So now that we have considered a legalistically wrong understanding of
1 Peter 4:17-18, what is the graciously
right understanding? Let us approach this question, first, by seeing briefly what the rest of Scripture says about
God's judgment in the lives of Christians; second,
by getting a thematic and contextual overview of the epistle itself as a whole;
and third, by looking at the more
immediate context in which the passage occurs.
1. What the Rest of Scripture Says about God's
Judgment in the Lives of Christians
On this first point, there
is perhaps no better place to start than John's statement from his Gospel
(3:17-18), "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes
in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." What John
is saying here is that God's judgment in the sense of His condemnation of
people for their sin was already here on earth. In Romans 5, Paul traces this
condemnation back to Adam's first sin — the eating of the forbidden fruit. Adam
was our representative before God, and therefore, Adam's sin was counted as our
sin. The judgment of death, the curse for sin, that came as a result of Adam's
sin came both on him and all his posterity — i.e., the entire human race. Both physical and spiritual death came
to humanity through Adam.
Hence, when Jesus came into
the world, the world was already under God's judgment, God's condemnation,
God's wrath because of sin. Jesus did not come to remind us of how lost and
condemned we are. He did not come to rub that in. Also, He did not come for the
purpose of giving us a set of commandments which would teach us how hard it is
to get to heaven. He did not say things to make our hearts fearful about
whether or not we can be saved. His name, I would remind us, is Jesus which means "Savior."
That's who He is, what He does, His job description. And glory to God, He is that and does that
wonderfully!
Moreover, let us recall that
God had through Moses given Israel the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law
for the purpose (as Paul teaches in Romans 3) of imparting to them the
knowledge of sin. That is, if anyone thinks that Jesus mainly came to show us
how big our problem with sin is, how righteous God and His Law is, such a
person is looking in the wrong direction — or at the wrong person. He should
look to Moses. Yes, Moses had that job and under God he, too, did that job
well.
Now I do not deny that in
places like the Sermon on the Mount Jesus shows us what the righteousness of
the Law is all about. But at times like that He is not giving us a new law but
clearing the old one of misunderstandings that the scribes and teachers of the
Law had introduced. John makes this
clear when he says, "The Law came through Moses; grace and truth came
through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).
So if you want to consider
how hard it is to get to heaven, go to Moses. If you need to hear that the soul
that sins shall die, go to Moses. If you do not yet know the curse that rests
on anyone who attempts righteousness by keeping the law or attempting to be
good enough, go to Moses. Notice along these lines that Paul tells us in Gal.
3:21 that if a law could have been given that would impart righteousness or
give eternal life, it would have been the law of Moses. I repeat: If any law —
any set of works of law — could have saved people, the Law of Moses would have.
On the other hand, were
there indicators of grace under Moses? Certainly. The Passover Lamb. The high
priest and priesthood in general. The animal offerings for sin. The Day of
Atonement. The Mercy Seat. The sprinkled blood. The Year of Jubilee. The Manna.
The Rock. The Great Cloud that guided and protected them. There are many
indicators of grace. So let me be clear:
The gospel of Christ preached to Abraham that through Abraham's seed all the
nations would be blessed (i.e., that the light of the gospel would come to
them) does not go out of existence with the addition of the Law of Moses. It
shines even in the Law of Moses. However, the main work of Moses in God's
administration at that particular time with the people of Israel was the giving
of the Ten Commandments. In time, that work taught everyone (both Jews and
Gentiles) their sinfulness, their need for a Savior. This is why John says,
"For the law came through Moses." It is also why Paul says in Romans
3: "Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under
the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held
accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in
his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin" (vss. 19-20).
This contrast then between
Moses and Christ, that Moses stands for law and Christ for grace and truth,
forever establishes the difference between a way of salvation that is by works
and one that is by faith. Our sin in Adam is such that we cannot be good enough
to be saved. We cannot even add something — however small or seemingly
insignificant — of our good works to Christ to be saved. If we add works to
Christ, we get works. Salvation is either a gift or a matter of wages. It
cannot be both. The moment we entertain the notion that something has to be
added to the finished work of Christ for salvation we lose that salvation
altogether. Christ is an all or nothing Savior.
Paul spends the first seven
chapters in his epistle to the Romans establishing that we cannot save
ourselves through law. By the time he gets to the eighth chapter, however, he
makes by the Holy Spirit this strong, unforgettable statement: "There is
therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans
8:1). But as he explains this, it gets even more wonderful. He says, "For
God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his
own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the
flesh, in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us,
who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (Romans
8:3-4). Paul says the same thing in
Galatians 4:4-5: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth
his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the
law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." What is Paul saying? He
is saying that because of sin we cannot please God by lawkeeping. We cannot
make up for our sins, not even in part. We are doomed and damned and under the
power of sin. That is our heritage in Adam. But Christ who was fully God and
fully Man came to this earth, accepted not only human flesh but also the law of
God under which all were identified as sinners. He delighted to keep the law of
God. He had no sin. He did what the law required. But He did it all for us, as
our representative. He gave to God what God had never received from a human: a
perfect, sinless life. Not only that, though, He also stood in our place for
judgment. God in His holiness and justice could not overlook or wink at our
sin. He could not bypass our sin as if it didn't matter or was no big deal. God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to the world. He gave Him
to the world as the Lamb of God who died in the place of sinful humanity — the
just for the unjust — to bring us to God. It is His blood, figuratively
speaking, on the doorposts of our hearts and lives that allows God to pass over
us in judgment. God quenched His wrath for sin by the death of His Son. Christ
is the Passover Lamb. The law has been perfectly obeyed, perfectly satisfied,
for everyone who is saved — through the substitutionary obedience and sacrifice
of Jesus Christ. That is why there is no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus. God's wrath for sin in their case is already spent.
Who is being saved then?
Those who are good enough? Who have obeyed some law well enough? Who have
checked off the performance of some list of conditions? No. The ones who are
saved or justified are in themselves ungodly sinners. Paul says, "To the
one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is
counted as righteousness" (Rom. 4:5). How
can God do that? God only justifies righteous people. It is an abomination
to God to declare the wicked righteous or the righteous wicked. God only gives
a just sentence concerning every person. How then can God look at a sinner and
declare him or her justified? He can do so, Paul says, because "God made
him [Jesus Christ] who knew no sin to be sin [a sin offering for us] that we
might become the righteousness of God." Again, Paul says, "It was to
show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the
justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26).
There is indeed, therefore,
a judgment going on in the salvation of God's people in Christ: "From the
heavens you uttered judgment; the earth feared and was still, when God arose to
establish judgment, to save all the humble of the earth" (Psalm 76:8-9).
In earth's history, this judgment ultimately culminates and is exacted upon the
Son of God for their sake.
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