Our Foundations in Jesus — Eternal Judgment
“Keep your filthy mitts off me, you beasts!” the woman screamed as men dragged her out of the house where she had been caught in the act – the very act – of …um, snuggling… with a man not her husband. Other men stood outside, ready with stones for Armstrong target practice. Terrified, the woman struggled, but to no avail — her captors were stronger than she and escape was impossible. Then Jesus stepped out of the crowd. “Hey, dudes. What’s the haps?” He asked. “Why you bustin’ that chick?” “We have caught her in the very act of, um, snuggling,” the men answered. “By the Law she must be stoned. You got sometin’ to say about it, oh wise judge?” they asked sarcastically. Jesus bent over and traced a few letters in the dust of the ground. Then He stood and told them, “Yup, the law says stone her to death. But here’s the deal: Whichever one of you has never ever made a mistake gets to be first to whack her with a stone.” Then Jesus bent once more and resumed writing in the dust. Stony silence ensued (pun intentional). Then a THUNK as a heavy stone hit the ground. Then another. Then another chorus of THUNK, THUNK, THUNK. Men turned and left as stones dropped. In mere moments, the yard was empty save for Jesus and the woman. “So, no one has the chops to accuse you?” Jesus asked. “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Well, okay then. I don’t accuse you either. You’re free to go. But hey, watch yourself; don’t do this again.”
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“… all have sinned and fall short of the perfection of God…” Romans 3:23
Tweren’t nobody but Jesus qualified to chuck that first stone, and He didn’t want.
“For God did not send His Son into the world to judge, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.” John 3:17
Get that? Jesus did not come here to judge people but to bring salvation through His death, burial, and resurrection. He came so all people could have life.
Jesus preferred to give the woman a chance to repent and go straight rather than turning her into a bruised pulp. If they stoned her to death, her one chance to be saved would be lost. Not good.
Salvation by faith & rewards by works
Even so, when we kick the earthly bucket, we must stand before Jesus and receive what is due us for what we did while in our bodies — good, bad, or ugly. (See 2 Corinthians 5:10)
Ah, but not so much the deed themselves, but our motives and attitudes behind our actions. Jesus sees that clear as crystal. Other people can’t, and often we ourselves can’t see it. That is called denial.
Our actions must pass through God’s symbolic consuming fire. Our intentions that are as gold will survive, but the surreptitious, or hidden, agendas will burn like straw. We’ll still be saved, but we will live in the low-rent district of Heaven. No mansion and no reward for those dead works.
We get saved and go to Heaven not by works, but by faith. Works get us some rewards like better addresses and shopping on the Heavenly Rodeo Drive. Or, you could scrape into Heaven by your fingernails as you barely escape the flames of Detroit — I mean Hell. (See 1 Corinthians 3:11-15.)
God is the true judge
If Jesus declined to judge a woman who was clearly guilty, then how can we, who lack His discerning power, judge? In Romans 14:10-13, Jesus tells us:
- Don’t judge your brother or condemn him.
- Our hearts and actions should consider any kind of hindrance that could make another fall.
- We as Christians must stand before God’s perfectly discerning judgment and give our accounting for our lives and actions.
To paraphrase and condense Revelations 20:11-15: Then I saw a Great White Throne and who was seated on it. And the dead stood and were judged according to what they had done as recorded in God’s logbook. Anyone who was not found recorded in the log, the Book of Life, suffered a second death and was thrown into the lake of fire. Jesus is the one seated on the throne (it’s in John 5:22). So… just-the-facts-ma’am finish:
- Eternal life comes from Jesus…
- If the Son, Jesus, is in you, you have eternal life. (Happy days are here again!)
- Apart from the Son of God, you have no eternal life. (i.e., you’re toast… literally.)