JUDGMENT DAY

 

We know nothing about the Great White Throne except a few dramatic words in Revelation. But it is important as showing that when all  things  are done,  justice remains to be done and will be.

 

Some believe  judgment is now  and continuous but  the Great White Throne is  the assurance that God will unravel all rights and wrongs in  the end.

 

This is  the line we can follow – that Judgment in Scripture is expressed in many ways, not always clear, sometime puzzling  needing careful interpretation, but nothing is more positive than that judgment does and will take place.

 

The Christian faith teaches that God is the rectifier of all things. He calls everyone to account. Judgment is vague and confused in religions and cults, because man does not care to think about it. The Holy  Spirit is given to “convince  the world  of sin, righteousness and judgement, “ John 16:8. because otherwise we evade the issues. Scripture is a different class on judgment teachings.

 

Right and wrong have no clear meaning in Buddhist thought, with no judgment except everyone will be obliterated. In Hinduism judgment means Karma – returning to life in endless cycles suffering the effects of previous sin that can never be expiated.   For Muslims, the basis of judgment is whether one is a good Muslim and  that can include committing murder with the reward of ‘heaven’ – and the Muslim idea of heaven is wine and women.

 

The OT theology of judgment.  Judgment (calamity) is expressed endlessly in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Some Psalms refer to God judging sinners, but do not specify how or when.  A Levitical ‘sin’ offering covered failure only for the breach of  religious rules.  Some laws of Moses were civil statutes, but incorporated into the religious law to give  them importance. For sin in the actual moral sense there was no forgiveness, only retribution.

 

Only David expressed belief in Divine forgiveness - as for his own most culpable sin. (Psalm 51) He was a glittering exception, the one man in the OT who spiritually outranked the most godly men of God. David was the greatest man in the OT. He anticipated Christian grace as in Christianity. Other OT people’s hopes were built on claims of innocence or of belonging to Israel.  No prayer was made in the name of God, but only in one’s own name and integrity. The disciples had to learn to pray.

 

In Psalms 103 – 104 (and others) all sin was considered punishable by sickness or enemies. To be sick meant you had sinned and if you got better it signified God’s forgiveness. “Who forgives all your iniquities and heals  all your diseases”.

 

It was the manner of talk to say God did everything, good and evil. God is described visiting Israel and other nations with fire and bloodshed but He constantly declares (as  through Jeremiah) that their own behaviour was the cause of their troubles, not brought by an arbitrary decision of God.  In fact the ‘woe’ against Jerusalem has lasted until today. The city itself – the buildings, temple etc  subject to judgment.  Judgment is spoken of in the NT  all the way through – e.g. Jn 5,22,  Rm 3:5,  1 Cor, 4.3-5 etc.  Rom 3:19 –God is utterly just in the end.  

 

 All God’s judgments on earth are the same – the concomitant effect of sin.  It is a law  written into Creation, what we sow we reap.  But God Himself will put all things right – injustices, in the final judgment.

 

 God has  always accepted the ultimate moral responsibility because He made us knowing we would sin. He bore our sin and its consequences Himself, at Calvary. Which is why God in Christ can forgave sinners, like the woman in adultery, because He bore the penalty Himself.  

 

NT Greek the word is “krino,” (‘krisis’ the act of judging and ‘krima’ the sentence, but the difference not always clear in the NT. ) There are other words, condemn, punish, and words to do with righteousness,

 

The key to all judgment is righteousness. That is because God is righteous and judges by righteousness. His standards are absolute.  Even we are told to ‘Judge righteous judgment.” Matt 7.1.  But note ambivalence in verses where we  are told not to judge but also how to judge.  In fact we must be discriminating  and judge the deceivers and false prophets.  Also we are given the responsibility to judge prophets and prophecies. (1 Cor.  14.29.)

 

 In Scripture righteousness is a study in itself, and has various applications. Jesus used the word righteousness a little, only mostly in Matthew.  Paul gives us a whole theology of its meaning and relates it to the complex thought of  Christ’s sacrifice and imputed righteousness.

 

 In Scripture judgment may be good, a blessing,  but sometimes indicates a penalty. Jesus did not  come into the world  to condemn the world. He uttered warnings but did not curse anyone.  His ’woes’ on Jerusalem and Chorizin were not curses.  Their ways were stupidly sinful and  brought the natural law of cause and effect into operation. Ezekiel, Jeremiah and other prophets’ fulminations against Israel and other nations were that you sow and you reap. 

 

 Generally however our righteousness is integrity and obedience to God.  God Himself is a righteous God. Our conceptions of righteousness must be based on His character not comparative with other people. Our righteousness and His can never compared – we stand judged by what He is and what we are.  

 

Jesus was the Holy and Righteous One.  What made Him so Holy? Did He think every moment of the laws of  God, and what was the right thing to do under all circumstances by infinite wisdom and correct His attitudes and thought and conduct moment  by moment?  Was it possible? Some people have been regarded as holy, like St. Francis, who seemed selfless and flawless by the standards of his day.  But are our standards right?  Total self-denial of food, possessions, etc are not necessarily what God wants or else why did He give them? That can be holiness for personal  gratification. The righteousness of God is His perfect love and Christ was holy by His infinite love.  He did not need to know the law and do the right thing second by second for in fact He often changed the law. His Divinely perfect life was His Divine and perfect love, compassion and selflessness on an infinite scale that pleased God.

