Unforgiven Sins Face Judgment

1 Timothy 5:19-25 “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses.  (20)  Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.  … (24) Some men's sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later.  (25) Likewise, the good works of some are clearly evident, and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden.”

 We have seen in an earlier section that there are some works done on the earth that can be blotted out, and those works will not be remembered on that day. The works that I am referring to are all sins that we commit which we repent of and ask forgiveness for. We have seen that our Lord is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and they are blotted out of heaven’s records by His precious blood. You can readily see then why it is so important that we keep a short account of sin and confess them before the Lord as soon as they are committed, for sin that is unforgiven remains on heaven’s records and will be brought to account on that day, for scripture plainly teaches us that we will be held to account for both the good and the bad that we have done in this life (2 Corinthians 5:10). And so we come to the even more serious aspect of the believer’s judgement, which is unforgiven sin. In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul reveals to us two aspects of our lives that we will be held to account for on our day of judgement i.e. our good works and also our sins, for I want you to notice that when Paul makes the comment about some men’s sins preceding them to judgement that he was dealing with the issue of elders in the church who were sinning. And so clearly this statement was made in relation to the judgement of believers and not unbelievers.

Matthew 5:18-19 “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.  (19) Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

In support of what the apostle Paul taught in the preceding passage of scripture we also have the statement made by our Lord Jesus regarding the judgement of believers who commit sin. In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord Jesus is referring to believers and not unbelievers, for He tells us that these individuals are in the kingdom of heaven. And we also know that He is talking about believers who commit sin because He speaks of those who break the commandments of God. And so clearly we can see from this teaching that our Lord has given us that sin in the life of the believer will have an impact on their eternal standing in the kingdom of heaven. So why is that? The reason for that is simply because their sin will be brought to account on their day of judgement.

1 Corinthians 4:3-5 “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.  (4)  For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.  (5)  Therefore, judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God.”

In the passage of scripture quoted above the apostle Paul speaks of things that the Lord may have against us on our day of judgement. The only things that the Lord will have against His saints on that day, are unforgiven sins. It is interesting to note that Paul goes on to say in this passage that he was unaware of anything that the Lord could hold against him on that day. The reason Paul could say that was because he always made sure that he walked a blameless life before the Lord, for Paul said of himself, that he always lived in all good conscience before God (Acts 23:1). How many believers do you know that can confidently say before the Lord that they know of nothing against themselves? And yet Paul did, and he told us to imitate him even as he imitated Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). How many believers do you know that can confidently tell the church to imitate them as they imitate Christ? And yet again Paul did. Someone said, but I thought that Paul said he was the chief of sinners. Paul did say that he was chief of sinners before he was saved, but after salvation Paul put himself forward as an example of what it means to live a blameless life before the Lord. The word translated “am” in that portion of scripture also means “was”, which is the correct translation in the context of what Paul was teaching on (1 Timothy 1:15).

Colossians 3:23-25 “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, (24) knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.  (25) But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.”

We have already looked at the passage of scripture quoted above, in dealing with the fact that the saints can expect to receive their reward from the Lord Jesus on that day for those works that they have done in the spirit. But in this same passage however, the apostle Paul also warns us that those saints who have done wrong can expect to receive their retribution from the Lord (the word translated “wrong” in this passage of scripture can also be translated “sin”). The Holy Spirit then emphasizes this point by telling us that the Lord will not show partiality to those who have broken God’s laws just because they are His children. And so we should be under no illusion about our day of judgement, for the believer’s judgement will be completely thorough and will include all sin that is unforgiven.

1 Peter 4:17-18 “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?  (18)  Now "if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”

In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit through the apostle Peter teaches us that many believers will barely make it into heaven, for He says, pertaining to the saints’ judgement, that the righteous one is scarcely saved. Sadly there are many saints that live lives that are almost indistinguishable from the lives of the unbelievers that live around them. Nevertheless they remain the Lord’s children and were they to die they would depart from this life to be with the Lord Jesus. If you refer to the earlier section in this series, you will realise that I am referring to the saints that have not yet committed the sin to death. Those same saints however will still be held to account for their sin on their day of judgement and as Peter says, they will scarcely be saved.

Michael E.B. Maher

Eternal Judgement

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