"My dear Wormwood .. There is nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human's mind against the enemy (Jesus Christ). He wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them .." (C.S. Lewis, parody from "The Screwtape Letters")

This is exactly what Satan is doing in our world today, though Lewis is the only theologians I've seen who noticed it. That nemesis of good, propagator of evil, old Satan, continually strives to lure humankind into one of two extremes of thought:
 

• That after death, there is nothing else. There is no hereafter or eternity, no Heaven or Hell. When you die, you cease to exist.
• That the believer, after he accepts Christ as Saviour, must be a Pelagian in order to retain his salvation. These people walk around with no understanding of their Sinful natures seeking to be "holier than thou". I've been in this state of mind, and can tell you that pride is it's motivator, not holiness.

The thread that runs through this final dispensation of God is one of Judgment. This is it's main theme, if you will. Believers are raptured from the earth so we can be judged; the tribulation starts so the world can be judged; the Millennial Kingdom of Christ is, in fact, a judgment, and the final and terrible Great White Throne of God is an eternal judgment.

So rather than debate the various eschatological views held by theologians (who are often wrong), we will look at this final dispensation in the light of God's Judgment.
 

Romans 3:22-23 "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"

Mark 7:21-23 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,  Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:  All these evil things come from within, and defile the man."

In the innermost heart of man there is only deceit. Though men may seem outwardly good and kind, inwardly all men work according to another agenda - the agenda of sin.

Jeremiah 17:9-10 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."

Romans 3:10-18 "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:   There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.   They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.   Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:   Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:   Their feet are swift to shed blood:   Destruction and misery are in their ways:   And the way of peace have they not known:   There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Romans 8:7-8 "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

"The street was hot, dust puffs coming up between my toes -- they took my shoes. My back is warm and wet, the weight I bear on it brings so much pain. How long is my journey? The crowd thronged about me, pushed me toward that lonely hill. My rest has come, a prelude to my supreme work. Pain -- intense and yet dull, a terrible sharpness in my hands and feet. I am so alone. I am loved by only a few, despised by the rest. Yet I AM. My blood runs out of me, as sand out of an hourglass, yet through my death others shall live. I AM Jesus .." (Interchange)

When Christ died for us, we who accepted that sacrifice were justified in the eyes of God. That is, we were declared righteous in the courts of God's judgment.

1 Peter 2:24  "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."

1 Peter 3:18  "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:"

The death of Christ did not resurrect the dead spirit of man, nor did it free us from all reckoning of sin. There are cults in this world that teach that, since Christ died for "all men's sins", them we will all, regardless as to our present relationship with God, one day be in Heaven with Him. This a false doctrine. Jesus opened the door by dying for our sins. If we accept Him as Saviour, then we are immediately justified by His very act. This in turn leads the Holy Spirit to indwell and regenerate each believer. Christ provided the means of our new life, but the Holy Spirit actually does the work of giving us new life.

As to the time span between each of these events, justification and regeneration, there is no appreciable amount of time between the two. The Scripture makes it plan that those who are justified have also been regenerated, and vice versa. One Divine Act follows the other in such rapid progression that the human mind cannot grasp the difference. Jesus makes both acts possible, the Spirit makes both acts real.

Galatians 3:13  "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: "

The Greek for redeemed is EXAGORAZO, which means "to buy from, redeem from the market". In this word we see the unconditional nature of our salvation. We were bought from the Law. Just as you or I can go to the store and buy an item, and that item then becomes ours, and ours until we decide we no longer want it. The object of purchase has no say over whether it will be bought or not. We are Christ's objects of possession, not our own possession. Throughout the New Testament Scripture the Apostle Paul calls himself the servant (DOULOS, Slave) of Christ. We are purchased possessions, this is why salvation is persistent, not ethereal, subject to change. We are Christ's, not our own.

Hebrews 1:3  "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;"

Christ alone purged the elect of their sins in the eyes of God by His substitutionary death. Christ alone is our Justifier. We were declared righteous because His death was righteous, and nothing that we will say or do will separate us from this state of righteousness.

2 Corinthians 5:21  "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

1 Timothy 2:5-6 "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;  Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."

Romans 8:1-2 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."

Just as important, Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead in order to sit on the right hand of God as our living sacrifice. Because He sits in this holy place making intercession for us who believe, we need not fear damnation, need not fear condemnation.
 

Another thing that happens at the moment of salvation is that you become a son of God. The child of God who willingly sins will find himself punished by a kind but stern Heavenly Father:

Hebrews 12:7-10 "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. "

Every born again person is a Son of God, whether male or female, regardless of your race. If you sin, that is, go against the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life, you can expect to be punished by God. This punishment will not be issued such as the punishment of God toward a stranger, but will be administered by a Loving Father who seeks to correct His wayward child. The entire episode of discipline exists in order to seek to do the highest good for the child. Just as you would punish your child if you caught him doing something dangerous, God punishes us when we get into something dangerous, like sin. I certainly prefer the loving chastisement of my Father for, even though it be grievous, I know that He administers this punishment because He loves me.

What then? Is this the only punishment that the Christian faces, the punishment of God's chastisement while on this earth? Yes, we have no need to fear torment in Heaven because of the permanency of our Salvation. Yet we who fail to honor the Lord in this life will face another moment of reckoning in the next life, a moment called the Judgment Seat of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:9-10 "Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.  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."

Romans 14:10-12 "But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. "

The godless stand before a Great White Throne to be judged for eternal damnation. The saved in Christ, likewise, must stand before their Saviour for judgment, but not for loss of salvation. We will one day stand before Jesus to have our works judged, the works that we did in this life. Jesus will determine if the works are worthy of reward or not.

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.  If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."

Let me re-emphasize, this judgment of the believer will only be for reward or loss, not for punishment to everlasting damnation. As the context states: If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. The basis of the judgment will be whether our intent was to honor and obey Christ while committing the work. Which brings us to this question: What marks a work as rewardable?

In order for a work to be considered Godly and rewardable, it must be:
 

• The work had to come from a Christian, not a heathen.
• The Christian had to do the work in faith, through the name of Jesus Christ.
• The Christian had to do the work with the intent of glorifying God, not himself.

If a work fails, is it unrewardable? Again, not necessarily. If you witness the Gospel faithfully, yet none come to Christ, God rewards the pure intent of your heart. We are not rewarded for forcing people to the Cross, but we are rewarded for obeying the directives of our Lord. If you tell others about Jesus, even if they reject Him, you have still fulfilled what Christ expected of you.

The Judgment Seat of Christ should spur each and every one of us to do our best to honor Christ in this life. Is it wrong to work for reward? Absolutely not. Even the Apostle Paul stated:

2 Corinthians 5:9  "Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. "

That he labored diligently, as should we all, that we receive reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ. As it was with the elders that stood before the Throne of God, we earn these crowns so we can lay them at the feet of our Saviour to His glory (Revelation 4.10).