Austin Bible Church
The purpose of the Last Judgment or the Great White Throne Judgment will be to give the unbeliever an opportunity to present their defense before God before He carries out His sentence based on His perfect justice and absolute righteousness. This judgment is not separation of believers from unbelievers as only unbelievers will be judged. The unpardonable sin of rejection of Jesus Christ atoning work on the Cross will be the only reason the unbeliever will be at the Last Judgment. John 3:36. In Matthew 12:31 and Mark 3:28-29, the unpardonable sin of rejection of the work of Jesus Christ is called “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.”
“"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."” (John 3:36, NASB)
“"Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.” (Matthew 12:31, NASB)
“"Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"—” (Mark 3:28-29, NASB)
The unbeliever, by rejection of Jesus Christ, stands on their own good works as their defense instead of accepting the work of Christ on the Cross. Jesus Christ was judged for the sins of the whole world. 1 Cor. 3:18-20; 1 John 2:2.
“Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, "He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS"; and again, "THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS."” (1 Corinthians 3:18-20, NASB)
“and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2, NASB)
Consequently, no one is ever judged for their sins at the Great White Throne Judgment. Sins will not be mentioned at the Last Judgment because Jesus Christ was already judged for all of them on the Cross. This is the law of double jeopardy where you cannot be judged twice for the same offense.
Therefore, God in His justice, will evaluate the unbelievers’ good works. They will never measure up no matter how good they have been in their life on earth. The best they could ever do are nothing more than relative righteousness. The unbeliever’s relative righteousness cannot ever have fellowship with God’s perfect absolute righteousness. Isaiah 64:6.
“For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” (Isaiah 64:6, NASB)
In Revelation 20:11, “Him who sat upon it” is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He was judged for the sins of the whole world and now He will judge all who have rejected that work. God the Father has committed all judgment to the Son. John 5:22; John 5:27.
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.” (Revelation 20:11, NASB)
“"For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,” (John 5:22, NASB)
“and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.” (John 5:27, NASB)
In Revelation 20:12, “the dead” refers to the spiritually dead. Not born again. “Standing before the throne” are all unbelievers resurrected unto judgment and eternal damnation. “The books” refers to the Book of Works and to the Book of Life. Unbelievers’ names are blotted out from the Book of Life at the point of their physical death. The Books of Works contain all the human good ever produced by unbelievers from all of human history. See category on the Book of Life and Book of Works.
“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.” (Revelation 20:12, NASB)
In Revelation 20:13, “according to their deeds” means they will be judged only on their human good works as the basis of their eternal indictment. Works never measure up to God's absolute righteousness.
“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.” (Revelation 20:13, NASB)
Rejection of Jesus Christ is why the unbeliever is cast into the Lake of Fire. What the unbeliever does, good or bad, will not ever be the issue. Rev. 20:15.
“And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15, NASB)
Everyone’s sins were paid for on the Cross. Jesus Christ will evaluate all unbelievers for their good works – none of which will measure up to His perfect absolute righteousness. Therefore, all will be cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity. There are no degrees of punishment in the Lake of Fire. All will be there for the same reason - rejection of Jesus Christ’s work on the Cross.
There Are No Degrees of God's Punishment
The false belief that there are different degrees of punishment in the Lake of Fire denies a literal Lake of Fire. There is no indication in Scripture that the Lake of Fire has different levels of heat or punishment. If this were true, and it is not, this would mean that God recognizes works of the flesh and awards an unbeliever a better place in the Lake of Fire on the basis of human good. Scripture never backs this up.
Degrees of punishment is contrary to the doctrine of Unlimited Atonement. Man is not judged on the basis of their sins, but upon the issue of belief in or rejection of the person and work of Christ. If an unbeliever rejects God at the point of God-consciousness or at the point of Gospel hearing, they remain in their sins and human good (works). The Great White Throne Judgment will deal with human good, which is completely unacceptable to God.
Degrees of punishment is based on the false principle of Hegel. Degrees of punishment also destroys the issue in salvation by diverting from acceptance or rejection of Christ to sins. Rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior is l00% condemnation for eternity.