The preachers quoted here say judgment is built into the way God has made the world and is as certain as death. They describe it as individual, final and eternal, and one notes that it already rests on the guilty in the present.
Judgment in Scripture is God's act of deciding and declaring what is right, and of giving to each what is due.12 It follows from his character. Abraham asked, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25). Because God is just and nothing is hidden from him, "God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:14).
It is at work already. Paul says God's wrath is revealed now in his giving people over to what they have chosen (Romans 1:24). John says, "this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light" (John 3:19). God also disciplines his own people: "judgment must begin at the house of God" (1 Peter 4:17).
It will be completed on a day. "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). God "hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained" (Acts 17:31). The judge is Christ: "the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son" (John 5:22). The Apostles' Creed confesses that "he shall come to judge the quick and the dead".3
Its standard is truth and its scope is everyone. God "will render to every man according to his deeds", and "there is no respect of persons with God" (Romans 2:6, 11). He will "judge the secrets of men" (2:16). Jesus said people will give account of "every idle word" (Matthew 12:36). John saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, "and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works" (Revelation 20:12). In the Bible judgment is not only a threat but a ground of hope, because it means evil will not have the last word.
For those who are in Christ the verdict has been given in advance. "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). Their sins were judged at the cross. They will still give account of their service: "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:10), where work is tested and rewarded (1 Corinthians 3:13-15).
The delay of the day is itself mercy. God is "longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).
- Strong's Hebrew 4941, mishpâṭ: "properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree...".
- Strong's Greek 2920, krísis: "decision (subjectively or objectively, for or against); by extension, a tribunal; by implication, justice...".
- Various, The Apostles Creed, "Apostles' Creed".
In their own words
Each line below is quoted exactly from a sermon on this site. Follow the link to hear or read it where it was said.
Judgment is a reality of the way the world has been designed.
Brent Barnett
in Righteous Judgment
Read in context
Well, God's judgment is intensely individual.
Ian Brown
in Early Men Believed in Final Judgment!
Listen at 19:27
But God's judgment is not only final, but it is eternal.
Anton Bosch
in Eternal Judgment
Listen at 3:53
The judgment of God is already upon the guilty, upon whom His love is set.
G. Campbell Morgan
in The Message of Hosea
Read in context
But judgment is just as sure, and you'll notice that he says that we die, and then the judgment.
What Scripture says
- Hebrews 9:27 appointed to men once to die, but after this the judgment
- Acts 17:31 he will judge the world in righteousness
- Ecclesiastes 12:14 God shall bring every work into judgment
- Revelation 20:11-12 the dead were judged according to their works
- John 5:24 shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death to life
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