Question:
If God is a forgiving God and the Bible says that when we ask for forgiveness He forgets the wrong we have done, then what will happen at Judgement Day. I have heard different things like we will only get judged on our good works, and then heard preaching yesterday which said we will be judged on the bad too. We will stand before God for the wrongs we do, but I also remember when the Bible says God does not remember our sins when we repent and ask for forgiveness. It’s confusing to me, what will happen Judgement Day? Kristen
Answer:
Dear Kristen,
I am assuming that the passage of Scripture that you are talking about is 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 where it says, “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” When you look at this verse in context, you will notice from the preceding verses that we are building upon another man’s foundation. The “work” that God was talking about was not our sin, but what we do for Him.
Our sins were paid for at Calvary. When Christians sin, their sins are eternally paid for, but they will still have to suffer the consequences for their sins on this Earth. Galatians 6:7 says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” A Christian will reap the consequences of the sins committed on this Earth. If we have to pay for your sins in Heaven, then that would mean that we need to do penance on this Earth to cover our sins.
I believe what the Scriptures are teaching us is that on Judgment Day there will be rewards given out for how we serve Christ. God was motivating us to get busy and serve Him so that we will have rewards when we get to Heaven. I do not believe that the Scriptures teach anywhere that we will judged in Heaven for our sins. Our sins were judged at Calvary. Therefore, when we accept Christ, our sins are covered forever. However, this is not an excuse to sin, for we will still suffer the consequences of sin on this Earth, and those consequences will bring heartache.
I hope this answers your question.
Bro. Domelle