Sunday: The Final Judgment
For many, the idea of judgment means condemnation. And though that’s part of the process, we mustn’t forget that the idea of judgment has a positive side, in that judgment also involves the vindication of the righteous. Actually, the book of Daniel refers to an end-time judgment “in favor of the saints of the Most High” (Daniel 7:22, NKJV). God’s judgment includes both — a principle found in this Old Testament text: “Then hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness” (1 Kings 8:32, NKJV).
Read Matthew 25:31-46 and John 5:21-29. How did Christ point to the concepts of both condemnation and vindication in the final judgment?
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Some claim that the expressions “is not judged” (John 3:18, NASB) and “will not be judged” (John 5:24, NIV) mean that those who are in Christ are not judged at all. But these expressions imply that believers are not condemned in the judgment. Hence the texts should be understood as saying “is not condemned” (John 3:18, NIV) and “shall not come into condemnation” (John 5:24).
In short, our destiny is determined in our present life. Those in Christ have their vindication at the judgment already assured, and those who are not in Christ remain under condemnation. Describing the judgment (Matthew 25:31-46), Christ mentioned the presence not only of the goats (wicked) but also of the sheep (righteous). And the apostle Paul stated explicitly, “For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10, NRSV).
While reflecting on the judgment, we should keep in mind that we are saved by grace (Isaiah 55:1, Ephesians 2:8-10), justified by faith (Genesis 15:6, Romans 5:1), and judged by works (Eccles. 12:14, Matthew 25:31-46, Revelation 20:11-13). The basis of the judgment process is God’s moral law as summarized in the Ten Commandments (Eccles. 12:13, Revelation 20:11-13; James 1:25; James 2:8-17). Our works are the external evidences of the genuineness of our saving experience and, consequently, the elements to be appraised during judgment.
Remember: there is no arbitrary decree from God electing some to be saved and others to be lost. Each one is morally responsible for his or her own destiny.
In the end, the judgment is not the time when God decides to accept or reject us, but the time when God finalizes our choice whether or not we have accepted Him — a choice made manifest by our works.
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It is true that we are used to condemnation or vindication being part of the (human) judgment process. But does that automatically mean this is exactly the same for God's judgment? Again for the sake of being brief, I will assert that God's judgment process is a process of revelation of what already is rather than determination (eg 1 Corinthians 4:5; John 3:18-19). This accords with the lesson's acknowledgement that "there is no arbitrary decree from God electing some to be saved and others to be lost" and, similarly, that "the judgment is not the time when God decides to accept or reject us, but the time when God finalizes our choice whether or not we have accepted Him".
Therefore, condemnation or vindication are not part of God's judgment process in the same way they are part of our human judgment process. Rather, God's judgment process enables all to see first-hand, for themselves whether and why each person is self-condemned (John 3:18) or vindicated. Each person was already inherently condemned or vindicated prior to this 'judgment' - the judgment 'confirms' or makes perfectly visible this reality for all to see beyond any shadow of doubt.
With God's 'judgment' being a process where He reveals 'evidence/Truth that speaks for itself', all lies, deception and misperception will melt/dissolve. And all that will remain is Truth - Truth of why all who "perish" do so because they are receiving the inherent fruit of what they have chosen/desired and why all who partake of life eternal do so because they are receiving the inherent fruit of what they have chosen/desired (as per Galatians 6:7-8). And this is how all will come to acknowledge that God's ways are just and true - via a process whereby God and His ways will at the same time also be (objectively) vindicated.
I think that one of the issues in thinking about the judgment is that we think of it as the day that God pours out his wrath etc. However, while there is an element of "criminal justice" involved, there is also a sense of restoration. One reason why I included a reference to C S Lewis's book in my comment yesterday, is that he highlights this notion of restorative judgment as is depicted in the Psalms. Lewis maintains, it is not one or the other, but both working together for an outcome that deletes evil and restored the original. Our justice system uses both the criminal and civil courts to deliver justice and restoration and I think there is sufficient evidence in the Bible to support the notion that God uses both forms of judgment too.
