Judgement

God’s Judgement Rom 2:2

Certainty of God’s Judgement But we know that

Gk oidamen – we know – it means to know something that is commonly known, it’s obvious, it’s a known fact (Mc Arthur) It is the common and admitted sentiment of mankind. It is known and believed by people generally that God will punish such crimes. It is implied that this was known to the Jews. They knew it because it was everywhere taught in the Old Testament, and it was the acknowledged doctrine of the nation. (Barnes)

Current Judgement – God is currently judging humanity. His wrath is currently revealed against ungodliness and unrighteousness (Rom 1:18). He judges man by leaving them to their own destructive devises. He has given them up and given them over (Rom 1: 24, 26, 28) to the lusts of their hearts, to dishonorable passions, and to debase mind. God’s judgement is dispensed when He gives someone over to their own sinful desires where if they continue in sin will eventually destroy His creation and ultimately destroy themselves (Ferguson). Although often unrecognized, God is presently administering his judgement on humanity: toward unbelievers for their failure to respond with saving faith to the gospel revelation they have been given and believers for failure to live according the confession that they profess. (John 3:18-21). Every person of faith knows that God is currently judging those who do evil. Here the text affirms that the moralist Jews have a knowledge of His judgement.

Complete Final Judgement.

The certainty of final judgment forms the frame within which the New Testament message of saving grace is set. (Acts 17:30-31, Rom. 2:5-16). It is from “the coming wrath” on “the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed,” says Paul, that Jesus Christ saves us (1 Thess. 1:10; Rom. 2:5; cf. Rom. 5:9; Eph. 5:6; Col. 3:6; John 3:36; Rev. 6:17; 19:15). The message of coming judgment for all mankind, with Jesus Christ completing the work of his kingdom by acting as judge on his Father’s behalf, is throughout the New Testament (Matt. 13:40-43; 25:41-46; John 5:22-30; Acts 10:42; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Tim. 4:1; Heb. 9:27; 10:25-31; 12:23; 2 Pet. 3:7; Jude 6-7; Rev. 20:11-15). When Christ comes again and history is completed, all humans of all ages will be raised for judgment and will take their place before Christ’s judgment seat. (JI Packer) There will be a final judgment (Rev 20:11-15; Acts17:30-31; Rom2:5). There will only be one final judgment (Matthew 25:31-46) which will occur after the millennium at the end of time (Rev 20:7-11) in which all human beings both unbelievers and believers will be judged (2 Cor 5;10, Heb 9:27, Rom 2:6, Rev 20:12). Jesus Christ will be the judge (2 Tim 4:1, Acts 10:42, John 5:26). Unbelievers will be punished and believers will receive rewards (Rev 11:18). Believers cannot and will not be condemned (Rom 8:1) in the final

judgement cause they have “passed from death to life” as a result of their believe in Christ (Grudem John 5:24). The regenerate, who as servants of Christ have learned to love righteousness and desire the glory of a holy heaven, will be acknowledged, and on the basis of Christ’s atonement and merit on their behalf they will be awarded that which they seek. (JI Packer) This idea of rewards for believers should cause us to “make it our aim to please Him” (2 Cor 5:9-10) (Grudem).

Character of the Judge judgment of God

From a practical basis for ethics to be meaningful, then somehow somewhere justice has to prevail. Because if in the final analysis if the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer, why should anyone endeavor to be righteous? Justice is necessary for a meaningful ethic. We know that justice doesn’t always occur in this world and for just to occur there has to be a righteous judge. (Sproul) It is the judgement of God. His judgement is just in that it can’t go against his nature. The eternal law of righteousness is in God himself-it is God. The judgement is according to truth because God is God, and he cannot deny himself (Lloyd-Jones). Several aspects of his nature affirm his ability to be the only true righteous judge of the universe.

Perfect A Righteous Judge must not have variations in his character or judgements. God is perfect and his ways are perfect (Deut 32:4, Matt 5:48, 2 Sam 33:31, Lev 19:2, 1 Peter 1:16). God is light and in him there is no darkness (1 John 1:5) there is no variation or shadow of change in his character or actions (James 1:17, Mal 3:6). A righteous judge would have to be righteous himself, not given to bribes or corruption in rendering a verdict motivated by his own self-interest or by partiality. So he would have to be perfectly righteous (Sproul).

Perceptive A Righteous Judge must have complete and total knowledge. He must be omniscience (Is 40;13-14) . He would have to be all knowing regarding those he judges because he could not overlook some detail that would be necessary. He would have to know all the extenuating circumstances for why people behave the way they do. So the perfect judge would have to have a perfect knowledge of all the factors of the case (Sproul). God knows all things at once. All the facts about all things are present in his consciousness (Grudem) God judges from what he already knows. God is always correct in what he knows (Sam Storm) His knowledge is infinite (Acts 15:18). He knows thoroughly and completely (PS 139:1-4). It is as if he had examined us minutely, and had pried into the most secret corner of our being . . . every emotion, feeling, idea, thought, conception, and anxious moment lie before God like an open book (Spurgeon). All my ways, every step, every move, every journey, all are under his gaze. What possible hope of concealment is there when God knows what we will say before we do? (Heb 4:13, 1 Chorn 28:9, Prov 15:3, Jer 17:9-10, Matt 6:8) (Storm) How great it is to know the thoughts and intentions, and works of a man from the beginning to the end of his life; let this attribute . . . make God honorable in our eyes and adorable in all his perfections (Stephen Charnock). He can judge righteously because he knows all things by which to make a judgement.

