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Bible
Question: What
do you say to a believer who does not want to go to heaven? Let's
say that someone says, "I do not want to spend my time thinking
about going to heaven. I am saved and its going to happen when
God decides it will. So what difference does it make what I think?
Besides, I shudder to think about the Judgment Seat of Christ.
I will probably lose most, if not all, of my rewards. They will
most likely be judged to not be good enough to be turned into gold
or silver when they are tried. Why should I want to go to a place
where I will suffer such public humiliation in the presence of
other believers who will have far too many rewards to count? Why
would I look forward to spending an eternity with millions of others
who will be walking around with multiple crowns on their heads
while I have none? Why should I wait in anticipation for the day
when I will walk into my shack of a house while someone next to
me will have a humongous mansion? Heaven will not really be THAT
good for
every believer - just for some of them. For the rest of us, including
me, it will simply be the lesser of two evils, as compared to hell. Please
do not give me the old, worn out, pre-packaged answer to this question.
I want a REAL answer.
Bible Answer: There
are two issues here. The first is a misunderstanding about the judgment
of believers and the second is the nature of heaven.
Believers
Judgment. There are two types of judgment: the Great White Throne
Judgment and the Bema Seat Judgment. The first judgment occurs at
the end of the world when God judges all the non-Christians.
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And
I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it . . .
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. And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire
. . . And if anyone’s name was not found written in
the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (NASB)
Rev. 20:11-15 |
This is a judgment that no one wants to attend. The verdict has already
been determined at this judgment because God knows the heart of each
person who comes before Him. These people have rejected God and Jesus
Christ. There will be negotiations, discussions, or opportunities
to convince God that they are good people, but the sentence has already
been determined before they stand before God.
The second judgment,
the Bema Seat Judgment, is for Christians. This judgment deals with our good
works. This is the one you are referring to. It is described in 1 Corinthians
3.
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Now
if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work
will become evident; for the day will show it, because it
is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test
the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s
work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive
a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he shall
suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through
fire. (NASB) 1 Cor. 3:12-15 |
Here God will determine why we did what we did - that is, our motives
(1 Cor. 4:5 ).
He will also review our deeds to see if they are good or worthless
(2 Cor. 5:10). But every person will receive at
least some rewards . Crowns are
given to Christians just because we are believers.
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