The Bible says that there will be a day of
judgment (Jude 6; 1 John 4:17; Hebrews 9:27; John 12:48). In Acts
17:30-31 Paul preached that, "Truly, these times of ignorance God
overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, {31} "because
He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness
by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all
by raising Him from the dead." This day is still yet to come.
The Bible says that all people will appear
before God to be judged (2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Peter 4:17-18). There
will be one standard by which all people will be judged (Revelation
2:12-14). This standard for people living after the death of Christ will
be His New Testament (John 12:48). Christ will be the one who does the
judging (John 5:22; 2 Timothy 4:1). All people will give an account to
Him as to how they have lived in view of God's revealed will to man
(Romans 14:10-12).
The Bible speaks of judgment in Romans 2:16 as
being the, "...day when God will Judge the secrets of men by Jesus
Christ, according to my gospel." The Bible says that EVERY secret
thing that we have tried to hide from other people and from God will be
brought to light in judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:14). This will be done
because nothing we do is hidden from God (Hebrews 4:13).
Unlike human judges which make
mistakes and sometimes convict the innocent, the Lord's judgment of the
human race will be just and true (Revelation 16:7; 1 Peter 2:23). No one
who is guilty and unsaved will go free, and no one who is innocent and
justified by the blood of the Lamb will be convicted (Matthew 10:34-35;
13:24-43).
As Paul preached to Felix about the judgment
that is to come the Bible says that he (Felix) trembled at the thought
and was afraid (Acts 24:25-27). However, like so many, Felix dismissed
the thought because it disturbed him so much instead of doing what he
needed to do to prepare for the day. If we do as Felix did the Bible
says that, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God," (Hebrews 10:31).