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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Judgment Seat of Christ Is in Session, #2
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (Hebrews 2:3)
An example of the fruit of this method of "study" is the application of Romans 6:23 and Hebrews 2:3 to the unconverted. These two verses are used today to warn the unconverted of the danger of not being "saved." In actual fact the two verses are addressed to Christian people concerning their sins and their lukewarmness toward Christ.
Indeed, all the Epistles are written to the "saints," as Paul terms the believers. Christian people, the saints, do not take these warnings to heart because they believe they are directed toward the unsaved.
One of the principal "key verses" of current Christian theology is John 5:24:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death to life.
It is difficult to comprehend the amount of error caused by the employment of John 5:24 as a "key verse" from which conclusions are drawn. We may not be overstating the case to say that the principal doctrine of the Epistles, which is the necessity for our growth toward perfection in Christ, has been sapped of most of its strength by the excessive application of John 5:24 as a "key verse."
John 5:24 is one leg of a seeming contradiction. John 5:24 states that he who hears the word of Christ and believes in God shall not come under judgment. He has passed from death to life.
It may be inviting to the humanist to conclude from John 5:24 that the Lord will not judge His people. But this is to create an unscriptural attitude toward the Christian redemption (I Corinthians 11:32, for example). It represents a departure from both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
John 5:24 is not referring to a one-time confession of Christ as Savior. We must have "ears to hear" the Word of Christ each day of our pilgrimage and continue to believe in God throughout our days on the earth.
Every day we pass from death to life as we walk in the Spirit of God. Every day of our Christian life, spiritual death and spiritual life struggle for mastery over us. Every day we "hear the Word of Christ," believe in God, and live without condemnation. The moment we cease abiding in Christ, John 5:24 ceases applying to us.
Here is a seeming contradiction: John 5:24 states that the believer shall not come under condemnation, or judgment, but I Peter 4:17 states that the Divine judgment begins with the believers in Christ. In fact, the entire fourth chapter of I Peter reveals that our tribulations in this world are the judgment of God on us as Christians (also, II Thessalonians 1:5).
To be continued.