For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor 5.10).
Thinking about this verse, an elderly friend was troubled by thoughts that his sins, though forgiven, might be publicly exposed on Judgment Day. Here is my abridged paraphrase of John Newton’s letter with a final comment.
“Shall believers’ sins be publicly exposed on Judgment Day?”
1. Younger people usually have many days left with all their unknowns, but you are drawing near to the end of this life. The King Himself is about to receive you graciously, and so this fond hope is most on your mind. You asked my thoughts on 2 Cor 5.10 and how it is consistent with many verses that tell us a believer’s sins are completely forgiven once and for all.
2. We know for sure that there are no genuine contradictions in the Bible because it is the Word of God. What seem to be contradictions are actually evidence of our imperfect knowledge. One day we shall see the truth much more clearly. For now, we should rest upon the plain statements of Scripture and also seek the best understanding of its difficult parts without trying to pry into God’s secrets. Every advance in true spiritual knowledge is like pure gold, especially when it tends to comfort and support us in the dying process. Your inquiry is certainly in this legitimate and helpful category.
3. I recommend to you Thomas Ridgeley’s treatment of the subject [A Body of Divinity II.278] where he deals with this exact question and warns us against being too confident of our answer in such a difficult matter. However, you asked my thoughts so I want to say something without sinful speculation.
4. The most important truths are clearly revealed in Scripture, though admittedly we sometimes come upon a verse that seems to teach something contrary. Heretics abuse these “surprising verses” by ripping them from their context and failing to harmonize them with what is more plain in Scripture. For example, deniers of Christ’s deity run with John 14.28, “My Father is greater than I.” Arminians likewise abuse James 2.24, “by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” Both of these may be interpreted consistently with the rest of Scripture, and they should be. Whatever may be the precise meaning of 2 Cor 5.10, it certainly does not weaken what is on almost every page about the gospel, namely, the believer’s free and permanent justification, by which all our sins without exception are completely and forever forgiven. Jesus has carried them away and we are complete in Him, clothed in His righteousness, not our own. We shall stand faultless before God. Who will dare lay anything to our charge?
5. But these kinds of biblical expressions mostly apply to the matter of our legal standing before God. God “forgets them” in the sense that He never holds them against us for our condemnation, but His omniscience is not compromised in the slightest. Neither can we really forget them completely, not even in glory. A great part of our joy and praise to the Lord Jesus Christ will remain that He redeemed us from our sins (Luke 7.47; Rev 5.9). Are not our sweetest moments in this life when we recall the greatness of Christ’s love for us in its purely gracious character, which is seen to be the most spectacular when we reflect on the greatness of our sins? In glory our unbelief and fear will completely vanish, while our nearness and communion with God will exceed anything we can imagine now. Therefore recalling our sins will not diminish our happiness in the slightest, but increase it. The Jews were terrified while Pharaoh’s troops were chasing them, but when God had killed their enemies, Israel exulted in how many enemies there had been.
6. But what of our sins being made known to other people? I admit that I would hate for anyone else to know my true thoughts and feelings for a single day, but I suppose it is because I am still so sinful and care too much what other people think, and too little about what I am in God’s sight. In the next life, I expect that whatever tends to glorify His grace will be fine with me, even if that means my secret sins will be publicized, for then I will be completely purged of pride and my will perfectly conformed to God’s. Whether that means my sins will be public knowledge or not I cannot tell. Maybe part of the problem in understanding this subject is that the Bible uses earthly things to teach us heavenly. At some point the analogies break down. A judgment seat, a great trumpet, books being opened, and pleadings, seem to be borrowed from human customs. They are good object lessons, but not literal descriptions of God’s future dealings with men. We should only take from them what is intended instead of pressing the illustrations too far. The philosopher John Locke wrote of a blind man who thought he understood the idea of the color scarlet, but he actually thought it meant a loud trumpet blast. We are in danger of making similar mistakes in the realm of theology.
7. I realize my answer may be unsatisfactory to you, as it is somewhat to me, so let me apologize for it in advance. A wise man once exclaimed. “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it” (Psa 139.6). We will know soon all about these matters from our own experience. In the meantime, our cause is in Christ’s sure hands. He shepherds us down here and intercedes for us up there. Now you and I can meet daily by prayer around His throne of grace; hereafter we shall meet Him in glory. Signed, JN.
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“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut 29.29). JN goes about as far as he should and no further. Christ’s return will be a joyful occasion for every real Christian; therefore, we pray, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev 22.20). Ω