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The Last Judgment: No Place for 'The Art of the Deal'

By Dr. Paul M. Elliott
Contrary to what even some churches and preachers will tell you, you cannot "make your peace with God."

From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Contrary to what even some churches and preachers will tell you, you cannot "make your peace with God."

When I was in college over forty years ago, I attended the funeral of a family acquaintance. He had grown up in liberal Lutheranism and had not been involved in any church for decades. His life, by his own admission, had been far less than exemplary. He was taken out of this world suddenly, at a relatively young age. As the family gathered for the funeral, there was some discussion of his eternal state. Someone said, almost casually, "Oh, I think he made his peace with God before he died."

Many times since, I have heard that phrase at the funeral of someone who during his lifetime likewise gave no evidence of regeneration: "He made his peace with God." Perhaps you have heard this as well.

Unbelievers often dismiss Gospel witness with an evasive, "Oh, I've already made my peace with God." When asked exactly what that means, they usually retreat into a series of further evasions. Worse yet, I have heard preachers say to a congregation, "Have you made your peace with God?" as though such a thing were possible.

Dear reader, you cannot make peace with God.

A Matter of Facts, Not Feelings

What constitutes peace with God? Peace with God is not a matter of feelings - God's or man's. Counterfeits of authentic Christianity often present a caricature of God who is, allegedly, so obsessed with grandfatherly feeling toward mankind that He could never condemn anyone to Hell. On the other hand, even many professing Christians dismiss the idea of eternal punishment for sin because it violates the postmodern conception of feel-good religion. Such thoughts threaten one's self-esteem, and therefore they are inadmissible. We must, above all, feel good about ourselves even if we do so at our eternal peril.

But peace with God is not a matter of feelings. It is a matter of facts.

The first fact of all is that the God of the universe is absolutely holy. The prophet declares of God, "You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness" (Habakkuk 1:13). When Isaiah saw a vision of the throne room of God, and seraphim crying, "Holy, holy holy is the Lord God of hosts!" he said, "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." (Isaiah 6:5)

The second great fact is that all men have violated the holiness of God by rebelling against His holy law.

As it is written:
"There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one."
"Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit";
"The poison of asps is under their lips";
"Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."
"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Destruction and misery are in their ways;
And the way of peace they have not known."
"There is no fear of God before their eyes."
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:10-20)

The third essential fact is that God cannot leave sin unpunished. Scripture states repeatedly that God will "by no means clear the guilty" (Exodus 34:7, Number 14:18, Nahum 1:3).

The fourth essential fact is the hopeless condition of man in view of the first three facts. Scripture declares repeatedly that for man in his universal condition there is, apart from the intervention of God, "no hope" (1 Chronicles 29:15, Proverbs 11:7, Ephesians 2:12, 1 Thessalonians 4:13). "There is no peace," says the Lord, "for the wicked" (Isaiah 48:22).

Not a Matter of Negotiation

Donald Trump has earned a well-deserved reputation as a shrewd negotiator. In 1987 he wrote a book on the subject called The Art of the Deal. His reputation as a negotiator has earned him one of the world's largest fortunes, and was no small factor in his winning the American presidency. One of the principles he states in the book is that "the good will always take care of itself."

I have heard people say that when they face God in judgment, they will engage in what amounts to a negotiation. God may call forth the evidence of my sins, they say, but I will set before God all the evidence of my good works, and my good works will outweigh my sins. "The good will always take care of itself."

But at the Last Judgment there is no place for "the art of the deal." Jesus Christ, the righteous judge, declared this:

Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (Matthew 7:21-23)

Why is this true? Jesus explained the reason to Nicodemus:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. (John 3:16-20)

Peace With God Demands the Propitiation of His Wrath Against Sin

Dear reader, if anyone tells you that you can make peace with God, he is telling you a lie. You have nothing with which to make peace. You have no standing on which to make peace. You are not qualified to make peace. The false gospels of our day deny the holiness of God, the total depravity of man, the wrath of God against sin, and the fact that peace can only be obtained by propitiation.

Peace with God demands the propitiation of His wrath against sin. His justice must be satisfied. His wrath must be poured out. Apart from the grace and mercy of God, that wrath will be poured out on the sinner:

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15)

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell. (Matthew 10:28)

Is there an answer to this picture of eternal hopelessness? Can peace be made with God?

How To Obtain Peace With God

You cannot make peace with God. You can only obtain it from One who has already made peace on your behalf. That One is Jesus Christ:

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26)

Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted. (Hebrews 2:17-18)

And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2)

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:9-10)

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Do You Have Peace With God?

Dear reader, do you have peace with God? You can only answer "Yes" to that question if you understand that you have no standing, qualification, or resources by which to make that peace yourself. You can only answer "Yes, I do have peace with God," on the basis of faith in the propitiatory work of Jesus Christ, who experienced the full fury of the holy wrath of God on behalf of guilty sinners:

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
And they made His grave with the wicked - but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many for He shall bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:4-11)

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. (Ephesians 2:8-10, 14-18)

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2)

On this basis let me ask again, "Do you have peace with God?" If you must honestly answer, "No," it would be our privilege to further explain to you "the way of peace." We encourage you to contact us without delay.

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