Question 1 - Where are believers now who have passed on? Around the Throne of Jesus?
The scriptures are clear about a few things, and less so on some of the details. We know for sure that we go to “heaven” now that Jesus has made a way for us out of captivity.
2 Corinthians 5:8 “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”
And if we are present with the Lord, that means we are in the throne room in heaven. There are dozens of passages which mention Jesus’s location, here are a few.
Mark 16:19 “So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.”
Hebrews 10:12 “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
Romans 8:34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.So scripture is VERY clear where Jesus is currently while we await His return, and we’re told to be with Him, and Revelation is the best place I know of to see what that looks like. Revelation 5 shows us both Jesus, and those around Him.
Revelation 5:6-10 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth
Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
And they sang a new song, saying:“You are worth to take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your Blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nationAnd have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”
I love this scene, and what it shows particularly are the 24 elders seated around the throne, which are representatives of all mankind. There’s speculation as to who exactly make up those representatives, but nonetheless we can see their decree, that they have been made kings and priests by the blood of Jesus, which is a promise we claim as His.
Moreover, fast forward and we get this added detail.
Revelation 7:9-10 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes,
peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,And crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
All of this, is while this earth remains, and before Jesus’s return. This is what we expect to join when we die as one washed by the Blood of the Lamb, having faith in Jesus.
Question 2 - Are the judgement seat of Christ and the great white throne judgement two separate judgments? The former being for believers and the latter being for unbelievers?
Yes and no. These are 2 distinct judgements, but have different purposes. All go to the Great White Throne. This is your “guilty” or “not guilty” moment. Everyone gets filtered by 2 books, one is the book of their works, and the other is the Lamb’s book of Life. We will all fail on the works front, but if your name is in the Lamb’s book, you get Jesus’s record superimposed over yours, and therefore it is Christ’s righteousness which is judged and not your own, therefore you pass.
The judgement seat of Christ then, is a separate judgement ONLY for those in the Lamb’s book. After passing the Great White Throne, your works will be judged a second time, but this time it isn’t for pass/fail reasons, rather for your rewards.
In the Great White throne, works are measured for if you are Holy enough to enter, in this they are measured for their quality to see if they warrant any reward from Jesus.Quality is NOT measured the way we might think, however. The most grand good work, done for selfish reasons, would be made of wood. Even a small token of generosity, done to honor Christ, would be made of gold.
What it says is that we’ll have all our works cast into the fire, and your reward is based on what survives the flame. This means,
your works should be plenty and to the greatest extent of the opportunities and gifts God’s given you, but all the while you need to guard your heart to ensure that you’re doing them for His Kingdom, for His Glory, and not your own, otherwise they’ll be burned up and you will have zero reward for them.
Going back to the 2 Cor passage from earlier, looking at verse 10:
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
This was a summary reminder of what he told them previously. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he said this:
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
Each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s works, of what sort it is.If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.
If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
“The Day” is the judgement seat of Christ day he clarifies in 2 Cor. This is clearly distinct from the Great White throne, because a fail is still getting into heaven, but like someone who’s house just burnt down and they have no possessions, your in the club but with little to show for it.
If you have spent your life in service to Jesus, building on that foundation with works which honor Him and are for His Glory, you will have a reward from your King on that day.
Question 3 - Why does God let Satan go at the end of 1000 years? Why doesn’t he just get rid of him, completely?
Good question, and frankly we are not given an answer to that. We are told several places that God retains certain mysteries that we’ll not know until it is revealed later, so we can only speculate.
Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the works of this law.
Romans 11:33-34 O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor?
Also, I will remind everyone that the 1000 years is still on THIS earth, not the new creation yet. Also, not everyone dies in the tribulation and judgements before Jesus comes back, so while Jesus reigns on the earth there will be a mixed multitude of both mortal and immortal people.
Some will have survived and continue to have children, others will have returned with Jesus to take seats in His government, being immortal.What this means is that not everyone at the end of 1000 years will have received the gospel, and there will be rebellious souls in the earth. They will have lived under perfect government, in a benevolent theocratic monarchy, with Jesus as King, and will yet reject Him.
When Satan is loosed, he’ll build an army of those rebellious types, and judgement will be extreme and swift when this happens. At this point, Satan IS gotten rid of completely, and
now the earth will pass away and the judgements of men will begin.I think the release of Satan is necessary to reveal the hearts of men in those days, and to answer the final objection one might have, saying “we’ve only ever lived in a world run by corruption, how could we be expected to have ‘no excuse’ when we stand before Him in judgment?”Well, God has now shown us that even without corruption in the way the world is run, and even though you can SEE Jesus personally, with Him in control, corruption still exists in man’s heart and therefore God is righteous in judgement.
Question 4 - Can the dead, whether they are saved or not see us? Is there scripture to back that either way?
First, those are two different questions. As we learned in the last couple of weeks of the series, the path in the afterlife for those who have died with faith in Jesus, is different that those who died without faith in Jesus.
For those who died without faith in Jesus, who are currently in Hades on the torment side, the answer is pretty straight forward.
There is no scriptural support that would suggest that they can see us here or have knowledge of what is happening currently on earth. The one passage someone might point to in order to deny this, is the same one we used to discuss the different sides of Hades.
Luke 16:22-23 “22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.”
These verses only tell us that the rich man in Hades could see and had knowledge of what was happening in Hades.
Luke 16:27-28 “27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’
He asked Abraham to send the poor man to his brothers. But his
knowledge of what was happening on earth was only his memory
of how his brothers were living, and that they were following his path. There is no suggestion that he could see his brothers from his place in Hades.
