"The Trellis"
Watch
Listen
Read
"That's not fair!" — My Kids
It's incredible how a five-year-old who doesn't know what day it is can track every reward and punishment in a family. And kids aren't the only ones measuring fairness. We look around and wonder if doing the right thing matters. Even in an unjust world, we never stop expecting justice. That's why Christians look forward to the judgment day.
The word rule "comes from the Latin word regula, a word associated with a bar or trellis, the woodwork on which a plant grows."1 Like a trellis supports a vine's growth, God's righteous rule lets goodness thrive. God's laws are a lattice held up by two posts, establishing the importance of doing good. On one side stands the cross; on the other, the final judgment. At the cross, God declared that righteousness matters by dying for sins. At the judgment, God will declare that righteousness matters by giving every deed its just reward. So we hang onto what is right, living between these fixed points.
A Merciful Judgment
We'll never understand God's judgment without understanding his mercy. Judgment without mercy would leave us all condemned. All have sinned (Rom. 3:23), but God's kindness leads some to repent (Rom. 2:4), while the unrepentant "are storing up wrath for … the day … when God's righteous judgment will be revealed" (Rom. 2:5).
A Personal Judgment
How can we find favor instead of wrath that day?
"He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury" (Rom. 2:6-8).
What you _do_ matters! We'll never deserve God's grace, but our works determine our destiny (Rom. 2:6; cf. Mt 16:27; 2 Cor 5:10)! Those who keep doing good and "seek for glory" will receive eternal life (Rom. 2:7), but not "those who are self-seeking" (Rom. 2:8).
A Fair Judgment
No one has an advantage. No one will game the system. You can count on an evenhanded judgment, with "peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek" (Rom. 2:10) but "distress for every human being who does evil" (Rom. 2:9). Why? Because "God shows no partiality" (Rom. 2:11). God will judge you justly, by a standard you can know and obey (cf. Rom. 2:12-15; Matt. 11:21-24; Luke 12:48). He sees every thought, every intention, every hidden moment, and he "judges the secrets of men" (Rom. 2:16).
I remember lying in bed as a kid, afraid of the Judgment Day. But as sobering as it is, God's judgment is part of the gospel (Rom. 2:16), the good news that can soothe a frustrated heart. If you've ever longed for justice, know this: on the last day, goodness will win at last.
Earley, Justin Whitmel. The Common Rule (p. 14). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition. ↩
