Today’s episode continues with the sixth basic principle of Christianity spelled out in Hebrews 6:1-3, Eternal Judgment.
There are two significant judgments that every Christian should be aware of, the Bema Judgment and the White Throne Judgment. In the last episode, I briefly covered the Bema Judgment. The Bema Judgement is the Judgment that all Believers in Jesus Christ will experience. It will not be a judgment that determines salvation because that is secure in Jesus Christ. It will be a judgment to determine rewards. Show More
Before going on to the Great White Throne Judgment, I feel I need to say something about works and judgment and judging. These terms are used throughout the scriptures involving Eternal Judgment.
Works
When the Bible talks about works it is often in relation to the Old Testament and the Law. Works in particular good works or works of righteousness were very important in obeying the Law of Moses. The practicing Jew was expected to do at least one Mitzvah each day, that is a good deed. For example, a mitzvah could be showing kindness to a stranger.
Of course, if there are righteous deeds there must be unrighteous or evil deeds which are contrary to the Jewish Law. When one knowingly and willfully performed an evil deed, it resulted in condemnation.
So, observing the Torah, the Hebrew Bible was filled with regulations or works to protect the Jew from condemnation. Tradition has it that there are 613 Laws based on the first 5 books of the Torah or what we call the Old Testament. Every practicing Jew had to observe those laws to be considered righteous.
Now let’s jump to the New Testament. Should a Christian do good works? The answer is of course- yes! What is important to note though is that works, righteous or unrighteous, are not the basis of our salvation! In the New Testament, our salvation depends on repentance and believing in Jesus Christ alone. We repent of our sins, not believing or trusting in Him, and now turn our lives to Him.
So now how do works come into the picture, especially as it relates to Eternal Judgment? Works are the evidence of our faith! As a Believer we want to please God and so we order our lives in words and deeds to please Him.
Now here is where it gets tricky for us human beings. When we accept Christ as Lord and Savior, are we instantly changed in the natural? Spiritually the change is instantaneous, but habits and practices over a lifetime take time to overcome.
As Christians, it is often difficult to not judge another’s behavior and then conclude they are or are not true Christians. The question is are they a new Christian and pretty rough around the edges, or a mature Christian and should know better? Or are they in fact not Christians?
We tend to measure maturity by years lived, but Christian maturity is based on a relationship with Jesus. I remember a saying,” It’s not how long you’ve been on the road, but how far you’ve traveled”. There are some individuals that may have accepted Christ 20 or 30 years ago but have not traveled or matured very much. They may not look like model Christians!
Judging
When the Bible talks about judging it is often in the context of condemnation, in other words, heaven or hell. The scriptures are clear we are not to judge anyone based upon their words or works (Matt 7:1-5, Luke 6:36). This is because we can only see the outward workings, but only God is able to examine the heart, or motivation (1 Cor 4:5).
We can never know if another person is “saved” or not. God is the judge of the motives and the intents of the heart. every believer is “a work in progress”. This is not to excuse bad behavior but to realize that we don’t know the end of someone’s life.
What we are encouraged to do is examine the fruit in a “believer’s” life. That is to look for the fruit of the Holy Spirit which comes with Christian growth, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23).
Saul become Paul
Perhaps you’ve heard it said that we “should not judge a wine before its time”. This simply means that the wine won’t taste very good until it has matured. This is exactly the point I am trying to make. As an example, this statement fits very well into the life of the Apostle Paul.
If you were to look into the first part of Paul’s life you would know that his name was Saul. Saul was a religious, fanatical Pharisee. As a matter of fact, he described himself as a Hebrew of the Hebrews. He took it upon himself to wipe out a new radical cult called Christianity, which he saw as a threat to Judaism.
Then there was that fateful day while on the road to persecute the Christians in Damascus, he encountered the risen Christ (Acts 9:1-19).
Then everything changed for Saul, his name, his identity, his destiny. He would eventually embrace everything he sought to destroy. He would inspire thousands for Christ and suffer greatly for the cause of Christ. He would also be responsible for writing most of the Epistles or books of the New Testament. Yet and a very big yet… after his conversion most Christians at the time would not even associate with him (Acts 9:26). He didn’t look like a Christian, didn’t act like a Christian, yet He was sold out for Christ.
He went into isolation separated from the mainstream Christians at the time. He spent time with the Lord and received profound revelations from God. And so, he matured and matured until some 14 years later he came out of the “closet” so to speak, and began his ministry (Gal 2:1).
The point is that almost everyone condemned this Saul/Paul character. He can’t be a Christian, look at what he has done to Christians! But God knew who Paul would become. God did not look at the externals but was able to see a heart that would be sold out for Jesus. In the same way, we as believers need to be very careful about judging others, in a sense when we judge condemnation, we are taking the job that only God can do perfectly.
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