Judgment Day

Discussion Questions 

1. Read Romans 2:1-11; you can find it here. Then read the devotional below, “Judgment Day.” 

2. How does belief in God’s everlasting mercy shape your understanding of God’s day of judgment? 

3. Does a God of no judgment fit your theological framework? 

4. Explain your understanding of heaven and hell.    

Devotional 

For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will judge everyone according to what they have done. – Romans 2:5b-6 (NLT) 

I understand that belief in eternal torment for the sins committed in earthly life is viewed as a relic of religious antiquity in many enlightened circles. Some Christians today reject doctrines of hell and damnation as being incompatible with the God of eternal love and amazing grace. 

But let’s not forget that the love and grace of God have never negated the truth and justice of God. The same Bible that tells us the mercy of God is from everlasting to everlasting is the same Bible that tells us the wages of sin is death. 

Notwithstanding the gruesome images of eternal torture in a lake of fire and brimstone, Christian theology has always contended that our earthly actions have eternal consequences; that how we treat the poor, the disenfranchised and the marginalized registers at the throne of God; that the dreadful consequences of unrepentant evil extend through time and impact the direction of human destiny. 

In a jealous rage, Cain murdered his brother Abel and then walked through the Garden of Eden as though his act carried no divine consequence. But the God who loved Cain told him that Abel’s blood was crying out from the ground and being heard in heaven. From that day forward, the ground beneath Cain’s feet would forever withhold its welcome. 

A rich man with more bread than he ever needed refused to give a crumb to the starving beggar Lazarus at his gate. Thinking nothing of it, the rich man died, expecting subsequent eternal rest. But in the afterlife, the rich man awakened to the everlasting consequences produced by a life of selfishness. 

God can’t be the God of Love if God isn’t the God of Justice, because—to quote Cornel West—“Justice is what love looks like in public.” 

Prayer
Lord, in the life beyond, help me to be able to live with all I’ve done in this life. Amen.