There is in the judgment as depicted in the Bible something somewhat equivalent to our "court of inquiry". Such courts are usually held when something goes wrong - eg a huge bushfire or flood (we have had enough of both in Australia lately) Courts of inquiry are held to find out what went wrong and, although the news media often overlook it, what went right. Surely part of the heavenly judgment is to find out what is the causality of sin, and hopefully, the finding from that inquiry will be sufficient to ensure that sin does not rise again.
Thanks Maurice for your input to the conversation. I acknowledge that some might (mistakenly) think that I am a 'black and white', 'all or nothing' thinker. However, I actually support any and all dimensions that are validly supported by evidence. As a scientist, you will be well aware that interpretation of evidence/data is based upon the foundational assumptions being brought to the table. I guess what I am doing is re-examining those foundational assumptions through which we are interpreting the 'data'. Are God's ways (and the underpinning phenomena) the same as our ways or are they qualitatively different?
For example, the "criminal justice" system we are familiar with is 'in play' because criminals often don't experience the full inherent consequences of their 'crime'. Thus there is need for imposed consequences in lieu of such. But is this the case in wider reality that God oversees and 'orchestrates'? Or is the (temporary) need for imposed consequences within our criminal justice system an (unfortunate) artefact of the restraint of full inherent consequences to 'sin' that God has needed to enact on this fallen planet in order to enable a temporary period of probation? Therefore, when God eventually releases this restraint, will imposed consequences still need to be enacted or will the inherent full consequences that are unleashed then supersede the need for imposed consequences?
I fully agree with you (and C S Lewis) that there is a 'restorative judgment' dimension - just as there is a 'destructive judgment' dimension. Galatians 6:7-8 affirms that these are the 2 dimensions in play - and that because they are, God will not be mocked (ie, will instead be vindicated). But what is the nature of the destructive dimension? This is an important question because the nature of this dimension will in turn be linked to the nature of God's judgment process/es that we are exploring in the lesson this week.
Hi, Phil. I appreciate the emphasis on the restorative aspect of judgment and justice. Even the punitive actions that must be taken will ultimately have a restorative effect, as Inge has also pointed out. Perfect justice is a part of what is necessary for making every wrong right, which in turn is essential to removing all occasion for future dissatisfaction with God's government.
You speak of the inherent consequences of sin as something that God is restraining. But this would seem to imply that those inherent consequences are self-activating, or automatic. But "inherent doesn't mean automatic."
Scripture seems to suggest that God is actively keeping us alive, every moment.
Psalm 104:29 indicates that God need only withdraw the breath of life that He supplies to each person, and that person will die. My understanding is that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross has purchased a probationary period for each of us, during which time we are privileged to choose Him and His ways over the ways of sin that are ultimately incompatible with life in the universe. So, God sustains our life while wooing us with His love.
This raises the question of just how sin is incompatible with life. If this were a kind of automatic, mechanical and immediate consequence, such that God should have to "restrain" it, then why would angels have to bar the way to the Tree of Life, so that there should not be an immortal sinner? (See Genesis 3:22-24.)
How then does the sinner destroy himself? If left to themselves and each other, sinners might eventually kill each other off, but is this what is meant? By persistence in sin, a person becomes hardened against God's love and his own repentance, until it becomes impossible even for God to convert him into anything other than an evildoer. The universe must be restored to peace and harmony, so there is simply no place for an incorrigibly selfish person for whom the pure social atmosphere of heaven would be torture. This is what I believe makes sin incompatible with life in God's universe. Sinners do not physically destroy themselves, but they harden their hearts until their continued existence would be of no benefit to themselves, nor to anyone else, The happiness and security of the created universe necessitate their annihilation, and they know it. Even the just retribution that the finally impenitent bring on themselves is not automatic. As noted earlier, carrying out perfect justice is a necessary part of restoring all things.
You asked:
Scripture evidence is abundant that God will judge (impose consequences on) the wicked. I consider it an axiom that God never does anything unnecessary, especially where suffering is involved. Therefore, "imposed consequences" must be absolutely necessary. The order of the universe is due to the character of its Sovereign. His willingness to intervene is our only hope for a right outcome. Revelation 11:17 seems to imply as much.
