Final Judgment of Hell

[Fidelis]

I think i got this now… Concerning the scriptures, Christ promised that “death will be no more” and all the dead shall be resurrected while all of us who are still alive at the Lord’s coming shall be “judged according to our deeds”, The dead will simply have their bodies back based on Christ’s promise that “death will be no more”. with that in mind, it does not change the fate of the soul where it has been whether it has been in heaven or hell.

Up to this point, you’re doing fine.

-Christ gives us eternal life along with our physical bodies, the righteous in the earthly paradise, while the damned in a parallel state of eternal prison.

There is no “earthly paradise” either right after our death, or after the Second Coming. The Book of Revelation tells us there will be a new heaven and a new earth where the righteous will dwell with God forever.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people 4 and God himself will always be with them (as their God). (Rev, 21:1-3)

So Hades in a nutshell, is the general place for the dead not in hell nor in heaven but beneath the earth literally hidden, or being in a dark pit which is our common grave. The ones in Hades are not souls but the literal body of our physical human preexistence. The dead bodies of both righteous and unrighteous are mixed in this grave but their souls are in an entirely different place.

Hades (also called Sheol or the Limbo of the Fathers) was the abode of the dead before Christ opened heaven by his death and resurrection. It contained the souls (or 'shades") of the dead, but not their bodies. There is no such thing as a “pre-existence” of souls. Our souls are created at conception along with our bodies.

This Particular Judgment happens at death and to the dead while the General Judgment happens to those who are still alive to meet up with the Lord in judgment (since there is no point of judging the already innocent or guilty).

The General Judgment is for both the living and the dead, as stated in previous posts.

just my :twocents:

You’re getting there.

 

[Cristian_B]

This Particular Judgment happens at death and to the dead while the General Judgment happens to those who are still alive to meet up with the Lord in judgment (since there is no point of judging the already innocent or guilty).

just my :twocents:

Actually it is written in Revelation that there will be a second resurrection in which all that did not resurrect the first time will resurrect to be judged. So this ‘General Judgment’ happens to all the dead, not only the alive … I mean all will be alive, but the dead will resurrect.

 

[Janet1983]

1. All the consequences of our good works, or bad works, shall be fully accounted for at the General Judgement. For example, a saint whose life has been a good example to others and have inspired many others to living virtuous lives after his death, will have the meritorious consequences of his life credited to him at the General Judgement. There will be an increase of glory for him in heaven. Likewise, a reprobate whose sinful life had been a bad example to others and have incited others to fall into mortal sin and damnation after his death, will have his punishment in hell increased accordingly. For every single action of ours, including their furthest consequences, is recorded by God and judged by Him. And each person shall be rewarded or punished by God in the exact measure to what they deserve.

I don’t believe we can earn our salvation through what we do as good deeds and behaviour. We have been saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves. It is the gift of God and not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
I would not wish to be judged and get what I deserve because whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
Even the smallest sin is a sin against an infinitely holy God and it is therefore infinitely wicked.
Even though I will go to Heaven, I certainly do not deserve going there.
What do I deserve? Nothing but eternal torments. Nothing more.
People keep telling me I am wrong about that, but I am sure I am not. I was a vile God-hating criminal. I broke every law God has ever given. I don’t deserve anything but hell. I sinned against an infinitely holy God. I insulted the most glorious being in the entire universe and I didn’t do it just once. I did it over and over again. I didn’t do anything but sinning! I didn’t do anything else! I deserve hell and I deserve only that. If God would execute perfect justice there would be no moderation, no mercy.
But he saved me! I don’t have anything apart from Him! He saved me! He bought me with His blood. He paid the price and He saved me!
All I do and all I have is for His glory alone. His glory, not mine.
What else can there be said? He saved me! He took this wretched creature that I was and he saved me!
Everything I have I owe to Him, so why should I hold anything back? He saved me and that is more than I could ever have expected or earned.
I give everything. Everything to God I freely give.

