Judgement Day Details
- Ask Pastor Adrienne
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Photo by Adrien Delforge on Unsplash
Q:
I know the Bible says we are forgiven of our sin when we ask. But then it says we will be held accountable for our sin on judgment day. How does that work?
A:
Your question is a fantastic one, and I'm glad you asked. It seems like Scripture contradicts itself! Yet we may rely on what the Bible tells us with firm trust.
In the Book of Hebrews, chapters 8 & 10, the writer assures us that God remembers our sins no more. Jesus dismissed all sin when He sacrificed His life and died at the crucifixion. He atoned (paid) for all of our darkness and mistakes. Then He was buried in a stone tomb and rose from the dead on the third day to give all people the freedom from eternal death. Yet there is a Great White Judgment Throne that everyone who ever lived must encounter, after the earth is finished, and be asked to explain all their sins and misdeeds. How can this be, if God forgot all about it?
The answer is two-fold: 1) The true follower of Jesus Christ will stand before that White Judgement Throne covered in Christ's atoning blood. In other words, we'll be hidden by our belief in Jesus’ death on the cross and will not be thrown into the fire. We'll belong to Jesus, having been bought and paid for (1 Corinth. 6:20) and He will stand up as our Advocate in the courtroom on that day. How do we make sure Jesus will stand beside us? We believe in Him. We live for Him. We proclaim that He is the only son of God and that He died on a cross to buy our pardon (sin carries a penalty of death.) We won’t die in the fire then; we’ll literally be pardoned by the highest court in the universe and sent to live in heaven for eternity.
That said, there are "nominal Christians" or Christians who claim Christianity in name-only and do not live like Christ-followers or have any proof of Jesus in their lives. Those unfortunate souls will hear "I never knew you" (Matthew 7:33) because they claimed to be following Jesus in life, but did not do so in lifestyle. (No proof that they honored Christ at all.) So YES, if we are true followers and Kingdom-people, we will pass through that judgment day with Jesus as the heavenly courts proclaim, "All sin is forgiven and forgotten."
2) However, Judgment Day is clearly described in Revelation 20. It tells us that in that same moment, "the books were opened." God forgets our misdeeds, but there are scribes in heaven who record every moment of our lives in one of heaven's books. (The Bible points to more than one book, even though Believers tend to focus only on the Book of Life, where our name is written the moment we accept Christ as Savior and Lord. ) This book of deeds is a recording of our daily life (Daniel 7 & Revelation 20.) It will be used to assign to us our heavenly reward. We have been forgiven, yes, but not all Christians are the same. Should Billy Graham have the same mansion as the thief on the cross? Should a person who served God all of their life be given the same reward as the person who finally surrendered to Jesus a week before they died? No. Because the Christian God is a God of pure justice (Isaiah 30:18.) He makes sure those who have sown much will be rewarded much, and those who accomplished very little for the Kingdom of Christ, will be rewarded in the same way. In Jesus, all are rewarded! Yet we must pass through the judgment day in order to receive our assigned reward.
Heaven will be magnificent for every person who chooses to go. And I personally don't believe anyone will complain about what they got! (There is no sorrow there, etc.) But what we do in this life is being observed and recorded. The lesson? It matters how we live; what we do, say and think.
This is your answer: We are forgiven. But we are still being held accountable. It is the pure justice of God and it is fair.
Adrienne Greene is the pastor of Rockdale Community Church in West Harrison, Indiana.
Books, blogs and connection are available at her website:
You may contact her with questions or inquiries at info@adriennewgreene.com
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