The Foundational Principle of Eternal Judgment – Part 7

The Building Materials of the Glorious Church – Part 7

THE SOUND DOCTRINE OF JESUS CHRIST CONT’D.

Welcome back! Here we are at Part 7, the final part on this series pertaining to The Elementary Doctrines of the Building Foundation of the Glorious Church. The purpose of this series is to share the importance of learning the foundational elementary doctrine of Jesus Christ. We are called to adhere and walk in the sound doctrine of Jesus. Scripture clearly states that in the last days many will turn from the sound doctrine and follow doctrines of demons. It is a very crafty and cunning trick of Satan to lure God’s people away from God and it is more evident in the so called body of Christ today than it has ever been. There are literally thousands of doctrines and denominations in the Christian faith, but the there is only one (1) sound doctrine of Jesus Christ. Do not be deceived beloved!

There is much abuse pertaining to the elementary principle of eternal judgment among Christians due to a lack of knowledge and understanding. If we don’t know something, how can we understand it and apply it to our walk? We can use an analogy of a piece of cake, if you will. This topic is the icing on the cake of understanding the elementary doctrines of Repentance, Faith, Baptisms, Laying on of Hands, and Resurrection of the Dead. Let’s get started with a fair warning: Repentance and prayer may be required on your part if you find yourself guilty of wrongful judgment.

ETERNAL JUDGMENT

The elementary doctrine of Eternal Judgment is the foundation for righteous judgment among believers, and it is the necessary principle for establishing (or re-establishing) divine order in the Body.

It can be thought of in four basic concepts:

1. The qualified judge;

2. The eternal standard;

3. Application of the standard; and

4. Determining the outcome or verdict

This four part process is necessary for the maturing of the body, and it is a critical role for the mature believer.

1. The Qualified Judge

If there is no one who is qualified to judge, then the standards of righteousness become clouded as critically important matters go untended. Absent the administration of God’s righteous standards, all manner of evil can infiltrate the ranks of the people of God. Unfortunately, there are large communities of people that profess to be godly Christians and yet there is no accountability among themselves. The young believers are devastated by the lack of clarity and often fall away from the faith and the older, more mature, believers become discouraged.

Without qualified judges within the mature believers to apply eternal standards, people are unable to distinguish false standards from the true and are therefore unable to determine what is godly and what is worldly. (Ex. the practice of Yoga among believers as something being innocent and not harmful; not holding adulterers and fornicators accountable; not bringing deliverance and healing to the afflicted, etc.)

The qualified judge removes false and inappropriate standards and restores divine order. The opposite is the classic biblical definition of lawlessness – everyone doing what is right in their own eyes. Lawlessness and false standards lead to chaos, disorder, and the disruption of the Body of Christ. We tend to think of lawlessness as violence in the streets, but it is prevalent among the church.

2. Divine (Eternal) Standard of Judgment:

The divine protocol for righteous judgment is the standard that the qualified judge will apply – called eternal, divine, or righteous standard.

God’s intent in eternal judgments is for His nature and character to be the measuring stick of human behavior. This is an eternal and necessary standard, unbiased and non-prejudicial.

The standard is God. Those whom the Holy Spirit has assembled into Christ, the Son, are His earthly representations. Any judgment rendered within the Body of Christ must be consistent with how God would judge the matter. The mature son of God is the instrument through which God Himself judges the matter.

Remember earlier in the elementary doctrines of Baptisms, how the earthly messenger must hear from the heavenly messenger and then speak and/or do only what the heavenly messenger says to say or do? As it is with this standard; however, not only hearing from the heavenly messenger, but knowing what the Word of God says about how followers of Christ are to behave and live their life. Examples of the power of an eternal standard abounds in Scripture.

God’s Final Word: His Son

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Hebrews 1:1-3)

Any judgment rendered within the Body of Christ must be consistent with how God would judge the matter, and the mature son of God is the instrument through which God Himself judges the matter.

Moreover, an eternal standard may bring to bear certain aspects of God’s nature to prevent great loss to the Household of Faith. God’s nature includes qualities such as mercy, grace, and forgiveness; whereas rigidly biased human standards of judgment have no place for such qualities.

The intent of all spiritual judgments is to redeem and restore the one being judged to his or her eternal destiny to the maximum extent possible.

In scripture

A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God

1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared an oath in my anger,   ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.”5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts.”

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

12 For the word of God is alive 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. 13 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 account. (Hebrews 4:6-13)

God judges the heart of mankind. Judgment from an eternal point of view brings the Kingdom of God more completely into the earth.

