The Final, Eternal Judgment

This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

Romans 2:16

The final, eternal judgment of God is the theme of Romans 2:1-16. Paul says judgment is part of his gospel (v. 16), and it is the last in the list of essential Christian doctrines in Hebrews 6:1-2. The word “judgment” or “judge” appears ten times in this passage, and “God” appears seven times. God the Judge shall surely judge, both in history and beyond history.

Paul already wrote about temporal judgment, saying that God will abandon people to uncleanness, perversion, and a depraved, reprobate mind to do things that are unfit and immoral (Rom. 1:18-32). But there is also a final, eternal judgment that will occur after the resurrection of the dead, at Christ’s second coming. God created all people as moral beings who are accountable to him.

In Romans 1 Paul dealt primarily with God’s judgment of the Gentiles. Now Paul is addressing God’s judgment of the Jews. The Jewish people readily agreed with Paul’s treatment of the Gentiles, concurring that the Gentiles had committed the vile sins Paul mentions and should be judged. But the Jews were startled when Paul began to speak about their own judgment. They might even have said, “We can understand God judging the Gentiles because they are unclean ‘dogs.’ But we Jews are God’s chosen people, Abraham’s circumcised children, possessors of the law, and in covenant with God.” But God does not have a double standard-one for Gentiles and a different one for Jews. The holy God cannot overlook the sins of the Jews. As Paul wrote earlier, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against allthe godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Rom. 1:18, italics added). No one is immune to divine judgment.

We must also ask: If God judges the Gentiles and Jews, what about Christians? God will also judge every false Christian, those who profess Christ but do not obey him. God’s judgment is based on the degree of revelation received by every human being. Let us, then, consider the nature of God’s final, eternal judgment.

1. God Is the Judge

Several verses in this passage clearly declare that the Judge is God (vv. 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 13, 16). Understanding this, Abraham rhetorically asked God in reference to the destruction of Sodom, “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25). Paul says the judgments that man makes are unrighteous (Rom. 2:1-3). Man sees the speck in another’s eye, but fails to see the plank in his own (Matt. 7:3-5). The Jewish leaders judged Jesus to be the greatest sinner and handed him over to be crucified. This treating of the holy Son of God as a blasphemer was the most unrighteous judgment in the history of mankind.

Paul says the Jews are self-condemned because, while they condemn others, they engage in the same sins (Rom. 2:1). There can be no perfect justice in a world where fallen people are the judges. When the Supreme Court says killing babies in the womb is perfectly acceptable, we know how bad human judges can be.

Not only does man sin and judge others while engaging in the same sins, but he also thinks he can escape God’s judgment. Such people know they will die, but question what God can do to them and wonder if there even is a God. Let me assure you, there is a God, and he is so great that he will raise up every sinner who died in his sins and will mete out to them the final judgment of eternal, conscious existence in hell, far from all forms of God’s grace.

Every sinner experiences God’s grace now. But in hell there is no grace. Man will be without any excuse at the final judgment and there will be no escape from the omniscient, omnipresent, almighty God. Jesus said, “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” (Matt. 23:33). God says, “These things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face. Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue” (Ps. 50:21-22). Neither atheists nor unbelieving Jews nor pagans nor false Christians can escape God’s final, eternal judgment.

Paul writes, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4). All sinners experience God’s abundant goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering. In other words, God created us and provides for our every need; he bears with us when we sin; and he is longsuffering toward us. He does not punish us instantly for our sins but waits to see whether we will repent and think differently about God, ourselves, and reality. He waits to see whether we will forsake all our sins and turn to serve him only with all delight in all of life. The purpose of God’s common grace is to lead us to repentance.

God could have judged us long ago. Instead, he shows the abundance of his kindness, restraint, and longsuffering to us. Yet we can be willfully ignorant of the purpose of God’s goodness and refuse to repent. Peter tells us he is patient with us, “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). Jesus has not come back yet so that we may repent and be saved.

How many people abuse the goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering of God by stubbornly refusing to respond to God and making their hearts more hardened and unrepentant. Engaging in ever-increasing sin, they become more violent, wicked, and filthy, thus storing up for themselves God’s wrath as they sin daily. The wrath of God against sinners increases as they persist in their unrepentant lives. Remember what God said to Abraham concerning the iniquity of the Amorites. He said that Abraham and his family could not yet take possession of Canaan but had to go to Egypt for four hundred years first, “for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure” (Gen. 15:16). It took four hundred more years for the Amorites’ sin to reach full measure. Then Joshua destroyed them and brought Israel into Canaan.

Every sinner outside of Jesus Christ increases his measure of God’s wrath every day he lives. This wrath will be poured out on him on the last day when he faces the final eternal judgment of God.

