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What does God’s Word say?

By Andrée Seu Peterson

My father asked me a question today. He had read an article by a Christian saying that we don’t need to worry if we constantly stumble into sin, because that’s what Jesus died for—to take the punishment for us. My father was confused: “Is there not going to be a Judgment Day then?”
I said, “Well, first of all, I didn’t read the article, so I’m getting this from you second hand.” And then I took out my Bible and read:

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. … And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. … And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. … Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done” (Revelation 20:11–13, ESV).

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My dad asked, “But doesn’t being judged according to your deeds apply to non-Christians only? Aren’t Christians ‘safe’”?
So I read Romans, in which the apostle Paul makes a point that that he is addressing religious people as well as the world at large when he warns about sloppy living:

“[God] will render to each one according to his works” (Romans 2:6, ESV).

Then I read Hebrews, which was pointedly written to people who considered themselves to be insiders to the house of faith. Hebrews is a Paul Revere of a letter, sounding the alarm of impending danger to those who complacently think they are “safe”—safe in the sense of being able to relax our guard against the amount of sin we allow in our lives:

“… let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach [God’s rest]” (Hebrews 4:1, ESV).

The Hebrews author gives examples of the church insiders of olden times who thought they were “safe” and who were surprised to end up rejected by God (3:9–11; 4:2–3).
God is not mocked. How silly is it to think we can sin without consequence because we are “in Christ”? There is no safety in unbelief and disobedience. Whoever concocts a theological notion that in any way relaxes determination to fight the good fight and the clear command to “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you” (Colossians 3:5, ESV) will have a lot to answer for.
My dad looked relieved. “I believe you are right in this case,” he said. “Why?” I asked. “Because you read it to me from the Bible,” he concluded.