Judgment to Think About
….but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. Psalm 75:7
After I became a Christian (in my late thirties), a friend asked me what I thought about God prior to salvation.
I believed in a god who was all loving and all for me. Without ever thinking about it, I figured that if the good I did outweighed the bad, I was going to heaven.
Then, my new friend, who had been raised in a Bible believing, Christian home, asked me what I had thought about judgment, as in God’s judgment of my sin.
I told her that I never thought about it. Interestingly, the fact that I am a sinner who was going to face God in judgment was how God got my attention. Before I knew everyone had a problem with sin, I never even considered God’s judgment.
As a Christian, I believe that God saves us and “no one will ever snatch us out of His hand.” (John 10:28) I know that I will be heaven when I die because of the grace He has showered on me in my salvation.
Many Christians are happy to rest in that truth and go back to that point of not considering God’s judgment. Even as Christians, though, we must be concerned about the judgment of God – on us and on our neighbors. (Matthew 22:39)
God’s law was left by God for us. He is clear in His Word that when we obey His law we will experience blessing and when we disobey we will experience curses. (Deuteronomy 11:26 – 32) He declared these truths to His own people, so we can apply them to our own lives and times as His people.
Our “neighbors” also need to hear about the grace of God. There will be some who do not want us to point them to God or His judgment. There will be some who act like they do and the minute we leave, will mock us. Still, when we are willing to speak of the truths we know, of blessing and curses so others can see the grace of God in His Law, some will believe.
It is not ours to know who will believe and who will not. It is ours to speak to anyone who will listen to the Biblical truths about judgment. I spent over thirty years in a mainline denomination and never heard about judgment! I did not hear about God’s judgment until I listened to Christian radio.
Do our neighbors understand that God will judge every sin? Do they know they can be free of the bondage of that sin because of the sacrifice that Christ provided on the Cross?
What we know, because the scriptures proclaim it, is that every one of our neighbors is committing sin. There is no one righteous. God is judge over every person and nation (Psalm 149:6-7) Do our neighbors know it?
God is all loving and all for us. Like a good Father, He wants us to see the sin and the curse as well as the blessing for obedience. Neither should we be willing to leave our neighbor in their sin or ignorance because, like me, they are ignorant of God’s judgment.
Whom do we need to approach with the truth of God’s judgment, personal and national?