The Final Judgment and
Eternal Punishment
Who will be judged?
What is hell?
A. The Fact of Final Judgment
 1. Scriptural Evidence for a Final Judgment.
 Rev 20:11-15: Then I saw a great white throne and him who
was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away,
and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great
and small, standing before the throne, and books were
opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of
life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the
books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up
the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead
who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them,
according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were
thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, 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. (ESV)
A. The Fact of Final Judgment
 2. Will There Be More Than One Judgment?
 In a dispensational view, there will be different judgments:
• (a) A “judgment of the nations” to determine who enters the
millennium. (Matt 25:31-46)
• (b) A “judgment of believers’ works” or bēma judgment in
which Christians will receive degrees of reward. (2 Cor 5:10)
• (c) A “great white throne judgment” at the end of the
millennium to declare eternal punishments for unbelievers.
(Rev 20:11-15)
A. The Fact of Final Judgment
 2. Will There Be More Than One Judgment?
 However, these three passages seem to all speak of the same
final judgment.
 In particular, Matthew 25 makes no mention of the millennium
and frequently references eternal punishment or life.
B. The Time of Final Judgment
 The final judgment will occur after the millennium and
the rebellion that occurs at the end of it. (Rev 20:7-11)
C. The Nature of the Final Judgment
 1. Jesus Christ Will Be the Judge. (2 Tim 4:1; Acts
10:42; Jn 5:26-27)
 2. Unbelievers Will Be Judged. (Rom 2:5-7; Lk 12:47-
48)
 3. Believers Will Be Judged. (Rom 14:10, 12; 2 Cor 5:10)
 This judgment of believers will be a judgment to evaluate and
bestow various degrees of reward, but believers should not
fear eternal condemnation. (Jn 5:24; Rom 8:1)
C. The Nature of the Final Judgment
 4. Angels Will Be Judged. (2 Pet 2:4; Jude 6; 1 Cor 6:3)
 5. We Will Help in the Work of Judgment. (Matt 19:28;
1 Cor 6:2-3; Rev 20:4)
D. Necessity of Final Judgment
 Rather than letting God find out the condition of our hearts, the
final judgment “will serve the purpose rather of displaying before
all rational creatures the declarative glory of God in a formal,
forensic act, which magnifies on the one hand His holiness and
righteousness, and on the other hand, His grace and mercy.
Moreover, it should be borne in mind that the judgment at the
last day will differ from that of the death of each individual in
more than one respect. It will not be secret, but public; it will
not pertain to the soul only, but also to the body; it will not have
reference to a single individual, but to all men.” —Louis Berkhof
E. Justice of God in the Final Judgment
 Rom 3:19: Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to
those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be
stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
(ESV)
 Rev 19:1-2: After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice
of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation
and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are
true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who
corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her
the blood of his servants.” (ESV)
F. Moral Application of the Final Judgment
 1. The Doctrine of Final Judgment Satisfies Our Inward
Sense of a Need for Justice in the World. (Col 3:22, 25)
 2. The Doctrine of Final Judgment Enables Us to
Forgive Others Freely. (Rom 12:19; 1 Pet 2:22-23)
 3. The Doctrine of the Final Judgment Provides a
Motive for Righteous Living. (Matt 6:20)
 4. The Doctrine of Final Judgment Provides a Great
Motive for Evangelism. (Ezek 33:11; 2 Pet 3:9)
G. Hell
 Definition: Hell is a place of eternal conscious
punishment for the wicked.
 Annihilationism: After the wicked have suffered the
penalty of God’s wrath for a time, God will annihilate
them so that they no longer exist.
G. Hell
 Arguments in favor of annihilationism:
 1. The biblical references to the destruction of the wicked
implies that they will no longer exist after they are destroyed.
 Response: The words translated “destruction” do not
necessarily imply a ceasing to exist or some kind of
annihilation, but can simply be ways of referring to the harmful
and destructive effects of final judgment on unbelievers.
G. Hell
 Arguments in favor of annihilationism:
 2. Eternal conscious punishment is inconsistent with the love
of God.
 Response: The same difficulty in reconciling God’s love with
eternal punishment would seem to be present in reconciling
God’s love with the idea of divine punishment at all.
 3. Eternal punishment seems disproportionate and unjust for
sins committed in time.
 Response: This wrongly assumes we know the extent of the
evil done when sinners rebel against God.
