TEXT: Romans 14:10-13

SUBJECT: Eschatology #9: The Judgment of Believers

This afternoon, with God’s help, we’ll move on in our monthly study of Last Things. The End Time doctrines can be put into two categories: primary and secondary. Some things you have to believe in, or run the risk of not being a Christian. They are The Second Coming of Christ, the Resurrection of the Dead, the Final Judgment, and the Eternal State of Heaven and Hell. These are the Last Things that matter most. And on which the People of God—everywhere and at all times—have agreed (nearly).

Other End-Time doctrines are secondary. Now, secondary does not mean worthless. Nothing in the Bible is worthless. The finest point of theology—if it’s true—matters. But some points of theology matter less than others. Sadly, these less important doctrines are the ones we most often emphasize and over which we frequently bicker and divide. But we shouldn’t: You can be wrong on the Rapture without being a heretic. You can misunderstand the Millennium without going to hell.

But to say you can be wrong doesn’t mean you ought to be. Though we shouldn’t spend most of our time examining these things, we should spend some time on them. And that’s what I’ve been trying to do lately, and hope to do in the next half an hour or so. So, here goes.

Today’s topic is the judgment of believers. Will Christians stand before God on the Last Day? Will the Lord evaluate our lives when He comes again?

Let me make this perfectly clear: I am not asking, Will there be a Judgment when the Lord comes again? On this point the Bible could not be plainer and the Church has always read it in the plain, literal sense. In the Apostles’ Creed, we confess our Lord is now in heaven, and

There will be a Judgment. According to Revelation 20:11-15, the unsaved will stand before God, their lives will be reviewed, they will be found guilty and they will be punished forever—

Before we move on, I need to say something that’s way off the subject. The Judgment of unbelievers and the wrath that follows it are not doctrines, they are facts. Future, to be sure—they haven’t occurred yet—but they will come to pass some day. You have God’s Word on it. If you’re an unbeliever, this is the one thing you don’t want to face! But you will face it unless you repent of your sins and put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christians ought to think and speak of these awful things with the deepest reverence and sympathy. The Lake of Fire is not words on a page near the end of the Bible. It is nothing less that the lake of fire-and maybe something far worse than that, something so appalling that not even God can come up with the words to describe it. We ought to be serious about hell and feel for our friends and neighbors who are going there unless they repent.

As important as this is, it’s not the subject for today. For now, we’re not asking about the judgment of unbelievers, but of Christians. Will believers stand before the judgment seat of Christ?

The question needs to be answered from the Bible. Not from a verse here, half-a-verse there, and a word somewhere else, but from a substantial passage, carefully read and interpreted. To my way of thinking, Romans 14:10-13 is the passage.

Before we get to it, however, let me briefly set it in context. The argument, of which it is a part, begins in 14:1 and runs to 15:13.

The subject is doctrinal and practical differences in the church. In Rome, some members were weak in the faith. This does not mean their faith was weak, but their beliefs were. In other words, they were wrong (or shaky at least) on some doctrine. Which one? The one that relates to eating meat, drinking wine, and observing days.

To our ears, they sound like vegetarian teetotalers who celebrated Christmas. But this is reading our issues back into the text. In the First Century Church, meats, drinks, and days referred to the customs of Israel.

Some people in the church thought they could not eat pork or drink wine that had been devoted to idols. They also thought that the holidays of Israel were still in effect, and so they kept the Passover, the Day of Atonement, the weekly sabbaths, and so on.

You understand why they felt this way. These things were in the Bible and God’s people had always separated themselves from the world by keeping them. Paul must have sympathized with them, because he grew up this way too, and he must have enjoyed nothing more than a warm and cozy Hanukkah.

But even though he felt for them, he also knew they were wrong. Not willfully, sinfully, defiantly wrong, but wrong nonetheless. If they studied, prayed, and thought harder, they would learn the error of the ways and enjoy the liberty they had in Christ.

But in the meantime, they still had a place in the church. Even if they never got it right! Welcome one who is weak in the faith.

The brethren who knew more were not to despise or show contempt for the ones who knew less. At the same time, the brothers who knew less were not to judge the ones who knew more, as though not eating kosher or not keeping the Holidays was sinful.

