What To Expect On Judgment Day (A Bible Study)
- John Nolan
- 2 hours ago
- 16 min read
The Bible reveals that a day is coming when every person who has ever lived will be raised and gathered to stand before God in judgment. In this study, we’ll look carefully at Scripture to clarify what each person can expect on that day. This is written to encourage those who are already walking with God—and to invite those who are not to find His forgiveness through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Content Warning: Sometimes the Bible doesn't pull any punches, but tells it like it is; you may find some hard truths in this study. Please be prepared both emotionally and mentally.
Principle Scripture
Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation
(John 5:28-29)
Key Points
What To Expect On Judgment Day
Jesus specifically identified those who would be involved in this historic future event
: All who are in the graves
Since the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden, all men are subject to death, and after each death comes the grave.
From the gathering of all who are in the grave, there will be a sorting. Identifying and classifying them into one of two categories:
Those who have done good
Those who have done evil
And from these two categories, participants will qualify for one of the following events:
The Resurrection Of Life
The Resurrection Of Condemnation
(Hebrews 9:27)
And as it is appointed for men to die once,
but after this the judgment,
(Ecclesiastes 12:14)
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.
The Resurrection Of Life
Question: How Do You Qualify For The Resurrection Of Life?
Answer:
No man is worthy of living in heaven, for we have all failed and sinned in life.
However, God sent His own Son for us, and He became the way for us to be forgiven of our sins and restored into a relationship with God. Believing in Jesus Christ is the key to the resurrection of life.
(Acts 2:36-39)
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.
This link will take you to my previous blog/bible study on the steps that everyone in the early church took to ensure their salvation.
What can we expect if we find salvation in Christ?
(John 3:16-17)
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
(John 14:2-3)
In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
(Daniel 12:3)
Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.
The Resurrection Of Condemnation
Question: How Do You Qualify For The Resurrection Of Condemnation?
Answer: Continue to live independently from God
(John 3:18-21)
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.
(Romans 2:2-6)
But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who “will render to each one according to his deeds”
Why Does Mankind Need To Be Judged At All?
(John 3:19)
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil
God is a God of truth and justice. As our Creator and King, He rightly deserves our allegiance. Mankind was made in God’s image for fellowship with Him, but through disobedience in Eden we rebelled and fell into darkness.
In His mercy, God did not leave fallen mankind without guidance. To restrain the wickedness that ruled over fallen men, God revealed His laws and precepts to help guide mankind back into the light of justice and truth. Many of the legal concepts used in our modern judicial systems have stemmed from God's revelation of His ways to man.
Jesus Christ became our Advocate and Saviour by taking upon Himself the punishment that God’s justice required for our sin. On the cross, He bore our guilt, fully satisfying the righteous demands of justice. Through faith in His sacrifice and His resurrection, we are forgiven and welcomed back into God’s family.
God is restoring His Kingdom and reclaiming what was lost in the fall. Jesus came to reveal truth to mankind; for truth is the way life is lived in heaven. Those who reject the truth that Jesus revealed refuse God's forgiveness and must face His justice.
Heaven is a place of perfect love and absolute unity. Rebellion cannot enter without corrupting what heaven is. Our earthly life is our God-given time to choose whether we truly desire to live forever in eternal communion with our Creator and Saviour.
God Gives Us Time To Repent
However, God in His mercy is extremely patient and longsuffering, and gives us every opportunity He can to repent and come to Him for forgiveness and salvation. But do we take it?
(Proverbs 20:8)
A king who sits on the throne of judgment Scatters all evil with his eyes
(Ezekiel 18:20)
The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself
(James 5:9)
Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!
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(2 Peter 3:9)
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance
(John 15:22-25)
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.
(John 1:17)
For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ
(2 Corinthians 6:2)
For He says:
“In an acceptable time I have heard you,
And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”
Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation
Who Is The Judge On That Day?
(Acts 17:31)
because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
Jesus Christ is uniquely qualified to act as the judge of all mankind, in that He came first to be our Saviour and gave His own life so that we may be saved. Jesus was born as a man, and lived a perfect, sinless life before freely offering Himself as a sacrifice to God to pay the eternal price for mankind's sins.
Jesus understands the difficulties of life, of grief, suffering, and loss, but He also came to reveal the goodness of God found in God's Kingdom and Lordship. His judgment of each person will be based firstly upon how we responded to the good news of salvation in Him, and secondly upon the life we lived here on earth.
(Hebrews 4:15)
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
(John 5:25-27)
Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.
(Matthew 28:18-19)
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
(John 2:24-25)
But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.
(Psalm 9:7-8)
But the Lord shall endure forever;
He has prepared His throne for judgment.
He shall judge the world in righteousness,
And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.
(Psalm 96:10-13)
Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord.
For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth
(Ecclesiastes 12:14)
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.
(Matthew 16:27)
For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works
Believers Vs Unbelievers
(Matthew 7:13-14)
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Perhaps the most defining factor in what each of us will face on Judgment Day is whether we stand before Jesus Christ as His believing disciples—or as unbelievers. God made salvation simple and available to anyone who desired to live with Him in heaven eternally.
