(Originally written for The Baldwin Bulletin: Pastor's Column March 16, 2022)
Therefore you have no
excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another
you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We
know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.
Do you suppose, O man…that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you
presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing
that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your
hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of
wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each
one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for
glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who
are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there
will be wrath and fury. (Romans 2:1-8)
You may remember I wrote
an article back in January asking the question, “Is God destructive?” looking
back on some of the difficult passages of the Old Testament and concluding with
the truth that God is just and perfectly so, even when we don’t understand. That
truth is the foundation for this article, which looks forward. Does God
actually sentence people to hell (a place of eternal punishment and
condemnation), or is that a cruel idea a few Christians mistakenly dreamt up
and passed on? As we get closer to Good Friday and Easter, maybe the thought
comes to mind, “Didn’t Jesus die on the cross to save everybody straight to
heaven, or at the very worst after some time of refinement and purification in
some realm of the afterlife?”
To be clear, Jesus did
die to save sinners. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 5 how Christ saved us,
who were, in our natural state, our human nature, our flesh, the
ungodly and enemies of God. Through Jesus’ sacrifice and atonement
on the cross, …We have been justified by faith, we have peace with God…We
have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we
rejoice in the hope of the glory of God…We [are saved] from the wrath of God…We
have now received reconciliation. If you humble yourself, repent from your
sins, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you can be confident this is for
you!
Not everyone is saved,
though. Romans 8:1 begins, There is therefore now no condemnation, but
it finishes, for those who are in Christ Jesus. God’s judgment and wrath
do await many people. In Matthew 25, Jesus was speaking in parables, but
then told his followers, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all
the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will
be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people…as a shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right,
but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come,
you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world…’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from
me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels…’ And these will go away into eternal
punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:31-46).
The apostle Paul wrote to
the Ephesians, …Everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is
covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ
and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things
the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become
partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in
the Lord. Walk as children of light… (Ephesians 5:5-8). We aren’t to judge
other people on our own and definitively tell them they’re going to hell and
are for sure outside of God’s saving grace. However, we can judge works,
actions, and thoughts, and determine whether or not those lifestyles are
fitting for people who love Jesus and are walking with him.
Lest we think Jesus was exaggerating
or Paul was just being overly critical or giving his ideas, here’s what was
revealed to the apostle John. Then I saw a great white throne and him who
was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was
found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the
throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book
of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according
to what they had done…Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found
written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation
20:12-15). This is what God will do on what has been called “Judgment Day”—after
his return, after the resurrection of the dead, and prior to eternity “beginning.”
Those who aren’t thrown
into the lake of fire are with God forever—eternally in the new heaven and
earth! This is our inheritance in Christ—not because of our works, but because
of his! But the One who is on the throne reiterates the inheritance of the
wicked, “…As for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for
murderers, the sexually immoral sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their
portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the
second death” (Revelation 21:8). Part of the conclusion of
Revelation is this warning, …Everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of
this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in
this book, and if anyone takes from the words of the book of this prophecy, God
will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are
described in this book. (Revelation 22:18-19).
Brothers and sisters in
Christ, rejoice in the promise of Jesus and the inheritance he has won and
given to you! The fact that your name can be written in the book of life is not
your doing. For anyone else who hasn’t been walking with the Lord, who feels
convicted by these Scriptures, there is time to turn to the Lord. Hell is real.
God has eternal wrath and punishment to all who don’t turn to him, but he is still
gracious. He will not turn away. “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call
upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous
man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on
him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon…” (Isaiah 55:6-7)
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