Judgment, assessment or condemnation?
This time I received a special question. That question started with two Bible verses, so let’s start with them:
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
2 Timothy 4:1-2
On to the next one:
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:11-15
These verses are about the final judgment and, as you can see, everyone will face it. But when I read the next two verses, (if I am a Christian) there will be no judgment???
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
Romans 8:1
For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.
Hebrews 8:12
And then the person who asked the questions was completely lost. Finally, he quoted the well-known verse from John:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
He didn’t understand it anymore. The first two verses clearly say that I am being judged, but the next two verses clearly say that I am not. Just how does this work? If I am a Christian then I am free, right? Then a beautiful heaven awaits me and my sins will be forgiven? I dont get it anymore.
That question is actually a very good question. Because we also meet many people who think that “once they have become Christians” there will be no more judgment. And that is not correct if you have read those verses in 2 Timothy 4:1-2 and Revelation 20:11-15. They are very clear: we are all being judged. No one excepted. That’s right, you too reader, Christian or not Christian, it doesn’t matter, you too will be judged.
How does that work then, because those verses seem to completely contradict each other. And yet… they don’t. Let’s try to explain:
There is a différance between Judgment, assessment or condemnation.
Ah, do you see where this is going?
Do you see the difference yet?
At school you were judged on what you did. For this you received a grade, a sticker, a stamp, a higher or lower diploma. The better you tried, the higher your diploma or position in a company later and what you did at school brought rewards later. (salary, higher or lower) These are more like assessments. Let’s take an example from the Bible:
“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
Matthew 25:14-23
That’s a good example of an assessment. What have you done with the talents God has given you and was that the maximum? God gives you a kind of “grade” and depending on that rating you get the reward. If you have done more, the reward is also more. If you have done less, you get less. Not everyone gets the same reward after that assessment. Once that “number” has been given, it cannot be changed. You’ve had the chance, here’s the grade.
And that’s something to think about today… how have you dealt with the talents God has given you? You will be assessed on that. Timothy 4:1-2 and Revelation 20:11-15 are clear enough about it, everyone gets that form of judgment. And that is a very serious matter. If we think “oh well, I’ll be happy when I get to heaven and the rest doesn’t matter to me anymore”, then we are really wrong. Again that one verse from Timothy:
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
2 Timothy 4:1-2
The writer understands that there are consequences for not using your talents properly. Something that is also striking is that this is about the following: “correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” So this way more than “converting people so that they become Christians” because this is also about explaining everything to people who are already Christians. Kind of like being a teacher and being a student. How you have grown in your faith and how you have raised others in the faith are all judged. And again, depending on that “grade” there will be a reward. If it didn’t matter what that reward was, then the writer wouldn’t have made such a big deal about it because this piece (both the teacher and the students) is also about Christians who all get into heaven. That reward, weighing and rating is not something we should underestimate. But to be honest… I’m afraid that many Christians don’t really consider that assessment important… if they even understand that it will happen… and that has enormous consequences. We do not know exactly what that reward will look like, but it is more than clear that it is of great importance to God.
And now on to condemnation. Condemnation is about getting punished. Not about reward, but about punishment. Exactly the opposite. In the continuation of the story of those gold pieces, you also see that condemnation. When you do nothing with what the Lord gave you, reject it, bury it in the ground, even say that the Lord is an unjust Lord, you see the condemnation coming:
“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 25:24-30
Now the above is a comparison, but the hell spoken of (in, among others) revelation 20 is a real thing. We know that hell is an eternal place (Matthew 25:41), a physical place (Matthew 10:28), and a horrible (Mark 9:43) place where those who have sinned (Romans 3:23) go . No escape.
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:14-15
A lake of fire. And that certainly doesn’t sound great! We will not discuss here exactly what that lake of fire looks like, but the idea is clear. There you see the result of the conviction. And there is no way to get around it. Or is there….. ?
And then we go back to the verse from John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
If you believe that Jesus died for your sins, there will be no “condemnation”, but assessment. An assessment that leads to a reward. And that’s quite a difference. One leads to a positive reward, the other choice to a lake of fire.
And that is the difference between Judgment, assessment or condemnation. But as I said, we all get that assessment and it is something to think about every day, even as a Christian. That assessment also has consequences for you as a reader. And they, too, are forever.
What did you do today with the talents you were given? Do you think that was enough?
