THE JUSTICE OF GOD’S JUDGMENTS AGAINST SIN

“This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” II Pet.3:1-12

THEME: Anything that threatens the peace and security of life, GOD calls it sin. And the Ten Commandments define every boundary.

     In all of GOD’S dealings with the sin problem, men have judged Him harshly. In the book of Ezekiel we see this contrast between man’s view of justice vs. GOD’S:

“Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.” Eze.18:23-31.

     In each epic event of GOD’S judgments against sin, it is seen that a certain level of evil was reached wherein GOD had to bring it to an end. GOD’S longsuffering for His wayward children should not be confused with His limits of forbearance. But this is typically the case, as Solomon pointed out: “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” Eccl.8:11. For GOD to allow the evil to continue would have been an endorsement of sin. But sin is the enemy of all that is “holy, and just, and good” (Rom.7:12). This principle lays at the heart of the great danger facing today’s Christian. Faith and sin are not partners in salvation.

     This is where America and other nations of the world are trying GOD’S patience. But His desire is to see men reform their lives from committing the sin “which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell,” that His children receive instead His “free gift” of “everlasting life” through Jesus Christ, “the Son of God.”

     As we examine the epic judgments of GOD it is seen that GOD’S power and holy angels under His command carried out the destruction. But there are some in the church who ascribe all of GOD’S judgments against sin to Satan’s power. While the Bible teaches that Satan creates wars, disease, tornados and other calamities as “the prince of this world” there is a boundary whereby he will not cross. And it deals with his war against GOD and all that GOD stands for. So, to credit to Satan’s power every judgment of GOD against sin is a spiritual impossibility: Especially when we examine the contrast between the works of holiness vs. those of wickedness. Satan’s agenda focuses solely on destroying the righteous while he delights to continue the lives of those he leads into sin, to openly mock the Glory of Christ and His love for the sinner. (Psalm 73 being a classic example.)

     Even the rudiments of military strategy teach that Satan had absolutely no part of GOD’S epic judgments against sin, for that would be the equivalent of ‘aiding and abetting the enemy.’ Why would Satan help bring glory to GOD and His Christ? That would be like Al Qaeda giving the American forces the hidden locations of their leaders, or Adolf Hitler giving the allied forces the weather report for their success in defeating Nazi Germany.

     All Satan ever did was to accuse GOD and resist Him, whether of Noah’s flood, the fiery destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the ten plagues of Egypt, the Red Sea drowning of Pharaoh with his chariots and horsemen, the judgment against Korah, Dathan, and Abiram’s attempted overthrow of Moses, the deaths of the leading murmurers against Moses by striking them down by lightning, the death of Uzzah when his hand dared to steady the sacred Ark of the Covenant in his pride, David’s numbering of Israel to boast his nation’s pride, Sennacherib’s blasphemy against GOD and his army’s destruction of 185,000 men, the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira who lied to the Holy Ghost, the seven last plagues of Revelation 16, and the final lake of fire destruction of sin and sinners.

     In each and every case where GOD took the breath away from the souls of men they had reached the point of no return. A million years of additional life would not have changed their minds in their determination to remain in sin. This is the great threat GOD is warning Catholicism and nominal Protestantism today: that to continue in their course whereby they choose to overrule the Holy Law of GOD (in denial of every Bible writer admonishing its obedience) is to choose eternal death.

     There is a boundary that men cross where GOD’S voice in the heart is forever silenced and repentance can never come. Jesus called this the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost: “Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.” Mk.3:28,29.

     In Christ’s words to the church at Sardis, this warning was given, and the call to repentance was urged: “And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Rev.3:1-6.

     In these words “the angel” means “messenger” and refers to the ministers and evangelists of the church. Their version of the gospel gave allowance for sin. As a result, Christ declared them to be spiritually dead for the Holy Spirit cannot live in the heart where sin is seated on the throne. His words were denied: “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least [Greek: “lesser”] commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least [Greek: unworthy] in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt.5:19.

     In conclusion, it is sin that kills, not GOD. For any churchmen to say that only Satan does the destroying denies the sovereign power of GOD in choosing when and what manner to carry out His judgments against sin. And for other churchmen to declare that GOD kills bears false witness against Him by actually accusing Him of violating His Holy Law in the Sixth Commandment: “Thou shalt not kill.” Ex.20:13. Thus they sin against the Ninth Commandment that forbids lying. And the greatest form of lying is to lie against GOD. The Apostle Paul admonishes us on this crucial doctrine of salvation: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker.” II Tim.2:15-17.