Every person’s work will be recognized for what it is, because the Day of Judgment will expose it. Everyone’s work will be put through fire to test how good it is.
These have come to show that your faith is genuine. This will bring praise, honor, and glory to God when Jesus Christ returns. Your faith is worth even more than gold, because gold can be destroyed even after fire has made it pure.
I saw the dead, both great and small, standing in front of the throne. Books were opened, and then another book was opened, which was the book of life. The dead were judged by what they’d done, which had been recorded in the books.
So don’t judge anything before the appointed time. Wait until the Lord returns, and he will bring what’s now hidden in the dark out into the light. He’ll show the real reasons why people do what they do. At that time God will give each person the praise they deserve.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be seen for what they really are.
Because you’re being so stubborn, and you’re not sorry in your heart for your sins, you’re making God more and more angry with you. The day of God’s anger is coming. Then he will pass judgment openly and fairly.
That’s why I’m suffering the way I am. But I’m not ashamed, because I know the one I’ve believed in and I’m certain that he’s able to protect what I’ve given him. I can trust him with it until the day he returns.
Now there’s a crown waiting for me, the crown that’s given to those who are right with God. The Lord, who judges fairly, will give it to me on the day he returns, and not only to me, but also to all those who are longing for him to return.
Let’s not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing. Instead, let’s encourage one another. And let’s meet and encourage one another even more as we see the day of Christ’s return approaching.
By that same word, the heavens and earth of today are being reserved for fire. They’re being kept ready for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.