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Does God Shame Us at the Judgment Seat of Christ?

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It is sometimes taught in Christian circles that when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, God will replay all of our sins and mistakes before the entire mass of other Christians who are there as well.

I have heard the judgment seat of Christ described as though there will be a big movie screen and as we are all gathered together on judgment day, God will show a movie of all our sins, mistakes, and failures for everybody to see.

Have you ever heard something like this taught about the judgment seat of Christ?

I was reminded of this idea recently when I saw this picture:

shame at the judgment seat of Christ

This guy cheats on his girlfriend, and so to teach him not to do this anymore, she makes him stand at the mall wearing this sign. He shouldn’t have done what he did, but at the same time, I am not sure that this is going to get him to love his girlfriend more…

Some people view God this way. We sin. He gets angry. So He tries to punish and shame us into obedience. Ultimately, when we all get to heaven, the first thing we have waiting for us is the worlds longest horror movie ever of everything bad we have ever said, done, or thought. Not every sin is sexual, but the sexual sins alone would make a XXX-Rated movie millions of hours long. Then you have all the violence, murders, anger, slander, gossip, greed, hate, jealousy, etc., etc., etc.

I cannot imagine a worse way to start eternity….

We Must All Appear Before the Judgment Seat of Christ

I suppose the idea is that since none of us want our deepest secrets and darkest sins revealed to the whole world, this sort of idea is to keep us from committing sins. There are even a few verses which seem to back up this idea. For example, 2 Corinthians 5:10 says that we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an answer for the things done in the body, whether good or evil.

So the teaching is that at the judgment seat of Christ, Jesus is going to call us one by one before His throne and replay our life for us, pointing out in excruciating detail all the things we did–both good and bad–during our life. And since everyone else is going to be there too, well, they are going to overhear what Jesus says or be able to watch the movie of our life along with us.

Again…. this is NOT a good way to start eternity…

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4 Reasons why Denying Christ is not the Unforgivable Sin

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Denying ChristSome believe that the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a verbal denial of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 12:31-32, which talks about the sin that will not be forgiven, it is true that some sort of denial is taking place by religious leaders who accuse Jesus of performing His miracles by the power of the devil.

Some believe that the religious leaders are actually denying Jesus, and that this is the unforgivable sin.

Further support for this view is sometimes found in the statement by Paul from 2 Timothy 2:12 where he writes, “If we deny Him, He will also deny us.”

Problems with this View

Yet there are numerous problems with the view that the unforgivable sin is denying Jesus Christ.

First, the concept of “denying Christ” is quite vague.

What constitutes a denial of Christ, and what does not? How would one know when they have denied Christ? Do they have to say the words, “I deny Christ”? Do words have to be spoken at all? Could denial be some sort of action or thought?

Second, the most famous example of someone who rejected and denied Christ is Peter.

Peter even used profanity and curses in denying any connection to Jesus Christ. Yet we know that he was forgiven by Jesus. If denial of Christ was the unpardonable sin, then certainly Peter was guilty of it, and yet we all fully expect to see Peter in heaven.

Third, while the passage in 2 Timothy 2:12 does say that God will deny us if we deny Him, it also says that if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

In other words, whatever the denial of 2 Timothy 2:12 is, it is not taking eternal life from someone who already has it, for this would amount to God denying Himself, which He cannot do.

Fourth, denial of Christ doesn’t even fit the context here, since such a denial would be a blasphemy against Jesus, which He says will be forgiven.

If blasphemy is actually a form of denial (which I think it is), it would have to be against the Holy Spirit, not against Jesus Christ.

So in light of these four truths, denying Christ cannot be the unforgivable sin. If you have denied Christ, you are forgiven!

Do you fear that you have committed the Unforgivable Sin?

Fear not! You are forgiven. You are loved.

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