The point of the present article is that the same judgment and cleansing that is taking place now on the earth is taking place also among the saints in the spirit realm. The judgment is on both the living and the dead at the same time.

Now consider:

Christ is ready (was ready two thousand years ago) to judge the living and the dead. The living and the dead are to be judged at the same time. It appears the two thousand years of the Church Age, and possibly the one thousand years of the Kingdom Age which follows, are devoted and shall be devoted to judging the worldliness, lust, and self-will that came into being when Satan set his will against the will of God.

We are not implying in this article that Hell or the Lake of Fire are a kind of purgatory and that people will remain there and then be released. It may be noted that after one thousand years in the bottomless pit Satan, when released, immediately set out to destroy the work of God. There is no passage of Scripture that to my knowledge implies that Hell, or the Lake of Fire, or the wrath of God, is redemptive.

Our emphasis is that we pass into the spirit realm unchanged, there to have opportunity for spiritual growth or else to be punished for our sins. If this is true it is good news for the righteous and a terrifying prospect for the careless Christians.

I think our Evangelical tradition is that somehow we will be transformed, either by death or by the touch of Christ when He comes. What I am maintaining is that this tradition has no basis in the Scriptures. It is much more reasonable to assume the program of judgment, of cleansing, of spiritual growth, will continue whether we are physically alive or in the spirit realm.

It may be that some Evangelicals suppose God forever will "see us through Christ" so no transformation is absolutely necessary. If such be the case, God help us! We are doomed to live forever with the gossip, slander, strife, division, striving for preeminence, adultery, and all the rest of the wicked behavior that today characterizes the Christian churches.

It is not scriptural that sinful behavior will be permitted in the new Jerusalem. Either we are transformed morally when we die (for which there is no scriptural basis), or Christ will transform us instantaneously when He appears (for which there is no scriptural basis), or it does not matter if we are not transformed (which the Scripture denies vehemently), or the program of cleansing and growth in Christ continues independently of whether we are on earth or in the spirit realm. It appears the latter has some scriptural support, as we are pointing out, and is eminently reasonable and logical.

I think Evangelical believers, perhaps without realizing it, already are hoping for deliverance in the spirit realm. If they suppose, as many do, that we will be delivered from sin when we die, they are pointing toward deliverance in the spirit realm. If they are looking to be delivered from sin when the Lord appears, then again they are hoping for deliverance in the spirit realm, because most Christians will be in the spirit realm when the Lord appears.

To be continued.