Clifford Goldstein, Editor
Adult Bible Study Guide
General Conference Sabbath School
Summary: The good news of the gospel is that, though we face judgment, we don’t have face it alone with all of our sinful deeds to condemn us. For God is not only just; He is merciful. At the cross, His justice and His mercy met.
It has been said that there is no justice. Perhaps so, at least in this life. But if God exists and He is just, then justice will be realized. Sooner or later we must answer for every evil we have done: for the sullied secrets that occasionally occupy our days and our dreams; for all those wrongs that we long ago justified and then, conveniently forgot. Imagine facing every sinful thought, word, and deed at once, with all excuses, rationalizations, and justifications swept away by the gazing eye of an all-seeing, all-knowing God.
There’s no question—judgment will come: God would not be God without it. ?For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil? (Ec 12:14, KJV).
The good news of the gospel, however, is that though we face judgment, we don’t have face it alone, with all our sinful deeds to condemn us. For God is not only just; He is merciful. At the cross, His justice and His mercy met. The penalty for sin was paid. That’s justice. It was paid in full by Jesus. That’s mercy.
The heart of the gospel is this: because of His great love for us, God Himself paid the penalty for our sins, so that we might not only be free from sin’s penalty, but declared righteous in Him.
?To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them? (2 Cor 5:19, KJV).
?For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him? (2 Cor 5:21, KJV).
No matter who we are or what our past has been, we can here and now (not to men-tion in the final judgment) stand perfect before God because of Jesus and the provision He has made on our behalf. This is the ?good news.? This is the foundation of all we believe as Christians. Once we understand this, once we accept this, once we make this promise our own, our lives will be changed. For we will be ?born again,? and have the assurance now and in the final judgment that we are the children of God.