This post will conclude my series on sin. It has been an incredible journey! I opened up by just describing what sin was, how it came about, how weighty it is, and the cost for sin. Then I spent several posts talking about the abuse of what sin is, avoiding what sin is, dodging what sin is, and the consequences of having such positions. Then I have spent the last two months dealing with the proper response to sin so that salvation from sin can be acquired. Today, I will wrap it all up by exploring God’s final judgment upon sin.
I’ve already hit on this issue multiple times in this series, but God is a righteous and holy God. He is the Judge who will do right on all things. While He has let bad things happen, He has not and will not let anything happen without consequences taking place. Every choice we make has consequences. A man will reap what he sows, good or bad. All the sins that are committed will be punished. All the unsolved murders will be resolved. All the child molestation and rape victims will have their day in which justice will be met. All the thefts, all the political corruption, etc. is going to be fully exposed. Nixon’s missing tapes, Clinton’s missing emails, Trump’s tweets, Putin’s wars – all of it will meet God on Judgment Day.
But let’s not merely look out there. Let’s look inward, too. All our loose words will be judged not just for saying them but why we said them. All our thoughts will be judged. All our “oops” and “mistakes” and “misjudgments” will be judged. Yes, I am condemning myself, too, because I know myself. I’m not as some people out there who claim the Christian faith and boast “I have not sinned once since I became a Christian and I live with me, so don’t question my claim.” Such people are sinning just with that statement by being proud of their own accomplishments and not giving glory to God for it. I am just as guilty as any here reading this and all those “villains” we deal with. My paraphrase of one of Paul Washer’s statements is: “If God were to turn our sinful nature and habits loose, we’d make Hitler look like a choir boy.” We are all going to face Judgment Day when God makes all things right and every little sin that has ever been done is accounted for.
One of the problems with evangelism is that we tend to treat salvation as “getting off the hook,” and many people have objected to this idea when being presented the Gospel. And they are right to do so. They have a sense of justice, too. That function that we showcase in finite, yet broken form, still works to some degree. How can someone commit multiple murders, rape their victims, and then accept Jesus and never deal with their sins? That’s not Christianity. But what about Paul? Paul explained how he did all those things out of ignorance, belligerence, and rebellion, but he also explained how he lived in regret for all those things the rest of his life. He also told the Corinthian church that all those things we do are going to be tested with fire. Only that which remains will count. It will be gold, silver, or precious stones – things that only melt or have already been tested by fire – or it will be wood, hay, and stubble – things that are reduced to ashes and completely useless afterwards but to be blown away. So just because we are Christians, that does not mean that our choices will not have consequences. Some may be saved as though they were being pulled out of a fire with nothing left to show for it.
Those whom God has not saved however, will receive the righteous judgment for their actions. The Pharaohs, the Hitlers, the Stalins, the Ted Bundys, the David Koreshes, the drug lord, the gang leader, the self-righteous businessman, the false preacher, and the majority of average people who have not placed their trust and hope in the Savior Jesus Christ, will all go to Hell. No matter what their moral standing is with society, each of these people are sinful rebels against God, and it is God’s standard that counts. The rich young ruler was a very moral man on the outside, but inwardly, he was a blaspheming idolator, no better than the pagan neighbors of the Jews.
The extreme majority of people are going to Hell. I’m not being judgmental here; I’m just stating a fact. That’s not me speaking, that’s Jesus speaking. He said that He would tell MANY “I never knew you.” The road to destruction is wide and broad; the road to righteousness is narrow and FEW will find it. While there is a good and righteous desire to see as many saved as we can, there is an unhealthy impulse to turn the Gospel into quick decisionism. That does more damage than having never presented the truth at all, because so many think they are saved when they are not; now they are hardened to any suggestion that they are not saved. The great fallacy throughout many church ages is the assumption of salvation, not examining the evidence of salvation. Those who are born again will bear the fruit of salvation. Those who are not born again might be able to fake some of it cosmetically, but they will always give red flags that something is drastically wrong. While we can examine the fruit, ultimately it is God who will judge that fruit. That which is genuine will be spared and used, and that which is not will be cast out and burned in everlasting fire.
But for the saved, for those whom Christ has purchased with His blood, while our own sins will be judged, we will get to see the final judgment upon sin once and for all. We will get to see the end of sin itself. We will finally get to be freed from the sinful nature, and the very presence of sin will be removed. Our bodies will be resurrected, freed from sin, and glorified to be able to be in the physical presence of God and not be consumed. We all look forward to that day when we can truly worship God as He ought to be worshiped without the weight of sin holding us down.
The Gospel message is not about getting out of Hell, though it does include that. It is about God creating a world in which the people He created would rebel against Him, and yet God would not only come and rescue them but make them heirs to His throne and His glory. The Gospel is not merely about God rescuing man from Hell but rescuing man from sin itself. While Hell is a serious thing, as we evangelize, we should be focusing on what sin truly is and that it is sin that we need to confront, not merely the penalty for sin. We can use that, but we should focus on showing the wretchedness of sin so that people will not want it.
This concludes my series on sin. Let us take this far more seriously than we have, so that we may repent of it and long for the day in which we are ultimately freed from it.
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