A Work of Judgment

In the new covenant the sins of the repentant believers are by faith placed on Christ and transferred in fact to the heavenly sanctuary. And as the symbolic cleansing of the earthly sanctuary was accomplished by removing the sins that had polluted it, so the actual cleansing of the heavenly is accomplished by removing, or blotting out, the sins recorded there. But before this can happen, there must be an examination of the books of record to determine who, through repentance and faith in Christ, are entitled to the benefits of His atonement. So the cleansing of the sanctuary involves a work of investigation—a work of judgment—before the coming of Christ, because when He comes, His reward is with Him to give to every one according to his works. (See Revelation 22:12).LF 174.3

So those who followed the light of the prophetic word saw that, instead of coming to the earth at the end of the 2,300 days in 1844, Christ entered the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary to perform the closing work of atonement in preparation for His coming.LF 174.4

When Christ, by the power of His blood, removes the sins of His people from the heavenly sanctuary at the close of His ministry, He will put them on Satan, who must bear the final penalty. The scapegoat was sent away into an uninhabited land, never to come again into the congregation of Israel. Likewise, Satan will be banished forever from the presence of God and His people, and he will be blotted out of existence in the final destruction of sin and sinners.LF 174.5