Q: The Bible teaches about God’s great forgiveness, but it also talks of a judgment day and being accountable for your life. How can these both be true?
A: The Bible says that Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins. If we believe in Christ and accept that grace, then we are forgiven and on judgment day we will be found in Christ, washed clean and without sin. However, it is still a judgment day, because for those who have rejected Christ and, in so doing, stand before God without Christ, they will be judged on the basis of the law. Have they been perfect and upheld the law in every way; not just the 10 commandments, but the summary of those commandments - loving the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and loving others as themselves? Judgment day will separate the wheat from the chaff, but remember that outside of Christ’s gracious atonement for our sins, we are all chaff.
God will ask us to give an account of what we’ve done with what he has given us. It will not be for condemnation, but for a true reckoning of how we lived our lives under his grace and love. I suppose it would be something like this: on graduation day there are those who graduate and those who don’t, but a secondary question is – what grades did you get? (That’s a pretty iffy example, because graduation doesn’t come by grace…but hopefully you get the point).
A: The Bible says that Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins. If we believe in Christ and accept that grace, then we are forgiven and on judgment day we will be found in Christ, washed clean and without sin. However, it is still a judgment day, because for those who have rejected Christ and, in so doing, stand before God without Christ, they will be judged on the basis of the law. Have they been perfect and upheld the law in every way; not just the 10 commandments, but the summary of those commandments - loving the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and loving others as themselves? Judgment day will separate the wheat from the chaff, but remember that outside of Christ’s gracious atonement for our sins, we are all chaff.
God will ask us to give an account of what we’ve done with what he has given us. It will not be for condemnation, but for a true reckoning of how we lived our lives under his grace and love. I suppose it would be something like this: on graduation day there are those who graduate and those who don’t, but a secondary question is – what grades did you get? (That’s a pretty iffy example, because graduation doesn’t come by grace…but hopefully you get the point).
3 comments:
So I guess I have a "gray area" question for you...or maybe it isn't, I'm not sure. What about a person who has not "rejected Christ" but is seeking, though cannot seem to take the leap of faith. Is this the same as rejected Christ when it comes to judgement?
You are asking a tougher question than you might think. As I said on another post, it's very hard for the rest of us to judge where a person's heart is in relation to God. Not only is it hard, I'm not sure we're supposed to think we can do that with any cetainty. That said, let me ask my own question. It is a type of hypothetical parable if you will.
There becomes great evidence that due to sun blockage, planet alignement, etc., there will be a three day long extreme cold. The only way to survive is to enter this unique chamber that is being built. Some people respond by saying "it will never happen, you've made that whole thing up," and refuse to enter. Others actually get angry and try to sabotage the building of the chamber. Some, however, are kind and may even help a little because they like those who are making the effort; but they're just not sure.
The day comes to get into the chamber, and some of this last group I mention still stay really close, they wish people well, but they never get in the chamber. Though their response is very different from the other people who don't enter, what will happen to them if the three day extreme cold comes?
Now, back to my original statement of the difficulty of your question. "In and out" is easily defined in this little parable, but not so easy in matters of the heart. Yet the importance of crossing a line at some point is pretty clear. Doing so does more than determine "in or out." It allows the person to leave the initial question behind and begin pursuing the richness of following Jesus.
Thanks for your response. I get what you are saying and I know its a tough question...none of my questions are easy these days it seems.:-)
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