Resurrection will precede judgement for both the believer and the unbeliever. We will stand before the Lord in our body, and be judged according to the deeds we have committed in our body during our time on earth.
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
2Corinthians 5:10 NKJV
Why judgement?
Many accuse God of being unfair, and consider judgement as an evil and vindictive action. God’s Judgments however, are in fact the very opposite. They are the fulfilment of His justice, His holiness and His divine love and concern for His creation.
- Conscience demands that man be judged
A man’s conscience accuses or else excuses him according to his actions. In this life conscience can be silenced, but when we stand before God on judgement day, our conscience will be very much alive, and in full agreement with the just penalty or reward administered by Jesus Christ. (Romans 2:14-15) - History demands that man be judged
The perversions and injustice of human activity throughout history demand that mankind be judged. - Justice demands that man be judged
God’s very nature and law demand that sin be judged at all levels, in both human and angelic realms.
God, in His extreme patience has withheld judgement, but a day is appointed when all created beings will receive the just reward for their actions.
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
2Peter 3:9 NKJV
The deep injustice we witness in the earth today, and those who appear to elude punishment for their abuses, will one day be recompensed in full. These judgements will be wholly righteous and impartial, and will be absolutely approved as such, even by those who receive strict and eternal damnation.
“The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.”
Psalm 19:9 NKJV
Three Aspects of Judgement
There are three aspects of the judgements mankind will face: judgement past, judgement present and judgement future.
Judgement Past
Satan and Sin
Judgement past took place at Calvary.
It was here that satan and his hosts were legally judged.
“…the ruler of this world is judged.”
John 16:11 NKJV
The judgement of the sins of the world took place at the cross. Christ Himself was judged, taking our place.
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
2Corinthians 5:21 NKJV
Through faith in His sacrifice on our behalf, we are delivered from future judgement of our sins, and we pass from death to life.
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
John 5:24 NKJV
The judgement of sin
Judgement of our sins will take place at either the cross or the throne. The choice is ours. If we do not receive Christ now we are already condemned.
He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
John 3:18 NKJV
There can be no atonement for our sins apart from His sacrifice. When He was judged for our sins, taking the punishment for our transgressions, we were judged with Him, as if we ourselves had satisfied the demands of justice, and paid the ‘wages of sin’, which is death. Having paid the price for our crimes, we are now free to live without fear of future judgement.
As human beings we will all be judged, either at the cross or the throne. The choice is one each individual must make for themselves.
The judgement of the cross took place 2000 years ago. Christ was our Substitute. If we accept this judgement we receive mercy (what we do not deserve). It is a place of pardon.
The great white throne judgment will take place in the future. Christ is Judge, and here those who choose this judgement will receive justice
(what we deserve). It is a judgement of punishment.
Those who repent, and receive Jesus Christ now as the Judge of their sins, will not face Him on the day of judgement as such.
Judgement Present
Sins and Transgression
i. The world
There is a present judgement going on in the earth. God will often judge men for their sins. Examples of this include Sodom and Gomorrah and Babel. Romans Chapter 1 also speaks of the judgements of ungodly lifestyles, resulting from the turning away of men’s hearts from God. Sin does indeed contain its own present judgement, but the final judgement for all sin is yet to come.
ii. The believer
In relation to the Believer, it is more than mere semantics to say that judgement for our sin is different than judgement of our sins.
Christ died to judge and deprive of power the very nature and principle of sin that raged within the members of our body (see Romans 7).
John the Apostle writes in his first letter:
“He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.”
1John 3:8-9 NKJV
John here speaks of the new nature that we have received through Christ. A nature as violently righteous as our old nature was sinful. Whereas we were slaves to a nature contrary to God prior to salvation, through faith in the gospel we have now become slaves of a new inward nature:
“But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”
Romans 6:17-18 NKJV
A man does not become a ‘sinner’ because he sins. He sins because he is a sinner. It proceeds from his inward nature. Once a man has accepted Christ’s judgement for their sins, the Bible does not refer to them as sinners any longer, but as saints. We have become slaves of righteousness, bound to do the will of God.
John says elsewhere in the very same epistle however:
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1John 1:8-9 NKJV
John does not say, “if we say we are not sinners”, but “if we say we have no sin”. We may be saints, but this does not mean that occasionally we will not fall short of our identity as such.
Here, John addresses the fact that, although we do indeed have a new nature, we are still prone to transgress the high standards of God’s holiness and the law of our own conscience. Thank God, however, that as a child of God, unlike the sinner, we are not bound any longer to the futility and bondage of a nature contrary to right living. Through repentance and confession of our particular sins we can be thoroughly cleansed of all unrighteousness and return to the happy state of purity before God. Our conscience and our record before heaven is completely wiped clean.
Paul encourages such searching of our souls, and describes it as “judging ourselves”;
“For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.”
1Corinthians 11:31-32 NKJV
It must be stressed however, that if we wilfully sin after receiving Christ, and despise the sacrifice He has made, we will most certainly come under the same judgement as the world.
“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”
Hebrews 10:26-29 NKJV
The grace of God should never be considered a licence to sin. If we are foolish enough to consider it so, we may find ourselves cut off from Christ.
Just as Paul admonished the Philippian church, we should with great humility and thankfulness work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12)
iii. God’s present judgement of the Believer
As any good Father, God will often judge, correct and discipline the Believer also, to promote holiness and growth in their life. Hebrews chapter 12 describes this process beautifully. Obedience to the will of God is the result.
Judgement Future
“Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.””
Acts 24:25 NKJV
A coming judgement awaits all nations and individuals. This judgement will differ for the redeemed and the unredeemed, but nevertheless, on an appointed day, all will stand before Jesus Christ and be judged.
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
2Corinthians 5:10 NKJV
“And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works…”
Revelation 20:12-14