(John 5:24)
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life
(Revelation 20:12)
And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books
The Book Of Life
(Luke 10:20)
Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
Every person coming into the world has their name written in the Book of Life. This fact alone shows how important every human life is in God's sight, for mankind has been created in God's image and after His likeness.
It is, however, possible to have your name blotted out or deleted from the Book of Life. How tragic for those who had the chance, given by God Himself, to become a permanent resident of heaven for eternity, and yet miss out because of unbelief.
The failure to respond in faith to the gospel of Jesus Christ relegates individuals into the group who are blotted out of God's Book of Life. This is because the ability to be accepted before God and become righteous is found through believing in His Son.
(Psalm 56:8)
You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
Are they not in Your book?
(Psalm 69:28)
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living,
And not be written with the righteous.
(Hebrews 12:22-23)
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,
(Daniel 12:1)
“At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book.
(Philippians 4:3)
And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
(Revelation 3:5)
He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels
(Revelation 13:8)
All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
(Revelation 17:8)
The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
(Revelation 20:15)
And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
(Revelation 21:27)
But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life
(Exodus 32:31-33)
Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”
And the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book
The Judgment Seat Of Christ (For Believers)
(Matthew 25:23)
His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Scripture describes two distinct judgments: one for believers and one for unbelievers.
Believers are not judged for salvation, because faith in Jesus Christ has brought them from darkness to light and from death to life. The judgment seat of Christ is the place where individual believers will either gain or lose rewards based on their obedience to the will of God for their lives.
Being a disciple of Christ is not easy, for persecution comes to us all in different ways. However, for those who persevere through life's difficulties and maintain and grow in their faith with Christ, there is an eternal reward.
(2 Corinthians 5:10)
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
(Romans 14:10-12)
But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.”
So then each of us shall give account of himself to God
(2 Timothy 4:8)
Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
(John 15:16)
You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you
(1 Corinthians 3:12-15)
Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
(Matthew 10:41)
He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
(Revelation 22:12)
“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work
(Galatians 6:9)
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart
(Matthew 10:42)
And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”
(Matthew 5:11-12)
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you
The Great White Throne Judgment (For Unbelievers)
(Mark 9:47-48)
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire— where
‘Their worm does not die,
And the fire is not quenched.’
Jesus Christ spoke often about hell in His teaching. Having come from heaven, He understood perfectly the seriousness of what awaits those who reject the salvation He came to bring.
If there is ever a moment that should cause mankind to tremble, it is the Great White Throne Judgment. No one who belongs to Christ will stand before this throne—only those who have rejected the gospel and chosen to live without God. God did not make the lake of fire for mankind, but for the devil and those angels who fell with him in the rebellion.
(Luke 12:4-5)
And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him
(Matthew 5:29)
If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell
(Luke 16:23-24)
And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
(Matthew 25:41)
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
(2 Thessalonians 1:9)
These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power
(Revelation 20:11-15)
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who 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, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
*It is my sincere prayer for you and your family that you might find God's salvation while you have the opportunity, and arrive before God with joy and thankfulness on that final day.
Scriptures For Further Study
Old Testament Scriptures on Judgment Day/ The Day Of The Lord
Deuteronomy 32:35–43, Psalm 9:7–8, Psalm 96:10–13, Psalm 98:8–9, Psalm 110:5–6, Isaiah 2:10–22, Isaiah 13:6–13, Isaiah 24:1–23, Isaiah 26:20–21, Isaiah 34:1–8, Isaiah 59:18–20, Isaiah 63:1–6, Isaiah 66:15–16, 18–24, Jeremiah 25:29–33, Jeremiah 30:7–11, Jeremiah 46:10, Jeremiah 51:5–6, Ezekiel 7:1–27, Ezekiel 30:1–9, Ezekiel 38:18–23, Ezekiel 39:21–29, Daniel 7:9–14, 21–27, Daniel 12:1–3, Joel 1:15, Joel 2:1–11, 28–32, Joel 3:9–17, Amos 5:18–20, Obadiah 1:15–21, Micah 1:2–7, Nahum 1:2–8, Habakkuk 2:20, Habakkuk 3:3–16, Zephaniah 1:14–18, Zephaniah 2:1–3, Zephaniah 3:8, Zechariah 12:1–9, Zechariah 14:1–9, 12–15, Malachi 3:1–5, Malachi 4:1–6
Here is a list of New Testament scriptures that mention judgment:
Matthew 7:1-2, Matthew 12:36-37, Matthew 25:31-46, Mark 4:22, Luke 6:37-38, Luke 10:14, John 5:22-30, John 12:48, Acts 17:31, Romans 2:2-6, Romans 14:10-12, 1 Corinthians 3:13-15
2 Corinthians 5:10, Galatians 6:7-8, Philippians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:9, Hebrews 9:27, James 2:12-13, 1 Peter 1:17, 1 John 4:17, Revelation 20:11-15, Revelation 21:8
I hope you found this helpful
God Bless
John Nolan
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