Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. And if you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm going to continue a message that I started
last week concerning judgment of our works. Judgment of our
works. And I'm preaching from 2 Corinthians
5, verse 10. And I'm making the point here
that when we stand before God at judgment, What matters is
how we stand in relation to Christ. If we stand there on our own,
without Christ, without being washed in His blood and clothed
in His righteousness, that's condemnation. And that will be
the judgment of all our works, which we thought were meritorious
and would get us into heaven and make us right with God. that
they're bad works, evil deeds. And I'll show you that in scripture. But those who stand before God
in Christ, the judgment of their works will be to the praise of
the glory of God's grace. It's not that their works are
meritorious. It's not that their works earn
them rewards or anything like that, but they stand as the product
and the evidence of the work of God in Christ. And I'll show
you that. So what I want you to see, it
says in verse 10 of 2 Corinthians 5, for we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things
done in his body according to that he had done, whether it
be good or bad. Now, what he's talking about
is not judgment based on or by our works, or as if our works
are meritorious. That would deny the whole of
Scripture. See, that's one thing that we've
got to understand that when we read Scriptures like that, it's
got to be taken in context. So what does the Bible say about
the good works and the bad works, the good deeds and the evil deeds? There's no place in the Bible
that it talks about sinners being judged, or I'll put it this way. There's no place in the Bible
where it talks about saved sinners being judged by their works in
order to see if they are good enough or have earned or merit
heaven or eternal life. Because salvation is by grace. It was that way back in Genesis
and it's gonna be that way up through Revelation. It's by grace
All right, and as the Bible says, that grace reigns through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, if you didn't
hear last week's message, which is part one, this is part two.
Go to our website and listen to it, or go to Sermon Audio,
wherever you can get it, and listen to it in the context.
But last week, I ended with John chapter three, and I wanna go
back there. And what does it say? Whose works are good and
whose works are bad? And if somebody's works are not
good, but bad, what makes them so? And if somebody's works are
good, what makes them so? Well, look here, in John chapter
three, he says in verse 19, this is the condemnation that light
has come into the world And men loved darkness rather than light
because their deeds were evil. Now the word deeds there refers
to man's works to try to be moral, religious, sincere, charitable. And the light there is the light
of Christ as he's revealed in the gospel, who in himself and
by his obedience unto death is the very righteousness of God.
And it's that righteousness in Christ that all men are judged
by. How do you stand with Christ?
You see, if you're outside of Christ, your deeds are evil.
I don't care, the best deeds you've ever done are evil because
they deny the glory of God. They deny Christ as the Lord
and the only righteousness that God will accept. And they exalt
and make you proud, self-righteousness. so all of that comes into play. So he says light comes into the
world, that's the gospel light that reveals the only way a sinner
can be saved, justified, made righteous, and forgiven by God
is through the imputed righteousness of Christ. That's the entire
merit of His obedience unto death as my surety, my substitute,
my redeemer, and it's based upon my sins being charged, accounted
to him for which he died, and his righteousness, which he accomplished
on Calvary, would be imputed, charged, accounted to me. So
it's not by my works, it's not by my suffering, it's not by
my death that I'm saved and counted righteous. It's by Christ's work,
Christ's suffering, Christ's death. And that's indicated by
his resurrection from the dead. He was raised because of the
justification of his people. So he says in verse 20 of John
3, for everyone that doeth evil hateth the light. Hates the gospel. If you're trying to be saved
by your works, and I preach the gospel the way it ought to be
preached to you, here's what I'm telling you. The only way
you can be saved is by the good works of Christ, His righteousness,
and your efforts to save yourself by your good works is actually
evil deeds. And the light exposes that. That's
what happened with the Pharisees. They were trying to make themselves
righteous by their works. Christ came along and said, listen,
Matthew 5, 20, except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter the kingdom
of God, the kingdom of heaven. See, righteousness can only be
found in Christ. And if you think salvation is
by works, all your deeds are evil deeds. because they deny
the glory of God. They deny Christ and they give
you room to boast. But look at verse 21. Now, if
I come to judgment and God declares that my works are good work,
how did that happen? Because even the good works of
believers do not equal the perfection of the law that can only be found
in Christ. Well, listen to this. But he
that doeth truth cometh to the light. Now what is it to do truth? It's to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life. He said, I am the
truth. He is truth. And everything else. is a lie when it comes to salvation. So he says, but he that doeth
truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest,
listen to this, that they are wrought or worked in God. How can my works be called good
when they don't measure up to the perfection? And the reason
they don't measure up is because I'm in a struggle, the warfare
of the flesh and the spirit. Paul describes that in Galatians
5 and in Romans 7. Well, the only way that they
can be called good is to the praise of the glory of God's
grace, motivated not by law, not by mercenary promises of
earned reward, but by grace, gratitude, and love. They redound
to the glory of God, they exalt Christ, they're motivated by
grace and love. Paul says later on in 2 Corinthians
5, the love of God constrains us, motivates us. In other words,
I'm working for the Lord, not in order to earn my way into
His favor, not in order to earn my rewards in heaven, not in
order to be saved. but out of love to God who saved
me and gave me all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. So they redound to His glory.
