Yesterday we read in 1 John 1: 9 how God, when we confess our sins, cleanses us from all iniquity. In John 2:1-2 we read again:
“My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2)
These passages teach that if a believer in Christ sins and thereafter repents and confesses his sin, the record of his sin is erased, and he himself is cleansed from all unrighteousness.
This is why the true believer in Christ need not fear final condemnation. God’s provision both to cleanse the sinner himself and to erase the record of his sins means that there will be no record of sin remaining upon which any just judgement of condemnation could be based.
If, then, there is no possibility of final condemnation for the true believer, for what purpose will Christians be judged?
The answer is that the judgement of Christians will be to assess their rewards. The true believer will be judged not in respect of righteousness but in respect of service rendered to Christ.
The reason why the believer will not be judged in respect of righteousness is simple and logical: The righteousness of the true believer is no longer his own but the righteousness of Christ Himself, imputed to him by God on the basis of his faith.
“[Christ] became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” (1 Cor. 1:30)
None other than Christ Himself has become our righteousness from God.
“For He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor. 5:21)
Through this exchange we have become the righteousness of God in Christ. Obviously, where the believer receives salvation on this basis, it would be utterly illogical for God to judge, or even to call into question, His own righteousness imparted to the believer.
We conclude, therefore, that the judgement of Christians will deal not with their righteousness but with their service rendered to Christ. The purpose of the judgement will not be to decide upon either acquittal or condemnation but rather to assess the reward due to each believer for his service to Christ while on earth.
Lord Jesus, reading these truths, I realize once more how great and overwhelming the richness of Your grace is. Thank You Lord that in the Lord Jesus I am saved from the judgment of my sin, and that I may live free to honour Your name here on Earth. Amen.
