Judgment Day and Justified by Faith

    It's said that when people are in a near death situation, they see their lives flash before their eyes. I don't know if that's true but I do think such situations make us consider the brevity of our lives in the light of eternity. I have seen similar scenarios depicted in some Gospel tracts though I am not sure how accurate they are in depiction of the final judgment. Will we really have a screening of our entire lives before us? Some Scriptures might suggest that. In Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 (which some scholars think may be an account of real people in Hell and Heaven, respectively), we do see Abraham reminding the rich man of the good things he had in life and the suffering Lazarus went through. There are a number of Bible verses that inform us that people will be repaid according to their deeds. (Romans 2:6, 10, 11 and Revelation 2:23)
We have a very clear picture in Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. The King reviews the deeds of both the sheep and the goats and rewards or punishes each accordingly.
    It is important to note that judgment is not a matter of God sizing up our good and bad deeds to see if we make the nice or naughty list. Jesus says in John 6:28-29 that the work of God is to believe in Him whom He has sent. Salvation from sin and judgment is through faith in Jesus' death and Resurrection alone. It is through God's grace that any of us are saved. (Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2:8-10)
   Yet we often get that image of works being weighed on a scale for judgment, which is totally false. Movies and TV shows help enforce that mistaken idea. (See "Heaven Can Wait", "The Good Place", etc.) If it were up to our good works to save us, we'd all be in Hell because there is no one righteous- no, not one! (Psalms 14:1-3, Psalms 53:1-3, Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23)  We all need the righteousness of Jesus- the only One who is perfect and met God's standard of perfection- because He is God. And our faith in Him imputed His righteousness to us! (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
  I actually had a dream last night that was much like the judgment scene I was describing at the start, except for some random things, as dreams tend to go. (For instance, I don't think the judgment takes place backstage of a late night talk show with Jimmy Kimmel hosting, but I'm fairly sure that's what I saw.) And I was apparently there for emotional support because in the dream I was with a woman in a screening room watching key events in her life like a movie, which ended with a review of the pros and cons in her life. And evidently she didn't make the grade. I was able to leave at that point as it wasn't my time or judgment.
As a disclaimer, let me say that dreams are often hazy images culled together from different things in our lives and I don't generally put much stock in them for meaning, etc. And maybe I had such a dream because I was recently reading through "Erasing Hell" by Francis Chan & Preston Sprinkle.
   Of course, there were grave theological issues with that presentation, which is all the more reason not to try to make too much of dreams. (Which is not to say God can't use them, as He obviously has throughout The Bible. Just be cautious and ask The Holy Spirit to show you anything you need to see.) To quickly summarize, I believe we will stand alone before God, for one thing. And we will be judged based on what we did with Jesus. For a Biblical picture of Judgment Day, check Revelation 20:11-15 for the Great White Throne Judgment unbelievers will face and 1 Corinthians 3 for the Bema Seat judgment that believers will face. (Note: Believers in Christ's deeds while in Christ are judged in order to determine spiritual rewards from The Lord- NOT to judge about salvation. That is already secure with Christ.)
    Again- it cannot be emphasized enough that good works DO NOT save us! In fact, as Jesus makes clear in Matthew 7, good works can damn us instead! He says many will come to Him on the last day calling Him, "Lord, Lord" and present their resumes of good works that they were pridefully relying on and He will tell them- "Depart! I never knew you." That's a scary and sobering scene! Yet in Matthew 7:21, Jesus tells us who WILL enter the kingdom of Heaven- only those who do the will of His Father in Heaven. Okay- so what's the will of The Father? Jesus tells us in John 6:40. "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." Jesus further clarifies in John 6:63 that the flesh is NO help at all; it is The Spirit who gives life.
        All that said, as James 2 reminds us, faith without works is dead. The good works DO NOT save- only faith in Jesus' death and Resurrection that pays for one time for ALL our sins (Hebrews 10:12) does that- BUT good works naturally follow salvation as an outpouring of God's work in our lives to be more like Him and as a natural response of gratitude to Christ for His saving work. (Ephesians 2:8-10, Philippians 2:12-13) As 2 Corinthians 13:5-8 says though, it's good to do a pulse check every so often and make sure we are in the faith.
      As one who often identifies with Mr. Fearing (John Bunyan's timid pilgrim who struggles with doubts and fears but does make it to the Celestial City in the end because of his faith in Christ), I find myself often going back to John 6:68-69 to say with Peter- "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God." This is one of my favourite expressions of faith in The Bible because it echoes my heart's cry.
       "Lord Jesus- I believe You are real and You are God just as The Bible says and You are the only Way, Truth and Life. I know I've done plenty of wrong in my life and I still fall into sin that I don't want to keep doing but You know sometimes I revel in the illicit pleasure some sins elicit.  Help me in that struggle to hold to You because I know You're infinitely better than sin. Forgive me for my many failings. Thank You for Your death and Resurrection that pays for all sins for all time. Even the good I think I've done is not really good if it's not from You and with Godly motives. I don't have any good deeds to rely on; I simply and wholly trust Your righteousness. Help me to remember that my salvation is based on Your grace in which I put all my faith. Cleanse me with the hyssop branch and I shall be clean. Use Me for Your glory as You see fit. Help me to not be scared or worried but rather to trust You with all my heart and feel assured in Your love and salvation. Thank You for always loving this knucklehead through all my goofiness and open defiance and sinfulness. You are Lord and You are my Saviour and Lord; I love you for loving me first- and for all the Awesome Goodness You embody that our world so desperately needs. I need You and trust You no matter what. Use Me to tell folks about You all the more. Thank You. In Your Holy Name, Amen."
      As one of my favourite quotes from C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia" says, “I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia." Puddleglum has this bold statement of faith in "The Silver Chair". Likewise, I'm on Jesus' side no matter what and I'm going to seek to live for Him as His Spirit enables me no matter what. No matter what my fickle fink-le funky feelings tell me, my faith is firm in Father God and I'll trust the facts of His Word.
     "My faith has found a resting place not in device nor creed. I need no other argument; I need no other plea.  It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me." (Shout out to Lidie H. Edmunds, a pilgrim who went before me in that great cloud of witnesses. :-)) Or as Edward Mote said, "On Christ the Solid Rock I stand- all other ground is sinking sand." Where do you stand? There is a Judgment Day coming we will all face one day. There are two dates that we have no idea when they will come but we know one or the other will happen in our lifetime. Either we will see The Lord Jesus return in our lifetime or we will die one day. Why do we work so hard to avoid our funeral instead of prepare for it? It's easier to forget these truths and the eternity of both Hell and Heaven but it doesn't change anything when we do. As Flannery O'Connor observed, "A Good Man is Hard to Find". That's quite true- only God is good. And sometimes we need a guy with a gun at our heads to keep us honest. What do we say when we really think about these realities if we're honest? Those who worship God must do so in spirit and truth. So be truthful and pray and consider what you need to do as the Holy Spirit leads. "Now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2) While you're gathering ye rosebuds while ye may, grab onto the Rose of Sharon while ye may. Today is the day of The Lord's favour- but the Door will not be open forever.