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Judgments
By Pete Rose
In general terms a
judgment is an examination and evaluation of one's life, deeds or actions, and a
setting of consequences therefore, whether of punishment for wrong doing or of
rewards for doing good.
There is an opinion
among some religious circles, mostly in mainline denominational churches, that
there will be one general judgment at the end of time. But this is not what the
Bible teaches.
Generally speaking
there are two different kinds of judgments, temporal and eternal. The flood in
Noah's day, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the plagues brought on Egypt
by Moses, and the various judgments brought on Earth in the book of Revelation
are all examples of temporal judgments. Temporal judgments in general directly
affect only this lifetime, but may indirectly have eternal consequences. Their
main purpose is to chastise mankind for evil behavior with an eye to bringing
sinners to repentance. If repentance comes, these judgments may be withdrawn.
Eternal judgments on
the other hand directly determine our standing in and where we will spend
eternity. There is no turning back from these. This article will focus mainly on
the latter kind.
I can think of at
least five different judgments that are taught in the Bible.
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Our sins judged
on the cross. The Bible clearly teaches that the Lord Jesus took all the
sins of all mankind upon himself when He died on the cross. It is taught all
the way through the Old Testament that the penalty of sin is death, and in
order for one's sins to be forgiven, an innocent substitute must die in his
place. This is what the sacrificial system was all about. Each sacrifice
offered was an act of faith, looking forward to the ultimate Sacrifice of
Jesus on the cross, and each sacrifice had to be an animal, spotless and
without blemish, a representation of Jesus. These animal sacrifices
covered sin only for a time. The ultimate Sacrifice of Jesus takes
away sins forever, never to be brought against us again.
When John the
Baptist saw Jesus at the Jordan River where he baptized Him, he exclaimed,
“Behold! the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John
1:29, NKJ). Jesus said of Himself when talking to Nicodemus, “For God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be
saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe
is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only
begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18, NKJ). Paul, speaking to the church
at Corinth, says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that
we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21,
NKJ).
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Self judgment.
Self judgment occurs when we examine ourselves, acknowledge our sins and
confess them to God. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He [God]
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” Why? Because Jesus has already paid for all of our
sins, when He died on the Cross and rose again.
Paul, when
rebuking the church at Corinth for misbehavior at the Lord's Supper, warned
them that they were sinning in turning that sacred ceremony into a drunken
party and mistreating the poor at the accompanying love feast. They were
eating all the food before the working poor arrived, leaving them nothing
and getting drunk on top of that. He further warns them that because of this
many are sick and some have died—physically--then goes on to tell them,
“For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are
judged, we are chastened of God, that we may not be condemned with the
world.” (1 Corinthians 31-32, NKJ). So, by recognizing and confessing
our sins, we avoid God's chastisement.
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The judgment
seat of Christ. Paul tells the church at Corinth, “For we must all
appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the
things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or
bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10, NKJ).
This is a judgment
for believers only, which will take place in heaven at some time following
the rapture. It is not a judgment for condemnation, but a judgment to
determine rewards. Paul goes into much detail about this in 1 Corinthians
chapter 3. “For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid,
which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become
clear; for the day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and
the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work,
which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work
is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as
through fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:11-15, NKJ). Whatever we do after we are
saved, we are building on the foundation of Jesus, whether we are doing good
or bad.
You notice there
are two kinds of materials, “gold, silver, precious stones” and
“wood, hay, straw”. The first kind will endure fire, the second kind
will burn up. So whatever we do right will be rewarded, but whatever we do
wrong, or with wrong motives, will be burned up and will not count toward
our reward.
Jesus amplified on
this when he explained that our motives for doing things count as much as
what we do. In Matthew chapter six he warned his followers not to be like
the hypocrites who did everything to be seen of men. He gave three instances
of works, charitable deeds, prayer and giving alms. If you do these acts in
secret, where only God sees them, you have a reward from God. If you do them
to be seen of men, you have your reward already, being seen by men (and
impressing them), and that's all the reward you will get. So, works we do
with the motive of glorifying and/or pleasing God are represented by gold,
silver and precious stones which will withstand the fire of the judgment,
while works done to draw attention to ourselves and to impress people around
us, or to satisfy our carnal desires, are represented by wood, hay and straw
which will be burned up. Once the judgment fire has been applied and the
wood, hay and straw burned up, then we will be rewarded according to what
remains on the altar. If all is burned up, the person whose works were being
judged will suffer the loss of his rewards, yet he himself will be saved,
but as one who escaped from a burning house with his life and nothing more.
