The Judgment of the Saints - Part 2

.... In our previous posting we saw that God would greatly prefer to handle the issues of ours sins through our own confession and repentance, now in this life time, and to grant forgiveness through the blood of Jesus. For once we die, or once Christ returns (whichever comes first), we will reach a cut-off point:

.... "It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment."

(Hebrews 9:27)

.... Any sin that remained in our lives at that point will become an issue for judgment, as the Lord Jesus Christ judges the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom (2 Timothy 4:1).

.... As mentioned in our previous posting, the Lord will take into account the motives of our heart and our sincerity in seeking to please Him (1 Corinthians 4:5; 1 John 3:21). But conversely, if we know in ourselves that we were holding something back from Him, God knows it even more fully than we do; and because we did not deal with it beforehand, He will have to deal with it now (1 John 3:20). We will not come into condemnation, yet punishment may still follow:

.... "And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."

(Luke 12:47-48)

.... In this passage, we see that ignorance is not a complete excuse for our sins. But neither is it a barrier to the Lord in forgiving them, while we are still alive and there is time to seek Him and to do something about it. Forgiveness in such ways is ours for the asking, and we may ask as often as necessary:

.... "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression."

(Psalm 19:12-13)

.... We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for the deeds done in his body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10). This can entail loss, but actually it’s main purpose is to assign rewards:

.... "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works."

(Matthew 16:27)

.... As such, our judgment will be very thorough, yet also very selective. For every idle word we speak, we must give an account on that Day (Matthew 12:36). Yet God will be merciful to our unrighteousness for Jesus’ sake, and our sins and lawless deeds will be remembered no more (Hebrew 8:12). Furthermore, by His blood, Jesus has washed clean every record in heaven that was against us, and granted us a clean slate (Colossians 2:14). So ideally, the good things from our lives will be the only things that remain for review:

.... "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen!"

(Jude 1:24-25)

.... But what is the criteria for God's judgment? Remember that He has set His seal on Jesus alone, and Jesus Himself is our fruit to eternal life (John 6:27). So God is looking for something interpersonal. He wants to see the ways in which we died to ourselves to become Christlike, as the life of Jesus shined through us. He wants to see how we glorified Him in those ways, or rather, how He glorified Himself through us.

.... "that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord."

(1 Corinthians 1:31)

.... Our fruitfulness will be most evident in the Christlike love we have shown for others:

.... "And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world."

(1 John 4:16-17)

.... ... and our fruit will remain most readily amongst our own Christian brethren, with whom we have labored in Christ to build up the body. Therefore let us resolve not to cast a stumbling block before each other, but to help each other with our eternity in view (Romans 14:10-13)

.... "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy."

(1Thessalonians 2:19-20)

.... "we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus."

(2 Corinthians 1:14)

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Daily Bible Reading: 2 Timothy 4