Bible Study Why Is Salt Important?

[Alabaster]

The nations are those nations on earth that have been existing during the Millennial Reign of Christ. We are already ruling and reigning at that time. The Great White Throne Judgment is for them.

 

[BFSmith764]

The nations are those nations on earth that have been existing during the Millennial Reign of Christ. We are already ruling and reigning at that time. The Great White Throne Judgment is for them.

I've already addressed this part in my post on the first page so I'm not going to repost these scriptures here.

 

[cyberjosh]

Not quite....the righteous are now being judged.....when Jesus returns they will simply be changed or raised from the dead (those who have died) and ascend to meet Jesus in the air. The ones who will stand before the judgment seat are those who will be converted long after the saint have been glorified and ruling with Jesus.

Of course we are judged now in the flesh, in what we would call temporal judgements while in the flesh, but the appearing before the Bema Seat will be an event that Christians attend to recieve reward or loss for the works done in the flesh, this denotes something already done and there being a final evaluation of it. This could only happen after death. And for clarification this is not a judgement for salvation but for rewards. But anyway this was only a point in passing. I don't want to get too far off topic, but I thought I'd clarify.

God Bless,

~Josh

 

[Alabaster]

This is the white Throne Judgment; the separating the righteous from the unrighteous.


Matthew 25:31-46 (MontgomeryNT)
31 "But when the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then will he take his seat on the throne of his glory;
32 "and all the nations will be gathered in his presence. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats;
33 "and he will place the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left.
34 "Then he, the King will say to those on his right hand. "‘Come, my Father’s blessed ones, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 "‘For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in;
36 "‘I was naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to see me.’
37 "Then shall the righteous answer him, saying. ‘Master, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or thirsty and give you drink?
38 "‘When did we see you a stranger and take you in; or naked and clothe you?"
39 "‘When did we see you sick or in prison, and come to see you?’"
40 "‘In solemn truth I tell you,’ the King will answer them, ‘that inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these, my brothers, you have done it unto me.’"
41 "Then he will say to those also at his left hand. ‘Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;
42 for I was hungry, and you gave me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink;
43 I was a stranger, and you took me not in; naked, and you clothed me not; sick, or in prison, and you visited me not.’"
44 "Then will they also answer, ‘Master, when did we ever see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you?’"
45 "But he will reply, ‘In solemn truth I tell you that inasmuch as you did not do it unto one of these least, you did not do it unto me.’"
46 "And these will go away into eternal punishment; but the righteous into eternal life."

Notice that the above verse is different from the verse below. In the verse below, there is no mention of nations being gathered together and Jesus separating the sheep, which represents those that will inherit eternal life and the goats, which represents those who will not. The verse below the saints immediacy inherit the kingdom, in the blinking of an eye. But the verse below, Jesus spoke to those who will inherit eternal life before He enter into the kingdom of God that was prepared for them. And no mention of them ascending in the air to meet Jesus, nor is there any mention of the dead in Christ being raised and standing before God. These two verses are talking about two different people at different time, one at Jesus second return and the other much later.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (ASV)
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;
17 then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Yes, you are right, there!

The GWT Judgment takes place after the millennium, where the people of earth who have populated it for 1,000 years will be grouped and judged, and the Thessalonians passage takes place at the so-called "Rapture" of the saints, which many believe is imminent.

 

[BFSmith764]

Not quite....the righteous are now being judged.....when Jesus returns they will simply be changed or raised from the dead (those who have died) and ascend to meet Jesus in the air. The ones who will stand before the judgment seat are those who will be converted long after the saint have been glorified and ruling with Jesus.

Of course we are judged now in the flesh, in what we would call temporal judgements while in the flesh, but the appearing before the Bema Seat will be an event that Christians attend to recieve reward or loss for the works done in the flesh, this denotes something already done and there being a final evaluation of it. This could only happen after death. And for clarification this is not a judgement for salvation but for rewards. But anyway this was only a point in passing. I don't want to get too far off topic, but I thought I'd clarify.

