The Great White Throne

Who Can Stand?
Works Won’t Work At the Great White Throne
Rom 2:7-16

Remember the grand context—Rom 1:16-18, 3:9-20
-We are justified by faith.
-Why is it that it is only by faith that one is righteous?
(1) Because of the wrath of God at the sin of man, which we find out in Rom 3:9-12 is universal.
(2) How then can anyone be considered righteous? How can anyone face the judgment and come out clean? No One CAN!
èWe are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, but we are condemned by our heritage (ADAM’s Sin Rom 5:12) and by our own works.

- A Necessary Doctrinal Question: How Many Judgments Are There?
a. The General judgment theory
(1) Generally held either by folks with only a cursory knowledge of the Bible or by folks who are scholars of a particular variety.
(2) Your average lost person with no Biblical knowledge, has this conception of judgment.
(3) This is, generally, the Roman Catholic view of judgment.
(4) In this view, there is one judgment—In this view, the judgment seat of Christ (Bema Seat), the Judgment of the Nations (Mat 25), and the Great White Throne are all the same judgment.
(5) Problems with this view
(a) The judgments in the Bible are very different, as they are described in the Bible, and it is difficult to see how they fit together.
(b) Christians have already been judged in Christ, and will not come into judgment (John 5:24).

b. The multiple judgment view—The Three judgments are different.
(1) At the end of the Tribulation, the survivors of the Tribulation are judged at the return of Christ (Mat 25). This is the Judgment of the Nations
(a) The nations are separated into sheep and goats.
(b) The sheep are those from the nations who helped, aided, and kindly treated the persecuted Messianic Jews of the tribulation period. They had been converted by the Jewish believers’ preaching about Christ, and had given evidence of their conversion by their kind treatment of the Jews, at great risk to their own lives.
(c) The goats are those who ignored or helped persecute the Jews and Christians in the Tribulation period.
(d) The goats progress on to Hell, the sheep go into the Kingdom.
(2) The rest of the lost dead are judged at the Great White Throne (Rev 20).
(a) NO sheep here
(b) No grouping of people by nations here.
(c) Individuals judged here, no giving of rewards
(d) The standard is not a single “as you have done it unto the least of these my brethren” standard, but is the totality of a person’s life.
(3) After the Rapture, there is the Judgment Seat of Christ, for saved people.
(a) The seat of this judgment is the Bema Seat, the place of rewards—2 Cor 5:10, 1 Cor 3:8-14, Rom 14:10. The Bema Seat is never mentioned in association with the lost, only with reference to believers.
(b) The Sins of all who are believers have already judged in Christ—Jn 5:24 “… and shall not come into condemnation; [krisis, a tribunal] but is passed from death unto life." 2 Cor 5:21, Eph 1:6-7.
(c) For Believers (and ONLY for believers), the Sin Question has been answered by the Son
(d) If you are a believer in Christ, your sins have been judged in Him, and you will not come into judgment as a sinner whose case is to be decided.
(e) As a believer, you do have to give God account of your actions as a believer.
(f) The fruits of each Christian’s life are judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ, with a view to assignment of rewards, but this is not a judicial judgment in any sense—

1. Judgment Day is Coming—Rom 2:16
a. The controlling verse in this passage is the bottom line—Rom 2:16. As in other places, Paul makes the point that the day of judgment is coming; the day of wrath, the great white throne—Rev 20:11-15, Mat 7:21-23, Acts 17:31
b. Verses 5 and 6, studied last lesson, have set this discussion on course, and this passage expands on the basic idea—each human being who appears at the last judgment, the Great White Throne, will be judged according to their own deeds.

2. The Standard is Perfection—2:7-10

a. By patient continuance in doing good….The standard is continual perfection—Mat 5:17-20, 5:48!! Can anyone meet this standard? Is 53:6 ,Isa 64:6, Mark 10:18, Rom 3:10-12, 1 John 1:8-10
b. by patient continuance
(1) Not just good for one minute, one hour, or one day, but good always
(2) No slips, no bad hair days
(3) In other words, like God—immutable, unshakable, steady as she goes.
c. by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
(1) The MOTIVE has got to be pure at all times as well! We have to be seeking only the things of God continually
(2) We have to attain to His Glory, which no one has done nor can do--Rom 3:23
d. The reward of keeping this standard—Rom 2:10
(1) Heaven will be glorious
(2) Heaven will be honorable
(3) Heaven will be peaceful
e. Only One has ever kept this standard—Jesus—Heb 4:15-16
(1) Jesus patiently did good at all times
(2) Jesus did not seek His own good
(3) Jesus: the Lamb—Heb 9:14, 1 Pet 1:19
f. The State of Man—Rom 2:8, 9
g. The Non-existent righteous man—2:10—see 3:9-12, 23, Eph 2:1-3

3. The Judge Is Impartial—Rom 2:11-13
a. The forms of the Law available—Ps 19, Rom 1:19-21, 2:16, 3:19-20—
(1) All man have nature
(2) All men have conscience
(3) Some have the written Law
(4) Some have the Law and the Gospel
(5) The key understanding is this: whichever form the Law is delivered, it is HIS LAW—it is about God, not the form of the Law.
b. Man: responsible for the light given—2:12
c. Deeds, not words, matter—2:13—if anyone is able to live up to the standard of the Law of God, then they gain eternal life—but no one has except Jesus!
d. Examples and evidences.
(1) Some Gentiles have done some of the Law, and have written their own laws which echo the Law—2:14—Hammurabi’s Code for existence—and similar principles are found in most law codes
(2) And, over half the planet lives under a law code that originated in the Old Testament—Christian, Muslim, Jew alike.
(3) There is also the work of Conscience—2:15
(a) Conscience, a much used word in the New Testament—the word means “moral consciousness”
(b) Conscience
(c) ConvictsèJohn 8:9
(d) ConfirmsèActs 23:1, 24:16, Rom 9:1, 2 Cor 1:12
(e) Conscience works with faith and love to produce obedience and to safeguard our pure understanding of the faith—1 Tim 1::5, 1:19, 3:9, 2 Tim 1:3
(f) But, conscience can be seared —1 Ti 4:2
(g) Conscience can be defiled—Tit 1:15
(i) How do searing and defilement take place?
(ii) When one plays with sin and tells conscience to “shut up.”
(h) The Conscience can be cleansed—Heb 9:14, 10:22
(i) The Christian life must be lived in and with a good, clean, strong conscience
(i) Heb 13:18 "Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably."
(ii) 1 Pet 3:16 "having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed."

4. The Verdict is Certain è
a. The White Throne Judgment—2:16, Rev 20:11-15
b. The Books Will Be Open
(6) The secrets will all come out
(7) The things in the books will be open for all to see
c. No defense is mentioned—these are judged by their works—20:12
d. The blood of Christ is not available to the ones judged here—their doom is sealed, they are not in the Book of Life
e. They will protest, but to no avail—Mat 7:21-23
f. The Doom is Inescapable for those who do not know Him, they will die in their sins
(1) John 8:24
(2) Mat 7:23
(3) Rev 21:8

5. The Time to be Saved is NOW