Judgement Seat of Christ - Great White Throne Judgement - Lake of Fire

The Bible speaks of the "Judgment Seat of Christ" as well as the "Great White Throne" judgment. What is the difference between these two judgments and who will be at each?

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 2 Cor 5:10 ESV

These passages reveal that the Judgment Seat of Christ is when Christians will be judged for the works they did after they accepted salvation.

"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire". Rev 20:11-15 ESV

Here the dead are judged "according to their works," like the Judgment Seat of Christ. The unsaved are definitely judged at the Great White Throne Judgment. I was taught that the unsaved will be judged according to the light of truth they received and how they responded (works) to the light of truth given to them.

But if we take note of something; "death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them”. So hell will be emptied, but hell and death or maybe I should say "death and hell” will be cast into the lake of fire, along with all those whos name is not in the book of life. In the lake of fire, the second death awaits, fear him who can kill both Body and soul…

Edit:- spelling

Quote: "I was taught that the unsaved will be judged according to the light of truth they received and how they responded (works) to the light of truth given to them."

But the scripture does not say this. it says "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire"." If everyone is judge according to their works, everyone will fall short and be found guilty, so only those whose names are written in the Lambs book of life escape the lake of fire.

The fact that hell is thrown into the lake of fire, shows us that hell (hades) is not eternal. Hell (hades) is understood to mean the grave or the place of waiting for the dead before the final judgement. The lake of fire (gehena) is said to be eternal. The place that Lazarus and the rich man found themselves in was hades, which had two divisions, one for the righteous and one for the unrighteous. This is a temporary place as Rev.20 tells us that 'hell (hades) gave up the dead that were in them' for judgement.

HeyDave,

You are reading the Bible through the lenses of Dante's inferno and the incredible, inaccurate influence it had on the concept of just what hell is. I actually do not believe that anyone is in hell as of yet. They may be in torment at this point (not 100% sure) but I believe that hell happens after judgment (I would say I am 60% sure on this). I could be wrong. I really am not willing to debate on it, because it distracts from the issue--the gospel of Jesus Christ and the coming judgment.

If a man's motivation for believing in an uneternal hell is that they won't have to suffer for rejecting Christ, then they have missed the entire point of the Gospel. Judgment is coming and everyone who does not believe on Christ will be condemned. If God, in a judgment that was not final, destroyed almost the entire earth in a flood, how much worse will the final judgment be against those who have rejected His Son.

Personally, my attitude is thus: I will know everything I need to know about the end when the end gets here, but for now I am commanded to preach the Gospel. That is what I ought to do.

Quote: But the scripture does not say this. it says "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

There is a few books to be opened..

and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

the books were opened -- more than one.
and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life.

then

the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

This will decide what is wriiten in the book of life I assume or I am missing something...

Quote: The fact that hell is thrown into the lake of fire, shows us that hell (hades) is not eternal. Until this day

I didn't see it...."that hell is thrown into the lake of fire"

Quote: And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

Earth and Heaven fled away from his face, this must be the end of the heaven and earth as well then???

Edit added ...."that hell is thrown into the lake of fire"

havok20x,

I think you probably misunderstood what I was saying. Sorry if I was not very clear. I do believe scripture teaches eternal punishment. I was trying to make the point that the word hell (hades) in scripture is not the same as eternal punishment of the lake of fire (gehena). Therefore hell (hades) meaning the grave (or abode of the dead) is done away with, but the unrighteous' fate is the lake of fire / eternal torment.

Colin,

Yes other books are opened and these record the works of every man. However we know that no works will get us into the lambs book of life, only faith in the blood of the lamb. So I would see it that the books showing the works only serve to condemn those who are not in the book of life.

We must be sure we are in the lambs book now. As nothing else recorded about our lives will save us.

Rev.20:14 "Then Death and hell (hades) were cast into the lake of fire"

Quote: "Earth and Heaven fled away from his face, this must be the end of the heaven and earth as well then???"

Rev 21:1 "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and first earth had passed away".

Quote: We must be sure we are in the lambs book now. As nothing else recorded about our lives will save us

Hebrews 5:9 - And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.

Quote: I was trying to make the point that the word hell (hades) in scripture is not the same as eternal punishment of the lake of fire (gehena). Therefore hell (hades) meaning the grave (or abode of the dead) is done away with, but the unrighteous' fate is the lake of fire / eternal torment.

Bear with me here...

"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire". Rev 20:11-15 ESV

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them.

The sea gave up her dead why were they not in Hell? Unless the hell means the grave???? or the earth???

The sea holds the physical body, the earth holds physical body, while death holds the eternal part of man...??

Colin,
Quote: "The sea gave up her dead why were they not in Hell? Unless the hell means the grave???? or the earth???"

Yes, that's my point. Hell here (Hades) means the grave / under the earth. Hell in other places means the lake of fire.

Let's back up a bit here. Hell is used by most to describe separation from God and eternal judgement. In the original language of the bible there are different words to describe the abode of the dead, but most English bibles translate these different words all as 'hell', so hence the confusion.

In the OT the Hebrew word 'Shoel' is translated 'hell. Shoel means the underworld, where all men went when they died. In the NT the Greek word 'Hades' is translated hell and equates to the Hebrew 'Shoel'. However the most common Greek word used in the NT translated as 'hell' is 'Gehenna', which is the one Christ used to describe eternal judgement / lake of fire.

When folk talk about hell, what they mean mostly is 'Gehenna'. It is important to know the differences as sometimes the word hell is used it where does not mean the lake of fire.

In the account of Lazarus the rich man is said to be in hell. The word Christ used was 'Hades', because at this time that is where the unrighteous dead abide (still not a good place). However the lake of fire judgement (Gehenna) comes after the Great White Throne judgement as seen in Revelation.

Sorry if I am stated what you already know, but thought it good to put it clearly.