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Judgment
What Judgment Will I Face?
A discussion of the doctrine of the judgment of God requires an understanding of the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for the sins of all men (John
3:16, Hebrews 12:2). All of our sins are forgiven via this single
sacrifice (Hebrews 7:27), and we will never be judged for the
individual sins that we commit. In eternity, our sins are
forgiven and forgotten by God. Jesus supplied our eternal sacrifice,
and through confession (1 John 1:9), we can have God's temporal forgiveness
for this life. With this being the case, what judgment does 1
Peter 1:17 address? "Since you call on a Father who judges
each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent
fear." Furthermore, Romans 2:6 says that God will judge every man according to his deeds.
Indeed, all men will be judged, but there are two specific categories
of judgment based upon the determining factor of believing in Jesus
Christ as personal savior. Remember that upon accepting Christ
as savior, God imputes
the righteousness of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to
each believer. Without this divine power, man can do no good
(Romans 3:10, 12, Psalms 53:3). He may do some humanly good
deeds, which have as their source the old sin nature, but unless the Holy
Spirit indwells a person and God sees that person through the
righteousness of His son, he cannot perform any divinely good
works. In the first category of judgment then, unbelievers
will be judged at the Great White Throne of God (Revelation 20:11-15), and in
the second category, believers will be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10).
The Great White Throne
The judgment of unbelievers will occur after the Millennium as all
unbelievers stand before the Great White Throne of God (Revelation
20:11). God will judge all of their deeds (Romans 2:6) and
find that they are all lacking the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Romans
3:22), and He will cast them all into the lake of fire forever
(Revelation 20:15). The Bible does not specify how the judgment of
their individual human good works will affect their eternal doom in the
lake of fire. Perhaps there will be degrees of punishment in
hell,
although we cannot perceive of a punishment worse than hell itself.
Romans 1:18-27 tells us that they deserve their punishment, and that
they have no excuse for their unbelief, since God has revealed Himself to all men.
The Judgment Seat of Christ
The judgment of all believers will occur at the Judgment Seat of Christ
(2 Corinthians 5:10, Romans 14:10), but the Bible does not clearly
specify when this judgment will occur. Many believe that it
will be after the rapture and during the tribulation period, but it is
probably a moot point since time cannot be set in an eternal
state. Nevertheless, we are assured of this judgment which 1
Corinthians 1:8 calls "the day of the Lord Jesus Christ," and we are
charged to be prepared for it and remain blameless in this life until
that day. In 1 Corinthians 3:12-15, we see that in that day
that the work of every man "will be shown for what it is, because
the Day will bring it to light." Christ will test the quality of our works
with fire, which will burn up the wood, hay, and straw, but leave the
pure gold, silver, and precious stones. God will repay us for
our deeds in the body, according to what we have done, whether good or bad
(2 Corinthians 5:10). This is where Christ will reveal whether
our good works were only humanly good works produced by the old sin nature
like the wood, hay, and straw similar to that of "good" unbelievers, or
whether our good works came from the divine power of the Holy Spirit in
the form of gold, silver, and precious stones. For the divine
good works that survive the test of fire, Jesus will credit our account
(Philippians 4:17). For our human good works, we will suffer
loss, but we will keep our eternal life (1 Corinthians 3:15). We are
promised that God will repay us for our service to Him (Ephesians 6:8),
and we will receive "an inheritance from the Lord as a reward" (Colossians 3:24).
Rewards
We are not told the details of these rewards, but any reward from God
must be wonderful and worthy of our service. Our rewards may
be personal commendations from Jesus, "Well done, good and
faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21, 23). They may be in the form
of crowns (1 Corinthians 9:25, Revelation 3:11). In 1 Peter 5:4,
a special "crown of glory" is specified for leaders who serve
well. In 2 Timothy 4:8, we see a crown of righteousness for
those who live Godly lives and long for Christ's return. James 1:12
references a crown of life for those who persevered by God's grace,
while under trial for their faith. Philippians 4:1 speaks of a crown of
joy for those who stand firm in their service to God.
Our rewards may be various positions of authority or leadership as we
reign with Christ (2 Timothy 2:12, Revelation 20:6, 22:5). In
1 Corinthians 6:3, we see that we will even be given authority to judge
the angels. No matter what our rewards are, Christians in this
life must have faith that God will make all of our service to Him
worthwhile. After salvation, and while we remain on the earth, we are
told to serve God and earn rewards from Jesus Christ.
Works
This system of judgment and rewards for Christians in return for
divinely good works doesn't at first sound like a grace system, does
it? However, God established this system of works within His
all-encompassing system of grace, similar to the way that he had a
system of works to govern the daily lives of the Jews in the Old
Testament, although the two are completely mutually exclusive. When not
properly oriented toward God's grace and sovereignty, a Christian can
feel guilty for trying to earn eternal rewards. Of course our works
should be motivated from our love for Christ, but Matthew 6:19-20 says
that we should not seek earthly treasures (coveting), but we should
seek heavenly treasures (rewards) with fervor.
Conclusion
We will all face God's judgment, whether we are believers or
unbelievers. At the Great White Throne of God, unbelievers
will be found to lack the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and they will be
sentenced to the lake of fire forever. Believers will be
rewarded for their divinely good works, and they will spend eternity in
paradise, either as wealthy recipients of many rewards, or as paupers
in comparison to what they could have had. The name of the
game in the Christian life is to please God through our obedience and earning of heavenly rewards.
Owen Weber 2009 |
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