The Judgment of God
By John Gavazzoni

I dare say that, for the average person, the thought of facing the judgment of God is not a pleasant one. Even with those who, by their own estimation, expect to be greeted with glowing commendation by the One who has the final say as to the worth of our works, beneath their facade of self-righteousness, lies an insecurity that drives their attempts at self-assurance: create said facade so it, in effect, will speak back to them, "see all the good things you have amassed; they prove you're a good person whose goodness will be recognized by God." It's the constant pressure of keeping such insecurity suppressed that made the Pharisees of old, and makes the contemporary versions, so really miserable and unattractive.

In contrast, there are those, oppositely, so convinced of their badness that their assurance is that they will face final, terrifying rejection, as in "you're just not heaven's kind; no place for you here. Go to hell with your kind." In spite of the contrast, both types suffer from the same thing: Neither knows God as He is. That's the origin of all our sin-sickness, whether it be the sin of self-righteousness or self-condemnation. Becoming the person that God has set out to make us (which He will most certainly finally accomplish) is about having the revelation of God's love reach us at our being's cellular level. He has shown us what kind of God He is in Christ. It's in relationship with His Son that we learn about our own divine sonship. That's the only Way, and God is determined that Jesus get through to us with that revelation, understanding, and assurance.

As can be seen from our brother Jonathan's lexical list and personal summary, below, God's judgment is about authoritatively choosing to make a separation (which brings to mind the biblical "sanctify," as in "to setting apart" that which is holy, from that which is unholy), based upon an evaluation, and from that separating to make an appropriate decision as to how to deal with the separated elements. When meditating upon what it is that determines how God will deal with those separated elements, I realized it all turns upon one all-encompassing truth: God is love.

That God is love, is for Him, the final, all-determining factor as to what shall be His determination, since the wisdom applied in His judging is the wisdom of love, and the power applied in His judging is the power of love. For us, standing upon that pivotal point, and looking around in all directions of the divine scene, we can see that it is the goodness of love that will have its day. Only there do we have that entrance into understanding that rightwises us, so that we are aligned WITH God, and not AGAINST Him.

To try to summarize: The process of separating the holy from the unholy, is the process of separating the being which we have within the Being of God--a being of incorruptible essence--from that which opposes and seeks to destroy what God holds as eternally precious beyond any standard of worth according to the natural mind. In short, God saves us from the adversarial by His judgment, and conversely judges us by His salvation. To think otherwise-- to think that God's judgment is about separating some for heaven and some for "hell" is to be found standing upon a pivotal point of misalignment against God. AND, wonder of wonders, He converts even the adversarial into devotion by the power of the blood of Christ.

I asked my dear friend, Jonathan Mitchell, New Testament translator and prolific commentator (check out his translation and its availability, along with his commentary offerings on the internet site, Greater Emmanuel International Ministries) to kindly share some scholarly info with me re: what the Greek word, commonly translated as judgment in the New Testament, conveys. He most graciously responded with the following lexical presentations of both the noun for judgment and the verb for judge, along with his short, but invaluable personal summary.

The Greek Meanings of the Greek Words
Normally Translated "Judge; Judgment"

The verb is krinó:

Thayer:
1) to separate; pull asunder; to pick out, select or choose
2) to approve, esteem
3) to deem, be of opinion
4) to determine, resolve, decree
5) to judge
   a. to pronounce an opinion
   b. to pronounce judgment; to subject to censure
6) Hebraistically: to rule; govern; preside over
7) to content together; to go to law, have a suit at law

Bauer, Arndt and Gingrich add to the above:
1) to prefer
2) to reach a decision, propose, intend
3) to administer justice
4) to express an opinion about
5) to pass judgment on
6) to criticize, find fault with

Analytical Lexicons:
1) properly: to separate off
2) to make a distinction between
3) to evaluate
4) to determine
5) to decide
6) to resolve
7) to judge
8) to condemn (when the judgment is negative)
9) to administer justice
10) Hebraistically: to rule; to govern

The noun krisis:

Thayer:
1) a separating, sundering, trial, contest
2) selecting
3) a judging, giving an opinion

Analytical Lexicons:
1) properly: the making of a distinction
2) a deciding (or: a decision)
3) discrimination (or: a discriminating)
4) a judging or an awarding
5) a sentencing

The noun krima:

Thayer:
1) a decree (literally, "an effect of a decision" - JM)
2) judgment ("the result of judging" - JM)
3) a matter to be judicially decided; a lawsuit; a case in court

Analytical Lexicons:
1) judgment
2) a sentence
3) an award
4) an administration of justice

Based on the -ma ending
1) the effect of meanings 8-10 of the verb krinó, above
2) the result of a decision or a sentence or an award or a ruling by the court or judge

The noun kritérion:

Thayer:
1) the instrument or means of trying or judging anything; the rule by which one judges
2) the place where judgment is given

Analytical Lexicons:
1) a standard or means by which to judge
2) a criterion
3) a court of justice
4) a lawsuit

Taking this semantic range into view, my basic conclusion that in any situation the general process is:
1) to separate all the pieces of evidence and testimonies (to separate the parts of the case)
2) to evaluate everything
3) to make an appropriate decision, a right conclusion, and to administer what is just and fair (or: what in the end will be advantageous for all concerned)