"Have You Heard" Newspaper Articles Posted with the Permission of the Streetsboro Church of Christ.
Maybe you have heard some say He will not condemn people to hell since He loves us. Some misuse the following passage: “And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.” (John 12:47).
Jesus did not teach about love only. He also warned of judgment. Jesus stated,
“For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,” (John
5:22). This does not mean that neither the Father nor Son will judge as a few
verses later shows: “and has given Him authority to execute judgment also,
because He is the Son of Man.” (John 5:27).
We will all be judged by Jesus:
“For
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive
the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or
bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
Some do not like to hear about judgment stating it is “negative”. However, Jesus spoke of it often. For example, “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.” (Matthew 12:41-42).
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23).
-- David R. Kenney, 03/10/2003 --
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