Judgment Day !
We have often been taught that Judgment day is going to be a fearful thing even for the Christian. Many preachers often use the fear of Judgment day as a way to keep Christians motivated to live for God and to keep all the rules like go to church, read your bible, pray, fast, tithe and doing lots of good works because they say if you don’t do all these things then you will stand before God on the Judgment day and He is going to take out His list with your name on it and depending on what’s you will either hear enter in or depart from me but you will never really know which it’s going to be until that dreadful day of judgment . The problem with this kind of preaching is that first its contrary to God’s word and second it goes against all that Christ accomplished at the cross.. So how does God want Christians to face Judgment day? Let’s look at
1 John 4:15- Anyone who confesses (acknowledges, owns) that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides (lives, makes His home) in him and he [abides, lives, makes his home] in God.
And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him
In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the Day of Judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love’s complete perfection]. We love Him, because He first loved us.
Listen to what the scripture really says!, God wants us to be confident in the Day of Judgment not fearful. If you have fear of punishment then you still do not understand the reality that you have been 100% forgiven and joined to the Lord neither do you understand the debts of God’s love for you. The Bible says that as a believer you are joined with Him so as He is so are you in this life! What does this mean? This means that we are as righteous as Jesus is right now! Why? Because I am in Him and He is in me and to top it off I have also been sealed with the Holy Spirit until that day. Preaching that makes you always second guess your position in Christ and that causes you to become more self focused and always looking at your own works (am I doing enough?) for right standing with God instead of the finished work of the cross is not the gospel of Christ. This self focused gospel breeds fear and uncertainty and robs you of our joy and confidence toward God and should not be listened to not even for one nano second! God wants us to be confident toward Him even on Judgment day and not fearful.
For the Christian God is not going to sit you down and show you a rerun of all your past sins like a home movie! No! This would be contrary to His word and the new covenant! Where He says your sins and iniquities I will remember no more! Hebrews 8:7-12! I would encourage all preachers to re read the new covenant agreement and to really see what it says.
Double Jeopardy is a legal term that states you cannot be tried for the same crime twice after a verdict has been reached. We need to understand that Jesus has already paid the price for all our sins, not some but all and He has declared us not guilty!. Jesus took our judgment so that we do not have to be afraid on Judgment day. For God to Judge us for sin after we have been declared not guilty would be double jeopardy and unjust and God is not an unjust God
So why did God do this? There is only one answer because of His great Love for us! God took our punishment and Judgment because of His Great love for us.
And Hebrews 9:28 says that Christ was offered up once for sin and that He is not coming too Judge us for sin but to bring full redemption, redemption of what? , Redemption of our body. Our body will experience full redemption when Christ comes back. The Bible says that corruption will put on incorruption and mortality immortality and we will be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye!
God does not want us to be fearful about Judgment but confidence. As we receive the Love of God and the goodness of God it will lead us to repentance.. It’s not the fear of Judgment but the goodness of God that leads people to repentance
The only ones who needs to be fearful of Judgment are those who have not received Christ as the solution for sin.
John 3:18 (Amp)
He who believes in Him [who clings to, trusts in, relies on Him] is not judged [he who trusts in Him never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation—he incurs no damnation]; but he who does not believe (cleave to, rely on, trust in Him) is judged already [he has already been convicted and has already received his sentence] because he has not believed in and trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [He is condemned for refusing to let his trust rest in Christ’s name.]
God wants all those who are in Christ to be confident on the day of Judgment and not fearful! Why not fearful because there is nothing to fear! All our sin has been paid for in full and Christ took our punishment at the cross. To say that God will bring up our sins again on Judgment day would be completely contrary to His word.. The only thing the Christian will hear is not guilty!
A a lot of preaching is based on preaching fear to motivate Gods people to do right and to live right but fear or shame for the believer is never to be our motivation . God’s goodness and His Love is what changes our hearts and constrains us. As we receive Gods great Love we will be changed from the inside out. As we are perfected by His love we will also be confident to come to Him and draw near to Him and we will also be confidently looking for and anticipating His return for us as a bride for Her husband.
Revelation 21:1-2
2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, all arrayed like a bride beautified and adorned for her husband;
3 Then I heard a mighty voice from the throne and I perceived its distinct words, saying, See! The abode of God is with men, and He will live (encamp, tent) among them; and they shall be His people, and God shall personally be with them and be their God
2 Corinthians 5:10 says We must all appear before the Judgment seat of Christ so, what does this mean?
First we must understand that Judgment for sin will only be for the unbeliever not the believer or saint. God will not judge the believer for sin because they have already placed their trust in Christ for salvation.. This is not my opinion it’s Bible truth. God wants us to be confident on the day of Judgment and not fearful
It's Grace 