For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

  - 2 Corinthians 5.10

Therefore we, my dearest friends, who read and hear these words, must fear and tremble greatly, when we learn from God’s declaration that it must be rendered to each according to his deeds. What harder word could have been said? What human hope has it left? For who can be justified by fire and not need the mercy of his Judge, when he dwells in the body of sin?

  - Columbanus, Sermon IX, Irish, 7th century

Judgment. Yuk.

Who wants to talk about that?

Can’t we just focus on love, and hope that people will be moved by Christ’s love for them, so that they love Him back? Do we have to bring up judgment and the fire and all that negative stuff?

Well, did Paul? Is the judgment Paul wrote about in 2 Corinthians 5 and 1 Corinthians 3 actually going to occur?

If so, might it not be a good idea to be aware of that and, I don’t know, maybe even prepare for it? And it might even be a really loving thing, you know, to advise others that judgment is on the way.

We cannot proclaim the Gospel at all if we do not proclaim the whole Gospel. And the Good News of the Gospel is only good against the backdrop of what awaits all those who repudiate, reject, ignore, neglect, or make light of that Good News.

To put it bluntly, it’s not going to be pretty.

And if even we must stand before the Lord to have our sins purged away, through a judgment that will be painful albeit temporary, how much more should we care about those who are facing a judgment that will never end?

I have no sympathy with those preachers who want to minimize the role of judgment in the Gospel or of the fear of God in the life of faith. If we cut these out because they are uncomfortable to us, then we’ll think we can cut out anything else about the Gospel that we find inconvenient or impractical, and just keep cutting and trimming until we’ve got the Gospel down to where we’re willing to follow it.

But wait, then that would be another gospel, and not the one Paul and Columbanus proclaimed, wouldn’t it?

Which gospel are you following?

Psalm 12.6, 7 (Hamburg: “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”)
Your words are pure and proven, like silver seven times refined.
You will preserve Your words ever new, and keep the heart to You inclined.

Give me holy fear, O Lord, coupled with passionate love for You, and let me live so as to shine through judgment, rather than melt. 

T. M. Moore, Principal
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