Who Made You a Judge of Jesus’ Person and Works?

God highly exalted Jesus following His death, burial, and resurrection (Phil 2:9). He was declared the Son of God with power by His resurrection (Rom 1:4). Upon His ascension and enthronement in heaven (Ps 110:1; Jn 20:17; Acts 1:9), Jesus was given the name above every other name (Ps 148:13; Eph 1:21; Phil 2:9). All authority in heaven and on earth was entrusted to King Jesus, crowned with glory and honor (Mt 28:18; Heb 2:7, 9).

The Bible does not hide the exalted King of glory (Ps 24), so why do so many preachers preach the person and work of Christ, as something men should judge? They say, “The most important decision you can make in your life is accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior.” Have they not heard? Is it not written that God has already accepted and exalted Jesus, so why is your decision sought by these manipulators?

To decide on something means that you have become a judge. According to the philosophy of man-centered theology, your judgment of Jesus determines your eternity. What about God’s judgment? The Bible speaks much about heaven and hell. These two eternal realities obviously make Christianity utterly relevant to all people.

Does man, dead in sin (Eph 2:1), with no interest in the things of the Spirit (1 Cor 2:14), have the capacity to make a right judgment about the merits of Christ? This would elevate man’s mind out of the realm of futility (Eph 4:17). Others judge matters on the emotions of their hearts, which the Bible teaches are desperately wicked (Jer 17:9). With blinded minds (2 Cor 4:4) and evil hearts (Gen 6:5), do men make excellent judgments? Is that even reasonable?

“Look at me! I have made the most important decision of my life!” boasts the wise decision-maker. Surely, he must then look down upon those, who are not as smart or as prudent, as he is for his decision. He may even become a zealous preacher of free-will decisionalism. If he does, he becomes a blind guide leading blind men into the pit (Mt 15:14).

The goal in this system is to empower more people to become judges of Jesus, “You, too, can put Jesus on trial, if you simply exercise your free will!” There is no doubt the preacher pressing men to accept Jesus would object to the wording of this protest. They deny decision making is even a work, however. Everyone else in the world knows that decision making is often a very difficult work. People have remarkably difficult times trying to decide what they will have for dinner!

In the work of decision making, one must gather data. Accurate and inaccurate data must be sifted. Data must be organized into useful information and again distilled into true knowledge. True knowledge must be compared with what would be called, false knowledge that must be dismissed. Knowledge that is true must be acted upon, “Work, work!” but these false preachers still insist that faith (decided action based on true knowledge, sifted and compared) is not a work.

The Bible does not ask for sinful man’s acceptance. Jesus never asked to be accepted by men. Surely, God knows the truth about man’s utterly deficient will and ability (Jn 1:12–13; Rom 8:7). It is true that Jesus was despised and rejected by men (Ps 22:6; Is 53:6), but this did not thwart the predetermined plan of God (Acts 2:23), to save His chosen people from their sins (Mt 1:21; 1 Pet 2:9), of which not even one of them could be snatched from the hand of God (Jn 10:28–29), nor separated from the love of Christ (Rom 8:35–39).

This conflict in theological systems always centers on who is sovereign, God or man. Whoever’s will determines the eternal home of a man is the one who possesses sovereign will. Is it God or man? Do men go to hell for deciding Jesus is not legitimate? No, they go to eternal punishment because of sin, inherited and practiced (Mt 25:46; Rom 5:12–21; Jude 7).

Hell is the default status of all people, conceived in their mother’s womb. All one has to do is be conceived (Ps 51:5), and he or she is en route to the lake of fire (Rev 20:14–15). Again, this is the result of sin leading to death (Rom 6:23; Jas 1:15). Dead souls with dying bodies is the plight of totally depraved men, already condemned by the Law of God (Jn 3:18; Rom 3:10–12), awaiting their day of sentencing (Mt 24:29–31; 2 Cor 5:10; Rev 20:11), from the just Judge (Acts 17:31; 1 Pet 2:23).

Instead of judging Jesus to be acceptable or unacceptable, it would be wise for a man to judge himself and his will and ability to accept One he hates with his whole being, heart and mind (Jn 15:18–19; Rom 1:30). Men love darkness (Jn 3:19), and they avoid the light for fear of being exposed as evil doers. There is nothing lovely about Jesus Christ to the natural man (Is 53:6; 1 Cor 2:14), so what does the Bible say about one’s receipt of Christ, by faith? It is absolutely clear it is not the will of man that accepts Jesus Christ (Jn 1:12–13; Rom 9:16). It is the will of God to have mercy on some and not others (Rom 9:15).

Is it man’s choice to enter union with Christ? No, it is God’s gracious choice to add to His remnant church, the chosen few from the masses of humanity (Mt 22:14; 1 Pet 2:9), occupying the nations of the whole world (Rom 11:5; Rev 5:9; 7:9). Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil 2:11), and He does all His sovereign will (Eph 1:11), according to the eternal purpose of God, carried out by Him (Eph 3:11).

God sits in the heavens and does as He pleases (Ps 115:3; 135:6), which includes His will and work to save His people (Mt 1:21; Phil 2:12–13) because He accepts us into the family of God: Father, Son, and Spirit. The will of an unregenerate slave to sin is hardly a catalyst for anything other than sinning (Gen 6:5; Rom 6:6).

If our sovereign God has planned (Acts 2:23), willed (Jn 1:13), chosen (Eph 1:4–5), worked (Rom 5:8), and promised to finish His work begun in us (Phil 1:6), then, it is never our position to judge who and what is worthy or unworthy of acceptance, regarding the salvation that belongs to God (Ps 3:8; Jon 2:9; Rev 19:1). That would simply be blatant arrogance on the part of proud sinners, who wish they were decision making gods, in control of their own destiny (Gen 3:5). They are not.

David Norczyk

Spokane Valley, Washington

November 13, 2022