God Bless,

~Josh

And where do you find that Christians are going to be judged twice? Is that the way God is? Is it just to be judged a second time for one's deed after they have proven themselves true to God and His word? Where do you find "Temporal Judgment" in the Bible?

 

[cyberjosh]

Not quite....the righteous are now being judged.....when Jesus returns they will simply be changed or raised from the dead (those who have died) and ascend to meet Jesus in the air. The ones who will stand before the judgment seat are those who will be converted long after the saint have been glorified and ruling with Jesus.

Of course we are judged now in the flesh, in what we would call temporal judgements while in the flesh, but the appearing before the Bema Seat will be an event that Christians attend to recieve reward or loss for the works done in the flesh, this denotes something already done and there being a final evaluation of it. This could only happen after death. And for clarification this is not a judgement for salvation but for rewards. But anyway this was only a point in passing. I don't want to get too far off topic, but I thought I'd clarify.

God Bless,

~Josh

And where do you find that Christians are going to be judged twice? Is that the way God is? Is it just to be judged a second time for one's deed after they have proven themselves true to God and His word? Where do you find "Temporal Judgment" in the Bible?

I never said judged twice, I simply said that the Bema seat judgement would be an event rather than (as you seemed to imply) an on going process throughout life. I acknowledged that there is indeed a process in this life in which we judge ourselves and are judged by God during our lives (on any decision we make - and often God's judgements/chastizements now are for our good [Hebrews 12:5-7]) but I emphasize the Bema seat judgement (remember I said it was not for salvation, but only a testing for rewards) is a specific event/occurance.

By temporal judgement I mean things we judge ourselves on, and are judged by others and God about in this life. If I steal I may be fined money and given some jail time. This is not an eternal punishment but a temporal one, immediately effecting me. If I commit adultery and my wife finds out we are likely to seperate, that is a temporal punishment. Now the greater judgement of our conduct at the end of our lives and with the spiritual motives and consequences in view God will judge us for those sins, but there are immediate consequences for what we do, thus the temporal as distinguished from eternal consequences. But as I said, God's judgements on Christians are often for their good to correct their ways that they don't continue down a destructive path, so God's active concern in our lives is a great mercy to us. So yes in that aspect you are correct that God judges the righteous now, and enables us to judge ourselves (now) that we may not be judged (later). I only wanted to make clear that the Bema seat is different in that it is a specific occurance, not a life long string of judgements. I hope you agree.

A couple verses that mention judgement now are:

"For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?" (1 Corinthians 5:12)

"Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, matters of this life?" (1 Corinthians 6:3)

"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." (John 7:24)


"For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep." (1 Corinthinas 11:29)

This verse shows judgement from God that manifests physically, which is another temporal judgement.

"For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged." (1 Corinthians 11:31)

And lastly Peter calls us to judge ourselves in the Church:

"For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:16)

------------------------

At any rate the Bema seat of Christ is different than all this, and it specifically says that we shall "stand" and "appear" before christ (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10) which once again speaks to me of a specific occurance. I don't know, maybe I misunderstood you, since you also seem to have some concept of the Bema seat even, although I'm unsure as to how you got your chronology of, "converted long after the saint have been glorified and ruling with Jesus". But if you believe that the Bema seat is a specific judgement then we both agree on that.

God Bless,

~Josh

 

[Alabaster]

There will be millions of people who live during the Millennial Age. They will repopulate the earth, born from the remnant that survive the Tribulation and ensuing Armageddon. Those are the nations we will be ruling over with Jesus Christ. They are those who will be separated before the throne, and they are the ones who will be judged by God along with the dead who will rise from their graves and meet God Almighty at the GWT Judgment. They will declare Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords, and those who are declared "goats" will go out to eternal damnation along with the sinners who have been resurrected to face their Maker.