Remember Matthew 5, 16? Let your light so shine before
men that they may see your good works. The light there is not
the good works. The light is Christ and the gospel. that shines on those works by
which they are determined good, not because there's any merit
in them, not because they're done by you in your power or
goodness, but they are wrought in God. They're the work of God
in us, accepted before God through the blood of Jesus Christ, and
they redound to His glory. So let your light so shine before
men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father
which is in heaven. You see, good works of a believer
are not intended to draw people's attention to that person as being
something special. They're meant to draw your attention
to the Lord God. That person is a new creation
in God, in Christ, in Christ. Well, let me give you another
example of what I'm talking about. Look over in Matthew chapter
seven. Now this is the kind of judgment
that Paul's talking about in 2 Corinthians 5. If you stand before God without
Christ, I don't care how hard you've tried to keep the law,
how hard you've tried to be sincere, your deeds will be declared bad,
evil deeds, even iniquity. And here's what he says, he's
talking about men standing before God at judgment. In verse 21,
Christ said, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of
my Father which is in heaven. Now what is the will of the Father
in heaven? It's to believe on the Son and to love the brethren. That's the two commands that
he gives. He says in verse 22, many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
or preached in thy name? And in thy name have cast out
devils? And in thy name done many wonderful
works? It may have been wonderful in
the eyes of men, but look at what Christ says in verse 23.
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you that work
iniquity. Now iniquity means it doesn't
measure up to the perfection of righteousness that can only
be found in Christ. Remember Acts 17 31 that I quoted
last week or read where he says God hath appointed a day in the
which he will judge through righteousness. by that man whom he hath ordained,
judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained,
in that he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath
raised him from the dead. So if I, for example, if I were
to go before God at judgment and say, now Lord, you ought
to let me into heaven and dwell in glory because I preached in
your name. Well, and I do preach in his
name. But does preaching in His name
make me righteous before God? No. And if I think it does, it's
iniquity. It doesn't measure up. I've never
cast out demons, but let's say that I have. And I say, God,
let me into glory, let me live forever in eternal bliss, because
I've cast out demons. Well, if I had cast out demons,
does that make me righteous before God? No. Therefore, it's an evil
deed, self-righteousness. And if I do many wonderful works,
whatever they're talking about, does that make me righteous?
No. So if I stand before God at judgment, pleading my works,
even though I say I'm doing it in His name or by His power,
What I've got to understand, does that make me righteous before
God? And the answer is no. There's
only one thing that can make me righteous in His sight, and
that's Christ's righteousness, which God has imputed to me,
charged to me. Over in the book of Romans, chapter
4 and verse 6, Paul, in using Abraham as an example of how
God justifies the ungodly, he makes this statement. He says,
blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without
works. That's right. And he's quoting
from David's psalm, Psalm 32. Those who stand before God in
Christ, their works will be evidence of God's power, God's grace,
God's goodness in their lives and of their standing in Christ. But what about believers coming
to judgment? As I said last week, the Great
White Throne Judgment, it's not like a trial. I'm gonna put you
on trial and we're gonna see how you fall out. No, that's
already been determined before you get to that judgment. The
judgment, the Great White Throne Judgment is a declarative judgment. It's going to declare the reality
of who you are and your state before God. Again, am I in Christ? Am I washed in His blood? Am
I clothed in His righteousness? How can I know that now? Do you
believe on Him and rest in Him? Not just do you believe anything.
You see, people have made faith their Savior rather than Christ.
In other words, they think Christ, well, He tried to save us and
it doesn't work unless we put our faith to it. No. Faith is
a gift from God that evidences our spiritual union with Christ.
And how does it do that? We believe in Him, we rest in
Him, we follow Him. And He's my only righteousness
before God. Well, a believer standing before
God, over in John 16, a believer standing before God, the works
that he did on earth will evidence his standing before God in Christ. And they'll be judged good, not
because they're perfect, Not because they made him righteous,
not because they're meritorious, but because they glorify God
in Christ. Just like the Matthew 5.16, when
he says, let your light shine before men that they may see
your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
You know, it's like this. I'll give you this example, then
I wanna read John 16. If I were to win millions of
dollars on the lottery, and I don't play the lottery, so there's
no chance of that. Let's say that I were to win
millions, and let's say I gave it all away to charity. You would see that, or I'd probably
be on TV and all of that, you know how they do. And you might make this statement,
and if you did, you'd do it out of ignorance. You might say,
well, I know he's saved because he gave all that money to charity.
Now how do I let my light shine? Here's the thing. If I knew that
you thought that I was saved because I gave away millions
of dollars, I would want to declare and tell you, absolutely not. Whether I give away $1 or a billion
dollars does not make me righteous before God. It is not my salvation. My salvation is by God's grace
through the righteousness of Christ. And if I don't know Christ,
If I'm not washed in His blood, if I'm not clothed in His righteousness,
justified, freely forgiven by His grace, then me and my billion
dollar giveaway will end up in hell. It's a bad work. But if I know Christ, and I follow
Him, it's a good work, again, not because it earns me any favor
or kudos with God. It's because it's all to the
praise of the glory of His grace. But what about a believer's sins?
