By what standard are people to be judged in the judgement?
People are going to be judged by the Lord's Ten Commandments. [ JAMES 2:12 ]
And whether or not they accepted Jesus as their Savior. [ 2 COR 5:10 ] Note
that it's interesting the shape of the common tombstone is identical to the
shape of the Lord's ten commandments. For in death, both hand over the head
of man. ( The symbolism is stretching it, but it is something worth
pondering. )
The Bible says that "sin is the transgression of the Law" [ 1 JOHN 3:4 ], and
that we wouldn't know what SIN was unless the LAW pointed to it [ ROM 7:7 ] --
breaking God's law is what brought death upon mankind, and if any Christian
continues to willfully break any commandment AFTER he's accepted Jesus as His
Savior, he has absolutely no assurance of Salcation. [ ROM 2:13; 1 JOHN 3:8 ]
Now that sounds like the best thing to do is sin and party it up, then right
at your death bed, get saved. Several problems there. First is that no one
knows when they are going to die. You could get hit by a car, get shot by
being in the wrong place, eat something that was accidently poisoned, etc.
By not acting now, you are risking losing everything. Ack.
But suppose you do make it to your deathbed and slip in just in the nick of
time. Good deal, you're saved. However, you got a problem now too. Your
intentions will be fully known to God. Also, we are told that it is the free
gift of salvation that gets us into heaven, we just need to accept it. And
that is wonderful and fantastic enough... but catch this. The works that we
do here on earth determine the rewards we will get in heaven. A man saved on
his deathbed will be eternally happy in heaven, but compared to a child who
accepted Christ early and did good works all his life, the child will receive
more reward and social status in heaven. And as for the man, he will know
what he was missing out on.
Converting isn't just for what you get in heaven. It's an improvement of
your life here on Earth. You will reap a shadow of those things yet to come.
And those rewards here on earth are awfully fulfilling.
See, when you accept Christ, He transforms your life by the Holy Spirit's
power -- your name is then written in the Book of Life. In another book all
your WORKS, both "good" and "bad," are recorded. -- "And the dead were judged
out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works..
and whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake
of Fire." [ REV 20:12,15 ]
There are only two possibilities in the judgement: ACQUITAL OR CONDEMNATION.
And accepting Jesus is the ONLY was to salvation and eternal life. [ JOHN 14:6;
ACTS 4:12 ]