Thanks R G for your response and questions. You have raised too many points for me to respond to all at once, so I will start with just a couple of points and we can go from there in a conversation if you like.
When I use the term inherent, I am referring to a phenomenon whereby the outcomes or effects are due to/arise from factors already in place. This aligns with Britannica Dictionary definition of inherent as "belonging to the basic nature of someone or something". By contrast, imposed refers to something needing to be additionally added because the inherent state is in and of itself insufficient to cause the necessary outcome. From a functional perspective, imposed compared with inherent also links to arbitrary compared with non-arbitrary, but that is a conversation in and of itself.
Yes, you are absolutely correct that God/Jesus upholds and sustains life (via the Holy Spirit) - God is the (eternal perpetual) fountain of life (Jeremiah 2:13 resulting in John 4:14) and holds all things together (Hebrews 1:3). But how does God hold all things together? A vital part of the overall picture is that God has also established a consistent/constant-based 'mechanism' through which that life force operates and through which He ongoingly (actively) 'governs' or perhaps rather 'orchestrates' life and living. These are the 'laws'* or more correctly 'principle-constants' that underpin the actual functionality of life and living. This 'mechanism' of 'principle-constants' fosters and maintains the order that is essential for life - for without this fostered and maintained order, there is instead chaos that we well know is incompatible with (true) life (as per Romans 8:2 in light of 1 John 3:4). Thus, God's 'law' is functionally/operationally comprised of the (inherent) cause and effect constants that science observes (eg physics, mathematics, etc). And all true moral 'laws' also share this exact same nature.
Galatians 6:7-8, as a summary statement, is similarly reflecting the existence of this vital underpinning reality. Those who sow to the Spirit, from the Spirit reap life. By contrast, those who sow to the flesh, from the flesh (ie, not from the Spirit and therefore apart from and antagonistic to the Spirit) reap destruction. This is to say that those who sow to the Spirit are those who are in harmony with the Spirit - both in terms of being connected with the Breath of Life and also living in harmony with the 'laws'/mechanisms of life through which that Breath is 'distributed'/manifested. On the other hand, those who sow to the flesh are those who are in actuality out of harmony with the principle-contants/'laws' which alone foster and maintain life (as per 1 John 3:4 anomia) and therefore as an inherent result, are in harmony with that which produces perishing and therefore precludes life.
It is worth noting that the verb "perish" used in both John 3:16 and 2 Peter 3:9 is a middle voice verb. Middle voice means that there is only one party involved such that the one experiencing the perishing is doing so from factors arising from within themselves rather than from factors external to themselves. You ask how a 'sinner' (ie, one who is in harmony with lawlessness and therefore out of harmony with what is necessary for true life and living: 1 John 3:4) can destroy themselves? Consider someone who smokes and contracts COPD that becomes terminal, someone who lives on crack and wastes away, or someone who eats a diet that fosters coronary heart disease that results in a terminal occlusion.
My brief response is but the 'tip of the iceberg' of the inter-related concepts associated with what we are talking about, so further interchange between us may well be needed.
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* It is vital that I emphasise that just because I refer to the term 'law' does not imply that I am promoting 'legalism' any more than I am being 'legalistic' by stating the reality that a person needs to be in harmony with the laws of respiration if they are to remain alive.
In reviewing the way "judge" and "judgment" appears in the Scriptures, it is apparent that the Hebrew people generally had a more positive view of judgment than we do in modern times. We find in the Bible that Job wants to make supplications to his judge. (Job 9:15) Writers of the psalms call on God to judge in the sense of "vindicate." (Ps 7:8; Ps. 26:1; Isa. 33:22; Ps. 43:1 Lam. 3:59) I find emphasis on judging the poor and disadvantaged, as their Protector. (Ps. 10:18; Ps 68:5; Ps 72:2,4; Isa. 11:4; Jer. 22:16; 1 Thessalonians 4:6) This goes along with what Maurice describes as a "restorative function" of judgment.