You know, I used to think when growing up under false Christianity,
I used to think we'll appear before judgment and then God's
gonna put up a big movie screen and he's gonna show all my sins
and show all my good works. And you know how that goes and
weigh them and all that. No, if you're a believer, if
you've been given the gift of faith and repentance and perseverance
from God, if you know Christ, You've already been judged for
all your sins, and it will never happen again. Two reasons. In Romans 8, verse 34, it says,
who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God
that justifies. Who can condemn us? It's Christ
that died. yea, rather, is risen again,
seated at the right hand of the Father, ever living to make intercession
for us." And over in John 16, Christ is telling His disciples
about the coming work of the Holy Spirit to do His great work
in the new birth, regenerating and converting God's people.
And he says in verse seven, this is John 16 and verse seven. He
says, nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it's expedient or
necessary for you that I go away. Well, where's he going to? Well,
he's going to the cross. And then he's going to ascend
up into heaven, seated at the right hand of the father, ever
living to make intercession for God's elect, his people for whom
he died and was buried in a rose again. And he says, for if I
go not away, verse seven, the comforter will not come unto
you. But if I depart, I'll send him unto you. And verse eight
says, when he has come, he will reprove the world of sin and
of righteousness and of judgment. Now the word world there doesn't
refer to everybody without exception. It refers to the world of God's
elect, Jew and Gentile. because whoever he's talking
about, they're going to be reproved. Now, what does reproved mean?
It means they're gonna be convinced, convicted. And he says of three
things here, of righteousness, of sin and of righteousness and
of judgment. Of sin, somebody says, well,
I know I'm not perfect, but blah, blah, blah, blah. Of righteousness,
whatever that is, and of judgment. But he gives us some context
here. Look at verse nine. The Holy Spirit will convince
God's people of sin because they believe not on me. Now think
about that. If you go through this life and
live and die in unbelief, the only thing that can be said about
you at judgment is sin that deserves condemnation. in your person
and in your works, even your best deeds. Man at his best state
is altogether vanity. It's what the Bible says. You
say, well, look, I went to church. I didn't miss a Sunday. I tried
to give my tithe. None of that will make you righteous.
And that's the next thing that he says about the Holy Spirit.
He says in verse 10, of righteousness, because I go to my Father and
you see me no more. What's he saying there? He said,
righteousness involves him going to his father. And how did he
go to his father? By way of the cross, by way of
perfect obedience. He finished the work, arose from
the dead. And then later on, he ascended
to the father. So righteousness can only be
found in him. And then in verse 11, he says,
of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. Now,
who is the prince of this world? Well, that's Satan. And what
is Satan called? He's the accuser of the brethren.
And what does he accuse us of? Being sinners. But you see, when
Satan accuses the people of God who are in Christ, his accusations
cannot stick. Why? Because Christ already took
our sins as our surety and substitute and died for them. Christ was
judged by the law of God in our place. He was made a curse for
us. He was made sin, Paul says at the end of 2 Corinthians 5.
That means the sins of God's people were charged to Him. Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? I've already
been judged for all my sins, past, present, and future, when
Christ died in my place. Well, how do I know that he died
in my place? Because I've been convinced of
sin and of righteousness and of judgment. I've been given
the gift of faith. I believe in him. As I quoted
last week, one of my favorite hymns, my hope is built on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.
You see that? That brings us to understand
what this judgment is all about. Those who stand before God. Go
back to 2 Corinthians 5. I titled the message judgment
of our works, not judgment by our works. But let me say this,
those who stand before God without Christ, those who live and die
in unbelief, That's why we urge you, believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Not just words, but look into
the Bible. Who is Jesus Christ? What did
he do? Why did he do it? Where is he
now? That's what I've been telling you. But those who go through
this life and live and die and unbelieve, standing at the judgment,
they'll be condemned and they will be judged by their works. The book of Revelation tells
us that about the white throne judgment. It tells us this, and
I don't have time to turn to these scriptures, but it tells
us that God's people who He chose before the foundation of the
world, it says their names were written in the Lamb's book of
life before the world began. The Lamb that was slain, that's
God's elect. God has justified them. He's
forgiven them of all their sins on a just ground. And what is
that just ground? The blood of Jesus Christ. And
He's declared them righteous. They'll be judged out of the
book, singular, the Lamb's book of life. But those who stand
before God on their own will be judged out of the books. of
their deeds, and they'll be condemned. Depart from me, you that work
iniquity." So when the Bible speaks of judgment, think about
these things. We know the terror of the Lord. Paul said, what
is that? The terror is to stand before God on our own without
Christ. I hope you'll join us again next
week for another message from God's word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
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today and may the Lord be with you.