2. God’s Judgment Is according to Truth

“Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth” (Rom. 2:2). This judgment is “according to truth” (kata tên alêtheian). Man’s judgment is generally not according to truth because man does not have all the facts, misinterprets the facts he has, and is in the habit of suppressing and exchanging the truth for a lie. God’s judgment alone is according to truth because God is truth. God is omniscient; he needs no witness, nor does he have to discover facts. The writer to the Hebrews declares, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account” (Heb. 4:12-13).

By the revelation of Jesus Christ, John says that books will be opened on the day of judgment, along with the book of life (Rev. 20:12). God’s judgment will be just and according to truth.

3. God’s Judgment Is Righteous

It is a righteous judgment. “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment [dikaokrisias] will be revealed” (Rom. 2:5). All judgments of men, even those of the Supreme Court of the United States, are marred by error and evil. God’s judgment alone is righteous, for God is righteous. It will be just and according to all facts correctly interpreted. All people must look forward to such judgment.

4. God’s Judgment Is Certain

God’s judgment is so certain that God has fixed a day for it. Paul writes, “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath. . . . This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares” (Rom. 2:5, 16).

Every unbeliever knows in his heart about this final judgment and its outcome. Paul writes, “They know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death” (Rom. 1:32). Elsewhere we read, “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Heb. 9:27), and “Fall on us and hide us from the wrath of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come and who can stand?” (Rev. 6:17).

This judgment is appointed, certain, fixed, and coming soon. Paul says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for things done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). In another place he writes, “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels” (2 Thess. 1:6-7).

5. God’s Judgment Is Universal and Personal

“God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done'” (Rom. 2:6). God is not simply going to judge nations, tribes, and families as corporate entities. Every individual everywhere who ever lived shall be judged for what he has done while in the body. Every man, being God’s creation, is to obey God and worship him only, and he will be judged for his actions. Did he conform to God’s truth, or did he exchange the truth for a lie? Did he suppress the truth to practice godlessness and wickedness?

We will be judged according to what we have done, not according to what our parents or our political leaders have done. How many people blame their parents, their society, their government for their actions? But Paul is saying that each of us will be judged for what we have done. Then he writes, “There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil” (Rom. 2:9).

6. God’s Judgment Is according to Works

“God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done'” (Rom. 2:6). In the Greek it is kata ta erga, “according to the works.” Either we produce good works, evidencing our justification by faith, or we produce dead works, demonstrating our unbelief, stubbornness, unrepentance, and enmity against God. Those who are saved by grace through faith are to produce good works: “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10).

Good works are God’s works, the fruit that we as branches bring forth due to our vital union with Christ the vine. If we produce no fruit of obedience, we have no vital connection with Christ. It is true that we are not saved by works, but by faith alone. But John Calvin says the faith that saves us is not alone. Saving faith will always issue in obedience to God. Paul writes, “[Jesus Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:14). For a Christian, doing good works is a delight.

Jesus declared, “For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done” (Matt. 16:27). Elsewhere he taught about the eternal destiny of people, based on their obedience:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by the Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?” . . . The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”. . . Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life (Matt. 25:31-37, 40-41, 46).

John Stott says, “The presence or absence of saving faith in our hearts will be disclosed by the presence or absence of good works of love in our lives.”¹

John tells us, “Then I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them'” (Rev. 14:13). The wicked are known for their dead works, which are the sins they commit daily in unbelief, manifesting their enmity toward God. Dead works are the works of those who are dead in trespasses and sins, works performed in obedience to their master the devil, the god of this world.

By good works we please God and by dead works the unbeliever pleases his master the devil every day. We shall be judged according to our works, good or bad, and our works will reveal who our master is.

7. God’s Judgment Is without Respect of Persons

“For God does not show favoritism” (Rom. 2:11). God has no favorites, nor does he have any grandchildren. He does not look at the outward appearance but at the heart. He desires truth in the inward parts (Ps. 51:6). He is called kardiognôstês, the heart-knower. Jesus said, “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment” (John 7:24). Elsewhere he declared, “What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight” (Luke 16:15).

God is not impressed with the self-image we so carefully cultivate. Paul is teaching that the Jews would not experience immunity from this judgment as they had expected, nor is there immunity for antinomian Christians who put asunder what God has joined together by separating justification from sanctification. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says, “The New Testament Scriptures teach us everywhere that no greater danger confronts anyone who makes a profession of the Christian faith, than what is called antinomianism.”² An antinomian (lawless) life is the central conception of evangelicals today. They say, “Just receive Jesus; you do not have to obey him. He who stole, let him steal every day. He who lies, let him lie every day. He who fornicates, let him fornicate every day. But he who does these things is still saved and will be in heaven.” But there is no immunity for either Jews or lawless Christians from judgment. There is no favoritism with God.

