final judgment (1)

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Final Judgment: Eternal Life vs. Wrathand Fury

Judecata final31 August 1980|deJohn Piper|Text biblic:Romani 1:282:11|Subiect:Heaven & Hell

Serii mesaje:Essential Truth for the Christian Life

Romans 1:282:11

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them overto a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all

unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice;they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventorsof evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving,unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practicesuch things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give heartyapproval to those who practice them.

Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in thatwhich you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the samethings. 2 And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice

such things. 3 But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on thosewho practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgmentof God? 4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance andpatience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5 Butbecause of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath foryourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 whowill render to each person according to his deeds: 7 to those who by perseverance indoing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal li fe; 8 but to those whoare selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrathand indignation. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who

does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace toeveryone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is nopartiality with God.

The biblical truth that I want us to understand, believe, and live by today is this: a time is comingwhen every responsible person, on the basis of his or her actions and attitudes, will meet the finaljudgment of God either as eternal life or as wrath and fury. With that sentence I am trying toanswer three questions about final judgment:

1) Who will be judged?

2) On what basis will they be judged?3) What are the alternatives they may experience?

But some would ask another question first, namely, why talk about judgment? What good does itdo? Doesn't it just make life dismal and cast a shadow across the bright field of God's love? My
http://resource-library/date-index/1980http://resource-library/author-index/john-piperhttp://resource-library/scripture-index/romanshttp://resource-library/topic-index/heaven-hellhttp://resource-library/series-index/essential-truth-for-the-christian-lifehttp://resource-library/topic-index/heaven-hellhttp://resource-library/scripture-index/romanshttp://resource-library/author-index/john-piperhttp://resource-library/date-index/1980


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answer is three-fold.

Why Talk About Judgment?

First, I preach about judgment because it is so prominent in Scripture, and I am accountable as apastor-teacher to unfold the whole counsel of God.

And whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that houseor that city, shake off the dust of your feet. Truly, I say to you, it will be more tolerablefor the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city. (Mt.10:14, 15)

God has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Manwhom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from thedead. (Acts 17:31)

It is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)

If we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longerremains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and thefury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. (Hebrews 10:26, 27)

I do not see how any pastor could neglect this theme in Scripture with a clear conscience.

The second reason I preach on this theme is that for some people the fear of judgment may bethe only motivation to consider trusting Christ as Savior. Now, to be sure, there are better reasonsto come to God than to escape hell. But if fear is the only thing that will shake a person loose fromhis bondage to sin and cause him to consider Christ, then, for love's sake, so be it. There arebetter reasons for a child to obey his daddy than the fear of a spanking. But if that fear is the onlything that will keep him out of the street, then, for love's sake, so be it. I am not as hesitant assome to let people feel fear, for I have ringing in my ears the words of Jesus:

Do not fear those who can kill the body and afterwards have no more that they can do.But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the one who after he has killed has authority tocast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear him. (Luke 12:4, 5)

The third reason I preach on judgment is that it reveals part of God's character and so helps uslove him for who he is. If hearing about God's judgment makes it harder for us to love God, then

probably the God we love is a figment of our imagination and not the real and true God. If wewould love the true God, we must know the true God. There is something wrong with our faith ifwe cannot sing praises to God not only as our loving Father but also as the righteous Judge of allthe earth. As I was preparing for our worship service today I went through two hymnals looking fora hymn that celebrated the glory of God's righteous judgment and summoned us to fear as weought, and I couldn't find one. That is a bad sign of deficient theology and a stunted relationshipto God. We ought to sing the praises of all that God is instead of implying by our silence that, if hejudges, he is not wholly admirable.

Who Will Be Judged?

For these three reasons, then, I consider it essential to preach from a text whose theme is thejudgment of God. The text I have chosen is Romans 1:282:11, and the first question we shouldtry to answer from this text concerning final judgment is, Who will be judged? Paul gives the


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answer in verses 5 and 6, "According to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing upwrath for yourself on the day of wrath and the righteous judgment of God who wil l render to eachperson according to his deeds." The simple answer is: everybody will be judged.

Paul bends over backwards to make this point because there was at least one group of people inhis day some of whom thought they would not be subject to judgment, namely Jews. Notice howPaul approaches the problem. In Romans 1:20, 21 he shows that the typical Gentile of his daywho did not glorify God was without excuse and subject to judgment. He says,

Since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes, his eternal power and divinenature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, sothat they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not glorify himas God or give thanks.

