JESUS DID NOT SAY THAT WE WOULD BE JUDGED BECAUSE OF THE SINS WE HAVE COMMITTED

How often we hear these words from the mouth of a preacher, “When you stand before God, He will condemn you because you murdered someone by your anger… you lied… you stole… you committed adultery…!

Not so, my friend, according to Jesus, there is only one standard by which you will be judged.

“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

John 3:18 NIV

You see, both unbelief and faith produce fruit, the first of rejection of Jesus, the second belief in Him as Lord.

All the sins we commit are the fruit of unbelief in Jesus. All our good works are the fruit of lives transformed by the power of the gospel.

“Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

John 3:20-21 NIV

Paul confirmed the truth that God will judge the world by this one standard.

“God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marvelled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.”

2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 NIV

There are only two kingdoms that people live in, the kingdom of God or the dominion of darkness. We are citizens of one or other of these two realms, depending on our allegiance and obedience to its ruler.

Everyone is born into the dominion of darkness and lives under the influence of Satan, its ruler. Everyone is born with a nature that is pulled towards sin. Everyone is an enemy of God, rebels against His instructions and is destined for the same punishment as its ruler, eternal separation from God in hell.

God’s grace, through faith in Jesus, rescues us from wrath and give us a place in His eternal kingdom.