It is appointed once for a man to die, then face the judgment

As Christians, do we have anything to fear at the judgment? Honestly it scares me to think about it. I'm not sure why, it's just very scary sounding to me.

See if 1 John 4:15 - 19 helps.

Then read your own tag line again. That's one of the best prayers I've ever found!
Those that know Him never appear before the Great White Throne of Judgment.

We have a separate Judgment, which speaks of rewards. Anything not good is covered by the blood. Let's keep it that way!

No where in the Bible does it state that the saved will not have to go through the Judgment or have a separate Judgment.To the contrary,this is the Bible's teaching:

Romans 14:10 (New King James Version)

But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

What is significant is that in this verse even those who judge or show contempt for others are threatened which hopefully will cause those who support war to immediately institute a moral change of mind.

Of course the Judgment is frightening and intended to motivate people to get with the program,ie. start to live moral lives filled with love and forgiveness and then seek the two baptisms necessary for salvation:

John 3:3-7 (New King James Version)

3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the(Holy) Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

SoundCard said:

As Christians, do we have anything to fear at the judgment? Honestly it scares me to think about it. I'm not sure why, it's just very scary sounding to me.

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If I wasn't following Jesus' words and living my life as he lived, I would be scared too. Its VERY hard to love your neighbor as yourself. To do this you must humble yourself and never look down on anyone. For example, Mel Gibson...have you ever said a bad word about him since all his tapes came out? Have you prayed for him (or his girlfriend & family)? Can you see yourself in him? That's what Jesus was saying. But most of us (Christians too) look at someone like Lindsay Lohan or Tiger Woods and curse them for being human and going against God.

Do you look at someone from a different race or culture and think how better off you are? How you have a better education or better manners or lifestyle? Do you think you are better than them?

See how hard it is.

How about loving God with all your strength and heart? Do you go to God first when you have troubles? Do you thank HIM every day. Do you sacrifice happily (not miserably) in His name?

You can only be saved by faith alone but if you have no faith in what Jesus represented then are you truly saved? You have to walk as He did.

Everyone should fear the judgement because the power of God will be at Jesus' disposal to use against us or if he is inclined he will exercise mercy on us. Be afraid, be very afraid. Until then treat others well and follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit in all that you do.

Autumnleaf said:

Everyone should fear the judgement because the power of God will be at Jesus' disposal to use against us or if he is inclined he will exercise mercy on us. Be afraid, be very afraid. Until then treat others well and follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit in all that you do.

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How do you reconcile that view with John 14:27 NIV?

27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

But honestly, it's posts like this that confuse me. I was once off in the occult and witchcraft, yet was delivered by rather unusual circumstances. Surely God had every reason to smite me there and then, and yet He did not.

Now that I am in Christ, all of a sudden, being aware of what was once possible, I'm now supposed to be afraid even moreso as though His sacrifice did nothing but serve to illustrate how terrified I should be? I'm not talking about respecting God here. I'm talking about afraid fear. And yet even in the same verses Christ talks about fearing the one who can place souls in hell, concludes with do not be afraid, for you are worth many sparrows.

So why is it people keep telling me I'm as worse off as the unsaved, when it's Christ Himself who died, was Resurrected, and even now intercedes for me personally?

As a Christian we are not to fear God. Teaching that promotes fear is a return to pagan concepts of God. Yes, we are to live within the knowledge that we will face God one day. Read 'The Shack' or 'The Great Divorce by C S Lewis. These can give you a far better understanding of when we do face God.

John
NZ

Autumnleaf said:

Everyone should fear the judgement because the power of God will be at Jesus' disposal to use against us or if he is inclined he will exercise mercy on us. Be afraid, be very afraid. Until then treat others well and follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit in all that you do.

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You have obviously not read 1 John 4:15 - 19.

DrFrank said:

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Of course the Judgment is frightening and intended to motivate people to get with the program,ie. start to live moral lives filled with love and forgiveness and then seek the two baptisms necessary for salvation:

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To those who have His love in them it is not frightening, again read the verse suggested in reply #1.

SoundCard said:

.. I'm not talking about respecting God here. I'm talking about afraid fear ...

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But now you are introducing something slightly different. The OP was talking about fear of judgement. You seem to be talking about fear of God?

I dunno, I just seem to fall into a weird cycle with this. I'll be doing well for awhile, but then get startled again, get reassured, continue again, startled... it's a vicious cycle.

We are covered by the Blood of Jesus Christ and well be judged of what we did for Jesus. We need to have a intimate relationship with him. Which means, read our bible, pray daily, ask for guidance, wisdom to know the end times, And ask Jesus to help you be more focused on The LORD God and on Jesus too. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you learn more how to pray, talk to others about Jesus. We are still under the Age of God's Grace, but time is running out before the Great Tribulation begins. I hope this helps.