"The events surrounding the great white throne are recounted
in Revelation 20 and 21. Revelation 20:11 – 15 informs us that
God calls “the dead” to his throne for judgment — those who
are pulled up from the sea, death, and Hades. They are judged
according to their deeds and then hurled into the lake of fire.
There’s one criterion that dooms them: their names aren’t written
in the book of life.
Chapter 21 then addresses the church. Here God calls believers
his “bride” and says there’ll be no sorrow for us in heaven. So we
see a clear distinction made between the dead pulled up from hell
in chapter 20 and Christ’s precious bride in chapter 21. The bot-
tom line is that Chris tians won’t be put
on trial and judged, since we believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ and our names are
written in the book of life.
One eye-opening statement con-
cerning our perfect standing before
the Judge is made by Jesus himself: “He who believes in [Jesus] is not
judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because
he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God”
(John 3:18 NASB, italics added).
Despite the clarity of God’s Word, I’ve heard some use the
final judgment to instill what they term “godly fear” in believ-
ers. I’ve even heard some say that they determine the quality of a
sermon by how guilty they feel afterward! Taken out of context,
the great white throne judgment can seriously damage our sense
of assurance. "
"Paul
speaks of our works being tested to see if they’ll endure:
No one can lay any foundation other than the one al-
ready laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this
foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay
or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because
the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with
fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.
1 Co rin
thi ans 3:11 – 13, italics added
The principle is simple: Anything built on Christ will stand
the test of time; anything done in fleshly effort will not. But you
are never on trial. You are not on the conveyor belt.
This is a crucial distinction to make, since many Chris
tians
aren’t clear on it. God has divorced who we are from what we’ve
done, so that our destiny and standing are not in question. At the
same time, the Father wants to showcase all that his Son has ac-
complished. And there’ll be a grand celebration at the end of time
as we know it. "
“OK, so maybe we ourselves are not going to be judged, but I
still want to earn tons of rewards in heaven!” Quite often I’ll hear
a statement like this after teaching on our freedom from God’s
judgment.
As humans, we always seem to be looking for a punishment-
or reward-based motivation to keep our behavior on track. While
we’re more apt to dismiss a blatant guilt motivation, the picture
often painted is that God will be doling out mansions of various
sizes and other merit-based awards when we hit heaven. Chris-
tians have commonly used the term rewards to refer to extra
square footage or certificates redeem-
able for crowns and jewels in heaven’s
gift shop.
In reality, the term rewards does not
appear anywhere in the New Testa-
ment. The apostle Paul speaks of a “re-
ward” (singular, not plural) or a “prize”
in the context of running a race and reaching the end. But Paul
also notes that everything else is like garbage next to knowing
Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:8). Given this truth, do we really be-
lieve that God will be awarding larger homes and nicer jewelry to
those who depended on Jesus more?
God doesn’t want us to think and act in certain ways because
we’re seeking to accumulate heavenly merchandise. Just as Paul
was willing to lose all things for the sake of knowing Christ, we
too should make it our agenda to know him. For more wealth in
heaven? No, we want to know him simply because it’s the greatest
thing going on planet Earth.
But doesn’t Jesus himself tell us to store up treasures in heaven
(Matthew 6:20)? Yes, but treasures aren’t rewards.
People discover
treasures. They don’t earn them. Once a treasure is discovered, it
can be abandoned or it can be stored somewhere.
When God tells us we can store up treasures in heaven, he’s
asking us to consider our daily choices and their outcomes. Some
choices end in a worthless product that is later burned up like
wood, hay, or straw. Other choices endure for eternity since they
are expressions of Jesus Christ.
Essentially, God is posing the following questions: Given who
you are and what you know, what will you invest in? Will you
store up attitudes and actions that endure forever, or will you
pursue dead works that end up being burned?
The choice is ours.
9 comments:
Whoever thinks their good works are an indicator of their readiness for judgement day...I don't know if I should say what I'm thinking...
I'm thinking they may be in for a terrible shock on judgement day. 'Nuf said?
Great stuff!
tee hee, ruffled feathers Jul? :)
...........Cirra!!! Thanks.............still miss you!!!
