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Bible Question: If we are a true born again Christian, are we judged before the rapture or after? The Bible says we are all judged.
Bible Answer: Every person will be judged some day - even Christians.
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And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment . . . (NASB) Hebrews 9:27 |
Christians will be judged according to their works and so will non-Christians. But the purposes of the judgments are different and what happens to each person varies.
Non-Christians. Non-Christians will be judged by their works. Many believe that God will look at their good and bad deeds and make a decision about who should go to heaven and who should go to hell. At first glance, that seems to fit with the following verse.
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And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. (NASB) Rev. 20:12-13 |
But they miss two important verses that occur earlier.
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The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. (NASB) Rev. 20:5-6 |
Christians are resurrected first immediately after the tribulation and non-Christians are resurrected later after the 1,000 year kingdom, or millennium. Non-Christians will be judged by their works, but their judgment has already been decided because they did believe in Jesus. They are going to hell. Non-Christians are going to hell because none of their works are acceptable to God.
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. . . THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE. (NASB) Rom. 3:12 |
This does not mean that non-Christians or Christians cannot do good deeds from an earthly viewpoint. It means there is nothing any of us can do to gain God's favor and earn the right to go heaven. Men and women go to heaven because they believe that Jesus Christ died for their sins, returned to life and went back to heaven. They are depending on Jesus' forgiveness and not their own works - nothing else. |
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