sinner. There are only two choices: accept Him now as Lord and Savior, or face Him as Judge, Jury, and Executioner at the end of the Millennium.

Revelation’s prophecies are like all other biblical predictions: They provide an accurate foretelling of future events, which allows us to prepare for and respond to that which will unfold. Those who hear and believe God’s Word will not “come into judgment, but [will pass] from death into life” (John 5:24).