Shedding Light on Outer Darkness

There is teaching that has seen a resurgence in recent years that says that Christians who suffer loss at the judgment seat of Christ will not be allowed to participate in all or parts of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ upon the earth. The more moderate view says that these believers will be inside of the kingdom, but they will not inherit the kingdom. They will be excluded from participating in the marriage supper of the Lamb and will forfeit the right to rule and reign with Christ. The most extreme view says that they will be cast into hades (hell) and suffer for one thousand years in the darkness. This teaching has been called the Protestant purgatory and compared by some to the Roman Catholic teaching of purgatory. The problem stems from the fact that certain hermeneutical principles of biblical interpretation have been violated and passages of scripture have been taken out of context and misinterpreted. The teaching that we are confronting is very subtle. When the doctrine is accepted fully it misrepresents the nature of God, does great injustice to the doctrine of grace, distorts the concept of eternal rewards, and changes the basic scheme of biblical eschatology. Bible teachers and believers in general need to be made aware of these issues.

There is teaching that has seen a resurgence in recent years that says that Christians who suffer loss at the judgment seat of Christ will not be allowed to participate in all or parts of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ upon the earth. The more moderate view says that these believers will be inside of the kingdom, but they will not inherit the kingdom. They will be excluded from participating in the marriage supper of the Lamb and will forfeit the right to rule and reign with Christ. The most extreme view says that they will be cast into hades (hell) and suffer for one thousand years in the darkness. This teaching has been called the Protestant purgatory and compared by some to the Roman Catholic teaching of purgatory. The problem stems from the fact that certain hermeneutical principles of biblical interpretation have been violated and passages of scripture have been taken out of context and misinterpreted. The teaching that we are confronting is very subtle. When the doctrine is accepted fully it misrepresents the nature of God, does great injustice to the doctrine of grace, distorts the concept of eternal rewards, and changes the basic scheme of biblical eschatology. Bible teachers and believers in general need to be made aware of these issues.

Dr. Fred Christian has been the Senior Pastor of the Big Bottom Missionary Baptist Church in Charleston, West Virginia for over twenty five years. He did his undergraduate work at the West Virginia Institute of Technology and at Liberty University. He also holds a Master of Ministry degree from Temple Baptist Seminary in Chattanooga, Tennessee and a PhD in Bible and Theology from Louisiana Baptist University in Shreveport, Louisiana.