Unrighteous judgment discards eternal value as unimportant because it is incapable of understanding or appreciating the value of the eternal. Judgment cannot be placed in the hands of one unequipped to apply an eternal standard because that judge is likely to discard persons of great eternal value through temporal and linear judgments. Paul was an example of this for if he had been judged by human standards, he would have been lost to the house of God before he could be redeemed to become one of the leading figures of the early church. Ananias heard from the ‘Messenger/Lord’ that Paul was one of God’s chosen instruments and was instructed to go and visit Paul. He obeyed.

“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.” But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.” (Acts 9:13-16 NIV)

Jesus cautioned his disciples about submitting things that may have great eternal value to unrighteous judgment when he said, “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet and then turn and tear you to pieces.”

How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.  Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7:4-6)

As is stated earlier, any judgment rendered within the Body of Christ must be consistent with how God would judge the matter, and the mature son of God is the instrument through which God Himself judges the matter.

3. Application of the Eternal Standard

Yes, there is a precise format for the application of righteous judgment. It begins with determining the authority to judge the matter. Scripture cautions the believers not to judge the unbeliever by divine standards.

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (John 3:17-21 NKJV)

If a believer is placed in a position of judging outside of the House of God (i.e., is an attorney of law or arbitrator of the law), he or she is not at liberty to employ divine standards as the basis of judgment. They are limited to the applicable rules established by the governing authority.

As for non-mature or unequipped believers, scripture warns against judging others within the House of God with unrighteous standards:

7 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:1-5 NKJV)

Back to the protocol in applying the Eternal Standard of judgment:

1. Determine the authority of the one to judge the matter.

2. One must accurately determine the true facts – critical and must be without bias or prejudice. Divine judgment cannot be issued if the underlying facts are inaccurate.

3. It may be necessary to corroborate the facts – if facts can not be corroborated, the matter may have to wait with patience. If it is true, the behavior will reoccur and at that time, judgment may proceed.

4. Next, judgment must bring forth the appropriate standard by which to assess the facts. (Use Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness as an example. Satan’s temptation was to exploit Jesus’ weakness after a 40 day fast, but Jesus was able to use the word of God, ‘It is written, man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ etc.

By applying this standard, Jesus was able to return the focus to the spirit over the soul and did not depart from his position as the approved Son of the Father. He remained in the Spirit.

Satan will try to use scripture against the matter, but it will fail because he is not using it in accordance to the divine standard of righteousness.

5. Scripture must be used in application and be consistent with the nature of God, and the intent of the application from the qualified judge must be pure. Even if the immediate consequences may be quite drastic, it is likely the right standard.

Note: Eternal judgment may require the exclusion of an immoral believer from the fellowship of believers. This is a last resort to destroy a rebellious believer’s resistance to truth so that God is able to bring redemption through this act.

4. The Verdict

Once the appropriate standard has been brought forth and applied without prejudice, then the outcome will reflect the will of God. Always, the goal of eternal judgment is to restore divine order. Only God knows the hearts of man and He is the Alpha and the Omega…who is and who was and who is to come. God never changes. He is a God of divine order and He knows the end of every matter and the outcome of every process before they are launched in time.

There will always be disputes that creep in among believers because Satan is on a mission to steal, kill, and destroy God’s kingdom here on earth. When these happen, God has placed a divine process in order to restore His order among His Household of Faith. The final judgment will occur when we leave this earth.

Concluding thought:

This teaching on the Foundational Elementary Doctrines of the Glorious Church is for the benefit of those desiring to be the Bride of Christ. These are elementary doctrines and must be learned and mastered before one can move on to perfection in the sound doctrine and become mature sons of God. I bless you to walk in your destiny in Christ Jesus and it is my prayer that this teaching has blessed you just as it blessed me when I received it.

I had a starting place to grow and although I do not profess to have fully matured, it has been a measuring stick for me to measure where I was and how far I have come. May it be the same to each of you who takes the time to read, study, seek the Holy Spirit of Truth, and be the best representative of Jesus Christ, here on this earth, that you can be.

He says, “For when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For every one who only partakes of milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to them that are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.” “Therefore leaving the discussion of the elementary principles (of the doctrine) of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permits.”

4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 [c]if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. 10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Hebrews 5:12-6:12)

Blessings to you, in the mighty and wonderful name of Jesus!

Norma Umphress

“Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:35-38)

This concludes the series on the elementary principles of the sound doctrine of Jesus Christ. If you finished the series, we would love to hear from you. Also, please take a moment to subscribe to this website if you have not already done so.

Blessings, Garry and Norma