 

[BFSmith764]

There will be millions of people who live during the Muillennial Age. They will repopulate the earth, born from the remnant that survive the Tribulation and ensuing Armageddon. Those are the nations we will be ruling over with Jesus Christ. They are those who will be separated before the throne, and they are the ones who will be judged by God along with the dead who will rise from their graves and meet God Almighty at the GWT Judgment. They will declare Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords, and those who are declared "goats" will go out to eternal damnation along with the sinners who have been resurrected to face their Maker.

I'm glad to see that there are people like yourself that have been studying the scriptures (Old and New Testament), and are letting God guide them into the truth of God's plan of salvation for all people.....you are truly a breath of fresh air.

Too often, because of a lack of knowledge of the scriptures some among us have preached a gospel of fear; telling people if the don't repent they are going to burn in Hell forever, as if anyone can repent of themselves, when the scriptures tells us that no one can come to Jesus unless the Father calls the individual.....the gospel is good news and has nothing of fear in it.

I don't expect that we will agree on everything, but I believe as we get closer to Jesus' second coming, we will become closer to the truth of the scriptures. I encourage everyone to put aside any preconceive belief/ideas, and study the scriptures with a honest heart to let God's word be there guide, rather than just believe something because this is what I was taught in Church.

What I believe is not something that I have always believed; I have had to cast aside a lot of things that I had believed in the pass because it was not supported in the Bible. The scripture says that we should grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord; but how can one grow if the refuse to change in the light of what the scriptures says, simply because my Church/pastor says this or that?

 

[BFSmith764]

I never said judged twice, I simply said that the Bema seat judgement would be an event rather than (as you seemed to imply) an on going process throughout life. I acknowledged that there is indeed a process in this life in which we judge ourselves and are judged by God during our lives (on any decision we make - and often God's judgements/chastizements now are for our good [Hebrews 12:5-7]) but I emphasize the Bema seat judgement (remember I said it was not for salvation, but only a testing for rewards) is a specific event/occurance.

By temporal judgement I mean things we judge ourselves on, and are judged by others and God about in this life. If I steal I may be fined money and given some jail time. This is not an eternal punishment but a temporal one, immediately effecting me. If I commit adultery and my wife finds out we are likely to seperate, that is a temporal punishment. Now the greater judgement of our conduct at the end of our lives and with the spiritual motives and consequences in view God will judge us for those sins, but there are immediate consequences for what we do, thus the temporal as distinguished from eternal consequences. But as I said, God's judgements on Christians are often for their good to correct their ways that they don't continue down a destructive path, so God's active concern in our lives is a great mercy to us. So yes in that aspect you are correct that God judges the righteous now, and enables us to judge ourselves (now) that we may not be judged (later). I only wanted to make clear that the Bema seat is different in that it is a specific occurance, not a life long string of judgements. I hope you agree.

A couple verses that mention judgement now are:

"For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?" (1 Corinthians 5:12)

"Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, matters of this life?" (1 Corinthians 6:3)

"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." (John 7:24)


"For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep." (1 Corinthinas 11:29)

This verse shows judgement from God that manifests physically, which is another temporal judgement.

"For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged." (1 Corinthians 11:31)

And lastly Peter calls us to judge ourselves in the Church:

"For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:16)

------------------------

At any rate the Bema seat of Christ is different than all this, and it specifically says that we shall "stand" and "appear" before christ (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10) which once again speaks to me of a specific occurance. I don't know, maybe I misunderstood you, since you also seem to have some concept of the Bema seat even, although I'm unsure as to how you got your chronology of, "converted long after the saint have been glorified and ruling with Jesus". But if you believe that the Bema seat is a specific judgement then we both agree on that.

God Bless,

~Josh

I'm more concern with God's judgment (notice that I did not say condemnation) on the house of God, which He now is doing rater than on our own judgment that we do from time to time. And I'm glad that the world is not being judged at this time (human beings are incapable of seeking and pleasing God on their own ability), because it proves that God is a merciful God and does not treat human being unfairly as human beings more often than not does.....though it could also be argued that God is not fare; in that though we deserve death, He has offered eternal life to all.