The Scriptures emphasize that the Lord judges "righteously" in contrast to corrupt human judges. (See Ps. 67:4, Ps. 72:2,4; Ps. 96:10, 13; Isa. 11:4) Bible writers are confident that God will judge the wicked, thus righting the wrongs committed. (Ps. 7:11; Ps. 9:8; Ps. 9:19; Joel 3:12) Again, this falls largely in the category of "restorative judgment."
At the same time, judgment is also pronounced on the house of Israel when they were in a state of rebellion. (See Eze. 7:3, 8; Eze. 11:10) While this might fall into the modern notion of "criminal justice," I believe this is ultimately restorative in function, because it is designed to make people recognize their need and turn back to God.
Altogether it seems to me that "judgment" in the Bible means much the same as the word "judgment" means today. It involved a process of investigation to reveal the matters involved, a pronouncement of judgment (either vindication or condemnation) and execution of the sentence. When God gave "judgments" to Israel as part of their civil law, it included the same elements.
It is the execution of judgment (or sentence) that explains the great flood that destroyed most of the life on this planet, which Christ used as a type of what would happen at His coming. (Matt. 24:36-39) It explains the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, which Jude used as a type of the final destruction of this planet. (Jude 6, 7) It also explains God's order to completely eliminate certain tribes that inhabited Canaan. God had given them opportunity after opportunity to acknowledge Him as Lord, and they had rejected Him. Thus, their "probation" was at an end, and they faced judgment at the hand of the Israelites who fought under God's guidance and with His support. In one case, He even made "the sun stand still" (whatever that meant, it did make a much longer day) in order for the Israelites to gain complete victory.
As always, I appreciate everyone's input. I find myself very confused. When we ask God for forgiveness, we are forgiven and our slate is clean, so to speak. Are we still judged for the sins that have been forgiven? Also, if the investigating judgement is taking place in heaven, why are we judged again? Thank you all for your input.
Hi Wendy,
The lesson author writes
Perhaps I am one of those people the author references, but I'm not sure, since I'm not totally certain what he means. I think maybe we just have different ways of saying the same thing.
But I have long understood John 3:18 just as translated in the NASB (generally recognized as a highly accurate translation): "18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." The way I see it, everyone who accepts Christ as Lord is sheltered in Him from any judgment. The only "judgment" for those professing to be "in Christ" is the investigative judgment, which is all about whether or not their profession is genuine. Those who are fully surrendered to Christ are not judged on anything, other than whether or not they accepted His salvation. Christ is the Advocate of the saved. (1 John 2) He goes to judgment instead of those who put their faith in Him.
Those who do not believe in Christ are "judged already," insofar that they cannot enter into eternal life. They will be judged by the saved during the 1000 years of the millennium, after which the judgment will be carried out in the annihilation of the wicked. During the 1000 years Satan is "bound" on this earth because there is no one left to deceive. (Rev. 20:1-5)
Hi, Wendy. Those are good questions. My understanding is that, when we humbly acknowledge our sins, our slate is indeed wiped clean. Nevertheless, the parable of the ungrateful servant, in Matthew 18, tells me that this forgiveness is provisional on the attitude that we show afterwards. It can be revoked.
In the investigation to determine the sincerity of our faith in Jesus, of course the entire record of our lives is pertinent. But if our faith is found to be genuine, then Romans 8:29 guarantees that our character will also be found to be Christ-like (i.e. in harmony with God's law of love). And if that is the case, then our forgiveness becomes irrevocable.
We are not present during this investigation, so it turns out that, from the time when we were first forgiven, we are never again confronted with anything that we have done wrong. Praise God!
I think Phil’s first commentary above gives a very clear answer to your question. The end time judgement is a declaration of what is already known, individually and collectively. It is God’s judgement. He is showing to the universe that His Judgement, individually and collectively, is righteous.