In other words, where there is sufficient knowledge available that God is worthy of honor andgratitude, yet people don't give it, they are without excuse and destined for wrath.

Then in the latter part of chapter 1, Paul describes the sorts of things that a person who does not

acknowledge God falls into. Verses 2832:

Just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depravedmind, to do things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness,wickedness, greed, malice, full of envy, strife, deceit, maliciousness; they are gossips,slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient toparents, foolish, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know theordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they notonly do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Those were the sorts of sins that Paul saw as he looked around on the Gentile society and familyand business life of his day.

But there was a small enclave of people in that pagan society who looked on the Gentile worldwith disdain, and in passing judgment on the Gentiles, reinforced their own sense of security fromjudgment. Yet according to the apostle not only are the Gentiles without excuse and liable tojudgment, so are the Jews. This is the point of chapter 2, verses 13:

Therefore you are without excuse, O man, everyone who judges; for by judginganother you condemn yourself for you who judge are practicing the very same things.

And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice suchthings. Or do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment upon those whopractice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment ofGod?

That is precisely what some of Israel supposed.

Do you recall how John the Baptist preached at first to the unbelievers of Israel: "You brood ofvipers; who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'Wehave Abraham for our father,' for I say to you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to

Abraham."' There were many in Israel who had the misguided notion that belonging to thechosen people, being a Jew, was a free pass at the judgment day. So John the Baptist, Jesus,and Paul struggled to get the point across that those who reject Jesus and live in sin will becondemned at the judgment day whether Jew or Gentile. It was the Jewish towns of Chorazinand Bethsaida to whom Jesus said, "Woe to you . . . For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and


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Sidon (Gentile cities) which occurred in you, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes.Nevertheless, I say to you it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, thanfor you" (Matthew 11:21, 22). Jesus turns the false notion on its head: worse for the Jews injudgment, not better, because their privilege was greater.

And is this not precisely what Paul says in Romans 2:911?

There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jewfirst and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to every man who doesgood, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.

To whom much is given will much be required. Therefore, the Jews are first into blessing and firstinto judgment. No man is saved by his race, his heritage, or his outward religious form. God is norespecter of these things. He looks to the heart and its out-flowing in daily life.

The sum of the matter is given in Romans 3:9 and 22f.: "What then? Are we Jews any better thanthey? Not at all, for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin . . .There is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." And the upshot of

this for us is that everyone in this room, who hasn't fled to Christ for mercy and forgiveness isunder the wrath of God and heading for hell. And it also means that there are no pockets of oursociety which are excluded from judgment. From the top of the I.D.S. to the dens of HennepinAvenue. Corporate heads and cab drivers, congressmen and custodians, housewives andharlots, sailors and secretaries, pimps and pastorswe will all be there before the bar, at thefinal fork in the road of life. And all the money and possessions and status and power and looksin which our souls have sought refuge will weigh in the scales of God's justice like dust that hasto be blown away before judgment can begin, before the real issues of life can be weighed.

On What Will the Final Judgment Be Based?

Which brings us to our second question: On what basis will the final judgment be made? Whatare the real issues of life? Paul sums it up in Romans 2:6, "God will render to every manaccording to his deeds." Verses 9 and 10 are more precise about what sort of deeds: "There willbe tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil . . . but glory and honor and peaceto every one who does good." The real issue of life is not one's race or job or status or salary orlooks or religious form. The real issue is whether one does good or does evil.

But wait a minute. Is that the way Christianity talks? What about the promise: "Believe in the Lord

Jesus Christ and you will be saved"? What about grace and mercy and the justification of theungodly? Didn't Paul say in Titus 3:5, "God saved us not on the basis of works done by us inrighteousness, but he saved us according to his mercy through the washing of regeneration andrenewal of the Holy Spirit"? And in Ephesians 2:8, "By grace you have been saved through faith,and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." How can itbe that we are saved by grace, through faith, not by deeds, and yet will be judged according toour deeds in the final judgment?

Some people solve this apparent contradiction by saying that Romans 2 describes a judgmentthat God's people have no part in. It is only for the unbelieving. I think that solution is contrary to

Paul's intention and to the teaching of Jesus. Paul said, "God will render to everyone accordingto his deeds," not just unbelievers. It is sunshine clear that Paul bel ieves there is a lifestyle thatexcludes one from the kingdom of God and therefore Christians do not have it. For example inGalatians 5:1921 he warns Christians against the deeds of the flesh like strife, jealousy,dispute, factiousness, envy, drunkenness, etc., because "those who practice such things shall


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not inherit the kingdom of God" (likewise 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10; Ephesians 5:5). Final judgmentwill accord with our deeds.

