"And I saw a great white throne and the One [the Father judging through the Son] sitting on it. The earth and sky [everything] fled from his presence [his demeanour was so terrible], but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened [those recording all the deeds of humanity], including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave [Hades] gave up their dead [no one will be overlooked]. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave [Hades] were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:11-15 NLT).

The NLT uses "the grave" for "Hades". This seems to be correct for John is affirming strongly that all the dead, wherever they are when the Day of Judgement finally arrives, will be included. "Each person is destined to die once [reincarnation is ruled out] and after that comes judgment" (Heb. 9:27). We are assured that when a believer dies he or she goes immediately to be with Jesus in paradise (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Ph. 1:23).

Believers, as well as unbelievers, will be judged. "We must all be made manifest [be revealed as we really are] before the Judgment Seat of Christ. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body" (2 Cor. 5:10 NTL).

For believers, there will be rewards or regrets. We received eternal life as a gift when we received Christ, with the guarantee that we could never lose it (John 3:16; 10:28; 17:3). We have Christ's promise that we will not be judged regarding heaven or hell. "He who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24). This clearly means that no true believer will be condemned to hell on judgment day. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). The Final Judgment will be God's time to judge the spiritually dead and to reward God's born-again children (1 John 4:17; Rev. 11:18). 

At the final judgment, gracious and welcoming words will be spoken to all believers. "Come, you (righteous ones) who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world" (Mt. 25:34). However, we know from other Scriptures, that there will also be an evaluation of every believer's life to determine rewards. This will take place and convince us of God's justice concerning crowns and prizes won or lost (1 Cor. 9:24-27). Paul took rewards incredibly seriously. However, we will certainly not be condemned. We will look at rewards tomorrow.