THE STANDARD OF THE JUDGMENT.
By Charles Thompson
INSPIRATION has recorded the solemn fact that God will judge the world. Acts 17:31. Every man, after reaching the years of accountability, has behind him the record of his life, and before him the searching test of the judgment; and upon the decision of that hour, so his destiny will be; for it is written, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Gal. 6:7. Hence we all, by our actions, are daily deciding our destiny. The Lord has declared that by Him actions are weighed. 1 Sam. 2:3. Also that He “shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Eccl. 12:14. This being true, God must have a great moral standard to regulate the lives of His created intelligences. The standard of the judgment must of necessity be the standard of living. God would not give one standard to live by, and have another to judge us by, and then declare that “we would be judged by our works.” This would be folly and unjust. So, if we can find the standard of the judgment, we have the rule of life, and vice versa. We read in Rom. 2:12, 13. “As many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.” These Scriptures are pointed and explicit. We are to be judged by the law which we are required to do in this life. Solomon, summing up our duties, says, “Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment.” Eccl. 12:13, 14. Here the wise man places in juxtaposition the same standard for our present lives, as for the future judgment. It is man’s whole duty to keep the commandments, because God is going to bring his works into judgment; and He could not conceive of a judgment that would justify a man doing less than his duty. Hence it will be necessary for us to keep all the commandments of God. This harmonizes with the words of Christ, as He sent forth His apostles to preach the Gospel. He said, “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded.” We are not left in any cloud of uncertainty as to what law or code of commandments is referred to in these scriptures. James, speaking on the same point, admonishes us to “so speak, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” James 2:12. Then in the preceding verses he definitely mentions what law he refers to. He says, That law which says, Do not kill; and Do not commit adultery; and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, plainly showing that the law that should govern our words and actions, and by which we are to be judged, is none other than the Ten Commandments. Then, with these unequivocal statements before us, the apostle adds,3“Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, is guilty of all.” Verse 10. Therefore, he who knowingly transgresses one of the Ten Commandments in this life, will be found guilty in the judgment and come short of entering into the City; for it is written, “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. 22:14. Now, dear reader, look the commandments over carefully, and see if your daily life is in perfect harmony with their requirements. For it will be a fearful loss to be “weighed in the balances,” and “found wanting.”