God Is Just

The popular Christian narrative today proclaims hyperbolic love and grace while downplaying repentance and judgement in a post-resurrection comprehension of God. The Lord is portrayed as all love and no hate by isolating scriptures such as 1 John 4:8 and 16, with no mention of turning from sin or the existence of judgement. Yet Paul is clear that Jesus will judge in 1 Corinthians 5:10-11, “For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

Additionally, some pseudo Christian denominations preach there is no hell nor eternal punishment, yet scripture specifically says, “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28). And further, Jesus said eternal punishment awaits those who are condemned (Matthew 25:41, 46; Mark 9:44-48; Matthew 18:6-9; Revelation 14:9-12; Revelation 20:10-15).

A perfect God is fully capable of love and hate and He would be imperfect and unjust if evil were left unpunished.  The inescapable truth of this perfect justice is spelled out in Revelation 16:5-7 and is evidenced by Him not sparing His own Son on the cross (Romans 8:32). The attributes of God that are revealed in the Old Testament are still the attributes of God in the New Testament. Scripture tells us that God does not change (Malachi 3:6; Numbers 23:19; Isaiah 40:28; Hebrews 13:8; James 1:17).

Take God Seriously

With this knowledge, how ought people approach the topic of salvation through Jesus Christ? How ought Christians live in light of their own behavior? 1 Peter 1:13-16 instructs us, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”

In reverence for the sovereignty of the Almighty, don’t gamble on your eternal destiny by indulging in worldly pursuits and temporal living. Jesus conveyed the utmost importance of being right with God in Matthew 25:31-46, with the illustration of the sheep and the goats and again in Matthew 7:21-23, when He said, “Not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!’”

Jesus is obviously addressing believers in this passage inferring that not all people who identify as Christians will be saved. There will be many people who identify as Christians that will be punished in hell because their faith was not authentic. There are many people calling themselves Christian today that are washed in the water but not by the blood.

God has extended His hand of grace to all of humanity but few actually repent and claim the gift as their own. Jesus calls us to enter through the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14).  He wouldn’t have said this if the gate was wide and the road was broad that leads to life as grace theologians would have you believe.  It is incumbent upon believers to live in a manner that abides fully in Christ. 

Our Faith Must Be Authentic

We are called to follow Christ. That doesn’t mean living with one foot in the gospel and the other in secular rebellion to holy living. Jesus said, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). Matthew 16:24-25, tells us, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it.’”  Jesus isn’t asking here but commanding, as is evidenced by the use of the word “must” in His statement.

Jesus is saying that the world will be judged and if His followers want to be pardoned from that judgement they must be fully committed to Him. Saying you believe and calling yourself a Christian because you attend a Christian church doesn’t equate to being born again. When we stand before Jesus and claim to be Christian can we prove it?  Will our lives serve as a testimony to support our Christian identity? The apostle Paul wrote, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” (Galatians 6:7). True believers must fully subscribe to the precepts of the faith they profess, otherwise their profession of faith is feigned.

God Will Judge All Men

Why does society continue to reject the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ? The continued obstinacy of humanity to God’s objective moral code stands in direct violation of God’s holiness and precepts. Civilization deceives itself with the consolation of a lie when someone dies and are said to rest in peace. Nothing could be further from the truth for those who pass on without the salvation that only comes through Christ Jesus. The days of their torment will know no end (Revelation 14:11; Revelation 20:10).

Can a loving God not punish wickedness? Can God be good and yet tolerant of evil? The Bible says that God is a righteous judge (Psalm 7:11) and that God will judge all men (Ecclesiastes 3:17; Revelation 20:12; John 12:47-48; Acts 17;31; 2 Corinthians 5: Hebrews 9:27-28).  Revelation 6:10 says the innocent victims of violence due to their faith long for the day when their deaths will be vindicated and the perpetrators punished. “They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’”

Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” and that Jesus paid the price of our sins on the cross (1 John 2:2), thereby satisfying the justice of God’s court. Jesus paid a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay. Grace is free but it did not come cheap, nor is it a license to continue living in sinful disobedience to God.

Sincere Repentance Is Crucial

James 2:14-26 warns that faith without deeds is dead. Our repentance is proof of our commitment to Christ and it authenticates our faith. Christians must not fall prey to the sugar-coated sermons of carnal-minded preachers that only scratch the surface of who God is; they concentrate on trivial pursuits that avoid the subject of sin, and overemphasize grace and love at the expense of repentance.

If repentance wasn’t God’s will, then Jesus never would have preached it. If sin was God’s will, we wouldn’t require a Redeemer. Jesus said, “If you love Me you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Turning from sin is requisite to denying ourselves and taking up our cross daily. Jesus’ words are clear in Luke 9:23, “Then He said to them all: Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.”  The Apostle Paul wrote, “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24).

Paul elaborates on this in his letter to the Ephesians, and chapter 4:17-24 sounds like it is directed at today’s society in particular. “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. 

That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in Him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

To say you believe in Jesus without living the life of a true disciple is a precarious position to be in regarding your eternal destiny. James wrote, “You believe there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder” (James 2:19). Satan believes in Christ, yet he is not saved.

God will not hold back his just discernment as a righteous judge. He will call sin for what it is and justice will be delivered in a precise and perfect manner. Considering that He has provided the quintessential payment for sin on our behalf through Jesus Christ, there will be no mercy from the court to those who willfully rejected His gift of grace. Jesus advised that it is in fact best to settle out of court (Matthew 5:25). And for those who accepted Christ and embraced the gift, there is a full pardon from the penalty for sin. Romans 8:1 confirms this, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Wholeheartedly commit your life to Christ today and begin living with the assurance of salvation offered by the name above all names.  “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:11-12).