G. Hell
 Arguments in favor of annihilationism:
 4. The continuing presence of evil creatures in God’s universe
will eternally mar the perfection of a universe that God
created to reflect his glory.
 Response: When God punishes evil, the glory of his justice,
righteousness, and power to triumph over all opposition will
be seen. (Rom 9:22-24; Rev 19:13)
G. Hell
 Conclusions:
 The ultimate resolution of the depths of this question lies far
beyond our ability to understand, and remains hidden in the
counsels of God.
 This is a hard, sorrowful doctrine for us because we have a
portion of God’s love for people. Yet we must realize that
whatever God in his wisdom has ordained and taught in
Scripture is right. (Ro 9:2-3; Ezek 33:11)
G. Hell
 Conclusions:
 We must believe that eternal punishment is true and just, yet
we should also long that even those people who most severely
persecute the church should come to faith in Christ and thus
escape eternal condemnation.
 From the perspective of the world to come there is a much
greater recognition of the necessity and rightness of eternal
punishment. (Re 19:1-4)
Special Terms
 annihilationism
 conditional immortality
 eternal conscious punishment
 final judgment
 great white throne judgment
 hell
 judgment of the nations
 universalism
The New Heavens and New
Earth
What is heaven? Is it a place?
How will the earth be renewed? What will it be like to live
in the new heavens and new earth?
A. We Will Live Eternally With God in New
Heavens and a New Earth
 1. What Is Heaven?
 Heaven is the place where God most fully makes known his
presence to bless. (Isa 66:1; 1 Pet 3:22; Matt 6:9)
 2. Heaven Is a Place, Not Just a State of Mind. (Acts
1:11; 7:55-56; Jn 14:3)
A. We Will Live Eternally With God in New
Heavens and a New Earth
 3. The Physical Creation Will Be Renewed and We Will
Continue to Exist and Act in It. (Rom 8:19-21; Heb
1:11-12; 12:26-27; 2 Pet 3:10-13; Rev 20:11; 21:1)
 It is difficult to think of God annihilating his original creation as
this seems to give the devil the last word by scrapping what
was originally “very good.”
 Passages above which refer to the passing or burning up of the
earth may refer to its present form, not its very existence.
A. We Will Live Eternally With God in New
Heavens and a New Earth
 4. Our Resurrection Bodies Will Be Part of the
Renewed Creation.
 In the new heavens and new earth there will be a place and
activities for our resurrection bodies, which will never grow old
or become weak or ill. There is nothing inherently
“unspiritual” about the physical world that God made and
called “very good.” (Gen 1:31)
 We shall eat and drink. (Rev 19:9).
 Jesus will once again drink wine. (Luke 22:18)
A. We Will Live Eternally With God in New
Heavens and a New Earth
 Music is prominent in descriptions of heaven, so it is possible
both musical and artistic activities will be done to the glory of
God.
 Since God is infinite and we are finite, we may expect that we
will be able to go on learning about God and his relationship to
creation for all eternity.
 Perhaps people will work at the whole range of investigation
and development of creation through technological, creative,
and inventive means, exhibiting the full extent of creation in
the image of God.
A. We Will Live Eternally With God in New
Heavens and a New Earth
 5. The New Creation Will Not Be “Timeless” but Will
Include an Unending Succession of Moments.
 Though the New Jerusalem will never experience night,
Revelation describes many actions that involve a sequence of
events. (Rev 21:24-26; 22:2)
B. The Doctrine of the New Creation Provides a Great
Motivation for Storing Up Treasures in Heaven Rather Than
on Earth
 2 Pet 3:11-13: Since all these things are thus to be dissolved,
what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and
godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of
God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and
dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But
according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a
new earth in which righteousness dwells. (ESV)
B. The Doctrine of the New Creation Provides a Great
Motivation for Storing Up Treasures in Heaven Rather Than
on Earth
 Matt 6:19-21: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and
steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break
in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also. (ESV)
C. The New Creation Will Be a Place of Great Beauty and
Abundance and Joy in the Presence of God
 Rev 21:1-4: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the
first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was
no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down
out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell
with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be
with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their
eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be
mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things
have passed away.” (ESV)
C. The New Creation Will Be a Place of Great Beauty and
Abundance and Joy in the Presence of God
 Rev 21:6-7: And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and
the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give
from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one
who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he
will be my son. (ESV)
 Rev 22:5: And night will be no more. They will need no light of
lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will
reign forever and ever. (ESV)