Now, how about believers, in heaven with the Lord? The short answer is...maybe. There is support for both yes and no. Most of the opinions surrounding the answer to this question are based on how you interpret this verse.
Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”
The main issue is how you view the word “witnesses.” You can take it to mean witness as in a trial witness, who is reporting something they experienced...or you can take it to mean someone who is actively watching something.
You could say that my life is a “witness” to what God can do with someone who says yes to His call. That means you saw what happened, and are also currently watching it happen...because it is not complete. In that sense, my life is a witness because of what I experienced and thus qualified to testify to. And also you are a witness because of what you are seeing currently.
It does not help that the Greek word translated to witnesses can mean both a historical witness, which would mean they saw something...or martyr, which would mean they experienced something.
The context of Hebrews 12:1 is Hebrews 11, which is the hall of faith. All the biblical heroes who died in faith are the witnesses.
And you can just as easily say the life they lived is a witness to us now to keep running this race...or they are witnessing our life now and cheering us on. And also, both of those things could be true at the same time.
If the heroes of the faith can see us and are cheering us on, does that mean everyone in heaven can see us and are cheering us on?
Since there is no clear answer, here are my thoughts on this. Can the heroes of the Bible and our loved ones see us here on earth?
Yes, but only as a spectator would watch a race from a distance and cheer for their team. They are aware that the runners are moving forward and may notice that a runner has slowed down because of a weight they carry. But I don’t think they necessarily know who the runner is.
This crowd of witnesses knows when a runner enters the race (salvation) and when a runner crosses the finish line (death).
I don’t believe that our loved ones are observing every detail and/ or every mistake we make here on earth. It would be hard to imagine that their experience in heaven would be peaceful if that
were the case. The focus of someone in heaven is Jesus, not us back here on earth.
Question 5 - How does faith and works apply to our salvation?
How does salvation happen?
Romans 5:1-2 “1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
Ephesians 2:8-9 “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
By grace...is the “why” of salvation. Salvation is by God’s gracious nature. That is why He has offered this gift. The gift was the blood of Jesus, the perfect payment for our sins. Your salvation is only possible because of God’s gracious payment by Jesus.
Through faith...is the “how” of salvation. We accept this gift through faith, by putting our trust in the work that Jesus did for us. Putting our trust in something is shown by action. It goes farther than just belief.
God’s grace is motivated by God’s mercy. Your faith is motivated by your trust in the work of Jesus. You cannot separate grace and faith. Let me say it in a way that makes it easier for me to understand, maybe it will help you also.
Paraphrase of Ephesians 2:8-9 “By God’s gracious sacrifice, He has provided you with an opportunity to be saved, through
putting your faith in the work of Jesus...not in your work...so you can’t brag about it.”The grace is God’s part, and the faith is your part. They must work together in order for you to be saved. Neither one of them by themselves will accomplish salvation. Here is what I mean.
If God’s grace alone caused the salvation of mankind, and you had no part in it, then everyone would be saved automatically. But we know that’s not the case. Also, if your faith alone could produce your salvation, then it wouldn’t matter what you put your faith in. You could put your faith in this tumbler and you would make it to heaven. But that is completely insane.
Romans 10:9-10 “9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart (your faith) that God raised him from the dead (God’s grace), you will besaved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
These verses once again tie grace and faith together in the salvation equation. By your action of confession, you are showing that you have put your faith in God’s gracious act of raising Jesus from the dead. You may have heard me say that faith is shown to be active in our life by our actions. It is based on this passage.
James 2:14-18 “14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
This passage is not saying that works are an additional thing we must do for salvation. It is illustrating that good works will come naturally if we have true faith. If your faith does not motivate you to good works, it’s not faith at all. Faith is motivated by trust and the natural response of faith is good works.
It’s like this. If you put flour, eggs, butter, sugar, salt, baking soda and milk in a bowl, then mix it up and put it in the oven... for some time. Do you know what the result will be? The result will be a cake. It will be the result every time. A cake is the natural result of those things.
The result of God’s grace and your faith produces salvation... and then good works...over time.Good works don’t create salvation...it’s the other way around...Salvation creates good works.
So if you are saved and still have time on earth, good works should be the natural result. But here is the challenge.Some religious systems stress that doing good works is actually required along with God’s grace and our faith in order to produce salvation.
Romans 11:5-6 “5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.”
Salvation is accomplished by accepting the gracious gift of God, through faith. And when that has happened in a person, it will produce good works over time.
Question 6 - How do we know for sure we are saved?
We can know we are saved, when we see the evidence of our faith in Jesus being lived out.This will make a visible difference in your life. What does that observable change look like? Let’s begin by looking at what your old life looked like, so we can see the difference. It’s called the works of the flesh.
Galatians 5:19-21 “19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries,dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
You may have grown up in a religious system that told you these things are OK as long as you do good works also. Not true.If those things are active and controlling your life, then you are not a citizen of the kingdom of God. So, what should be active and ruling my life as a disciple of Jesus? The fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-24 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
When you truly repent of your sin, which means to turn around and go the opposite direction, the Holy Spirit will come to make His home in you. He will begin growing His fruit in your life. The fruit of the Spirit will be actively working against the works of your flesh. Do you see fruit growing and operating in your life or does your flesh still have control?
So, the best way to know if you are saved is to look at your life.
If there has been no observable change, then there has been no repentance...and thus, no salvation.
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