Sins Punished Twice?

QUESTION
In Revelation 20, we read at the end that everyone is judged according to their works, yet it is also true that people are judged because of their unbelief. These people too will one day be raised to life, but now I’m wondering: do they still need the cross? After all, they are judged according to their works, and so the fact that Christ reconciled the sins of the world at the cross no longer seems relevant for them. The only thing that matters for them is the resurrection, because they too will partake in Christ’s resurrection in incorruption. For their deeds, they have already received their punishment (discipline), so they are already justified. Am I seeing this correctly, or not?

ANSWER
When people are judged at the “great white throne,” it is not a payment of guilt but a correction. That is what judging means: to correct, to set right (cf. Isa.26:9). The more distorted something is, the more correction it will naturally require. The books are opened, says Revelation 20:12, and everything hidden in darkness is brought to light. That is the correction. For many, undoubtedly, an extremely painful process! “Affliction and constriction will be on every soul of man who is effecting evil” (Rom. 2:9). But no matter how painful, this correction is not directed against the human being, but rather for him.

But then the question: if Christ already died for the sins of these people, why must they still be judged? Are they then punished twice? Or does Christ’s death not matter for them?

Here we touch on a persistent misunderstanding about the meaning of the cross of Golgotha. Orthodox doctrine holds that Christ suffered and died as a substitute. Humanity was guilty of death, but Christ supposedly underwent death in our place. But how so “substitute,” if we ourselves still die? The orthodox answer is: Christ underwent the eternal (read: endless) death that we deserved. How Christ was then able to rise again after three days will likely remain forever unanswered…

This idea of Christ’s substitutionary death is illogical. It also does not appear anywhere in the entire Bible. Christ did not die instead of us, but for us – so that through death, He might become the Conqueror of death (>Heb.2:14). He died in order to rise. His death was the price He had to pay to bring incorruptible life to light. It was necessary for Him to enter into death before He could leave death behind. That is why He had to die.

We must also keep in mind that Christ did not just die. He died “the death, yea, the death of the cross.” This made the price He paid infinitely greater! At the cross, it became visible who man is: an enemy of God. But precisely against this backdrop, God’s love shone as never before! The cross is therefore the ultimate proof of God’s love (Rom. 5:8). The text “apart from the shedding of blood there is no pardon” (Heb. 9:22) has always been interpreted in orthodox theology as: God must first see blood before He can forgive. A horrible caricature in which God is portrayed as bloodthirsty. But God does not demand bloodshed in order to forgive. On the contrary: the shedding of blood proves His love and forgiveness!

Returning to the question: why must sins still be judged (> “great white throne”) if Christ has already died for them? The answer is simple: precisely because Christ died “for our sins and those of the whole world,” He will set everything right. And do not forget: He who sits on the “great white throne” is the same One who once gave His life for all those who will stand before that throne. Because they have all been bought and paid for, He will judge and correct them. That is also why the throne is not black, but white.

Delen: