The atonement for past sins has been made. The task now is the chastening of the creation, beginning with the saints. Each person who refuses Christ, or who accepts Christ but refuses to be corrected, will incur the Divine anger. He may suffer greatly as God attempts to bring him to redemption.

If he continues to stubbornly refuse to obey the Lord Jesus he will be excluded from the forgiveness produced by the atonement made on the cross. He will be cast into the everlasting torment.

First, Christ Himself was perfected in obedience through suffering.

Next, the saints are chastened and corrected.

Finally, the nations of the saved will be chastened and corrected by the rod of iron in the hands of the saints.

All who believe in Christ and accept correction will be saved to eternal life in the new heaven and earth reign of Christ. All who refuse Christ, or who refuse to be corrected by Christ, will be cast into torment.

The chastening of the individual commences in this life and very well may extend into the next (Luke 12:47). The exception to this is the believer who passes through the Judgment Seat of Christ while alive in the world. Such deliverance from bondage is possible but it requires strict cooperation with the Spirit of God, stern obedience to the Father. Christ alone determines when we have passed successfully through His Judgment Seat and have been purged of rebellion and lawlessness.

It is clear in II Corinthians 5:10, Luke 12:47,48, and similar passages that our correction will continue in the spirit realm. People will receive the evil they have practiced. Some will be assigned to the Lake of Fire without hope of reprieve.

The Song of Solomon 8:8,9 suggests a growth in the "relatives" of the Bride that will take place at some undesignated time. Also, the thousand-year Kingdom Age will be one of correction and teaching, as we understand it.

The destiny of the weak Christian is not set forth in the New Testament writings. All we know from the Scriptures is that we will receive the things done in our body, whether they have been good or evil. The glorious rewards go to those who overcome through Christ, but sinners never will enter through the gates of the new Jerusalem.

The Book of Hebrews is a warning to believers to not neglect their salvation. This one book alone is sufficient to reveal the error of the current overemphasis on "grace" as meaning a device whereby we evade the Kingdom law of sowing and reaping.

There does come a time when our warfare has been accomplished, our iniquity has been pardoned (Isaiah 40:1,2).

Some human beings will share the fate of Satan and his angels, that is, they will be tormented forever without hope of being redeemed. This is a fate so terrible we are unable to grasp it. This is the maximum, sentence.

To be continued.