On Our Behalf

Does it bother you that God is Just and Holy? It bothers most people. They want to determine what is right or wrong based on what they think is right or wrong. They don’t understand that one day they will stand before the only true and living God and be judged by the standard of He who is, “Holy, holy. holy.”

God is Just and Holy. His perfections are beyond human comprehension. Holiness can perhaps best be understood as “perfection.” 1 Tim.6:16 states that because of His intense perfections,

God,“… lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see.”

The words ‘holiness’ and ‘perfection’ can be interchanged. The fact is, because God is holy, he demands we be holy or perfect. Mt.5:48 states;

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

And we have the clear declaration of;

Heb.12:14, “…without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

Without being perfect, morally, spiritually perfect, no one will ever see God, meaning no one can enter glory. So dreadful is the minutest particle of sin that,

The Prophet Habakkuk 1:13 declares; “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.”

Moses warned In Ex.34:6-7;

“he does not leave the guilty unpunished;

When Adam, who was our representative for Scripture declares that we were all in Adam, when he disobeyed, sin entered the world and changed our relationship with God. Sin alienated us from God and made us enemies. His sin was imputed to us, that is put to our account since he represented us.

Rom.5:12 “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—5:18, “one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people,”

“Condemnation for all people!”

Because God is holy, He is also Just. His perfect standard has been broken. Everyone has rebelled against Him, disobeyed His word, ignored His warnings and therefore deserve nothing but condemnation. Eph.2:3 tells us we are all sinners “by nature” and experience proves we are also sinners “by choice.” Therefore,

“All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

What then is the inevitable future?

Heb.10:27 “…only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God”

Puritan Thomas Boston described those fires writing;

“There they will find a prison they can never escape out of; a lake of fire where they will be ever immersed and burning; a pit whereof they will never find a bottom…The fire that is not quenched shall devour them…Their eyes shall be kept in blackness of darkness without the least comfortable gleam of light. Their ears shall be filled with frightful yelling of the infernal crew. They shall taste nothing but the sharpness of God’s wrath, the gregs of the cup of His fury. The stench of the burning lake of brimstone will be the smell there; and they shall feel extreme pains forevermore…There is no intermission there, no ease, no not for a moment. They shall (as Rev.20:10 states) “be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

That condemnation is expressed again and again in Scripture in terrifying language towards the wicked and all who refuse to believe.Mt.13:49-50;

“This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Mt.24:50-51; “The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Those who receive condemnation “they will be forever dying but will never die, never cease to exist.” This is the sentence upon every person who ever lived. This is God’s just judgement upon sinners. For though He calls everyone to “Be perfect for I am perfect,” all have failed to meet that standard. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” We are all polluted by sin and unclean and the Holy God cannot even look upon us. Rev.21:27 sets the criteria for entering heaven;

“Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,”

“Nothing impure” nothing less that sinless perfection qualifies one for heaven. Yes, one sin is enough to sentence us to hell. So, we stand guilty of imperfection and helpless to pay the debt of our imperfections and make them perfect, though we may try. As J.C. Ryle wrote of human efforts;

It will not cleanse away your sins to be sorry for them. You may shed floods of tears and acknowledge your own guilt and danger. But sorrow cannot make atonement for sin. The convicted criminal in the court of justice may be sorry for his offenses. He sees the misery and ruin they have brought upon him. But the judge does not let him off because he is sorry. The deed has been done; the law broken; the penalty has been incurred. The punishment must be inflicted, notwithstanding the criminals tears. This is precisely your position in the sight of God. Your sorrow is right, good and proper. But your sorrow has no power whatsoever to cleanse away your sins. It needs something more…