Does God grade on a curve?

[royal priest]

Romans 3:10-20
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

 

[Jonaitis]

I want to answer it in two different ways:

Yes, we will be judged by our conformity to that perfect standard of righteousness, summed in the two great commandments.

No, rather the law reveals that we aren't righteous, but accursed (Galatians 3:10-12). It reaffirms where we stand in the divine court. I don't think God will count how many times we broke that law, but rather he will judge our status under the law. We are sin, rather than someone who just commits sin. The law says, "Condemned." We speak of God judging "sins," I believe that Scripture says that God rather judges us as Sin. If that makes sense...

But, since I believe both are true, I take both as they are both said in Scripture.

 

[God is good]

Romans 3:10-20
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

I believe that as long as we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and trust Him to save us we will be saved because He is the only one who can save us. He can help us obey the Lord. God bless you and Jesus is Lord.

 

[PloverWing]

One of the prayers in my church's tradition begins this way: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, we pray you to set your passion, cross, and death between your judgment and our souls, now and in the hour of our death." All of us have long ago been judged and found wanting. My hope and my prayer is that at the Final Judgment, we will be judged based on the work of Christ. It is the only way that any of us could be saved.

 

[Dave-W]

Faith in the work of Jesus, or not.

 

[brinny]

Does God grade on a curve?

It boils down to grace.

We are not perfect. God KNOWS that. It is only His grace that covers us, that He will see when He sees us.

Therefore, in a sense, He DOES see us through a "curve", and that is the curve called Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son.

Jesus Christ, shedding His blood for us, and dying on that cross, threw that ol' serpent, Satan, a "curve" the likes he will never forget.

How utterly and inexplicably AWE-some is THAT??!!

Thank GOD for those curves that only HE can throw.

 

[brinny]

by the way, royal priest, this quote in your signature is a riveting sermon in itself. Reminds me of Proverbs 2:

"We must read our Bibles like men digging for hidden treasure." --J.C. Ryle

Amen.

 

[Mark Quayle]

Romans 3:10-20
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

According to what I have learned, God is absolutely, precisely, thoroughly just. That can taken as cold blind justice, but it reveals much about his mercy. (Take into account for example, the fact that he restricts the capability of our evil hearts to descend to the level we naturally would, if he was to remove his grace from any one of us, pre-regeneration.)

So, no, he does not grade on the curve. But yes, he does "look on the heart" to see how (or why) we do the things we do --thus one person's theft is not the same as another person's theft. Yet both are theft.

I can't leave it there without mentioning what Christ has done. Those of us whom God has chosen for his particular creation are not without sin --except that Christ has become sin in our place, and experienced the exact, precise, thorough justice and fiery wrath of God that we should have had put upon us.

Sin is no small thing. In the terms of an acquaintance of mine, the smallest sin is "cosmic treason"; it is treachery, calling the Creator of all things a liar. God doesn't shrug it off --I believe if he was to do so (which he cannot, but if he did) all things would cease to exist. The debt will be paid, one way or the other, and all accounts brought current.

 

[brinny]

According to what I have learned, God is absolutely, precisely, thoroughly just. That can taken as cold blind justice, but it reveals much about his mercy. (Take into account for example, the fact that he restricts the capability of our evil hearts to descend to the level we naturally would, if he was to remove his grace from any one of us, pre-regeneration.)

So, no, he does not grade on the curve. But yes, he does "look on the heart" to see how (or why) we do the things we do --thus one person's theft is not the same as another person's theft. Yet both are theft.

I can't leave it there without mentioning what Christ has done. Those of us whom God has chosen for his particular creation are not without sin --except that Christ has become sin in our place, and experienced the exact, precise, thorough justice and fiery wrath of God that we should have had put upon us.

Sin is no small thing. In the terms of an acquaintance of mine, the smallest sin is "cosmic treason"; it is treachery, calling the Creator of all things a liar. God doesn't shrug it off --I believe if he was to do so (which he cannot, but if he did) all things would cease to exist. The debt will be paid, one way or the other, and all accounts brought current.

Excellent response Mark. I may have been unclear in my own response, because as i read your response, i realized that it could be interpreted that God "looks the other way" with sin. That was not my intention.

Thank you for your post. It had me thinking on this even deeper.

