Grace and Judgment Day

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).

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Judgment of Those Who Have Never Heard of Christ

Q: There are people in this world who have never been, and will never be, exposed to God’s saving grace. When they die, are they doomed to go to hell?

A: In the first chapter of Romans, the Apostle Paul says that God, His qualities, have been clear to his creation from the beginning; God is imprinted on the heart so to speak. The implication that follows (and is given in a few other passages) is that the person who has not received the Good News of Jesus Christ will be dealt with gracefully by his or her response to that understanding of God. So, no, God does not send people ignorant of Jesus to hell based on a lack of acceptance to what they don’t know.

Someone may ask, then, “Why tell people about Jesus if those who never heard about him have a way outside of him to be judged?” The answer is twofold. First, we are told to do so by our Lord. Second, the Good News is not just for judgment day, rather Christ has the power to transform our lives with healing and truth. If we don’t send kids to school, their intelligence will never be evaluated the same way, but that doesn’t mean that education isn’t incredibly important to have.

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Is it fair to blame Judas if he was fulfilling prophecy?

Q: Judas betrayed Jesus to fulfill an Old Testament prophecy. Why is Judas considered a traitor?

A: Judas is a traitor because he betrayed Jesus by his own free will. Yes, the Old Testament predicted that the Messiah would be betrayed (by 30 pieces of silver no less!), but it didn’t have to be Judas. That was his choice; God didn’t make him do it. God, who sees all time, knows the future before it happens. We call that foreknowledge. What I think you find troubling here is the notion that God predestined Judas to commit his act. If he was merely a puppet in God’s hands, how could he be responsible? There is a vast difference between foreknowing something and foreordaining it. Because we are free, God does not foreordain our actions. He knows ahead of time what we will do. (Calvinists will take exception to this, but that’s ok… I’m not a Calvinist!) If you are troubled by the notion that God preordained Judas to commit this crime and then condemned him for it, I share your concern. That isn’t how it happened with Judas and it isn’t how it works with us. We are free moral agents, responsible to God for our actions.

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Suicide - Ticket to Hell?

Q: Do people who commit suicide go to hell?

A: The short answer is that the act of suicide itself is not a “one-way ticket to hell.” There are a couple of reasons that many people think that suicide is an unpardonable sin; one that results only in eternal separation from God. The first developed within Catholicism from the combination of Augustine’s belief that suicide was a violation of the 6th commandment (murder) and Thomas Aquinas’ belief that confession of sin must be made prior to death. The logic is then that since suicide is murder that cannot be confessed to a priest afterward, it is unforgivable. The second is the association of suicide with Judas, the betraying disciple of Jesus Christ.

The Bible makes no claim about the eternal prospect of those who commit suicide. In the absence of such specifics it is reasonable to apply what we read about eternal life in the presence of God. The Gospel of John says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.” So, eternal life is the result of heartfelt belief and trust in Christ Jesus' redemptive death and resurrection, not in our actions - what we do or don’t do.

While we can get an idea of a person’s belief by their actions (“faith produces fruit”), we can never know for sure what lies in the heart, because none of us are made perfect in action by our belief. Scripture says, “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.” Only God knows the motives and what is in the heart – belief or unbelief, acceptance or rejection of Jesus Christ – that determines our eternal future.

So the question really is, “what was the state of the heart of the one who committed suicide; the motives, beliefs, and relationship with Christ?” That is a difficult question for me to answer even for myself, but God knows the heart of each of us.

One of the questions regarding this topic also asked about life purpose, where God was when a loved one committed suicide, and why did God allow it to happen. I believe those questions will be addressed in other answers or in the series message entitled Where Was God?

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Judgment

Q: How do we interact with those Christians who behave in ways that are inconsistent with Christianity? How do we not judge hypocritical behavior?

A: I suspect that at various times in all of our lives, if we were honest, we would all have to admit that we have fallen short of what Christ would desire for us. In other words, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It is important that we remember where we all have come from in this regard. We are all in need of a Savior.

However, I do believe the Scripture teaches that once someone has decided to follow Christ there is an expectation on that person’s behavior. It doesn’t mean that we will never mess up again. It simply means that our lives and behavior will increasingly reflect the beauty of Christ. He will increase in our lives and we will decrease (John 3:30). There is no doubt that the expectation of the Scripture is that we would live holy lives that reflect the example of Jesus Christ. We are called to live pure and blameless lives. We are called to reject anything that is evil or sinful.

The question asked mainly deals with the important issue of judgment. How do we interact or not judge those who are betraying their stated commitment to Christ?

Christians, a lot of the time, have a misconception of what the Bible actually teaches on judgment. I have noticed that many Christians are hesitant to give any judgment because they have been told that it is inappropriate for them to judge, and what’s more interesting is that they were told this by the secular community.

There is no doubt that it is God’s job to judge. This is clear in the Scripture. However, I believe that the Scripture allows us to decide or judge whether or not a behavior is in-line with the Scripture. Should a Christian gossip? The answer the Bible gives us is “no.” Is that a judgment? Of course it is. Our judgments should be in-line with the standards given in the Scripture.

A couple of practical suggestions on this question: (1) Judgment without relationship can be destructive. In other words, do you know or have a relationship with the person? If not, more than likely the person is not going to listen to you anyway. (2) Judgment is vital to right living. God has given us the Scripture so that we would know Him and know how to live. The Scripture gives us all kinds of instructions for living, but some of those instructions are implied or inferred; therefore, we must make judgments. (3) Duplicity is inconsistent with the Christian life, but many times we find ourselves or others living hypocritical lives. Therefore, we must lead with grace as God did for each of us; we must hold one another accountable to the standards of Christ; we must remember that we all have fallen short; we must remember that we all are at different places in our journey towards Christ; and finally we must never expect someone that doesn’t have a relationship with Christ to behave like some who does.

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