 

[Vile_Servant]

I don’t believe we can earn our salvation through what we do as good deeds and behaviour. We have been saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves.

And what is the proof of this saving faith? Love, which is manifest in good works. (James 2:20)

For without love, we are nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

Without love, we fail to obey Jesus’ commandment to love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves. (Mark 12:28 -31)

Finally, we shall be judged by God on our love, to determine whether we deserve heaven or hell. (Matthew 25:31-46)

 

[Fidelis]

I don’t believe we can earn our salvation through what we do as good deeds and behaviour. We have been saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves. It is the gift of God and not a result of works, so that no one may boast…

You are correct in saying that we cannot work our way to heaven. Apart from God’s grace, we have no hope of heaven no matter what we may do on our own power. This is the teaching of the Catholic Church. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

**2005 **Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith. We cannot therefore rely on our feelings or our works to conclude that we are justified and saved. [Cf. Council of Trent (1547): ds 1533-1534] However, according to the Lord’s words “Thus you will know them by their fruits” [Mt 7:20] - reflection on God’s blessings in our life and in the lives of the saints offers us a guarantee that grace is at work in us and spurs us on to an ever greater faith and an attitude of trustful poverty.

However, Scripture (and thus the Church) teach very clearly that doing good and avoiding evil do have something to do with our salvation.

Matthew 16
27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

Romans 2
6 God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.

13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those *who obey the law *who will be declared righteous.

Romans 8
12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

Revelation 20
11Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.

James 2
17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

These are only a few of numerous examples that could be cited. Note two things: that the New Testament is directed at Christians --the first Christians, you, me-- those who are already supposedly saved.

Secondly, it does no good to say that, if we are really saved, we will automatically do good works and that we are not doing good works we were probably not saved in the first place. This practically negates the whole purpose for the New Testament. Jesus and the writers of the NT go through a lot of trouble telling their listeners to stop doing this (sinning) and to do this (good work) instead–or else. If being saved meant becoming Works Machines, the NT (especially the letters of St. Paul and the other Apostles) would be largely superfluous, if not pathetic. No, our works (doing good and avoiding evil), even though they should flow out of the heart of a person working under grace, don’t always do that (as we all know from personal experience) and there are rewards and consequences for cooperating and not cooperating with that grace.

Hope that helps.

 

[Fidei]

Can somebody remind me of the location of the verse which speaks of;
1.) Christ descended to the dead
2.) Christ preached to the spirits in prison
3.) speaks of Christ ascending with a chariot carrying the limbo of the fathers along with him to heaven

Thanks advance

 

[Cristian_B]

Can somebody remind me of the location of the verse which speaks of;

Sure, but I don’t know if I’m correct.

1.) Christ descended to the dead

I don’t remember the passage for this one so I can’t really help.

And another thing: it depends on what you mean by ‘the dead’. Of course he did! As far as I know, the dead are in the grave, and He was there. So yes. But about Bible verses, someone else will have to give it to you.

2.) Christ preached to the spirits in prison

1 Peter 3:19

3.) speaks of Christ ascending with a chariot carrying the limbo of the fathers along with him to heaven

There is no passage in the Bible that says a thing like that. It comes from tradition.

Thanks advance

You’re welcome.

 

[jasev]

Can somebody remind me of the location of the verse which speaks of;
1.) Christ descended to the dead
2.) Christ preached to the spirits in prison
3.) speaks of Christ ascending with a chariot carrying the limbo of the fathers along with him to heaven

Thanks advance

1. You’re probably thinking of the line in the Apostles’ Creed - “crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead.” Some translations translate “the dead” as “hell.” Technically accurate, but probably misleading given popular/secularized notions of “hell”. In any case, Christ died and went where all dead people go… to “the dead.” The interpretation of what that means will vary by different Christians. In any case, this section of the creed summarizes a number of places in the Bible, e.g. Acts 2:24-29.
2. As Christian B pointed out, 1 Peter 3:19-22.
3. Probably an idea from Eph 4:8-10, though I don’t know it really says all of what you have there.