 

Prophetical views  on judgment. Those who believe in a Millennium  see one great Day of Judgment – the great Assize, at the end of the 1000 years, but not for the Christian.  Pre-millennialists are divided about judgments. Some believe in judgment  - 1. Of believers.   2. Of Israel.  3. Of the nations. 4. Of the final day of Judgment.  This is varied by ideas about D.N. Derby’s scenario theory of a Great Tribulation – pre-Trib or post-Trib. But the judgment of the nations (Matt 25) is accepted generally by all prophetical schools. 

 

Ambiguities in Scripture about judgment. 

 

Scripture language is often unclear regarding judgment.

 

      * Matt 7:27. Luke 17,30-35. Jesus speaks of a day of final judgment when God is judge or He Himself is judge or else witness. Who judges is not clear in Scripture.

 

* Judgment indicates consideration of worthiness, but worthiness is not the  way to God.  People  are judged out of the books – the Bible? Their lives measured against the Word and against Christ’s glory.

 

* Christ’s  words on judgment have often a broad meaning and not easy to put together as a clear statement, but the basic truth is that the world is built on righteousness, and we are in trouble if we forget it. 

 

*Earthly judgments are part of His judgment thesis. The Sermon on the  Mount refers mainly to earthly consequences, how people react – e.g. Mt 6:33. Lk. 6.38.  He says to judge means to be judged by other people, not  God, to our own same measure.

 

* Matt. 7.1. att 25  31-46, suggests  that we  shall be judged by our acts of charity. It has no reference  to the Gospel.

 

*Jesus talks as if the sentence of justice was carried out on  living people – as e.g. drowned in the sea, thrown into Gehenna (a valley for rubbish at Jerusalem), bound   hand and foot and thrown into darkness, or being slaughtered by the Romans .  These physical threats were again attempts to convey to us the reality of Divine judgment.   

 All such expressions are earthly, physical, not spiritual. But - these are figures only, obviously not literal, attempts to convey the realities of Divine judgment. The world has made comedy out of hell, as wildly ridiculous as devils with forks.  Much of this comes from the Catholic writer Dante in his famous book the Divine Comedy. (C.1300 AD) all of it weird and impossible.

 

*Jesus spoke of  judgments for various sins, unforgiveness, judging others, offending  a child, speaking against the Holy Spirit, hypocrisy, but not adultery or theft, but sins of the spirit – evil heart sins before sins of the flesh.  He was a gentle with women.  The NT record is particularly for His words against professors of religiousness  who make it an excuse for self and merciless  greed.

   

John is more literal when he speaks of the ‘second death’.  The  second death is of those who in the general resurrection stand before God. They may die again – and  there the Bible ends in mystery  - what is that second death?  We can only speculate for Divine justice is never described fully.

 

What the sentence of judgment is,   It rests on one principle, separation from God or of from Christ Himself withdrawing from the wicked. This is not a matter of mere loss of  friendship, but of death – without Him, we die.   Judgment is not a matter of a shibboleth, determined by one set rule- like ‘did you ever put your hand up in a Gospel meeting?’   Everyone is judged which involves both rewards and penalties. The criteria is not the performance of miracles but of character. That has to be harmonised with the  doctrine of grace and the Gospel, which constitutes another ambivalence in Scripture.

 

He links judgment with attitudes towards Himself and His words.  Mtt 7:24-27,  In fact people’s lack of care for others is heinous because it means lack of care for Him.  (Matt. 25). He warns us that indifference to Him and to His words bring inevitable judgment -   Lk 12:8-9.  10:8-16. 11:29-32.  Judgment  is decided by relationship to Christ, not to Moses.

 

But fundamentally all judgment is exclusion from God’s presence.  Exclusion can be in degree. It can bridge hell and heaven according to the measure or distance prescribed  by God’s own fiat.  Heaven is  where God is.  To be in heaven means clearly being washed in the blood of the Lamb, but like Jesus said of the rich man “You are not  far from the kingdom of God.”  The love of God for sinners is eternal whoever they may be, for His love for us has nothing to do with any credibility or worthiness whatever in any of us, but is entirely His own unprompted love.

 

There will be and is judgment,  The terrors of Divine judgment were the stock in trade of medieval preachers, especially the ‘Messiahs’ and their claims to bring in their Millennium, usually with wholesale bloodshed - supposed to be Biblical. But  that is treated as medieval and modern preaching tends to omit judgment. Many mega-churches have an easy Gospel. Christ’s death, His blood, judgment to come are considered ‘negative’. God however is not slack as judge. The whole schema of judgment needs to be deciphered and is not always so crystal clear, but the main fact is clear – we cannot escape  judgment.  It is the one certainty in this universe.  

 

We cannot pre-judge anybody. Tell nothing before the time. Christ could tell people to depart as wicked who have worked miracles in His name, but He knew their hidden heart. That is why Paul prays he may be acceptable to God in the final decision. 

 

There is judgment though theologically arguable whether we shall all stand before the Great Assize at the last day,  But it is certain that the blood-washed will receive no penalty for their sins, because Christ steps forward to take on our responsibilities and pay our debt.  When Jesus went to the Cross, where the fires burned, He took with Him all the evidence of our sins and wickedness and the evidence was destroyed there. 

____________________  

 

George Canty 2009.