This brings us to the text. It is speaking to believers who are passing judgment on their brethren.

Verse ten opens with a pair of questions. They mean the same thing, but asking twice is for effect,

Judge is a neutral word. It can be positive or negative, depending on the context. If I say, ‘Nobody can judge food like Tom’ it means he is wise and discerning. He knows the difference between Papillon and Burger King. But if I say, ‘Nobody can judge the church like Tom’, I mean he’s eager to find fault.

Paul means it negatively, of course, because it runs parallel to showing contempt.

The words take the form of a question, but really, they’re a commandment. They mean Stop judging your brother!

At the end of v.10, he tells them why they ought to quit passing judgment on each other—

This means I should not judge you because Jesus Christ will judge you.

Note also the tense of the verb, we shall…stand. It a certain way, the Lord has already judged us and is judging us right now, but Paul has another judgment in mind: a judgment that is still in the future.

This judgment is linked to exaltation of Christ, v.12,

By conquering death, hell, and the grave, Jesus Christ was invested with all Royal Dignity. Which gives Him the right to pass judgment on all--including His own people.

In case we missed it, Paul repeats himself in v.12,

He wraps up the case in v.13. Because everyone will answer to God some day, we don’t have to answer to each other today,

In short, there is a judgment for believers. It is still future and because the Judge is Jesus Christ, we can be sure that it will be full and fair.

I found two other passages in the New Testament that touch on the judgment of believers. The first one is I Corinthians 3:12-15,

This was a favorite text among the dear people I grew up with. I can’t tell you how often my pastors exhorted me to win souls and to do other good works, because if I did, I would be rewarded in the Millennium; but, if didn’t, I would still go to heaven, but I’d have a rotten time in the thousand years that come before it.

Much of what my pastors taught me was wrong, but their big idea was right. First, there’s nothing in here about the Millennium! That’s read into it and not out of it.

In the second place, the verses are not speaking to all Christians, but to pastors, and in particular, to men like Paul and Apollos who built churches from the ground up. Some of these men did flashy, but sorry work. On the Day of Judgment, the quality of their work would be seen by all—wood, hay, stubble. Think of the Three Little Pigs. Others, however, would do good work and it would last—gold, silver, precious stones. Both sets of preachers would be equally saved, but their works wouldn’t be.

But setting these details aside for now, the verses plainly teach a judgment on the Christian’s work.

Some say this judgment is passed in this life. There is some truth in this: Time will tell became a cliché because it’s true. I know a pastor who, several times, had amazing success in starting churches, but not in keeping them. He started a church in Northern California with no one but himself and his family. Within six months the church had several hundred in attendance. But within two years, there was no church. It was all built on the pastor’s smooth but empty salesmanship.

Even though this is often true, ‘often’ is not the same as ‘always’. You can fool some of the people some of the time. Some successful will not be exposed until the Day of Judgment, when everything comes to light, and the work will be judged for what it really was—and not what it looked like.

The third passage is II Corinthians 5:10-11a. It says,

To be honest with you, I’ve always been baffled by II Corinthians, and so I won’t pretend to explain the verse to you. I would only spotlight what it seems to teach about the judgment of believers:

Firstly, there will be one—We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

Secondly, it will uncover what we have done with our lives—whether good or bad.

Thirdly, knowing this will have an effect on how we live—knowing therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.

There may be other passages in the New Testament that speak of the judgment of believers, but these are the three I found, and they all teach the same thing, namely, there will be a judgment for believers.

When I first came to this church over twenty years ago, I was surprised that no one believed in the judgment of believers. What surprised me even more was how much they didn’t believe it! It was preached against fairly often, and sometimes even ridiculed. To accept the judgment of believers—I was told—is to deny the Gospel and to create a works-mentality. You get into heaven by grace, but you get the good seats by works. That’s the impression I got.

Being the easy going fellow that I am, I went along with the doctrine, but I never really believed it. The verses we’ve looked at today were not explained so much as they were explained away. I’m not blaming anyone, you understand.

The objection was mostly doctrinal, but if I remember correctly, one Bible verse was always cited against the judgment of believers. It was John 5:24,

Underscore the words, Shall not come into judgment. In other words—I was told—he who believes in Christ will not be judged. Now, of course, I agree with that! Because it’s in the Bible!

