Judgment Day

"Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will repay each person according to what they have done (Romans 2:4-6).""

How many people have that picture in their head of what "Judgment Day" will look like? There they are standing in a long line; impatiently waiting to be judged by God for a lifetime of works of obedience to Him. Some, knowing they have not been perfectly obedient ask themselves questions like, "Did I do enough?" Will I enter Heaven?" "Will I gain heaven, but be relegated to some lower class of citizen there?" Others, falsely believing themselves to have been obedient to God, will fantasize about what blessings they believe await them. Given that most people are taught they must live a life of obedience and repentance this is exactly how they should feel; some fearful, others prideful. For many so-called Christians, the Christian life is one of trying to live a life they cannot live in hopes that their good works will outweigh their bad works and God will allow them into His presence in Heaven. Along the way their only focus is on whether they are doing "good" things or "righteous" things of some kind in order to give them hope God will "repay" them with blessings either now, in eternity or both. Passages like Romans 2:4-6 are often used to support this idea because what is said in verse 6 about God repaying each person according to what they have done. However, God will repay people in this manner because that is how they want to be judged by Him. If you look closely enough, the passage says, "But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath against yourself." What is it that these people are being stubborn about and not repenting of? It is their unbelief in the riches of God's "kindness, forebearance (self-control) and patience." Nearly everybody will say they believe in God's kindness, forbearance and patience and that without it they would have no hope. Yet, they will turn around and live their lives as if they never believed it. They want to be judged for their deeds. They live their lives in order to be blessed for what they do. But, a person who lives in this way, who believes this, will never do enough to be blessed in this way; they will never be rewarded in the way they hope.

If you want to be blessed and rewarded for your deeds, you are going to end up with nothing! The reason is because if you want to be judged for your good works you will also be judged for your sins. As one teacher correctly stated, "I know that there are going to be a lot of people who go before the Lord who have not been saved. And when they go before the Lord there is going to be an expectation that they are going to be rewarded for all of their good works... But, that is not what is going to happen. There will be a judgment. If people want to be judged according to their deeds, fine, I am sure He will accommodate that and the end result of that will always be eternal condemnation in the pit of Hell!"The Christian life is not one that is lived out in the energy of our flesh in an effort to be blessed by God. Rather, Christians are already blessed by God, in Christ, and He lives His life through us! The riches of God's kindness, His forbearance and His patience is description of God's grace. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10)." We have been saved by God's grace not our works. Furthermore, we live by grace and not by works. The works we do are the works God has prepared for us and that He accomplishes through us as we rest in Him. If you are living your life in hopes of getting a blessing from God you have missed everything. The blessing God came to give is Himself which is found through faith in Jesus Christ. When I go before the Lord I don't expect to be repaid according to what I have done. I expect to be welcomed in the presence of my God and to hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant," only because of my faith in what Jesus Christ has done for me.