There is a day coming in which God shall judge all men. Every man will be judged according to exact truth, righteousness and justice. The standard by which we shall be judged is the holy law of God himself. We shall be judged according to the books of God, in which are recorded all our earthly thoughts, words and deeds (2 Cor. 5:10-11; Rev. 20:11-12; Matt. 25:31-46).

In that great and terrible day of the Lord, everyone will receive exactly what is justly due to him. None will be punished who do not deserve to be punished. And none will be received into heaven’s eternal glory who do not deserve to enter in. Those who are found guilty of any sin, or infraction of God’s holy law, shall be cast into hell. Those who are perfectly holy, holy as God himself, shall enter into heaven (Ps. 24:3-4; Rev. 21:27; 22:11).

In that day the Judge of all the earth, who must do right, will do right. He who sits upon the great white throne will not show any lenience, partiality, or favoritism. He will not bend his law. At the bar of God there will be no mercy and no grace. The judgment seat is not a place of mercy. It is a place of strict, unbending, unwavering, immutable justice. Only the facts will be considered when we stand before God. Guilty or not guilty, righteous or unrighteous, holy or unholy, these will be the only matters of consideration in that day. “Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed” (Pro. 13:21). “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek. 18:20). He that “hath done that which is lawful and right shall surely live” (Ezek. 33:16). God will by no means clear the guilty. And he will not punish the righteous.

In the light of these facts, most plainly set forth in the Word of God, it is obvious that the only hope any sinful person, any child of Adam, has of eternal salvation and acceptance with God is that he might be saved by the infinite merits of an able, all-sufficient Substitute. And that Substitute is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

The Lord Jesus Christ, by his own precious blood, has completely washed away the sins of his people. They are no longer recorded in the book of God’s law against us (Isa. 43:25; 44:22). In that great day, when God opens the book, he will not find one sin recorded against any of those for whom Christ died (Jer. 50:20). Our sins were imputed to Christ. He was punished in our stead. By his blood he fully satisfied the penalty required by God’s law for our sins. Christ paid our debt to God’s law. Now we have nothing to pay!

And Jesus Christ is “the Lord our righteousness” (Jer. 23:6). His righteous obedience to God has been imputed to all who believe on him, so that in the sight of God’s holy law, according to the record of God’s own books, we are perfectly righteous. Yes, every believing sinner has been made the very righteousness of God in Christ (Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:21).

Let us look upon that day with sobriety, but not with fear. Nowhere in the Word of God will you find a believer speaking of the day of judgment with dread, or fear. It is always spoken of as a blessed day and looked upon with anticipation by God’s elect. If we are in Christ, united to him by faith, washed in his blood and robed in his righteousness, the day of judgment will not be for us a dreaded day of doom, or even of sorrow, but a day of victory, triumph and glory!

We must not be presumptuous. But we must not be unbelieving. We who believe on the Son of God have nothing to fear. We will endure no punishment. We will suffer no loss. We will receive the full reward of eternal glory, purchased by his blood and earned by his obedience on our behalf. Our Mediator’s record before God is our record. His merit is our merit. And his reward is our reward!

Christ Jesus my discharge procured,

The whole of wrath divine endured:

The law's tremendous curse He bore;

Justice can never ask for more.

Payment God cannot twice demand,

First at my bleeding Surety's hand,

And then demand the price from me,

For whom Christ died at Calvary.

Be still, my soul, and find sweet rest –

The merits of my great High Priest,

His righteousness and precious blood,

Have satisfied the Holy God.

I'll trust Christ's efficacious blood,

And never fear the wrath of God,

Since Jesus Christ has died for me,

And lives for me to intercede.

Amen.

“After this the Judgment”

Hebrews 9:27

Donald S. Fortner, Pastor