Wendy:
When we acknowledge that God's way is in the sanctuary (Psalm 77:13 KJV), and are informed by Jesus' teaching in Matt. 18:23-35 KJV and Rev. 3:5, if I am a believer in the Son of God, who gave Himself for me, He was dying my death so God the Father could be 'just', while justifying a sinner such as I, who believes in His Son.
I confess my sin to the Godhead; the record of my confessed sin is transferred to the heavenly sanctuary.
When my name comes up in the pre-advent judgment, presently taking place in the heavenly sanctuary, Jesus, our high Priest, knowing all about me, will judge righteously (Gal.6:7,8 KJV), and depending on what I did in His temple (1 Cor. 6:19,20 KJV) my name will remain or be removed from the Lamb's book of life.
After the cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven is complete, the sins of His people are cast into the depths of the sea, removed as far as the east from the west.
Oh brothers and sisters how we need to fall back in love with the Gospel. I will admit I am a simple person so maybe all this theology has me confused. The author states we will be "judged by our works".
While I reflect on the cross daily I cannot come away with but a very simple gospel, one looked to the savior for salvation and the other rejected the savior. Where is the works of the one that accepted the savior for judgment? In catholic church theology they articulate a works based salvation of the thief, I reject this and know I am only saved thru Jesus Christ and His righteousness.
The Gospel is not complicated, the judgement is not complicated, Yes this sin filled world is complicated and the simplicity of the Gospel right there in front of us should not be.
I am saved and judged only thru Jesus and His righteousness. I will leave you with John 3:16-17 to reflect on but put your name in there when you read it.
16 For God so loved Tim, that he gave his only begotten Son, that Tim believeth in him Tim should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn Tim ; but that Tim would be through Him might saved.
Thank you for listening and God bless you and your family.
Hi Tim,
You are so right that neither the Gospel nor the judgment is complicated.
But the Bible teaches more than one "judgment." When the author says we are judged "by our works," I believe he is referring to the teaching of Jesus in the parable of the sheep and the goats. All those judged professed to know the Lord. But He judged which were the ones who *truly* knew/followed Him by their works.
We are saved by the righteousness of Christ. No amount of works can save us, but when we truly trust in Him, our lives will demonstrate the fact by our changed behavior. (See Matthew 25:31-46)
I believe that the parable of the sheep and the goats represents what we sometimes call the "investigative judgment." It is a determination of who will go to heaven with Jesus when He comes again. All those who professed to have faith in Him will be "judged" to see who was genuine and who was false in that profession of faith.
Hello Tim – you put your finger on the most salient point of the Gospel – for believers to “fall in love with the Gospel!” So much is to be considered when our ‘faith’ comes alive, but as you say: “I am only saved thru Jesus Christ and His righteousness."
I think we would be better served if we left the matter of understanding ‘judgement’ to trusting God’s unfailing wisdom and righteousness, trusting that His Grace is sufficient to sort things out on our behalf.
Now, we can easily answer the 'famous' question: “To be or not to be”, which Shakespeare’s character Hamlet asked himself. To be with Christ means ‘to be’, to be without Christ means ‘not to be’. We have come to understand that we have our life/being only in Jesus Christ.
Thank you for reminding us that the Gospel is ‘simple’, just as easy to understand as John 3:16-17 which you referred to. Our Salvation is a gift from our Creator to His children who have lost their way; like sheep we have gone astray, but He has found us and now we are safe - Isaiah 53:6.
Tim Hustad:
The author states we will be "judged by our works".
The author is quoting God's word.(Rev. 2:26; 20:12,13; Gal. 6:7,8 KJV)
"While reflecting on the judgment, we should keep in mind that we are saved by grace (Isaiah 55:1, Ephesians 2:8-10), justified by faith (Genesis 15:6, Romans 5:1), and judged by works (Eccles. 12:14, Matthew 25:31-46, Revelation 20:11-13)."
Thank you to everyone that has commented on my post; I really appreciate the feedback. I have been following this forum for years now and have great respect for the people that post comments regularly.
Indeed!
The thing is that saving "faith" is not just a verbal declaration. It is an active trust in God that is demonstrated by love not just for God but our "neighbors." What we sometimes call the "investigative judgment" or the pre-Advent" judgment is necessary to determine who, of those who made verbal profession of faith actually had a genuine, active faith in God.
