πŸ“–πŸ’‘πŸ‘‘ What’s The Word For Us?

β€œβ€¦if any man hear My words, and believe not,Β I judge him not; forΒ I came not to judge the world, but to save the world…He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words, hath one thatΒ judgeth him:Β the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge himΒ in the last day” (JohnΒ 12:47,48).

I’m sure that the unbelievers among the Lord’s hearers were relievedΒ to hear Him say that He had not come to judge them. But some ofΒ them may have remembered hearing Him say that β€œthe Father judgethΒ no man,Β but hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (JohnΒ 5:22).Β Well, if the Father committed all judgment to the Son, how could theΒ Son say that He had not come to judge people?

The answer to this question is found in β€œrightly dividing the WordΒ of truth” (II Tim.Β 2:15). You see, the Lord was making a dispensationalΒ statement. He had not come to judge the world in HisΒ firstΒ coming,Β but in HisΒ secondΒ coming, He will come to β€œjudge and make war” (Rev.Β 19:11).

Then, after the fiery judgment of the Second Coming (II Thes. 1:7,8),Β β€œGod…hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world inΒ righteousnessΒ by that man whom He hath ordained” (ActsΒ 17:30,31).Β We know that Paul speaks here of the Lord Jesus Christ since he goesΒ on to say of this man β€œthat He hath raised from the dead.” In thatΒ day, the day that the Lord described as β€œthe last day” (JohnΒ 12:48), theΒ unsaved of all ages will stand before the Great White Throne (Rev.Β 20:11), where they will be judged guilty and condemned to the lakeΒ of fire (Rev.Β 20:12-15). It is concerningΒ thisΒ judgment that the Lord said,Β β€œthe word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (JohnΒ 12:48).

Did you ever wonder what word will judge men in the last day?Β Believe it or not, this question must also be answered dispensationally!Β The word by which the Lord will judge unbelievers among the Jews toΒ whom He was sent under the kingdom program (Matt.Β 15:24) is differentΒ than the word by which unbelievers who lived in the dispensationΒ of grace will be judged.

The word by which unbelievers in the kingdom program will beΒ judged was, as the Lord said in our text, a word that He had β€œspoken” during His sojourn here on earth. He gives us a hint as to what wordΒ that might be when He went on to call this word β€œa commandment” that the Father had given Him (JohnΒ 12:49), adding: β€œAnd I know that HisΒ commandmentΒ is life everlasting” (JohnΒ 12:50). Thus we know that whateverΒ word the Lord spoke that will judge unbelievers under the kingdomΒ program, it is a word that gave everlasting life to those thatΒ didΒ believeΒ this word.

He was speaking, of course, ofΒ the wordΒ of the gospel. It isΒ theΒ gospelΒ that saves men’s souls inΒ any dispensation, and it is theΒ gospel that will judge men guiltyΒ if they do not believe it. In theΒ kingdom program, the gospelΒ word that gave eternal life wasΒ Jesus is the ChristΒ (John 6:67-69).Β This is the word that will somedayΒ judge unbelievers who livedΒ under the kingdom program when they stand before the Great WhiteΒ Throne if they refused to believe the word of that gospel.

Of course today, in the dispensation of grace, it is not enough to haveΒ the kind of β€œfaith in His name” (ActsΒ 3:16) that constitutes believingΒ that β€œJesus is the Christ” (JohnΒ 20:31; I John 5:1). Today you have toΒ have β€œfaithΒ in His blood” (Rom.Β 3:25) to be saved; that is, you have toΒ believe that β€œChrist died for our sins” and rose again (I Cor. 15:1-4).Β When unbelievers who lived in the dispensation of grace stand beforeΒ the Lord’s Great White Throne, this is the word of the Lord by whichΒ theyΒ will be judged, the word He spoke through Paul.

How do we know that unbelievers from the dispensation of grace willΒ be judged by the word of a different gospel? It is because our apostleΒ Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles (Rom.Β 11:13;Β 15:16), describes theΒ last day as β€œthe day when God shall judge the secrets of men by JesusΒ ChristΒ according to my gospel” (Rom.Β 2:16), not according to the wordΒ that the Lord spoke when He ministered to the Jews. As you can see,Β even the very gospel of salvationΒ has to be rightly divided!

We sometimes hear it said that rightly dividing the Word of truthΒ is β€œan interesting doctrine, but not a very practical doctrine.” WeΒ couldn’t disagree more. What could possibly be more practical thanΒ knowing which words of Scripture have the power to give eternal lifeΒ in the dispensation of grace, and which words will judge men guilty ofΒ their sins when they believe them not? Dispensationalism doesn’t justΒ help us when it comes to figuring out things like why the Lord saidΒ He wasn’t sent to judge men after the Father committed all judgmentΒ to Him. Rightly dividing the Word ensures that we are able to makeΒ a clear presentation of the gospel that saves men’s souls to those whoΒ will suffer the flames of eternal torment without it. source

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