By Marvin Duncan
It is always a blessing to see what God has done for the ones who love Him and want to live for Him. But let us never fall into the error of believing God’s Love will over-shadow His Righteousness. God demands unwavering faithfulness to His Word. Regardless of who it is that refuses to follow His commands disobedience always brings God’s judgment.
One of the outstanding characteristics of this age is the fearlessness man has toward God. The natural man sees little or no punishment from our courts for their anti-social conduct. This only encourages the non-Christian to do that which is right in his own eyes for he knows there will be little punishment if he is apprehended.
Not only is there an increase of lawlessness in the unsaved segment of our society there is an ever increasing attitude of indifference in the Christian community. Some Christians take the attitude that because they are secure in Christ, there is to be no restraint upon their conduct. They hide behind Romans 8:1, saying there will be no condemnation for them. It’s true that Christ paid for all the Christian’s sins and the Christian will never be -separated from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39). But, this does not give the Christian a license to sin. Never is the saint of God to disobey the teaching of God’s Word.
Carelessness and indifference seem to be the besetting sins of the Church today. Even in the face of clear commands in the Scriptures, many Christians have no fear of rejecting these Scriptures as not binding on them.
One of God’s desires today is found in First Timothy 2:4. Here we read:
“(God) would have all men to be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
To accomplish this goal, God has commissioned every Christian to be an ambassador for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20). He has also given every Christian the word of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:19). We are to be encouraging others to be reconciled to God so they can escape the wrath of God that will fall upon all those who have not accepted the salvation He is offering as a free gift. Anyone who will come to Him, acknowledging the Blood of Christ as payment for their sin debt, will be delivered from His wrath. Seeing that every Christian is an ambassador for Christ and has been given the message of Reconciliation to be shared with the unsaved, how many of us are willing to take these commands of God seriously? How many of us are willing to put these Scriptures into practice in our every day life? Are we not indifferent and careless in our attitude toward God’s clear instructions?
Just as the unsaved seem to be fearless of any judgment falling on them because of their anti-social behavior, so it seems the Christians feel they will have no accounting to give for their lack of faithfulness to the Word of God.
There may be little judgment against the un-godly in our courts today, and there may not be any outward judgment against the Christian who walks according to this world’s system but, the Bible teaches that God will judge all unrighteousness. It is also the teaching of the Scriptures that this judgment will fall upon both the un-godly and those who are of the household of God. These judgments trill be different in nature, but nevertheless, there will be an accounting made to God by both the unsaved and the saved.
Judgment Taught In Scripture
Let us notice that the Scriptures teach the judgment of God is to come upon all who disobey His commandments.
In First Peter we find God’s judgment coming upon both the saved and the unsaved. Peter says:
“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God?”
Shouldn’t this verse challenge us to be more concerned about our responsibility to walk according to God’s instructions?
How Will God Judge?
We have seen Scripture that speaks of God judging both the Christian and the non-Christian, but what standards will God use in His judging? There are four standards found in Romans, chapter two, that tell us how God will judge those who refuse to obey His Word.
- According To Truth – Romans 2:2
In Romans 2:l-5, Paul shows that the natural man is unjust and his judgments of other men are also unjust. But God is righteous and His judgments will be according to Truth. This is because God is Truth (Titus 1:2) and His Word is Truth (2 Tim. 2:15). God’s judgment will be based upon His Word. Both the Saints and non-Christians will be judged by what God has revealed in His Word.
This should challenge each of us to study the Word of God so we will know what God expects of us Ignorance of God’s Word will be no excuse when it comes to God’s judgment. Some years ago a man told me he didn’t study the Scriptures because he didn’t want to know what God expected of him. He reasoned that if :he didn’t know what God expected of him, he wouldn’t be held accountable when he stood before our Lord to give an account of the things he had done in his Christian life (2 Cor. 5:10). I pointed out that he was far more guilty with that attitude than the man who wanted to know God’s will but could not read..
We are all acquainted with Second Timothy 2; 15 which tells us to study that we might be workmen who need not to be ashamed. This admonition is not only so we will know how to “rightly divide the Word of Truth,” but also that we might know what God expects of us as members of the Body of Christ.