8. God’s Judgment Is according to Knowledge Received

God is not going to judge the Gentiles who did not have the law by the law, nor will he judge the Jews who did not have the gospel by the gospel. We are judged according to the knowledge we have received (Rom. 2:12, 14-15).

The Gentiles know the God of glory and his eternal power through creation. Beyond that, God has created every person with a sense of deity, a built-in knowledge of God: “The requirements of the law are written on their hearts” (Rom. 2:15). God himself wrote it there. Every man also has a conscience, a moral consciousness as to what is right and what is wrong; therefore, every man knows what is good and what is evil. When man sins, he is sinning against this knowledge of God, for God’s will has been written in his heart by God himself. Thus, every man is without excuse for his sin. He cannot plead ignorance on the day of the final and eternal judgment.

What about the Jews? Not only were they given knowledge of God through creation and through the law written on their hearts, but they were also given a revelation of God in the law of Moses. So the Jews possessed greater revelation than the Gentiles and will be judged in accordance with this greater knowledge of God.

What about Christians? They have maximum knowledge of God-knowledge from creation, knowledge from the work of the law written by God in their hearts, knowledge from the Old Testament, and, finally, knowledge of Jesus Christ from the New Testament. The judgment of Christians will be in accordance with this maximum light they have received. Therefore, false Christians will be punished with many stripes (Luke 12:47). For them the bottom of hell is reserved. To such people, who took pride in their prophecies, miracles, and ability to cast out demons, Jesus says, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matt. 7:23).

True Christians will look not just at creation or conscience, but to the whole Bible to discover the will of God. Conscience is not an infallible guide because it can be dead or defiled. A good conscience is one that is continually being adjusted by the word of God.

Sin is transgression of God’s standard. Gentiles and Jews sin against the standards that are given to them. But Christians sin against the highest possible standard.

9. God Will Judge Men’s Secrets

“This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares” (Rom. 2:16). God is omniscient; before him we stand naked as Adam and Eve did after they had sinned, and our fig-leaf cover shall not stand. John tells about the Jewish leaders bringing a woman caught in the very act of adultery to Jesus. (PGM) Jesus challenged them by saying, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” No one took up the challenge, but eventually they all left (John 8:2-11). As he waited, Jesus was writing on the ground with his finger. What was he writing? Perhaps he was writing a list of their sins.

God knows all of our secret sins, every idle word we spoke and every secret thing we did when no one was watching. He knows our every thought, word, and deed. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside [you] are full of greed and self-indulgence” (Matt. 23:25). How many people take secrets to their graves! Maybe they killed someone and never told anyone, or committed some other terrible sin. But God knows all our sins-our adultery, fornication, greed, abortion, and every form of wickedness that no one else knows about. On the day of judgment, he will open the books and judge the secrets of men.

10. Judgment Is through Jesus Christ

God judges through the agency of his Son: “This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ” (Rom. 2:16, italics added). The Jewish people had a belief that God himself would judge, not the Messiah. But here Paul declares that God will judge through Jesus Christ, whom they rejected, mocked, and refused to trust in. We will meet him as Judge-Jesus the incarnate Son; Jesus who kept the law and lived a holy life; Jesus who said, “Thy will be done”; Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and was raised on the third day according to his own prophecy; Jesus who is King of kings and Lord of lords. All who hate God will meet him. All who profess to be Christians yet continue in sin will meet him.

Paul tells us that because of Christ’s obedience, “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11). It is the Father’s will that his Son be honored, obeyed, and worshiped.

Paul also spoke about this to the mockers of Athens: “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).

Jesus himself spoke about this ministry of judging: “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. . . . And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man” (John 5:22, 27).

Throughout the Scriptures we see Christ judging. In reference to the judgment of false Christians he says, “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” (Matt. 7:21-23). He says the same thing in Matthew 25: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory and will judge all . . . Then [the wicked] will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matt. 25:31, 46).

Christianity is not an appendix, an irrelevant adornment: it is life itself. In his last letter, Paul writes, “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge” (2 Tim. 4:1). Elsewhere he says, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Cor. 5:10; see also 2 Thess. 1:6-10).

11. Judgment according to the Gospel

Paul says this judgment is “according to my gospel” (Rom. 2:16). What does that expression mean, “according to my gospel,” which also appears elsewhere? Is Paul saying that he has a gospel that is different from that of Peter or others? It means the gospel of God, the gospel of God’s Son (Rom. 1:1, 9). There is only one gospel. We can prove this from other scriptures. To the Galatians Paul writes, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! . . . As for those who seemed to be important-whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance-those men added nothing to my message” (Gal. 1:8; 2:6). The apostles agreed with Paul.

What is the gospel? Paul writes, “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:1-4).