Very edifying.

Thank you.

 

[redleghunter]

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

It will be on the basis of whether they have received or rejected Christ. The Scripture says that those who love have fulfilled the Law, and a person who is truly converted loves God with all his heart and loves his neighbor as himself. The truly converted believer will not be at the great white throne judgment as a defendant, but as a witness. He won't be judged because he has already judged himself as a hopeless sinner and thrown himself on the grace and mercy of Christ. But the one who has rejected Christ will be presented with the evidence of his rejection to show that he is guilty without excuse.

 

[Mark Quayle]

Excellent response Mark. I may have been unclear in my own response, because as i read your response, i realized that it could be interpreted that God "looks the other way" with sin. That was not my intention.

Thank you for your post. It had me thinking on this even deeper.

Very edifying.

Thank you.

My pleasure, and if there be anything real in what I said, to God be any credit.

 

[brinny]

My pleasure, and if there be anything real in what I said, to God be any credit.

Amen Mark.

 

[RDKirk]

Romans 3:10-20
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

So how did you vote?

 

[ViaCrucis]

The Law > The 10 Commandments.

None of the 10 Commandments are mentioned in the Judgment as recorded in Matthew ch. 25, but nevertheless how we treat others, especially the least of these, is of vital importance to God.

God's Law condemns sinners, both now and on the Last Day. Which is why no one can or ever will be justified according to the Law. Even if one were to obey each of the 10 Commandments "perfectly" they would still be held as condemned sinners under the Law. Just look at the exchange between Jesus and the rich young man.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[1213]

By what standard will God judge us on Judgement Day?

I think it is by these:


These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Mat. 25:46


For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn't come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God."
John 3:19-21

 

[royal priest]

Yes, I voted that we will be judged by the standard of perfect conformity to the Ten Commandments. Whether or not we are in Christ, that standard will not change.
What matters is where we are standing on that great and awful Day. Will we be on our own, trusting our attempts at keeping such a standard, or will we be standing in Jesus, the perfectly righteous Son of God? Thank God for scrutinizing us according to the perfect work of Jesus! Jeremiah 23:6

 

[RDKirk]

Yes, I voted that we will be judged by the standard of perfect conformity to the Ten Commandments. Whether or not we are in Christ, that standard will not change.
What matters is where we are standing on that great and awful Day. Will we be on our own, trusting our attempts at keeping such a standard, or will we be standing in Jesus, the perfectly righteous Son of God? Thank God for scrutinizing us according to the perfect work of Jesus! Jeremiah 23:6

The Pharisees were in perfect conformity with the Ten Commandments.

 

[royal priest]

The Pharisees were in perfect conformity with the Ten Commandments.

Or so they thought. Jesus condemned their understanding of the law on several occasions. For one, God expects conformity to it at the level of the heart as He demonstrated with the examples of the 6th and 7th commands, for instance. They had reduced the 10 C's to a mere checklist of do's and don'ts and missed the true purpose of the law. Matthew 23:23.
They failed to carry out the law where we all fail: to love the Lord with all of our heart, mind, strength and love our neighbor as ourselves. They misunderstood, as many do, the true purpose of the law:
Galatians 3:21-22
Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe

Despite all of their external conformity, the Pharisees could not fool the Judge who looks upon the heart and judges with righteous judgement.

 

[Mark Quayle]

Or so they thought. Jesus condemned their understanding of the law on several occasions. For one, God expects conformity to it at the level of the heart as He demonstrated with the examples of the 6th and 7th commands, for instance. They had reduced the 10 C's to a mere checklist of do's and don'ts and missed the true purpose of the law. Matthew 23:23.
They failed to carry out the law where we all fail: to love the Lord with all of our heart, mind, strength and love our neighbor as ourselves. They misunderstood, as many do, the true purpose of the law:
Galatians 3:21-22
Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe

Despite all of their external conformity, the Pharisees could not fool the Judge who looks upon the heart and judges with righteous judgement.

That's right.

"The bed is too short, the blanket too narrow"

"…19 As often as it passes through, it will carry you away; it will sweep through morning after morning, by day and by night. Sheer terror will come from understanding the message. 20 Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on,and the blanket too small to wrap around you. 21 For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing task.…" Is 28