Got an e-mail from a protestant friend (it was part of a blast e-mail to acquaintances of his) It was a long e-mail concerning final judgment quoting various Biblical verses. I thought it wasn’t bad but was incomplete in several ways. Here is the reply I sent:
A good passage but never forget that everyone will face their own judgment day at the hour of their death. It is more important to remember to prepare for that day. If you look too far ahead you can trip.
Also don’t forget that two other passages that are significant:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, 10 but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. 11 Depart from me, you evildoers.’ 12 “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.” Matt (7:22:27)
And Paul echoes Christ in terms of action:
Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win. Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing. No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified. 9 (1 Cor 9 24-27)
Both Christ and Paul are not talking about physical death; that happens to all men (and I of course use men in it’s broadest sense as the species) So one should remember to follow up. Remember it was the apple of the tree of knowledge of good and evil that caused Adam and Eve to be ejected. Once they understood the difference the responsibility of salvation fell on them. That is why the paragraph concerning judgment begins with those who obey the gospel. When you know something you have a greater responsibility that if you don’t.
Now here is the e-mail I received. My comments are in Bold italic:
The Believer’s Judgment
April 30, 2009
“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17)
There is a terrible day of judgment coming for those who reject Christ, but for those who do believe the gospel and trust the Lord Jesus for salvation, “there is therefore now no condemnation |i.e., judgment|” (Romans 8:1). Yet our text tells us that judgment actually begins with those who obey the gospel! This apparent contradiction vanishes when one realizes that it is merely for the purpose of preparing those who are already saved to serve Him in eternity. This is one of the weaknesses of the philosophy that one declaration saves you. The idea that there are “levels of salvation” the e-mail continues
When a believer sins, he should judge and confess that sin. “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged” (1 Corinthians 11:31), and God will forgive (1 John 1:9). The Catholic Church agrees with this, that is why there is a sacrament called confession. We confess our sins and the priest standing in Christ’s place by the authority Christ has given to the church forgives that sin. But our protestant friends don’t see it that way. If he does not, however, the next phase of judgment is the chastening of God. “But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:32). The classic passage on the believer’s chastening (Hebrews 12:5-11) concludes with the assurance that its purpose is to yield “the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Hebrews 12:11). This is a foreshadowing of purgatory. Again our protestant friends don’t see it that way. How do they see it? Read on…
But when such chastening fails to work, the next judgment may even be physical death. “There is sin unto death” (1 John 5:16). “To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 5:5). Here is a really poor job of biblical interpretation, but it can’t be helped. Since the protestant says a simple declaration guarantee’s heaven they can’t see that John is referring to death as in damnation as opposed to sin that doesn’t lead to damnation. This is the difference between venial and mortal sin. As all men die to figure that death is a punishment of God is the height of foolishness. Remember Jesus talking about the falling tower:
At that time some people who were present there told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”Luke 13:1-5
Finally, all Christians must “appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10), where “every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). There, some “shall suffer loss.” Nevertheless, each person at this judgment “shall be saved” (1 Corinthians 3:14-15). The author leaves out the rest of the verse;…but only as through fire another reference to purgatory But, as our text continues, “if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?” (1 Peter 4:18). HMM
Overall our preacher here is actually giving a solid sermon on the need for Christians to not only believe but follow the path of doing right. This is of course solid teaching, but the once saved doctrine forces the author into some theological knots.
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