One of the attributes of God that we don’t like to think about is that God is judge. When we think of judgement we often think of all the things we have done wrong- like being a criminal receives judgement. However, judgement is part of God’s plan and is ALWAYS fair and impartial as God is a just Judge. Psalm 9:7-8 “But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
he has established his throne for justice,
8 and he judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with uprightness.” God as creator has to position of judge over all mankind. We are assured that He will judge with righteousness. Psalm 145:17 goes on to add that his judgement includes kindness. “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.”
We are also told by Isaiah and James that God is our king and savior. Isaiah 33:22 “For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us.” James 4:12 “There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?”
How do we reconcile Judge with compassion and judgement? Isaiah 30:18 and Jeremiah 9:24 help us in our thinking. “Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.” and Jeremiah 9:24 “but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” Unlike man, God is both compassionate and just as well a impartial. We cannot be those things but God can!
We know that God hates sin and will judge the sinner. 1 John 1:9 gives us a way back into God’s graces though faith in Jesus and His work on the cross. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Confession and repentance are essential to receiving God’s forgiveness of our sins. It is why Jesus came to reconcile us to God and provide a way. Romans 5:10 puts it this way, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”
So what of judgement for the Christian believer who knows the forgiveness and reconciliation of Christ? We can lean on the grace and mercy of our impartial God. We will not be judged for our sins, as our sins are forgiven, but we will be held accountable for what we have done for Him in our lives. Romans 3:19 describes the judgment of the unbeliever as they are under the law of God.
“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.” We who know Christ are under the law of grace!! Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Thank you Jesus for your provision of grace and mercy!
Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, I am freed from God’s judgement and live under His grace and mercy! What a wonderful provision this is and lifts the burden of guilt and shame that we bear for our sins. Keep short accounts with God and daily ask His forgiveness for until we are in heaven with Him we live in a world filled with sin and its temptations. Look to Jesus and walk with Him each day!
Linda
Fearless Living 