2. According To Deeds – Romans 2:10
Paul makes it clear in chapter two of Romans that regardless of a man’s nationality (whether he was a Jew or a Gentile) everyone will be judged according to his deeds. This is only natural because we are all responsible for what we do. We will all be called to give an account of our activities in this physical life. Second Corinthians 5:10 speaks of the Christian standing before Christ to give an account of how he has lived his Christian life. Revelation 20:13 speaks of the judgment of the unsaved man as he stands before Christ at the Great White Throne. We also find in this Revelation 20:13 passage that God is keeping a record of every individual’s life. God knows the thoughts and the intentions of our heart. He even knows why we do what we do. Some of our activities may look good to others, but if the motive for our doing them was wrong, God knows this and records it in His Book. It is this kind of activity, as well as outward rebellion against God’s instructions, that we will have to give an answer for– when we stand before the judg-ment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10).
3. No Respect of Persons – Romans 2: 11
Not only will God judge “according to truth” and “according to deeds,” His judgments will be fairly administered for He will show no favoritism to anyone because of their attainment in their community their political associations, nor- their standing in the local church. If there’s sin in the life, or if there is a neglect to walk; as God has instructed us in His Word, these activities will be dealt with according to the deed itself.
The text of Romans, chapter two, speaks of God judging the unsaved because everyone is responsible for his own actions regardless of how little he might know about the truth of the Word of God. Those who know nothing of the Law of God will be judged according to the Light they do have. Romans 1:19-20 shows that everyone has been given some light and they are without excuse for not living up to the Light they have received,
This Romans 1:19-20 passage also answers the question of God judging the man who has never heard the Gospel of Christ. There will be degrees of punishment for the non-Christians and those who have heard the Word of God and rejected it will be more severally punished than the man who never heard the Word of God even once. Yet, both will be judged as un-believers and cast into the Lake of Fire because they did not respond to the light that was delivered to them.
At one time every family knew God (Rom. 1:21) but not every family accepted this truth (Rom. I:22-23) and did not teach it to their children. Thus large segments of the human race are living in darkness today, but this is not God’s fault. Let us remember, the sins of the fathers are passed on to their children. This darkness upon much of the world is a good example of this truth. There are many today who are anti-God because they received no training from the Scriptures from their parents. These individuals are now raising their children with this same anti-God attitude. These individuals are under the wrath of God, but God has done everything He could possibly do to provide salvation for all men. Man must respond to God’s invitation of salvation because God will not force His blessings upon any of His creatures.
- According To My Gospel – Romans 2;16
The fourth method of judgment God will employ when He judges the non-Christian and the Christian for the things done in this life is that all judgment will be according to what Paul calls my Gospel (Rom. 16:25). We should recognize it will be Jesus Christ who will be doing the judging, but then Paul assures these Roman Saints that Christ’s judging will be “according to my Gospel.” Here again we see the importance of the message of the Mystery which was committed to Paul for this dispensation in which we live. We often think of the Mystery as just the method of salvation for this dispensation of God’s Grace, or that it is the answer to God’s dealing during the time that Israel is set aside, but there is much more involved in the secret which was committed to Paul.
We have seen that it is only through the Mystery that we understand anything about the victory of the Cross. It is only through the Mystery that we understand the full meaning of the Resurrection of Christ. And now we see that it is the Mystery that will be the basis of all judgment. The reason for this is that the Mystery tells us the complete work that Christ accomplished on our behalf. It is this secret that was revealed to Paul that tells mankind the depths that God went to to provide salvation and it is the message of the Mystery that tells us that Christ left His position in heaven to become a man for the purpose of dying “even the death of the Cross” (Phil. 2:8), Because of this, “God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name that is above every other name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil. 2:9-11). Whosoever, will not respond to this call during their earthly life, will be called to bow their knee and confess that Christ is their judge as well as their Lord. Thus, it will be that Christ’s judgment will be based on the truth of the Mystery which Paul calls “my Gospel.”
It is a fact of Scripture that God will judge all men. For the unsaved, their judgment will place them in the Lake of Fire to be separated from their Creator for all eternity. For the Christian, Christ’s judgment will be chastisement during this earthly life and loss of rewards when we stand before Christ at the BEMA seat.