Most people would rather not think about it, and our age does everything it can to push it from mind. But the Bible will not let the matter rest. A day is coming when every human life will be weighed before God, when the books will be opened and the truth will be told about each of us. It is the most certain appointment any of us will ever keep. So we had better know what the Bible says about it.
A Day Is Appointed
Judgment is not a vague idea but a fixed appointment. God "hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness" (Acts 17:31). It comes after this life, with no second chance to live it over, for "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). And no one is left off the list. "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10).
Christ Will Be the Judge
The One who will sit in judgment is Jesus Christ. The Father "hath committed all judgment unto the Son" (John 5:22). Peter preached that God "commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead" (Acts 10:42). The same Jesus who was judged unjustly by men will Himself judge all men justly. There will be no error in His verdicts and no escaping His court.
All Will Be Judged
Rich and poor, great and small, known and forgotten, all will stand there alike. John saw "the dead, small and great, stand before God" (Revelation 20:12). No rank or reputation will excuse a man, for "every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12). And the reckoning will be searching, reaching even our speech, for Jesus said men shall give account "of every idle word" (Matthew 12:36). Nothing will be hidden that day.
Judged by What Standard
We will not be judged by our own opinions, nor by what was popular in our time, nor by how we compared to our neighbors. We will be judged by the word of God. Jesus said, "the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" (John 12:48). And we will be judged by what we actually did with it, for the dead were judged "according to their works" (Revelation 20:12). The standard is fixed and public. It is written down, and we may read it now, before the day comes.
Two Destinies
The judgment ends in a parting. Jesus said He will separate the nations "as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats" (Matthew 25:32), some to His right hand and some to His left. And the two roads lead to two ends that never meet again. "these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal" (Matthew 25:46). There is no third place and no middle ground. Every person reading this will one day be on one side or the other.
Why the Faithful Need Not Dread It
For all its solemnity, the day of judgment is not a day the faithful Christian must face in terror. The one who has come to Christ and walks with Him has an advocate at the bar, for "we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1). To those who are in Him the promise stands, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). John even says we may have "boldness in the day of judgment" (1 John 4:17). The same day that is dreadful to the rebel is the day of welcome for the faithful. Which it will be for you depends on what you do with Christ now.
So the verdict of that day is not decided on that day. It is being decided now, in how we live, what we do with Christ, and whether we obey the word that will judge us. The wise man does not wait for the court to convene. He settles his account with God today, while there is still time to repent and be ready. Live now in view of then.