Based on Matthew 23:27-39 (New King James Version)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
I believe that one of the many things people use to not believe in God is when they dare to judge God, and they accuse him of being an unjust God, or a God that either has no control over this world and over the evil people do. I have commonly heard this: “If God is so good, so powerful, and just, then why does He allow for the world to be as evil as it is?” Many have dared to say this, or at the very least, thought it. And well, they have felt they have the right to accuse, judge, and even sentence none other than the God of the universe. And of course, within themselves, a sentence of death has been given to God; they have killed Him within themselves in an attempt to scorn Him for what He is, and because He has not done things the way they think He should have done them. Why does a just God allow injustice?
Many times, we turn elementary things into incomprehensible things, and like that, we are unable to see the answers. Nonetheless, the answer is quite simple. God allows for there to be injustice in this world for a very simple reason: judgment. And as an irrefutable link to judgment, there is such a thing as responsibility; something that Satan is trying to erase. No one likes to feel responsible for anything. If they did something wrong, it’s not their fault, but rather, the circumstances pushed them to do it, or it was inevitable, or someone did something wrong to them before, etc. Psychology is the primary weapon that is used to take away responsibility from a person. For example, if a person kills someone else, it was for reasons that overpowered them, and here comes the excuse. The same happens with so many other things, like when I have heard that, “The system failed a person, and so, they are product of the system.” The issue is that each one of us are responsible before God for what we do, and God has to allow people to do what they do so that the judgment that is coming can take place. Otherwise, how can you judge someone if they have not done anything wrong? It would be unjust, right? So then, each one of us have such a thing as free will, and the judgment that we will face has to do with what we did with our free will, for good or for bad; and most importantly, whether we chose to believe and do what He commands us to do.
The Bible explains to us that each person that has not chosen for the Lord will stand before the throne of God, as it is written: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11-15. So then, for the unbeliever, the issue is quite simple, that if they chose not to believe in and accept Jesus as the Lord of their life, they have drawn their path to eternal death out of their own free will. It’s not what God wants to have happen, but He is not going to force anyone. If a person does not want to be with God, then how can He force them to be with Him forever?
And now then, the issue for the Christian is also very simple, but it has been confused a lot because Satan has infiltrated the church with the goal to erase judgment and responsibility. When we come to Christ, and we are born again in Christ, we are given a new beginning; we are redeemed. And we receive forgiveness of sins and redemption. But, what do we do with that new beginning, with that forgiveness of sins and redemption? And here is where we identify the evil. People are taught quite often that there is nothing left to worry about, and that you don’t have anything else to do; or if you sin, you have forgiveness for all past, present, and future sins. And the issue is yes and no. Yes, we do have forgiveness, but we have not received a license to practice sin, as well as, faith without works is dead. The Bible is very clear in that the people of God will also be judged and give an account for what they do right and wrong, as it is written: “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:9-10. It also teaches this: “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:26-31. And finally: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Matthew 7:21-23.
Each person is responsible for their actions. So then, what are you doing with your free will? Lord bless! John