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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Christian and Judgment, #2
I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. (Revelation 2:23—NIV)
We understand, therefore, that the Scriptures teach:
All persons, including Christians, are judged and recompensed according to their works, according to what they do.
Judgment begins with the saints.
The judgment of the saints takes the form of a chastening of the flesh.
God has been judging the saints for nearly two thousand years.
The person who hears Christ's Word and believes in the Father does not come into judgment but already has passed out of spiritual death into spiritual life.
The Scripture states the individual who hears Christ's Word and believes in God does not come into judgment but already has passed out of death into life. Yet the Scripture is clear that the Christian is judged; he does receive the "things done in his body"; he does reap what he sows; he is rewarded according to his works (II Corinthians 5:10; Galatians 6:8; Revelation 22:12).
These statements of Scripture appear to be contradictory. Since the Scriptures will stand unchanged forever we must come to the Lord for understanding. For it is certain that Christian teachers are emphasizing John 5:24 to the virtual exclusion of the balancing statements and that this neglecting of the whole counsel of God has destroyed the testimony of the Christian churches.
The world is not waiting to see people who have been "saved by faith" and now are hoping to be caught up in a "rapture" so they will not face the perils of the future. The world, without realizing it, is waiting to behold the Glory of Christ in the saints, to be released by the saints from the chains of Satan through the power of the Holy Spirit, and to be inspired and guided by human beings who reveal in themselves the righteous Character and Person of God through Christ.
The world is waiting for the coming of the Kingdom of God. The coming of the Kingdom of God will result in the release of mankind from the chains of Satan by the power of the Holy Spirit. The saved nations of the earth will be judged, ruled, taught, and blessed by saints who themselves have been judged, ruled, taught, and blessed by the Lord Jesus.
The unjudged Christian, the one who has not learned to discern good and evil, is unable to perform the work of the Kingdom of God. If he does not, through the Virtue of the Lord Jesus, overcome the world, the lusts of his flesh, and his self-will, he will never be prepared for the task of bringing release and righteousness to the peoples of the saved nations.
Let us see if we can reconcile the statements of Scripture that appear to teach the saints will not be judged, with the passages that teach clearly the saints will be the first to experience the Divine judgment. We shall consider the Scripture itself, and then we shall give two illustrations that may prove to be helpful to the reader.
To be continued.