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Sheep and goats
judgment. This judgment takes place on Earth between the end of the
great tribulation and the establishment of Jesus' millennial reign on earth.
It will be the judgment of those who have come through the great tribulation
alive in their natural bodies, to separate believers from unbelievers.
There are three
categories of people in this scene, sheep (believers), goats (non-believers)
and brethren (the Jews). The basis of the judgment will be how they treated
the brethren (Jews), as evidence of their faith or lack of it. You will find
a detailed account of this judgment in Jesus' own words in Matthew 25:31-46.
“When the Son of man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with
him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be
gathered before Him and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd
divides his sheep from the goats. And he will set the sheep on His right
hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His
right hand, 'come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world.' ” And then he goes on to list
all the ways the sheep have ministered to Him, feeding, clothing, visiting
him, etc. Then they answer Him, saying, “Lord, when did we see You hungry
and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink...?” And Jesus will answer
them, saying, “Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of
the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” Then he says to those
on the left, “Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared
for the devil and his angels.” Then he lists all the ways those on the
left failed to minster to Him, all the same things those on the right did,
and they will answer, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a
stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minster to You?” And
Jesus answers, “...inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of
these, you did not do it to me.” So the goats are sent to everlasting
punishment, while the righteous are ushered into eternal life.
(Quotations from
NKJ).
Now you may wonder
why it appears that these seemingly are judged according to works when the
Bible plainly teaches that we are saved by faith alone. In those days there
will be severe persecution and one who ministers to a Jew does so at the
risk of his own life. So one would have to have faith God would protect him,
and that even if he were killed he would still have eternal life. In
ministering to Jews, those on Jesus' right hand have demonstrated their
faith by so ministering, and those on the left have shown their lack of
faith by refusing to do so.
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The Great White
Throne. This is the great final judgment in which all the unsaved of all
ages will be judged and cast into the lake of fire. This is not to determine
if they are lost, but to prove they are lost, and to set punishment, which
is being cast into the lake of fire. All the saved have already had their
judgment some 3000 years before, when Jesus was crucified like a common
criminal, not for anything He had done, but for our sins.
This judgment is
described in Revelation 20:11-15 and happens in an unspecified location away
from Heaven and Earth. The basis of this judgment is whether or not their
names are found written in the book of life. The apostle John describes it
thusly: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from
Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place
for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the
books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.
And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were
written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and
Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. Then Death and Hades were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found
written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (NKJ.)
Is God unfair in
judging the unsaved and casting them into the lake of fire? Not at all. When
Jesus died on the cross he paid for the sins of every man, woman and child
living now, who has ever lived, or ever will live. The only requirement is
that you receive Him into your life as your Lord and Savior, believing that
His death on the cross has fully paid for your sins. God has set death as
the penalty for your sins. In His mercy he let Jesus take that penalty for
you, and when you receive Him, God sees you as though you were just as
righteous as Jesus, and your sins as fully paid for by Him and completely
removed. This opportunity is available for every person on Earth today, and
for everyone who will be, and was available to every last person who ever
has lived. If you refuse to receive His mercy through receiving Jesus, He
has no choice but to let you bear the punishment for your own sins, which is
eternity in the lake of fire.
There are at least
four other judgments I did not mention above. There is the judgment of the beast
and the false prophet, immediately following the Great Tribulation. They are
immediately thrown alive into the lake of fire when Jesus returns to Earth at
the end of the Tribulation, and will remain there for all eternity, Revelation
19:20.
There is the judgment
of the angels who sinned, 2 Peter 2:4, bound in chains of darkness in hell,
reserved to judgment at a future date.
There is the judgment
of those who were killed during the Great Tribulation for their witness for
Christ, and who had not received the mark of the beast. “And they lived and
reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”
(Revelation 20:4, NKJ).
And lastly there is
the judgment of those who worship the beast and receive his mark during the
tribulation. “...If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his
mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of
the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His
indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of
the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment
ascends forever and ever, and they have no rest day day or night, who worship
the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.
(Revelation 14:9-11, NKJ.) All who take this mark and worship the beast and his
image are condemned to eternal torment, from which there will be no escape.
Which judgment will
you experience? It's entirely up to you.
(With grateful thanks
to Kay Lowther for his helpful suggestions in writing this article.)
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