It is this active faith that makes us righteous - not a verbal declaration. When we first put our trust in Jesus, He covers us with His righteousness, and as we continue to walk with Him He works in us, according to His good pleasure, and gradually conforms us to His image. (Phil. 2:12-13, 2 Cor. 3:18) We are covered with His righteousness during the process of transformation.
We are "saved by grace" both in being covered and in being transformed. As one author put it, the "covering" (aka "imputed righteousness") is our title to heaven, and the transformation (aka sanctification) is our "fitness for heaven." The transformation changes us so that our mind and heart will be in harmony with heaven, that is, "fit for heaven."
So how will God judge the repentant thief next to Jesus on the cross? What "works" of that thief will cause God to say to that repentant thief: "well done?"
Great question, Pete! And I think the answer serves to illustrate how the process works. The penitent thief rebuked the other thief, who was mocking Jesus. He defended Jesus' innocence. He freely confessed that he himself deserved the death penalty for what he had done, and he showed his faith in the merits of Christ imputed to him, when he called Him "Lord" and asked for his case to be judged when Jesus came into His kingdom.
All of these "works" demonstrate that this man was a true believer in Jesus, transformed by His grace. In the investigative judgment, his case has likely already been decided, and we (and he) have been privileged to know the outcome in advance.
My comment includes a response to the conversation between Maurice and Phil, hoping to add to the conversation with a few additional thoughts.
To my understanding, God’s judgement is 'neutral', standing on its own merrits', applied only to ‘right what is wrong’. Our Creator, God, does not judge with an emotional intent when He does that work; it is His Nature of 'Righteousness' at work.
All created things, and beings having the breath of life within them, are created to exist according to our Creator's very specific design. We are gratly blessed to have Jesus come to us to informe us about this process in order to give us a chance to augment our ways and so to reflect His design of us. The need to separate the ‘stubble’ from the ‘grain’ is to assure the continuation of all life and matter - creating a new earth.
Maurice considers: “Surely part of the heavenly judgment is to find out what is the causality of sin.” May I propose to look for the answer by examining the basic, primal, original, and everlasting intent of the Trinity’s design for man? For all things to exist in harmony with us and our God, it was determined to be imperative that we 'love our heavenly Father with all our heart and being'.
We circumscribe our ‘intent’ to be right with God using the word ‘Love’. In Phil's first comment, he requests to consider that: “With God’s ‘judgment’ being a process where He reveals ‘evidence/Truth that speaks for itself’, all lies, deception and misperception will melt/dissolve.” I strongly agree with this, since God's design of man and the universe does not permit ‘unrighteousness’ in any form to stand/remain.
I propose that when we broaden our understanding of ‘righteousness’ and ‘unrighteousness’ being judged, we will find that these descriptive words include more than merely man’s conduct. We will find that everything in existence which does not reflect His 'Righteousness' will be 'judged' because this is how God designed it to be - everyone created stands and falls based on its 'own' merits - Rom. 8:21-23.
Definition of 'merits': "Considering only intrinsic good points and bad points, without prejudice or other considerations, such as procedural ones." (Wiktionary)
I believe that when we come to seek understanding of the judging process, we need to ask ourselves: "What is My Picture of God like? Is that Biblical? What is my understanding of Sin and its consequences?"
A Biblical view of judgement focuses more on what God is like and what He is doing for us. Does justice demand that God torture His children to death for refusing to love Him?
All thoughts about judgement need to be considered using John 5:24 and Romans 4:8 as our frame of reference.
Hi, Dennis. I appreciate your comments. You state:
Amen to that! Psalm 37:24 comes to mind here. Then you ask:
There are two aspects to this question that I'd like to address. One is the concept of "torture... to death." To my mind, this suggests that the degree of torture would be proportionate to what it would take to extinguish life. It might even mean maximizing the torture that can be inflicted before actually killing the person -- something that did take place during the dark ages.
