Topic: The Rewards for the Good and Evil
Introduction and Overview
There is a time coming when this world and all the people in it will be judged. The Last Judgement will fall upon every person, and they will be judged according to the lives they lived on this earth.
The good will be judged to receive the promise of eternal life, but the evil will be judged for destruction and permanent death. The evil may believe they can do no wrong and are getting away with their evil deeds. After all, every person justifies their own actions and there are many who believe that they are “good people” but are not. The Lord God knows and sees everything and it is His standard that determines good and evil.
Because of this it is important now to learn the difference and to believe and act in ways pleasing to God. This session looks at these comparisons and points to what first steps any person ought to take to move forward.
Reading: Romans 2:1-11
Key points from reading:
- There will be no excuse for anyone to not know or to reject God
- If a person chooses to do evil and does not repent of their ways, the judgement of God will fall upon them harshly.
- Every person will be judged according to their works. Those who do good will receive an inheritance, but the evil will be rejected by God.
- A person’s wealth or position is no guarantee of receiving God’s favour. You cannot buy salvation and no-one has an automatic right to it based on race, religion, or status. It is the judgement of God that counts.
Discussion:
- Scripture: Romans 2:1-3
- No one will have any excuse for rejecting God.
- God sets the standard by which we will be judged, not man. Those who do not meet His standard will be rejected.
- Hypocrisy is one of the great problems of mankind, where people condemn others while doing the same things themselves. Sin is sin regardless of the nature of it. A person who murders is no different to one who steals or lies. Both are convicted of sin and are equally condemned in God’s eyes.
- And a liar cannot escape judgement by thinking, “I’m not a murderer like that person!”
- Read and consider this scripture: Luke 18:9-14. The first man believed he was righteous because he followed the law to the letter. But he was arrogant, even casting judgement on the second man. But the second man was humble and he received the Lord’s blessing and mercy rather than the first man. The difference here was the first man was ”All about me. Whereas the second man recognised God and did not consider himself.
- Recall what the Golden Rule states: ”So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:7)
- Scripture: Romans 2:4-5
- Man people today do presume upon the kindness and goodness of God’s grace, believing that is sufficient. It is not.
- Those with impenitent or unrepentant hearts are storing up wrath, which will be revealed on the Day of Judgement.
- God is kind, good, merciful, compassionate, and has a great love for people. His grace does cover all sins and sinfulness.
- But His grace is conditional. It is offered to all, but is not given to all. Those who choose to reject Him and do evil will not receive the benefits of His grace. As the scripture here tells us, God’s kindness or grace, is meant to lead us to repentance. It is not given so that we can do evil and expect to be forgiven because God is good. It is given so that we can learn right from wrong and DO what is good.
- Scripture: Romans 2:6-8
- Every person will be judged and rewarded on the basis of what they do.
- We should note that when the scripture here talks about “works,” it is not talking about works of the law, as we will see in coming studies. Nor is it talking about those who build cathedrals, fancy churches, works of religious art, and so on. Those things are not the works of God but are the works of men. Most church buildings and cathedrals are a testament to the egos of the men who design and build them. God does not require them and nowhere in scripture is there a command to do so.
- The works spoken of here are the works of love and learning to walk in the love of God. It is about living the Golden Rule and the actions and works of love written about in 1 Corinthians 13, because as that scripture tells us, if we do not have love, we have nothing.
- Scripture: Romans 2:9-11
- There is no partiality with God. He does not care about race, skin colour, status, position, or anything else that men look at.
- God looks at the heart and judges according to who a person is, not what they look like or have. The scripture here talks about the same judgement falling on Jew and Gentile. It is the same judgement that will fall on white, black, brown, and any other skin colour. All are the same and all are equal in the sight of God. In truth, the only way that prejudice will finally be overcome is by the hand of God.
- Read and consider this scripture also: James 2:1-9. In that scripture we see that those who show prejudice and partiality on ANY grounds are guilty of sinning in the eyes of God. God shows NO partiality and He expects us to do the same.
Key Takeaways:
- There is no excuse for rejecting God as His presence is everywhere and in everything.
- God’s judgement will fall upon all the dwellers on the earth, past, present and future. They will be judged by what they do.
- God shows no partiality and no-one can enter the favour of God except by the processes that He has established.
Prayer Points
- Pray that if you have any partiality in your life that you can destroy it through the working of God’s word and the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Pray that if there is any sinfulness or fleshly weaknesses leading you to sin, that you can find the strength in the Lord to overcome, and repent of anything that you need to repent over. (Note: we will cover these in much detail in a later session).
- Pray the the Lord opens the words of the Bible to you so that you can learn and grow.