Jesus is our Judge - By Elizabeth Prata

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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There is a prevalent idea, echoed by Ms. Prata, that Jesus engaged in a legal transaction to pay our debt of sin. That is, Jesus' death was offered as the legal remedy for the charges against us as sinners.  There is a presumption which forms the fundamental premise, that Jesus' brought us salvation through a legal transaction. Thus the act of redemption legally makes believers not guilty. But no documentation is ever supplied for this idea, other than presumption. 

So, where in the Bible does it say that legal charges are brought against us as sinners for breaking the law, for which Jesus intervened in an act that allowed the Father to pronounce us "not guilty?" It doesn't. 

This idea of a legal process we think descends from Calvin, who trained to be a lawyer. It did not exist before Calvin. 

"Not guilty" is a legal determination of western law, that not enough evidence has been presented to convict:

...the prosecution has not proved the defendant guilty of crime.

We need to remember that our idea of legal process is not the same as ancient Israel. So it is wrong to impose a western cultural understanding on a uniquely Hebrew concept.

In the Bible, the sinner does not experience a trial, no evidence is presented, and there is no presumption of innocence or right to confront one's accuser. Rather, our prior lost status is described as condemnation:

Ro. 11:32 For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

Jn. 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already...

That condemnation is is not a legal determination, it is a divine declaration. Condemnation is the default state of the unsaved. That's where every human starts. Everyone who has ever lived or is living now on the planet began as condemned. They are condemned already. We discuss this further here. We discuss the idea that Jesus substituted His death for ours here.

This means that rather than "not guilty," when we are saved we are declared to be justified:

Ro. 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ...

"Justified" is

dikaioó, to judge, declare, pronounce, righteous and therefore acceptable...

Thus God pronounces the saved person as righteous. It is a declaration from the mouth of God, not a legal process of considering evidence. It is not a legal process, it is a sacrificial process. We discuss this further here.

We will find that Ms. Prata presumes her premise and from that makes a plethora of errors.

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Jesus is our judge. He is the sole authority to Whom we will answer, and our sins are crimes we have committed against Him. (Acts 10:42; 2 Timothy 4:8) (Let's quote the verses: 

Ac. 10:42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.

2Ti. 4:8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Ms. Prata proof-texts her statement "Jesus is our judge." Neither verse tells us that Jesus will judge us as Christians, however. Further, neither verse tells us we will answer for our sins, and neither verse tells us our sins are crimes.)

The world hates this notion, and continually rebels against it. They say that we only answer to ourselves, or that Jesus doesn’t exist, in the vain hope that their lawlessness will go unpunished. Most people will acknowledge there is some sort of God, distant and perhaps disinterested. But Jesus is the name at which they cringe. That is because He convicts of sin and will judge it. Deep down, they know this. (Romans 1:18-20)

“There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy.” (James 4:12).

If you really think about all the language of the Bible, you realize just how much of it is “legal” language. (Ms. Prata thinks the Hebrew law is legal in the sense of western jurisprudence. But rather it is a Law of righteousness [Ro. 9:31].)

This is because sin, also known as lawlessness, is a crime. (1 John 3:4). (Let's quote it: 

1Jn. 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

"Lawlessness" is anomia, iniquity, transgression, unrighteousness. Sin, therefore, is not a crime, it is wickedness.)

It is a crime against God. Like any crime, it must be judged. (Ms. Prata first asserted that we will answer for our sin. Now she tells us sin is a crime that must be judged. So which is it? Will our sins be judged, or will we be judged?

Sin is wickedness. There is neither the need, nor a biblical reason, to call sin a crime.)

Many people say that the Bible is a “love letter from God.” In a way, it is. Others say that Jesus is our Friend, our Comforter, our Father, and all these are true too. However, when I came to Jesus for salvation, I came with a deep knowing of how pervasive and ugly sin is. By contrast, I understand His holiness. I appeal to Him as my Judge. (How about appealing to Him as savior?)

Though Jesus is all things that are Good, and I enjoy my relationship with Him as Father and Friend, (Jesus is not our father, he is our brother [He. 2:11].) 

I relate to Him also as my Judge. (No Scripture supplied, or explanation offered.)

Far from it being a cold, distant relationship, I enjoy the order of His courts, the regularity and perfection of His dispensing of Justice, past, present and future. I am the kind of person who has always lived for justice, order, and for moral good, and in Jesus I finally found my home in that and it comforts me like a security blanket.

When we tune our ear, the Christian use of legal language is pervasive, all of it from the Bible. (Ms. Prata will now provide a list of "legal" words that are not legal at all.  Yes, we use often such words in English to describe legal things, but that doesn't mean the Bible does this. Simply finding a word in the Bible does not mean that word is used the same way as Ms. Prata's understanding.  

The words she cites could be legal, and that is enough for Ms. Prata.)

I bet we say these things without really envisioning them being used actively in His court in a legal context, by God, Jesus, satan… But, let’s. (God has no legal court.)

By the way, I deliberately chose verses mostly from the New Testament to show that there is one God, not two. The Bible does not show us an ‘OT God of wrath’ and a ‘NT Jesus of love.’ They are one and the same. He is wrathful in the first place because He hates sin. He is also a God of love because he loves the creation He made, including humans.

• Accuser

“And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” (Revelation 12:10)

(The Greek word for "accuser" is egkaleó, to come forward as accuser against, bring a charge against... We should note there is no "official" role implied in this word. Satan is not a prosecuting attorney in a legal process who brings charges. We are not part of a courtroom scene. Satan is not provided with prosecutorial evidence. He is not someone's legal representative. 

