The Day of Judgment

-->God will judge all people in the end

I. Judgment is coming
(Paul speaking at the Aeropagus)
A. Acts 17:30
"The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,"
1. The times of ignorance= refers to the time before Christ when believers in God trusted Him that the Messiah would come.
2. Repent=Matthew 3:1,2 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
B. Acts 17:31
"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."
1. Fixed a day=there is a day of judgment coming that God knows, but no man knows.
2. Judge the world in righteousness...=God is the ONLY righteous judge, and can accept ONLY perfection.
3. The Man God appointed is the perfect One, Jesus, and
4. Our assurance of salvation is found in Him who conquered death by rising from the dead. Whereby He has become the atoning sacrifice once and for all.

II. Believers are already safe
John 5:24
"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."
--> this speaks of the eternal judgment/death that believers in Christ are freed from. And the eternal life that they gain!

III. Unbelievers will be condemned
Revelation 20:11-15
"11 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.
12 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.
13 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.
14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
-->All people will be judged first by what they have done and then by whether or not their name is in the Book of Life. To explain this text, consider these Scriptures:

A. Romans 3:28
"For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law."
--> the law/commandments were given to expose our sin that we might recognize it.
B. Ephesians 2:8,9
"8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast."
-->there is nothing of our own doing that can save us. It is a gift that we can never repay, and by His grace He gives us the faith to believe and repent.
C. James 2:14-24
"14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe-and shudder!
20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;
23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness'-and he was called a friend of God.
24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone."