Loss

On the negative side, this judgment event will not only involve blessings and rewards, but also loss and possible punishment:

“If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, this work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.” (1 Cor. 3:11-15)

So we have this sticky little issue, or not-so-little, depending on your perspective. But most believers who have confessed Christ as their Savior in this life have been told, taught, and think they will completely avoid God’s wrath and punishments and upon physical death go instantly into the blissful paradise of heaven. Maybe some will.

But biblically, it has been revealed that the souls of many, if not all, believers may not be ready to receive and enjoy the blessings of heaven immediately after they die. Plenty of scriptures warn that we all will be held accountable for what we have done and/or not done in this life and some unpleasant afterlife consequences are possible after we face and undergo “the judgment” (Heb. 9:27; Rom. 14:10-12; 2 Cor. 5:10).

How all this transpires for each person—saved and unsaved—has not been revealed. But this universal reality and the administration of this process has been the subject of many debates over the centuries. Below are several additional verses from the New Testament that many ignore or lightly brush aside, which seem to teach this truth:

“Everyone will be salted with fire” (Mark 9:49).

“That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. . . . (Luke 12:47-48a).

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me’” (Matt. 25:41-45).

And arguably one of the most troubling and “scariest passages . . . in the entire Bible” (Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle, Erasing Hell (Colorado Springs, CO.: David C. Cook, 2011), 118): “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matt. 7:22-23).

“for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29; Deut. 4:24; Isa. 33:14).

So, really, is a believer in Christ in this life immune from all, some, or none of these negative consequences in the afterlife, or not? Baker certainly recognizes this possibility or reality that everyone may “stand in the fiery presence of God and suffer the purifying flames of God’s love. This burning love might feel like burning wrath to the one who experiences it.” And since everyone is a sinner, even those of us already saved by grace, this fire may just be God’s “love that burns away the sin, purifying the sinner so that true reconciliation and restoration can take place” (Baker, Razing Hell, 122).

But we also think we believers can rest assured that this divine use of fire is good for us because everything God does is good, right, and just. And this postmortem experience, whatever it might entail, will likewise be good, right, and just for each of us because He is the loving Father of all and we are all made in his image and likeness. We can also rest assured that God in his omniscience knows what will work best in each case to bring about his desired result.

Source:

1 Hell Yes / Hell No by John Noe