God Without Religion_ Can It Really Be This Simple_ - Andrew Farley [62]
In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him [God]. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:17–18)
Apparently, we’re supposed to be confident about the day of judgment. The reason for our confidence is that “we are like him.” What does that mean? What is it about who we are that would free us from any fear of judgment? Our newness, our righteousness, our closeness to God—all of these contribute to our confidence on judgment day.
We are to trust in the love of God. It was God’s love that sent Jesus to the cross to take away our sins forever. It was his love that brought us this incredible, unconditional forgiveness and cleansing. Do we really believe that, having done all of this, he will double-cross us upon Jesus’s return, bringing up the very sins he has removed and forgotten?
In our legal system here in the United States, this is referred to as “double jeopardy.” A person cannot be tried for the same criminal offense twice. With God, it’s essentially the same. We were already put on trial, and the verdict was guilty. The punishment was death, and Jesus died in our place. Now there is no punishment left, and we will never again be put on trial for our sins. If we were to be judged for our sins after Christ died for them and took them away, that’d be a case of double jeopardy. That’s not happening!
Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. (Heb. 9:28 NASB)
When Christ returns, he will return without reference to sin. Why? Because we’ve already been put on trial, and God carried out the sentence on his Son. As this passage says, Christ was already offered once for our sins, and in the eyes of God, that’s enough.
There will be no double jeopardy.
Black-and-White Throne Judgment
The idea that we believers will face a final judgment for our sins contradicts total forgiveness. But many of us seem to think that Christians will be held accountable for their sins. Held accountable? If we were held accountable for our sins, the punishment would be death. It wouldn’t be a slap on the wrist.
Remember, the wages of sin is death.
Yes, Paul tells us “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Cor. 5:10). So all humans will appear at the judgment. But the question is, what will that judgment look like? Fortunately, other passages reveal the specifics of a black-and-white judgment that may be different from what we’ve imagined.
In Revelation 20, God summons “the dead” to be pulled from hell for judgment of their deeds. The result is that they’re all judged guilty and then thrown into the lake of fire:
The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:13–15)
It’s a black-and-white, pass-fail judgment, and they fail. Their final destination is what’s at stake. And they all receive the same verdict—the lake of fire.
The next verses in Revelation 21 are very different. God has already completed his judgment of “the dead.” He then addresses the church. As you’ll read, he’s got nothing but positive things to say to his bride as he assures us there’ll be no sadness of any kind for us:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,