Thinking About Judgment
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. Now I do think about it.
The Bible teaches us that God saves us by giving us faith in Christ’s sacrifice for our sin. I am sure that “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, we must be concerned about the judgment of God – on us and on our neighbors and even in our nation. (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. And, there will be some who clearly hear the truths of blessings and curses being the grace of God, and they 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 had several Christian friends, but I did not hear about God’s judgment until I listened to Christian radio.
Today, as we observe what is happening in our nation (millions of babies murdered in the womb, what God calls abominations man calling good, and the state of the family in our current Barbie movie-loving culture), we must see that God is not pleased.
If you are one, like me, who has never thought about God’s judgment, now is the time. There is no one righteous. However, our gracious and merciful God forgives repentant sinners. How many of them know that repentance is their next best step? Will you tell them?
….but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. Psalm 75:7