If this topic is too traumatizing to read, just jump to the end where I explain how to escape condemnation, and instead receive a warm welcome into Heaven with God for eternity. But you must make the choice to escape your condemnation at The Final Judgment.
What will The Judgement Day be like?
When most people think of “The Judgement Day”, they think of this scene described in the book of Revelation.
“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Revelation 20:11-15 ESV
The Judgement Day will be terrifying
There are terrifying passages in which Jesus gives a glimpse of the horror that awaits those who are condemned at The Final Judgement.
“So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 13:49-50 ESV
Read all of Matthew 25:31-41, but below is an excerpt:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ….And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:31-34, 40-41 ESV
Who will face The Judgement? Hint: look in the mirror
Every person who has ever existed will stand before the righteous judge at The Final Judgement. Everyone. You. Me. Everyone! Here’s what the Bible has to say about this truth.
“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:36-37 ESV
“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” Hebrews 9:27-28 ESV
“Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” Romans 14:10-12 ESV
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” 2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV
“If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.” John 12:47-48 ESV
“But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek,” Romans 2:5-9 ESV
We each shall stand before the righteous judge and give an account for our lives
So what will we do before the judge? What will He require of us? We must give an account for our lives. What will you say? How will you defend yourself? Is there any one of us who does not have things in our life that we know are wrong and shameful? Again, skip to the good news at the end if you can’t bear to think about this.
“Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” Romans 14:10-12 ESV
“on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” Romans 2:16 ESV
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;” Luke 6:37 ESV
“Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.” Matthew 10:15 ESV
“And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—” Jude 1:6 ESV
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” 2 Peter 3:10 ESV
“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.” Revelation 22:12 ESV
“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Daniel 12:2 ESV
“but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” 1 Peter 4:5 ESV
“For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.” 1 Corinthians 3:11-14 ESV
Who will judge the world?
So who is this righteous judge who call every person to account for their lives? None other than Jesus Christ!
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” 2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV
“For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,” John 5:22 ESV
“And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.” John 5:27 ESV
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” John 5:30 ESV
“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:” 2 Timothy 4:1 ESV
“And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.” Acts 10:42 ESV
“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:30-31 ESV
“As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.” Daniel 7:9-10 ESV
“It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’” Jude 1:14-15 ESV
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.” Revelation 19:11 ESV
And now for the Good News!
After all this bad news, you are probably wondering “Is there any hope? This is all terrifying to even think about!” YES! There is incredibly GOOD NEWS!! Jesus is the Judge as we saw above. However, He is also the one who is able to forgive us for all the sin we have ever committed and will have committed up to the point of the death of our bodies. What’s more is that Jesus not only forgives us (if we believe in His sacrifice on the cross), He adopts us into the family of God. We become divine royalty! Read on.
Jesus can spare us from condemnation
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” John 3:16-18 ESV
Only Jesus can save us from the coming Judgement
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”” Acts 4:12 ESV
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 ESV
“For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:17 ESV
Instead of condemnation we can receive reward and reconciliation with God.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 ESV
“And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38 ESV
“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”” Acts 17:30-31 ESV
“To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”” Acts 10:43 ESV
“If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.” John 12:47-48 ESV
“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.” 1 John 4:14-17 ESV
When we are reconciled to God, we actually become part of His royal family
It is unimaginable to think that it’s possible to change our fortune from one of being hopelessly lost to eternal misery to one in which we are completely let off the hook and instead be united with the Creator of the universe as a member of His family forever. Take a look at these passages:
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,” Ephesians 2:19 ESV
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13
“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Romans 8:16-17
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” Galatians 4:4-7 ESV [“Abba” is Aramaic for “Daddy”]
“But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:3-9
How to Avoid Being Condemned!
Before you leave this blog post and get distracted by the things of your life, make the decision now to acknowledge and renounce your sin (that’s what it means to repent), acknowledge that you are in a position of condemnation from God, but confess with your voice that Jesus’s dying on the cross was sufficient to pay the penalty for your sins, and the proof of that is you believe God raised Jesus (His one and only Son) from the dead. And because Jesus lives, you will live for eternity with Him as a son or daughter of God.
Consider these verses from the Word of God to help you see your need to take these actions to be spared condemnation:
“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13 ESV
“For he says, ‘In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2 ESV
“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,” Acts 3:19-20 ESV
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” John 5:24 ESV
“because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Romans 10:9-10 ESV
“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” Romans 8:16 ESV
Now it’s your turn. Change your destiny!
If you would like to receive the eternal life and the forgiveness of your sins that Jesus promised, simply read these scriptures and pray to Jesus as you acknowledge and confess the truth of each of the passages. Then find other Christian believers who confess that Jesus is the one savior for all mankind. Find and join a Christian church that believes these truths, and continue your journey in everlasting life in Jesus!