judgment – Escape to Reality

What Does it Mean that Judgment Begins at the House of God (1 Peter 4:17)?

February 1, 2024 // 6 Comments

Yesterday I heard from a pastor who is a long-time Escape to Reality reader. He asked me about a particular scripture, and I directed him to the relevant page on the Grace [...]

Judged for Our Work and Living in Fear

August 25, 2022 // 22 Comments

A reader asked me how to read the following verse through a new covenant lens: If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct [...]

The sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46)

June 2, 2016 // 98 Comments

For the past ten years I have hammered one nail again and again: Jesus not only saves you, he keeps you. The good work he began in you he will carry on until completion. This [...]

The Bema Seat (2 Corinthians 5:10)

May 12, 2016 // 50 Comments

“One day you will stand before the judgement seat, the books will be opened, and there will be a reckoning. If your good works outweigh your bad, you’ll be safe. But if [...]

The axe at the root (Matthew 3:10)

December 9, 2015 // 50 Comments

A ravenous wolf, such as Jesus described in Matthew 7, is someone who uses threats to extort money or service from others. If you were such a person, God forbid, you might to [...]

Judged for what we have done

September 24, 2015 // 33 Comments

The good news of heaven declares that everything comes to us as a free gift from our heavenly Father. But the bad news of earth says you better work baby, because there’s [...]

Acts 5:1-11 – What about Ananias and Sapphira?

April 9, 2015 // 183 Comments

Recently in Connecticut, a pastor stood in front of his church and confessed to the sin of adultery. Then the pastor fell down dead, right in front of everyone. This proves [...]

Judged by the Lord (1 Corinthians 11:31-32)

February 19, 2015 // 53 Comments

Are you good enough to take communion? To me, this is an absurd question, like asking whether you are good enough to hear the gospel. But to many it is not an absurd [...]

Herod’s death and the wrath of God

November 6, 2014 // 123 Comments

The Old Testament writers record a brutal history of divine wrath that came to an abrupt end at the cross. Before the cross, wrath was poured out on… – a world [...]

Conversations about Hell

August 1, 2014 // 128 Comments

[The following are extracts from conversations I’ve had in the past month.] Paul, you’re opposed to inclusionism and you’re skeptical about universalism. Why [...]

The Parable of the Beaten Servants

July 9, 2014 // 35 Comments

There are only two ways you can respond to Jesus; positively, in faith, or negatively, with unbelief. Consequently, it makes sense to speak of people dividing themselves into [...]

Are there degrees of judgment?

July 1, 2014 // 29 Comments

Jesus once told a parable about servants getting beaten up and cut to pieces by their master. It sounds like a sadistic version of Downtown Abbey. And it’s a story that [...]

What is the Greater Condemnation? (Matthew 23:14)

June 12, 2014 // 38 Comments

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. (Matt. [...]

Who Dares to be a Teacher? (James 3:1)

June 6, 2014 // 49 Comments

Recently I read something that made me sad. It was a Facebook note penned by a noted Bible teacher and it went something like this: “I’m a teacher of the gospel, but [...]

The wrath of God has come upon them at last (1 Thess 2:16)

January 30, 2014 // 56 Comments

In our ongoing series on the wrath of God, there is an important scripture we have not yet looked at. It’s this one: For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches [...]

Why did Jerusalem fall?

January 27, 2014 // 51 Comments

Ever had someone come up to you and say, “Why do you think Jerusalem fell in AD70?” That’s probably never happened to you. But it speaks to the circles I move in that I [...]

What is the “Coming Wrath”?

January 22, 2014 // 47 Comments

You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? (Luke 3:7) When John the Baptist said this to the Pharisees and Sadducees, what did he mean? What is the [...]

What provokes God’s wrath?

October 23, 2013 // 60 Comments

As we saw in our last post, the wrath of God is a reaction to something – but what? In the old covenant, God reacted to sin. He had to. God cannot be God and let sin go [...]

Alternatives to Hell

July 15, 2013 // 96 Comments

You may have been raised with a picture of judgment that says sinners go to hell where they are tormented for eternity. Unless you say the magic words of a formulaic prayer, [...]

What about Hell? 10 things to know

April 23, 2013 // 192 Comments

A few people have asked for my views on hell. I have never written on hell before. Like the weather on Uranus, hell is not a subject I think much about. I’m unlikely to [...]

Can Unbelievers Take Communion?

March 31, 2013 // 105 Comments

Communion ought to be a time of celebrating Christ’s finished work on the cross. It ought to be a time when we proclaim his victory over sin and sickness. Yet for many, [...]

Where was God in the Connecticut School Shooting?

December 18, 2012 // 33 Comments

Yet another school shooting has resulted in the loss of innocent lives in America and now questions are being asked: Where was God? Why didn’t God stop this? Why didn’t [...]

Hebrews 10:26

February 15, 2012 // 274 Comments

I get asked more questions on Hebrews 10:26 than any other verse in the Bible. Evidently, this is a verse that troubles many Christians: If we deliberately keep on sinning [...]

It’s Time for Judgment to Begin with the House of God (1 Peter 4:17)

February 24, 2011 // 62 Comments

For it is time for judgment to begin with the house of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (1 Pet 4:17) This [...]