Is the Unbeliever Not Being Judged Twice - First in Burning Hell and Then Second at the Lake of Fire?
No. It’s not two judgments. The unbeliever is condemned already, held in a place of torment now, and then brought up for one final judgment at the Great White Throne and cast into the lake of fire—the second death.
The Bible says, “He that believeth not is condemned already” (John 3:18). After death there is a holding place of torment—“in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments” (Luke 16:23–24)—and Scripture speaks of “spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:19). But the formal judgment is future: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). At the Great White Throne, “the dead…were judged… and death and hell delivered up the dead… and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (Revelation 20:11–15).
Now notice the simple truth: prison is not the court. A man may be held in jail awaiting trial—that’s not a second judgment. So the torment in hell is the holding of the already-condemned; the Great White Throne is the court where the sentence is set and executed; the lake of fire is the final end, the second death. The wicked are burned up, not given eternal life in flames (Malachi 4:1,3; Ezekiel 18:4).
So it’s not double judgment. It’s one condemnation carried from prison to court to execution: hell now as a holding place, the White Throne as judgment, and the lake of fire as the final, second death.
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Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever
63-0627 §33
Now we all know that sin is unbelief. "He that believeth not is condemned already." Now, sin is the attribute of unbelief. Smoking cigarettes is not a sin. Stealing is not a sin. Lying is not a sin. Committing adultery is not a sin. "What is it then, you'd say?" It's the attributes of unbelief. If you were a believer you would not do those things. The reason you do it proves that you're a unbeliever. There's only two factions. That's either you are a believer, or not a believer. And how, always puzzled me, that a m...
The sin of unbelief
58-0517E §4
And unbelief is such a horrible thing. And Jesus here had just been teaching to the people and upbraiding them because of their unbelief. And in the previous chapter he had said, "Thou Sidon and Capernaum which are exalted into heaven shall be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works had been done in you, and to Sodom and Gomorrah, and the other cites... If the mighty works had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah that had been done in Capernaum, then it would've been standing to this day." So why wasn't Sodom and...
The Harvest Time
64-1212 §108
The original went on to the ground, in martyrdom, the burrs of Rome ground that wheat from Pentecost into the dust, and burned them at stakes and fed them to the lions. They went in like the other wheat did, that's right, but He begin to raise her again in the reformation, the same one, the second time. Like He did the second Adam. After Adam fell, He begin to raise a second Adam. And the second Adam fell, then was taken up. The first Adam fell in his sin and stayed there. The second Adam fell, to redeem a man from...
To see Jesus
54-0718E §41
Drinking, smoking, gambling, doing evil things: that isn't sin; that's the attributes of unbelief. You do that because you're an unbeliever. If you was a believer, you would not do those things. It bears the fruits of joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, patience, holiness. That's the fruits of the Spirit. But the fruits of the evil spirit is doubt. "He that believeth not is condemned already." Then if the truth comes to you in such a way that you have a knowledge of it, and then refuse to receive it, there rema...
Questions and Answers, Part 3
64-0830M §156
Another book was opened which was the book of life, and those who had their name on the book of life had to be judged out of that book. And Judas Iscariot professed to be a believer, and he had his name written among them on the book of life. Is that right? He claimed to have eternal life. And his name was put on the book of life. So he has to... Why, he has to be judged then to see why did he condemn the Word of life then, sell out for thirty pieces of silver. Some sells out to be a Methodist, Baptist or whatmore....