Powerful The perfect judge must also be all powerful. He must have the ability and the power to make certain that his decision was carried out. (Sproul) He must be omnipotent, all powerful. He must have the ability to produce effects or to accomplish what he wills. His power is vast (Job 9:4) He has made all things and nothing is too hard for him (Jer 32:17-19) He has great power (Is 40:26). Nothing is too difficult for him. All things are within his power (Gen 18:14, Zech 8:6). God can and will do what he sets out to do (Job 42:1-2, Dan 4:35, Is 46:10). Because God is omnipotent he deserves all the honor for his wondrous and awesome power to do what we can’t. As a powerful judge he has the ability to carry out his verdict. The judgement of God is righteous and based on righteousness. For God to judge in an unrighteous manner is to go against his very character which is righteous. (Sproul)

Criteria of Judgement according to truth John 17:17

There are two criteria suggested in the text comparative and comprehensive. Comparative is the manner by which the “righteous” Jews judge themselves compared to others. So long as they were more “righteous” then others they felt they were right with God. There evaluation was external and based on appearances not internal and based on attitude (Matt 23:25-28). Their judgment of themselves was superficial, self-gratifying and insufficient. God’s judgement is comprehensive it is inclusive of attitudes and actions, inside and out. It is based on his eternal unchanging character and the absolute nature of truth (Matt 5:20-48). Gk here means “a rule of measure” In spite of the modern arguments made about truth (i.e. all things are relative, there is no real standard, we may make up our own system of right and wrong), A Hebrew idiom; for truth means often the inward integrity of the heart, and thus stands opposed not only to gross falsehood, but also to the outward appearance of good works. There is a standard. That standard is God himself. His word is that standard which is applicable to all people. Since there is a standard for right and wrong, there are acts which are contrary to the truth. Things can be done (Rom 1:29-31) that are contrary to truth. These acts will cause people to be punished. Those who "practice" (Gk prasso- present tense, meaning engaging) "the kind of evil conduct explicitly denounced by ‘God's righteous decree'" (Rom 1:32) will be punished. If people have the truth they must oppose anything which is against the truth. Christians must stand up for and defend the ways and will of God. This is a Christian responsibility. (Price) God judges according to truth., the eternal rules of justice and equity,—according to the heart, and not according to the outward appearance (1 Sa. 16:7 ), (Henry). He will judge on the basis of the truth, on the basis of what actually is. (Gen 18:25) The principle on which God’s judgment will proceed will be that of truth or reality, as opposed to appearance, worldly status, formal precedence, &c. It will ask what a man is, not to what race he belongs. (Ellicott) His judgement is according to truth, i.e., without error, without respect of persons. It is not founded upon mere appearances or professions, but upon the real truth of the case. (Pro 29:14, John 8:16). The whole hope of the Jews was founded on the assumption that the judgment of God regarding them would be guided by some other rule than truth. He was not to judge them according to their real merits, but according to their national and ecclesiastical relations, just as men now hope to be saved because they belong to the Church. (Hodge) God never does anything that isn’t right. God never makes any evaluation that isn’t correct. God will judge according to the truth. Now, there may be distortion in our perception, but there is no distortion in God’s perception. Nobody is exempt. God is going to look at it, God is going to see what the truth is, and God is going to judge on that basis. (Ps 146:6-7,John 17:17), God doesn’t do anything wrong. He doesn’t make any wrong evaluations. There is distortion in the human world, not in God’s. (Is 45:19) We are so used to mercy that we trade on it. We are so used to God not killing us when we sin that we expect not to be killed. Yet the Bible says the wages of sin is death. Every time you sin, God has a perfect right to snuff your life out. But we are so used to mercy, that instead of seeing it for what it is, we abuse it. “No, He’s not going kill me for that. It’ll be all right.” And He is so gracious. But instead of us, out of love, being grateful for His graciousness, we tend as human beings to trade on it and distort the perspective. Man’s judgment does not square with the facts, but God’s does, and the problem with the moralist is they think they are okay because he is judging himself by himself. God’s judgment is not predicated on outward appearance, it is not predicated on profession, it is predicated on the real truth. The hope of a hypocrite is that God will judge him by something else besides the truth. That is the hypocrite’s hope. Those in church who’ve never really given their heart to God and never come to Christ but are just kind of playing the religious game and who act religious and make people think you’re religious have as their basic hope that they’re not ever going to be judged on the truth but that they’re going to be judged on the lie they’re living. The hypocrite does not want to be judged by the reality of what he is, he wants to hide behind his national identity or his church affiliation or his baptism or his rule-keeping or his morality or the fact that he’s a “good guy.” But man looks on the outward appearance, 1 Sam 16:7 but God looks on the heart and He judges (Mac Arthur) Every believer needs to draw closer to the God of truth and understand the truth of God to allow it to convict and cleanse them. We constantly need God’s truth to show us the depths of our sin in order that we might see and taste and savor the heights of his grace (Ferguson) Let his claws peel of the layers!