Hence, in the Bible, free gift and the kingdom are two entirely different things. Eternity and the kingdom are also two entirely different things. One cannot put the two things together. In the coming millennial kingdom, God will reward man in a particular way. God will reward man with his rightful crown and glory based upon his works. But as soon as the kingdom is over and the new heaven and new earth begin, everything becomes a matter of grace. Everyone who trusts in the grace of the Lord Jesus will enter in. There will not be the question of work at all. One's personal walk is related to the question of reward, while salvation and justification for the sinner are related to the work of the Lord Jesus. We must differentiate between these two things clearly. Otherwise, when the Bible speaks of the loss in the kingdom, you might be thinking about the loss in eternity, and when God speaks of reward, you might be thinking about salvation. It is true that man's salvation is eternal. But before this eternal salvation is manifested, God will first manifest the matter of reward in the millennial kingdom. One cannot mix these two things together.

In addition to these things, there is another matter that Protestantism has buried in the grave for a long time. Although some may feel that this is something new, actually it was recorded in the Bible long ago. In the Bible there are at least three things which must be distinguished one from another. We have just mentioned two of them, which are the discipline that a Christian receives in this age, and the loss of reward in the kingdom. If we fail, we will not only be disciplined today, but will lose the reward in the kingdom. However, there is still another thing. In the kingdom, there is definite punishment. The Bible is very clear concerning this truth. When a person believes in the Lord and is saved, it is true that the problem of salvation is solved. It is also true that the questions concerning the new heaven and new earth and eternal salvation are settled. But if this one continues to sin and would not repent, he will not only be under God's government and discipline today and lose the reward in the kingdom, he will also suffer some definite punishment in the kingdom.

Some have told us that to lose the reward is punishment enough. But the defeated ones will still be punished. The Bible devotes much space to speak of this. The Bible not only tells us that Christians may not receive the reward in the kingdom, it also tells us that if Christians sin and do not repent, they will receive very heavy punishment in the kingdom. We must distinguish this matter clearly. The question of eternal salvation must not be mixed with the question of nominal Christians. The question of eternal salvation must not be mixed with the discipline of this age. The question of eternal salvation must not be mixed with the question of losing the reward in the kingdom, and it must also not be mixed with the question of punishment in the kingdom. One cannot put these four distinctions together and make "chop suey" out of them. If one does that, God's work will become a mixture of everything that does not resemble anything. If God has made the distinctions, and we ignore the distinctions, we will end up with many unsolvable problems.

Today, we will first take away these four things. We will put aside all the words in the Bible that speak of nominal Christians, the discipline of the believers, the loss of reward, and the punishment in the kingdom for the believers. In the next few messages, we will cover them one by one. What we will talk about in this message are the verses apart from these four kinds of cases. We will talk about the verses that seemingly speaks of perdition after salvation.