The Offense of the Cross

Now is the Day of Salvation…2 Corinthians 6:2

Is God Judging The World?

When bad things happens and difficult times come such as 9/11 and now the coronavirus pandemic, there are those that quote and post Old Testament scriptures and proclaim that God is judging the world and to escape we must repent immediately.

Sinners should repent and I pray that they do. Believers—those who already repented and are born again—should always maintain a humble heart knowing that it is God’s grace which makes us who we are.

That being said we are living in the New Testament after Christ came. Let’s take a look at what Jesus said about God judging the world now.

“For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,”
‭‭John‬ ‭5:22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28:18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.” John 12:47 ESV

“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.”
‭‭John‬ ‭5:24‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”
‭‭John‬ ‭12:48‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:”
‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4:1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭22:12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
‭‭John‬ ‭12:49-50‬ ‭ESV‬‬

So let’s summarize what Jesus said: 1. God is judging no one. 2. God gave all judgment and authority to His son, Jesus. 3. Jesus came to earth to save the world (through His sacrifice and resurrection), not to judge it. 4. Judgment is coming and it is Christ’s word that will judge those who reject Him. 5. Jesus spoke on the authority given to Him by God—His Words are God’s Words.

God is not judging the world. In the Old Testament after the law, He judged sin. We are no longer the law. We have a new and better covenant. (Hebrews 8:6, 12:24)

This prevalent teaching that God is judging the world through disease, pain, sickness, disaster, etc. is false teaching. Jesus predicted false teaching would come through false teachers and prophets. Paul, Peter, and John also warned us this would happen. (2 Peter 2:1, 1 John 4:1, Matthew 7:15, 2 John 7:1-10)

To avoid being deceived by this false teaching, we need to be studying the Word with diligence and we better be checking all teaching against the scriptures as a whole just as passionately as the Bereans did with Paul. (Acts 17:11)

The scriptures are being played out before our very eyes and if there is any time in history that we need to know them backwards and forwards and pray for understanding, it is now!

Don’t rely on me or any other person for the truth. My prayer is that through this post and all my posts that you would, please, study the scriptures for yourself and pray, pray, pray with a teachable heart. God will not fail you. He has given you His very Word and sent the Holy Spirit to help you understand it. (John 14:26) I plead with you to not take it for granted. It will change your life now and for eternity.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
‭‭John‬ ‭14:26‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Stephanie H.

March 16, 2020

Uncategorized

3 responses to “Is God Judging The World?”

Jim

April 12, 2020 at 10:12 pm

I’m not sure I agree with you, Stephanie. If you study the plagues of the Old Testament, you’ll find that in almost every instance, God sent them. He used them to accomplish his purpose. Now, that doesn’t mean that he’s using this virus in the same way. But it doesn’t mean he isn’t.

What we can know for certain is that God has allowed this plague to ravage the earth. By allowing it, it has caused death and economic destruction. The Bible states that God will again judge the world and he’ll use death, destruction and famine to do so.

When did God’s people do when faced with something of this size? They often had called sacred assembly’s where they repented. That’s not something we’re hearing God’s leadership call for these days. Why do you think that is?

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1. Stephanie H. Harris
  
  May 15, 2020 at 1:12 am
  
  Jim–You are absolutely correct–God used plagues and many forms of judgment in the Old Testament to judge the sin of people and nations. The difference is that we no longer live in the Old Testament. Before the law was given to Moses, God counted faith in Him as righteousness (Galatians 3:6) and Galatians 3:19 says that God gave the law because sin was destroying mankind. Before the law God was not reckoning sin against humanity, but sin was still bringing death and destruction. The law then, as Paul explained, showed us our need for a savior. Christ said that He did not come to judge the world but to save it. Christ’s coming marked a new way of God dealing with man. Galatians is the most concise explanation of how God formerly dealt with people and sin and how He now deals with us after Christ’s sacrifice. And there is ample scripture to indicate that there will be future judgment for those who refuse Christ. But there is no evidence in the New Testament–which we are now living in– that indicates that God is currently sending plagues and judgments. In His Revelation, Christ tells John to describe the the past, the present, and the future. He speaks of what was, what is now with the church age and then in Revelation 4:1 He tells John that He will show him what is to come “hereafter” or as the ESV says ” …what must take place after this.” after the church age…The judgments in Revelation are not presented by Christ as to occur in the age of the church. That is NOT saying that there won’t be turmoil. Christ Himself said to be prepared for pestilence (disease), wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famine, etc (Matthew 24), but that He says are “beginnings of sorrows” or “birth pains” (ESV)–He did not say they were judgments.
  
  As far your comment on repentance–I say a great amen! We need that in the church and in our world– If you have time to read some of my earlier posts, you will see an impassioned plea for repentance and I pray that I and others would keep a broken heart of repentance as remembrance that it is He that is great and that we need Him every moment is vital to beating the battle of the flesh and standing in His strength and power.
  
  To answer your question–there is sin, deception and a dead church as the church in Sardis–having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. (2 Timothy 3:5) and as John described in 1 John 2:16–lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life invading the church and the church leadership is particularly blinded by it. We the remnant must pray for repentance for our churches, pastors, leaders family and friends, but we also must know that the scripture indicates a great apostasy will occur before the end times and we must be prepared to stand in faith regardless.
  
  Thank you for your comment! I appreciate those with a love for the scriptures and the opportunity to talk about our awesome and wonderful God!
  
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Wiley Meade

May 26, 2020 at 5:48 pm

Great reflection…I agree with every word!

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