But it still doesn’t mean what I was told it did for the simple reason that judgment here doesn’t refer to ‘the day of judgment’; it means ‘condemnation’! That’s how the KJV version translates the word, and rightly so.

Thus, judgment is not the opposite of ‘no judgment’; it’s the opposite of everlasting life. And to have everlasting life means you’re not condemned by God!

If the Biblical foundation for denying the judgment of believers is weak, the theological one is no stronger. The mistake is the same in both cases.

Can you see what’s wrong with this? The word judgment is used in two different ways. Applied to our Lord on the cross and to the unsaved, judgment means ‘punishment’ or ‘condemnation’. But applied to believers, it means ‘evaluation’. On the Last Day, Jesus Christ will open the books and evaluate our lives, our whole lives, good and bad.

But, even though we have done much wrong and very little right, He will not condemn us to hell or punish us in heaven.

Do you see what’s wrong with this one? It forgets there will no sin in heaven. Why do I envy the rich? Because they’re rich and I’m not. And, maybe they got their riches without any work, while I work my fingers to the bone and still have nothing.

But envy is a sin and there will be no sin in heaven. Pride is also a sin and that, too, will be shut out of the golden city. This means the worst Christian will not envy the best one and the best Christian will not despise the worst one.

Most Americans equate equality with justice. If everyone is not equal in every way, it’s because some are holding down others. Don’t get me wrong—I know there is oppression in the world, including here! But the fact remains God did not create Adam and Eve equal, and yet, before the Fall, they were both perfectly happy because they were content with the place God had assigned each of them.

Will everyone be equal in heaven? I don’t know, but if not, it will not stir envy or pride, and it sure won’t bring God’s justice into doubt!

Heaven is a world of perfect happiness for all!

The Day of Christian Judgment has not yet come, but it is already at work in the souls of God’s People. What does it do for us now? I thought of four things:

Number One: The judgment of believers means we don’t have to judge one another. Help each other? Of course. But not sit in judgment because we all have a judge—and you and I are not Him!

Number Two: The judgment of believers improves the quality of our work. Most office workers have annual reviews. The boss looks over what they’ve done in the past year and tells them what he thinks of it. Knowing this has a way of making their work better. Knowing we’ll answer to Christ has a way of making our work better.

Number Three: The judgment of believers humbles us. When it comes to church attendance, I take second place to nobody. If I wanted to, I could crow about my church going and look down on most people for theirs! I never miss church—I come to the prayer meeting and the worship service. I stay for lunch and for the afternoon service. I come on Wednesday nights, and when we have special meetings, I’m always there. Compare this to most other people: They don’t come for the prayer meeting; they go home for lunch; they never come to the mid-week service. And so on. I rather pleased with myself.

Until I think of the judgment of believers. That won’t be solely about how often you came to church. It will be about everything,

This knocks the legs out from under my boasting. Maybe I’m nearly perfect when it comes to church attendance. But what about the rest of my life?

Finally: The judgment of believes fills us with joy. What if a married man had an affair twenty years ago, and his wife never found out? In one way, he’d be happy with his secret, because she didn’t leave him or expose him or take the kids away from him, and he still has her love and respect and trust. Good.

But, in another way, he wishes she had found out. Why? Because the secret is still hanging over his head. One day, his mistress might knock on the door and tell about it. Or, he may call out name in his sleep. Or his wife may find a old check made out to a jeweler for a gift she never got. All manner of things can happen, bring the secret to light, and ruin the man.

If there was not judgment for believers, we’d all be like that man, tortured by the fear that we slipped one by the Lord, and if He knew about it, He wouldn’t love us any more. But the Judgment makes us know that He knows all about our lives—and loves us anyway!

Yes our sins will be exposed on the Day of Christian Judgment. But not only exposed: they’ll also be publicly forgiven! Not because the Lord needs to dig them all up, but we need Him to. Only then, in light of our real lives, will we understand what it means:

When He says our sins are forgiven, everyone will agree with Him. The grudges of this life will be no more. Everyone you’ve ever wronged will forgive you. Including yourself.