THE JUDGMENT DAY

When you stand before God on the Judgment Day, and He asks you WHY He should let you remain in heaven for eternity with Him, what are you going to tell Him?

Are you going to tell Him that you tried to be a good person while on earth?  If that's your answer, sorry to have to inform you -- YOU FLUNK!

There are three critically important answers you may need to give God to remain in the highest heaven with Him for all eternity.

God:   "Why do you believe I should let you spend eternity with Me?"

First answer:  "God - I believe You should let me remain in heaven for eternity with You because I put my trust in Jesus Christ to save me from all my sins and to justify me.  I believe He took full punishment for all my sins on the cross, as the Bible says He did." 

God:  "That is a correct answer.  However, do you believe you are righteous enough - holy enough - for Me to let you remain in heaven with Me?"

Second answer:  "Lord - I believe I am righteous enough and holy enough to stay in heaven with You because of YOUR righteousness that was imputed to me when Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins.

"It says in the Holy Bible in 2 Corinthians 5:21:  For He made Him who knew no sin to BE sin for us, that WE might become the righteousness of God in Him.

"The same person the Holy Spirit inspired to write 2 Cor. 5:21 - the Apostle Paul - wrote in Philippians 3:8-9:

"But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

You continue to answer:  "This means to me that You made Jesus Christ to not only be my pardon for sin, you also made Him to BE my sin, and when He became my sin ... you imputed to me His holy righteousness.  I have HIS holy righteousness, which is none other than GOD'S holy righteousness ... because Jesus Christ was and is fully God as He was fully man, as is recorded in the first Chapter of the book of John and verified in Colossians Chapter 1:15-19."

God:  "You are correct.  However, do you believe you are sufficiently justified to receive eternal salvation?"

Third Answer:  "Yes I do believe I am fully justified to receive eternal salvation.  That's the most important reason You gave me YOUR righteousness.  It is Your imputed righteousness that justifies me.

"Furthermore, Lord, here is what you say in Your Word about my justification:

"For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would ever dare to die.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.  - Romans 5:6-9 (NKJV)"

God:  "You are correct.  You PASS!  Enter forever into My presence where you will experience unspeakable joy forever and forever!"

So then ... Because God the Father has already declared followers of Jesus Christ fully legally righteous and fully legally justified in Christ ... God EXPECTS them to WALK in daily righteous obedience to God's word (wisely applied), and the leading of the Holy Spirit (See: Hebrews 10:14). If they "miss the mark", there is forgiveness and restoration, though God's discipline may be experienced in the process.  Yet God still EXPECTS His children to ever diligently keep striving to walk in righteous obedience to Him, no matter how many times they "miss the mark."

Furthermore - God is going to reward us in eternity for saying "NO!" to sin in this life ... when temptation to sin knocks on our door.  There is everything to gain, and nothing to lose, by saying "NO!" to sin ... in light of eternity.

The Bible makes it perfectly clear that as disciples of Jesus Christ, we are to do all we can to live righteous and holy lives in obedience to the New Covenant Word of God.  (This is referred to as Sanctification).  Nevertheless, no matter how holy and how righteous we think we might be on our own merits ... it will never be GOOD ENOUGH to meet God's righteous demands of us! 

Now here is the Good News!  God ... full-well knowing this ... decreed within Himself:

"No problem!  I will give them MY holiness - MY righteousness.  I will justify them. All they have to do is believe for it, just like they have to believe that My Son, Jesus Christ, paid full payment for all their sins on the Cross."

In conclusion ... when we receive the mercy God the Father offers us in Christ Jesus  by faith (see Acts 16:31; 1 Tim. 1:15-16; 1 Pet. 1:8-9), his perfection is imputed -- or credited or reckoned -- to us and our sinful failure is imputed -- or credited or reckoned -- to Him. And thus Jesus' undeserved death pays for our sin (see Mark 10:45; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; Rev. 5:9); and God's demand for us to be both justified and perfectly righteous is satisfied by the imputation or crediting of Christ's perfect righteousness to us.

Oh how great of a Salvation God has given sinners like you and I!

Here's a simple yet crucial truth that can help assist us in keeping "our moral works" (i.e., righteousness, holiness, obedience) and "God's freely given grace" in proper perspective: 

We are not saved (forgiven) from our sins and justified (just as if I had never sinned in God's eyes)  BY our "good moral works" -- we are saved to DO good moral works (Obedience to God's Word and the specific leading of the Holy Spirit)"