What Paul is saying by the term “according to my gospel” is that this judicial outpouring of God’s wrath is part of the gospel, and any preaching of the gospel devoid of this judgment aspect is deficient. It is a false, synthetic gospel that downsizes God. Such a gospel separates God’s love from God’s holiness and promotes the evil of antinomianism.

Modern people do not like anyone telling them to do anything. We demand absolute freedom so that we can have fun. Autonomy is a particular problem of Americans and Europeans. It is a tragedy. We do not want any restraint.

12. The Verdict of God’s Judgment

What is the final verdict of God’s judgment? Paul reveals, “God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done.’ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil [in the Greek it is “disobey the truth and obey evil”], there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew and then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Rom. 2:6-10).

Those who are righteous and justified through Christ, who love God and persevere in doing good, will receive eternal life. Good works are the result and fruit of justification by faith. Faith without good works is the devil’s faith. It is a lie. A true believer does good works, not once in a while, but with perseverance. That is his nature. He brings forth fruit, more fruit, much fruit, for the Father’s glory even in the midst of great trials and tribulations. He receives fullness of salvation, even eternal life. He receives glory, honor, and immortality from God, that is, the resurrection of the body. We shall receive an imperishable, glorious, spiritual body-a body of honor that is engineered by the Spirit to exist in heaven in the presence of God. God himself will make us holy, glorious, and honorable.

What is the purpose of Christ’s incarnation? The Hebrews writer speaks of “bringing many sons to glory” (Heb. 2:10). This tells us we did not have any glory. We were dishonorable, dying, restless people. But God sent his Son to bring us to glory. Paul declares, “Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God,” that is, we rejoice in hope of the second coming of Christ, at which time we shall be glorified (Rom. 5:1-2). Then he says, “Not only so, but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, even the redemption of our body. . . . For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined he also called; those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified” (Rom. 8:23, 29). We have absolute certainty of our glory. Elsewhere Paul says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Cor. 4:16). We are destined for glory.

Jesus Christ destroyed our death and brought us immortality. Paul says, “But it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death for us and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10). Now we can live every day for the glory of God, and God lives to glorify us. In his presence there is fullness of joy and on his right hand are pleasures forevermore. That is the purpose for which God has created us.

What about those who suppress truth and exchange it for a lie? What about those who are stubborn and unrepentant? Even as they are sinning, they know they are going to receive death (Rom. 1:32). Here we are told they will receive wrath, anger, trouble, and distress (see also 1 and 2 Thessalonians). Those who live by enmity and selfish ambition, who disobey the truth while freely obeying wickedness, who abuse God’s kindness, forbearance, and longsuffering, must die an eternal death and experience the fullness of the fury of God’s wrath. Their lifetime cumulative sin will be taken into full account on the judgment day. The longer we live, the more sin, guilt, and punishment we accrue.

13. Judgment Begins at Death

The first phase of judgment begins at death. Have you ever thought at a funeral, “Where did this person go?” We have become so materialistic that most people never think to ask that question. If they do, they may be told the dead person is in purgatory or in heaven or that he or she has ceased to exist.

Have you ever thought about where your family and friends went at death, and where they exist at the present time? The Bible says that those who mocked God and his word are in hell. Jesus spoke about a rich man who died. This man ignored God’s truth as revealed in creation, in conscience, and in the Law and the Prophets. He abused God’s abundance of goodness, including the witness of the poor Lazarus. Jesus says at death he went to hell and was in fire, torment, and agony. But that is just the first phase. Everyone who died in his sins will be raised up, judged, and thrown into the lake of fire (see John 5:28-29; Matt. 25:31-46). There is no annihilation of the dead. That is an invention of man. John writes:

And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and th false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he has done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire along with the devil and the false prophet and the antichrist. (Rev. 20:10-15).

How to Escape Judgment

What can we do in the light of this sober truth of the final and eternal judgment? First, we must realize that those who have already died can do nothing. Their destiny is sealed (see Heb. 9:27). But for those of us who are still living, there is great hope (Rom. 1:16-17). Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus, and we shall be saved. Jesus is the Judge, but he is also the Savior-the only Savior of the world. The cross reveals God’s justice and wrath, but it also reveals his great love. The Father judged Jesus in our behalf, pouring out every drop of wrath on him so that no wrath remains for us. “There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).

No man can escape the Judge or the judgment. Do not flee from him or try to hide from him, but hide in him. “Only one life, ’twill soon be past; only what is done for Christ will last.” Seek Christ and eternal life. Seek glory, honor, and immortality. Seek peace with God through repentance and faith. There are only two peoples, believers and unbelievers; only two ways, the broad and the narrow; and only two destinies, eternal life and eternal death. Now is the opportune time. May we all flee to Christ and be saved forevermore.

¹ Stott, 84.

² D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans: The Righteous Judgment of God, An Exposition of Chapters 2:1-3:20, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1989), 97.