And Jesus himself was even stronger in stressing that you cannot finally pass muster at thejudgment day if your life has not been changed in keeping with his commandments. For example,Matthew 6:14, 15: "If you forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgiveyou, but if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions." Orconsider the parable of the wise and foolish builders, Matthew 7:2427. "Everyone who hearsthese words of mine and does them is like one whose house won't be washed away in the flood.But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a person whosehouse collapses in the deluge." This is a picture of judgment and the issue is, Have we doneJesus' words?

Let's take one more example from Jesus because this one gives the clue to our problem of howwe can be saved by grace through faith and yet final judgment still be according to works. InMatthew 12:3437 Jesus says to the Pharisees,

You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil speak what is good? For from thefullness of the heart the mouth speaks; the good man out of his good treasure bringsforth what is good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil.And I say to you that for every careless word that men speak, they shall render anaccount in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified and by yourwords you shall be condemned.

Here is the crucial clue: on judgment day we will be judged according to our deeds, including theacts of our tongue, because deeds are the infallible sign of what fills the heart. "From the fullnessof the heart the mouth speaks." You can judge a tree by its fruit and you can judge a heart by its

deed. The issue is not really, Are we saved by faith in Christ or by good deeds? The issue is, Onthe judgment day how wil l God make manifest that his judgment is just? And the answer is, Hewill certify to the world that we have saving faith by calling our deeds to attest to its reality.

In the courtroom of the kingdom of God all the world will be assembled before the righteousjudge, and all will be guilty of a capitol offense. Yet some will be acquitted and otherscondemned. The deepest reason for the separation is that one group has been forgiven becauseof their identification with Christ through faith, the other group has not. But what Paul is teachingin Romans 2:710 is that in that courtroom a witness will be called forth to testify to the reality offaith or its absence. And that witness is our deeds, which we can see from Romans 1:2832

includes deeds of the mind as well as the body, attitudes as well as actions.It is by grace we are saved through faith; not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. But the heart that isfull of faith wil l overflow in attitudes and actions very different from those which flow from unbelief.Therefore, our deeds will testify truly to the genuineness or absence of faith, and it is notinconsistent for God to judge us according to our works. But we must understand that thisjudgment according to works does not mean we earn our salvation. Our deeds do not earn, theyexhibit our salvation. Our deeds are not the merit of our righteousness, they are the mark of ournew life in Christ. Our deeds are not sufficient to deserve God's favor, but they do demonstrateour faith. Please keep that distinction clear in your mind regarding our attitudes and actions: they

do not earn, they exhibit; they do not merit, they mark; they do not deserve, they demonstrate.And therefore, "God will render to every man according to his deeds," including Christians.

What Are the Alternatives in Judgment?


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Our third and final question, very briefly: What are the alternatives in judgment? Paul answers inverses 7 and 8:

To those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, Godwill give eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey thetruth, but obey unrighteousness, God will give wrath and fury.

Eternal life or God's wrath and furythese are the two alternatives. In 2 Thessalonians 1:9 Paulspeaks of those who do not obey the gospel and says, "They will pay the penalty of eternaldestruction." Jesus concludes the parable of the great final judgment in Matthew 25:46 with thewords, "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Hell is the most appalling reality we can imagine. No horror of suffering in history can becompared to what John calls the "lake of fire" and where Jesus said "their worm does not die andthe fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:48). To go through life distrusting and disobeying the infiniteGod, is an infinite sin and will be punished with eternal torment.

But if hell is infinitely horrible to imagine, eternal life in the presence of Jesus is infinitely beautiful

to contemplate. The happiness that the saints will have in the age to come will be more satisfyingthan all the moments of joy experienced by al l men in all history. Has there ever been a momentwhen you thought you would burst because you were so happy? Multiply that a thousand timesand let it increase continually for an eternity, and you may get some notion of what eternal lifewith Christ will mean.

I conclude with a summary of answers to our three questions.

1. All people without exception will pass through the final judgment of God.2. The judgment will be according to their attitudes and actions which are a sure sign of the

genuineness or absence of faith in Christ.3. The fork in the road leads either to eternal life or to wrath and fury. If you haven't yet, choose

life! Why would you perish? Trust in Christ and do his will. And for those who love himalready, delight yourselves in the most glorious hope you can conceive, and let everythingyou do flow from faith.

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Separarea final: Via venic sau Mnie venic, Partea 3(Predici)

final judgment (1)

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