Either way, such a practice would of course be an outrage against justice. Does this mean that the wicked are not to be tormented in Gehenna? Well no, torment in Gehenna is actually a theme of the teachings of Jesus. We see this in such Scriptures as Mark 9:42-48, Matthew 25:46, and Luke 16:19-31.
Luke 12:47-48 clearly conveys the idea of degrees of punishment, although it portrays the guilt of the wicked as proportionate to how well they knew better, rather than the sheer egregiousness of their crimes. To my mind, this suggests that God's estimate of relative guilt may be quite different from man's.
In addition to the teachings of Jesus, as recorded in the gospels, we have a further explanation in the writings of Seventh-day Adventist pioneer Ellen G. White.
Personally, I find this explanation extremely helpful. It shows that not all who are lost will be made to suffer in Gehenna, and it makes the degree of torment proportionate to what justice actually requires.
The second aspect that I want to address is the idea that this torture is on account of people's refusal to love God, as if it were some kind of personal vengeance. This thought seems to overlook the fact that God has a certain character. He stands for something. Refusing to love Him means rejecting the love that He stands for, in favour of a self-serving course that is harmful to others. That bringing needless harm to others, and never really repenting of the harm done, could call for just retribution from a God of love, is not a difficult concept for me to grasp.
Have a blessed day!
Another thought that came to my mind was this: As soon as the repentant thief next to Jesus at the cross of Calvary exercised his faith on Jesus as his Savior, God then placed all of Jesus' "works" of holiness, and righteousness, and even Jesus' own blood being spilled then for Him and all the world, as being that repentant thief's own "works," that God will judge him by because of the "faith" the thief he now was expressing in Jesus for his own salvation for eternity. And that is how God judges us too if we express and follow on to live as God wants us to live for Him in His Son Jesus. Not our works but Jesus' works in our behalf always.
Agreed. There are degrees of punishment to be sure. I think we fail however, to fully understand the role sin plays. It has consequences, and sometimes we blame God for those consequences. Sin is the destroyer. Sin is what God hates.
GC 36-37 “But when men pass the limits of divine forbearance, that restraint is removed. God does not stand toward the sinner as AN EXECUTIONER of the sentence against transgression; but He leaves the rejecters of His mercy to themselves, to reap that which they have sown..."
Please let us not use an extra-biblical source to contradict the teachings of Scripture as well as other material from the same source.
The Bible does suggest that sinners will be treated "according to their works." To the ordinary person, that means that some difference will be made between those who committed horrific crimes against God's children and those who lived relatively good lives but felt no need of a Savior. And the Bible was given to the ordinary people. The sense of justice God built into each human mind demands that such a difference be made. And when all is said and done, all created beings in the universe will agree that God is righteous and holy and good.
Incidentally, the quotation Dennis used was in the context of the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. Since the Jews had rejected Christ as ruler, "Satan was permitted to rule them according to his will. The horrible cruelties enacted in the destruction of Jerusalem are a demonstration of Satan's vindictive power over those who yield to this control." Then the author makes the observation that Dennis quoted above. The Jews had chosen Satan as their ruler, and God was not to blame for the horrible fate that befell the Jews. He did not "execute" them. Having chosen their ruler, they had "no protection from the malice and enmity of Satan."
I love Jesus' response to His apostle, Peter, when he came to Jesus about how often he should forgive his brother and went on to suggest "seven times." Jesus responded with "seven times seventy," and then went on to tell Peter a parable of a man that owed the king millions, and how that king forgave the man's debt, but then the man went and put someone that owed him something into jail because he could not pay that debt. And so then the King put the one that He had forgiven also into prison because of how he dealt with his own debtor. Jesus would never have told Peter to forgive 70 times 7 if He and His Father were not already into that kind of forgiving. It is only the people that do not forgive like He forgives that will not find themselves inheriting eternity when Jesus returns. We are like the man that owed the king millions and could not pay the king, when it comes to our relation to God and eternal life. We have no way of claiming eternal life from God for us by any thing or any "works" from us at all. It is only the "Gift" of Jesus from God on our behalf, period.