JUDGMENT DAY

This is a specific time determined by God for the vindication of divine operation. Acts 17:31 is a very comprehensive passage in this regard: (a) A day of judgment has been "appointed." (b) The entire "world" will be judged (cf. Gen. 18:25; Mt. 25:32; Rev. 20:11-12). (c) Judgment will be according to a standard of "righteousness," i.e., the law of God under which one has lived (cf. Rom. 2:16; Rev. 20:12); those standards will be compared with the deeds of one's life (2 Cor. 5:10). (d) Judgment will be effected by Christ, who is completely qualified to assume that role, with no quibbling by humanity. (e) Judgment will be proportional, i.e., equitable (Mt. 11:20ff; Heb. 10:28-28; Jas. 3:1). (f) The day of judgment will not be to determine one's fate. One's destiny is known at the point of death (Lk. 16:23ff; 2 Pet. 2:9 ASV); rather, it will be the time of the "revelation of the righteous judgment of God" (Rom. 2:5). At this point, there will be no atheists, no critics of God, for every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess (Rom. 14:11-12). The notion that the judgment day has already passed, having occurred in A.D. 70, as taught by some, is a false idea (see REALIZED ESCHATOLOGY).