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Master Life
Lesson Nine
The Law And Judgment
There is almost as much misunderstanding about judgment as there is about Law itself. In this lesson, we are going to look at judgment as it relates to the Law. Ignoring or rejecting God's way of mastering life through Biblical Law applications will have very dangerous results.
Rejection Of The Law Brings Judgment
If not for the broken Law, there could be no judgment. If Adam had not rejected the Law [God's rules vs. his desires] as the representative of mankind, there would be no universal judgment. It is the breaking or rejecting of the Law of God which brings judgment. As we saw in the beginning lessons, we are all guilty.
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"Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root will be rottenness, and their blossom will ascend like the dust; because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, the anger of the Lord is aroused against His people; He has stretched out His hand against them, and the hills trembled. Their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still." [Is. 2:24-25, NKJV]
Why is the anger of God aroused? What is it that has brought out His wrath? It was when His Law was rejected and His Word dishonoured by people bent on living their own way. This brings us to the next question: Who was God angry at? His OWN people. His people?!? Yes, His people had rejected His Law, and they were about to suffer the consequences. There are always consequences.
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." [Gal. 6:7-8, NKJV]
Read the blessings and curses of Deut. 28. God is specific with both rewards and punishments. He is the same God who rules today. He will not tolerate rebellion in the ranks. If we reject the Law, we reject the God who gave it. Jesus will be Lord of all or not at all.
Can Christians Come Under Judgment?
Let's begin our discussion of this section by examining a couple of Scripture passages that some use to teach that Christians cannot come under judgment at all. Then we will study judgment and its application to both Christians and non-Christians.
"Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father, there is one who accuses you - Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?" [John 5:45-47, NKJV]
Is Jesus teaching in these verses that He will never accuse us before the Father? Is He teaching that we will never come under judgment? What is He saying?
Context. Context. Context. What is the context? Who is Jesus talking to and why? If we are unaware of context, we will never properly understand Scripture [but we will have a good chance of believing and teaching error].
In this case, we have to go all the way back to verse 18 to discover that Jesus is talking to the Pharisees and Jewish leaders. They were accusing Him of breaking the Sabbath and blasphemy. Jesus replied to them in several different ways, the last of which is quoted above. Here we have the context. In light of that, what did Jesus mean by what He said?
"He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophecy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men,' for laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men - the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do." And He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition." [Mark 7:6-9, NKJV]
We must begin by realizing who the Pharisees were. They knew the Law inside out and placed full confidence in it. The problem, as Jesus pointed out in Mark, was that they had taken the Law and perverted it into their own law, with their own traditions. In so doing, the law they ended up with was opposed to God's Law, although they claimed it was God's Law. Jesus often harshly brought them to task for this perversion of the Law. He also broke their laws, but never the Law of God.
In John 5, Jesus was, in effect, calling them liars for claiming to believe Moses while rejecting Him. A proper understanding of the Law of Moses [God's Law through Moses] points to Christ and is a revelation of Him. The Pharisees never saw [or, at least, would never publicly admit] that Christ was the center and the object of the Law.
Jesus didn't have to accuse them. The very Law which they trusted for their salvation would accuse them before the Father. Moses would stand in the courts of heaven and lay charges against them for their hard-hearted refusal to accept the real Law and so to believe in Jesus Christ.
A point which is forgotten is that the Pharisees, although religious rulers, were not redeemed people. Jesus was not talking to the redeemed, but the unredeemed. The verse's context does not refer to Christians, so it cannot be used to say whether Jesus can/will bring us into judgment.
Two other Scripture passages, which are sometimes used to teach that the judgment of God can never pass on Christians are:
"'For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so I have sworn that I would not be angry with you nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart and the hill be removed,' says the Lord, who has mercy on you." [Is. 54:9-10, NKJV]
"'And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,' says the Lord God." [Eze. 39:29, NKJV]
[It is interesting how some people chop up the Old Testament. They take the verses they like and apply them to today, and ignore the verses they don't like as applying only to the Old Testament era. The Word of God is a Unit not to be divided according to our personal preferences.]
Are these verses teaching that we can do what we want and still escape the judgment of God? Is God a naive or permissive parent? Is He promising to turn a blind eye when we walk in sin? Does sin really matter anymore?
What did Noah's flood do? The flood cleansed the world of evil people [possibly several billion]. That's how fierce the anger of God was. Noah and his immediate family were the only ones saved. The judgment of God fell upon the world with great force.