Hey can someone tell me if the link for the book works, it should take you to the download of the naked gospel. But I am thinking it may not work for others since I already have it downloaded on my computer - I may need to change it. Okay, so someone kindly let me know, please!!!!
I've been reading this book. I'm about half way. But the same stuff confuses me..Law conviction for unbelievers aside, what's being said about not having a sin nature but having the flesh infected by the entity called sin..I don't see what the point of saying we're new creations where everything's new and then saying the flesh is inherently sinful etc. For all intents we may as well say we've got two natures..And to cut it by being determinate about a definite 3part humanity seems biblically stretched to me. I don't feel comfortable with what sounds like 'infused righteousness' regarding the 'spirit'..Thoughts? I know there's a difference on some of this between folks. I know Ryan Rufus for example cuts it more simply. His view on Rom7 says that 'indwelling sin' is sin ruling the show. Not a believer who's heart's new...Then as regards the new spirit and what it is..I heard Bertie Brits talking about the heart of man being his belief system. Interesting. Cos I feel uncomfortable with what sounds like an inherent infused righteousness that people talk about..I wonder that Ryan's right. The flesh is just our humanity. There's nothing morally wrong with it. We can't live as humans without it! It's just it's got no spiritual resources against sin and it's passions and desires etc make it a liability without being reigned in. That needs just a pattern of life under grace righteous apart from works. With the Spirit. We haven't got that without believing the message of the gospel of righteousness. If we have, we do, we love, and the Spirit works in us to will and to do..I just think I see the problems of saying otherwise..Speaking aloud ;-)
Phil
I loved the book, but that was the one part that I did not totally jive with. I agree with what you are saying totally. The way I see it is like I described in my latest post. We are totally new creations in our spirits, our bodies, flesh, soul all that were united to our old nature, and have memories and patterns. So as new creations we are learning to live from our new source, rather than our old nature, and all the ways we used to learn how to get by and to cope, are just that and they affect our soul and body. (am I making any sense?) We have to learn a whole new way of life, because we have a whole new life in Him, dependent on Him and not our own resources or abilities.
As for having any kind of sin nature - I don't have one, it's been cut out. I don't think it's helpful to call our flesh, the sin nature either that gets confusing, I think Steve McVey teaches that. I don't identify by my flesh!! My identity is in Christ alone!!!
Wow,that was quick. Must have caught you near your computer..I guess I don't feel comfortable with the moment-by-moment 'law of gravity law of aerodynamics' view of life in Christ. I think Rom7 shows that our humanity is a slave to sin by the principle of works righteousness. The more we try the worse. But everyone died in Christ and was raised positionally. Everyone. When we believe the message of imputed righteousness apart from works we've been reckoned died to sin by God the same way Christ died to sin. Not deeds. Imputation of guilt. That is the message that frees up our humanity to be what it's intended like you say. I'm thinking that to have a new mind on the message of the gift of righteousness is to have a new spirit and be delivered from sin. To know that God will not impute sin moves the human heart to love God out of his love to us. I think that might be quite simply what it is to have a new spirit. Genuine believers and unbelievers don't have a different humanity..a new spirit is not a substantive new bit that replaces an old bad bit,but a change in our thinking about God at the most fundamental level that God says changes everything..Just a thought.
Can you explain what Ryan Rufus teaches on this subject (flesh, indwelling sin, new spirit, etc.)? I have only read a little of his writings, but I enjoyed what I read..
Hey Sparrow Girl,
I have a link to Ryan's book, 'Do Chrisitans have a sinful nature?' over to the right, it's a free download and a pretty quick read.
But anyway, I believe a quick summary would be he teaches we have a new nature, our old nature (the sin nature, or indwelling sin) has been cut out, and as christians we identify by our new nature, not by our flesh.
Gee I hope that helps, I can't get into all of it right now, my head is spinning, ha! But if you get a chance check out the link............AND for more good reading on what you mentioned go on over to Grace Roots, Joel is DA MAN!!!! Oh and try my friend Julie's blog too, Voice of Grace. She can preach it!!!
Best to you!!
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