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However, I would submit to you that salvation is only one side of the proverbial coin found within the pages of Scripture. The other, less popular and infrequently discussed side of salvation is judgement. Even as mature believers, we might scratch our heads and wonder what judgement has to do with salvation--they seem to be unrelated to us! And yet, I would humbly point out that you will never find one without the other in God's Holy Word.
See it with me for a minute...and you, too, will appreciate a theme begin to develop...
- Noah and the Flood--Noah and his wife, three sons, and their wives are saved within the confines of the ark, while the rest of the world's wicked population is wiped off the face of the earth in the flood waters (Genesis 6-8).
- Exodus and Passover--the Israelite people are led out of slavery in Egypt under the protection of God, while the unbelieving Egyptians suffer pestilence and numerous plagues, the last of which involves the death of every first born son. When Pharaoh once again changes his mind and pursues the Israelites, the Red Sea parts for God's people and allows them to cross to safety, and yet closes over the Egyptian soldiers, killing them (Exodus 7-14).
- Rahab and Jericho--while Rahab and her family are rescued by the Israelites (thanks to the signaling of a scarlet cord), the rest of Jericho perishes when the city's walls fall down and the city is overtaken (Joshua 6).
- Israel and Judah's fall and exile--while the two Kingdoms of Israel and Judah fall to the Assyrians and Babylonians as a judgement for their sin and idolatry, God saves a remnant of his people who will faithfully return to their land and rebuild the temple, no longer bowing down to other gods (Ezra, Nehemiah).
- Christ on the cross--because Christ suffered and died upon the cross, those of us who put their faith and trust in Him will find eternal salvation through His atonement for our sin (John 19).
- The Rider of the White Horse--at the end of the ages as seen by John in his revelation, the saints will be praising the Lord as He rides in his blood-stained garments, exacting vengeance upon all those who have rebelled and rejected Him (Rev 19).
And the list from the pages of Scripture could go on and on.
In fact today, as I opened the pages of Habakuk, one of the prophets to the Southern Kingdom of Judah, I once again see this theme, salvation through judgement, pop off the page. (Note: Habakuk is a mere three chapters long, so I would encourage you to read it in its entirety and appreciate it's larger context!) In short, Habakuk is dialoging with God, essentially pointing out to Him the injustice and violence he sees among his people and complaining about the fact that God is not doing anything about it. And God responds to him and indicates that He has already begun to deal with this issue of justice; in fact, He has plans to raise up the Chaldeans (Babylonians) to exact judgement upon the Kingdom of Judah. And this places Habakuk in a quandary--he wonders how God can use such a wicked nation to punish a less wicked one like his (1:13). And God seems to show Habakuk that righteousness is a matter of living by faith, even among his own people and warns him not to be puffed up with pride (2:4).
And like Job, once Habakuk questions God's ways and timing and receives God's answer (and questions), he is changed. In chapter 3, Habakuk pens a prayer (a song, actually, v. 19) reflecting upon God's just and merciful ways in the past, and confesses his faith and trust in God for the future, irrespective of his circumstances. And in this prayer/song, Habakuk requests of God "in wrath remember mercy" (3:2) and goes on to describe God exacting judgment upon the nations and through it, obtaining the salvation of his people.
See it with me in Habakuk 3:12-16...
"You marched through the earth in fury;
you threshed the nations in anger.
13 You went out for the salvation of your people,
for the salvation of your anointed.
You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
laying him bare from thigh to neck.
14 You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors,
who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,
rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
the surging of mighty waters.
16 I hear, and my body trembles;
my lips quiver at the sound;
rottenness enters into my bones;
my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us." (emphasis mine)
Do you see it again, dear friend? Salvation...through judgement?! In fact, the thought of it makes Habakuk tremble (v. 16) and yet is that not what we are called to do in the NT when the Apostle Paul exhorts us to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil 2:12)?
So, let us never simply camp out on half of the beautiful gospel message, dear one--discussing only salvation for God's people and forgetting the judgement that must occur to secure and obtain this blessed salvation. Like Habakuk, let us cry out for the beautiful interplay of wrath and mercy, seen best in the cross of Christ. For without the understanding of God's judgement, where would the joy of our salvation lie? We will never correctly understand salvation unless we acknowledge the judgement and wrath of God from which we are saved (Rom 8:1)!
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