Acts 17:30-31 “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, (31) because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
Because of the righteousness of God and the sinfulness of man, God is obliged to hold men accountable for their sin. In the above quoted passage of scripture God has very clearly told us that He has appointed a day at the end of the age, on which He will judge the entire world in righteousness. And so it will be on the day of judgement that the sins of all mankind will be brought to account. It must be noted that the day of judgement mentioned in the above passage refers to the judgement of the unsaved only. We know this to be the case because the Lord Jesus has stated very clearly that those who are saved will not be judged, for they have already passed from death to life (John 5:24). And so it is because the day of judgement refers to the judgement of the unsaved that God commands men to repent, for it is only those who repent in this life that will escape the day of judgement at the end of the age.
Romans 3:9-23 “For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. … (19) Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. … (23) For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
We looked at the above quoted passage of scripture earlier when we discussed the sinfulness of man, but it is verse nineteen in the above passage that I wanted to mention in this section, which is that heaven has already declared all of mankind guilty before God. All means all and that means that none are left out. And so when God pronounces all men guilty of sinning against Him they have no recourse, for there is none higher than God to whom they can appeal to try get the guilty verdict overturned. Quite simply the verdict is guilty and all that mankind can do is to wait for the judge to pass the appropriate sentence for their sin. And so we see that the day of judgement that will take place at the end of the age, will not be a judgement to determine innocence or guilt but rather it will be a judgement to determine the degree of punishment to be incurred by each one for their sins.
Romans 1:28-32 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; (29) being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, (30) backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, (31) undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; (32) who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”
We have seen that scripture plainly declares all men to be guilty of sin. And so, as with any verdict of guilt that is pronounced in a court of law an appropriate sentence must be ascribed to the offence committed. In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul lists a range of sins that men commit, i.e. sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness, being whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, being undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving and unmerciful. And so although this list is extensive, is not all encompassing of the sins that men commit, nevertheless it clearly conveys the point that ultimately all sin will incur the same punishment. In other words, on the day of judgement the backbiter will incur the same punishment as the murderer. So what is the appropriate punishment for all sin? This scripture plainly tells us that death is the deserving righteous judgement of God for each and every sin committed by mankind. The Lord Jesus said the same thing when He taught us that all sinners that refuse to repent would perish (Luke 13:1-5). The death that mankind is deserving of in this passage of scripture is what the bible calls the second death. This death will be incurred by all the unsaved on the day of judgement, when they will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone to suffer for all eternity (Revelation 20:14-15). And so we can clearly see that without the intervention of God Himself, all of mankind would be lost for all eternity.
James 2:13 “For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
This brings us to the mercy of God, for an earlier quoted passage of scripture also says that mercy and truth go before His face. So how does the mercy of God reconcile with the judgement of God? The above quoted passage of scripture teaches us that mercy triumphs over judgement. And so in answer to the question about God’s mercy, as we will see later in this series, God is able to extend His mercy to His saints (thus triumphing over judgement) because God Himself has met the righteous requirements of justice through the sacrifice of His Son. In other words, although mercy triumphs over judgement, it cannot override righteousness and justice, because they are the foundation on which God’s throne is established. And so, as we will also clearly see in this series, the very necessary requirements of righteousness and justice being met are the reasons why the blood of Christ had to be shed for our sins, thus enabling God to extend His mercy to us and thus forgive us our sins.
Michael E.B. Maher
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