So what does this comparison with the flood have to do with us? At the cross, the mighty judgment of God fell upon one Person - Jesus Christ - with horrifying effectiveness. Jesus experienced the full judgment of a righteous God. What was the result? Sin and wickedness are washed away from everyone who accepts Christ's work. We stand perfect and blameless before God. That is why we can come instantly into the presence of God. If God saw any sin in us, we would be instantly sentenced to the eternal fires of hell.
"Seeing that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God...Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with fullest confidence, that we may receive mercy for our failures and grace to help in the hour of need." [Heb. 4:14-16, Phillips]
Now, as soon as we begin talking about being perfect and sinless, we know we are working with justification [salvation, relationship with God], not sanctification [Christian maturity, obedience]. We have certainly escaped one kind of judgment - the judgment which sends people to the fiery pit of hell - but does that mean we escape all judgment? We have returned to the question: Now that I'm saved, can I do whatever I want and get away with it? Has God tied His own hands in judging me?
Let's state the case plainly and then go on to prove it from Scripture. The judgment of God to death is upon all humanity. If we die in an unsaved condition, then the judgment takes us straight to hell - no appeals - end of story. If we accept the work of Christ and yield to His Lordship, then the judgment of God to death/hell will never fall on us. Christ was judged for our guilt, and we are rewarded for His innocence. Certainly not a fair trade, but if not for the love of Christ in accepting our guilt, we would be in a hopeless, unsaved position.
Now that I am genuinely saved [i.e. heart change, not just an emotional or intellectual experience], I can never be sentenced to hell [or the Lake of Fire]. There are, however, consequences for what I do, and God will judge my actions. If I act in disobedience, the judgment of God will be very unpleasant [to put it mildly].
"And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few..." [Luke 12:47-48, NKJV]
This comes at the end of the Parable of the Faithful Servant. Jesus is talking about judgment and His servants. The servant who walked in disobedience did come under judgment [and it was the master of the servant, Jesus, Who brought the charges]. It is a fearful thing to be judged by God.
This also brings out another important point. Ignorance of the Law is never an excuse in God's court. Sins committed in ignorance will receive a lighter punishment than sins of deliberate rebellion or laziness, but they will be punished nevertheless.
"If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." [1 Cor. 314-17, NKJV]
Again, the Scripture teaches that we will be judged. As Christians, it will not be a judgment to hell, but it will still be a judgment. Will we suffer loss, or will we be rewarded? Either way, the results will last for eternity.
As we said in a beginning lesson, one of the functions of the Law is to be God's standard of righteousness. It is the standard by which we will all be judged. In our unsaved condition, we can never meet the perfect requirements of the Law. When we are in Christ [saved], we - through Him - have met the perfect requirements of the Law. That's how we can stand perfect [justification] in the sight of God. Our lives are then to progressively reflect the perfection of our position. We are to grow in maturity, and our lives are to become more like Christ's [i.e., law-keeping].
"Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." [2 Cor. 5:9-10, NKJV]
"For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.' And again, 'The Lord will judge His people.' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." [Heb. 12:30-31, NKJV]
Earth is not a playground. God did not place us here just so we could do our own thing [or sit around praying for His return to rescue us from our problems]. Earth is a testing ground, developing and preparing us for eternity [let's not flunk out!]. As a part of the testing, we have been placed in a deadly battlefield and given the responsibility - through the power of the Holy Spirit - to not only restore what we, through Adam, allowed Satan to destroy but also to further develop this planet [Gen. 1:28]. Whether we end up a victor or a casualty depends on whether we follow Christ in obedience or try to do it on our own. Either way, we will give an account of our actions and be judged for them.
"For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God..." [1 Peter 4:17, NKJV]
Does God judge His people? Yes, in fact, judgment starts with us. God will have a pure and holy people before He brings judgment on the ungodly.
Next lesson, we will look at What If Christians Have A Careless Attitude Toward Sin? and then go on to the Teachings Of Jesus And The Apostles On The Law.
Master Life Assignments
Note: These assignments are written from the assumption that the student has completed the Feed Yourself Course. Some of the assignments may not make sense if you have not taken that course.
1. Do a word study on "judgment" in the New Testament.
2, Memorize 2 Cor. 5:9-10.
Return to the Lessons.
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