In fact, he has no official function at all. A variant of the word is also found in the same verse, "accuses" (katégoreó, of an extra-judicial accusation...). "Extra-judicial." 

The English tense implies this is happening presently ["accuses"], but the next phrase in the verse tells us he has been hurled down. That word "hurled " is balló, absolutely and in the passive to be violently displaced from a position gained... Satan was aggressively tossed to a low place. So he's not in his position any more. He's not in a heavenly court room at all.

In fact, the Bible says no one is bringing charge against us:

Ro. 8:33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.

Satan cannot bring charges against us, because he no longer has access to heaven. There is no one to bring charges against us, because we are forgiven.)

• Advocate

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.’ ” (1 John 2:1)

"Advocate" is paraklétos, a helper, succorer, aider, assistant. This is the Holy Spirit, another counselor: 

Jn. 14:16-17 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you for ever — 17 the Spirit of truth.

The Holy Spirit is not on lur legal team, He's our helper. And obviously, we don't need a defense attorney at all, let alone "for ever." )

• Confess

“because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9) (??? We are not confessing to a crime! "Confess" is homologeó, to voice the same conclusion, i.e. agree ("confess"); to profess (confess) because in full agreement; to align with (endorse).

"Confess" is a statement of agreement. This has no legal meaning whatsoever.) 

• Convicted

“I got convicted of that activity when I heard the preacher’s sermon.”

“It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 1:14-15). (Sigh... Ms. Prata's Bible verse is not the same use of the word as her quoted sentence. 

The quoted sentence is the feeling of guilt for having done something wrong. The verse uses the Greek word elegchó, to expose, convict, reprove. That is, an action someone takes against someone or something else: 

Jn. 3:20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

"Exposed" in this verse is that Greek word elegchó. It should seem clear that we are not dealing with legal terms here.)

• Court

There is a heavenly court, you know! It is much more perfect to be judged by God than by man.

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.” (1 Corinthians 4:3) (Why not use an appropriate verse, like

Ro. 14:10 You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.

Oh, because the word "court" came up in Ms. Prata's search for 1 Corinthians 4:3. That as far as she took it, a word search. But God does not have a "court." There are no witnesses, attorneys, or charges. There are no legal proceedings. He is a King, and His seat is a place of royalty, not a legal desk.

The apostle John wrote:

Re. 20:12-15 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

When we read this carefully, we see that the judgment is not of the righteous vs. unrighteous, but rather of every person's works (1Pe. 1:17, 2Co. 5:10), words (Mt. 12:36), and secret thoughts (Ro. 2:16). Notice there is no judgment concerning the person being thrown into the lake of fire. That matter is determined by simply consulting the book of life to see whose names are there. Remember, the unsaved are condemned already. So of course their names are not found in the book of life.

There is only one thing that occurs when someone is saved as it applies to the judgment. Your name gets written into the book of life. Before salvation, no one's name was there. After salvation, names were added as each one believed.

There is no verse in the NT that says that people will be judged. This is a substantial claim of great import. We don't make it casually. But every NT verse we read with the word "judge" or "judgment" does not contain the idea that God judges or will judge the person.

Only our works will be judged. We find confirmation of that here:

1Co. 3:11-15 For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

We find it strange indeed that given all the exposition of the Bible by various teachers over the years and centuries, that the idea that God will judge the individual person is so prevalent given what the Bible itself says. We used to believe this too, because pastors and teachers believe it also. 

However, we think we have discovered our error and are modifying our beliefs.

• Judge

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:” (2 Timothy 4:1) (Because the judgment is a judgment of deeds and not people themselves, we now look to see who judges these deeds. It seems that the Father declines to judge:

Jn. 5:22, 27-30 Moreover, the Father judges no-one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son... 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

28 Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out — those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear...

But Jesus also declines to judge:

Jn. 8:15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no-one.

Jn. 12:47 “As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. 

We think these statements, often viewed with puzzlement, are made clear by our previous assertion that people are not and will not be judged. Neither the Father nor the Son are inclined to judge, even though both the Son (Jn. 8:16, Ac. 10:42) and the Father (Jn. 8:50, Ac. 17:31, Ro. 3:6) have authority to judge. 

They both are described as executing judgment:

2Ti. 4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom...

Then we find these verses:

1Co. 6:2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? 

Jude 14-15 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone...

Re. 20:4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge.

The judgment, we believe, will be done by the saints, His holy ones. They will be given authority to judge the world's deeds. In this scenario we come to the conclusion that the actual judgment of men's works will be executed by the saints as authorized by and in the presence of the Father and the Son. 

So the saints judge men's works. They determine what reward each saint receives (1Co. 3:14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.) 

We leave it to others to determine if our speculations are valid. We have been in a process of investigation regarding what we've been taught by pastors and theologians, so every assumption of doctrine is in play, in our view. We cannot and must not react with "but that's not what I've been taught!" What we have been taught must always be scrutinized in light of what the Bible itself teaches.

• Lawlessness

“I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.” (Romans 6:19). (Lawlessness is the opposite of righteousness, and not synonymous of a crime.)

• Pardon

He pardons us of our crimes!

“Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17) (Ms. Prata insists on using the word "crimes," not because the Bible uses it but because that's what she's been taught.

"Propitiation" is the turning away of wrath. Jesus' blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness [1Jn. 1:9], which takes away from us the impending action of God. This has nothing to do with legal process.)

• Penalty

“and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” (Romans 1:27) (She just keeps going on and one. 

"Penalty" is antimisthía (from 473 /antí, "matching, corresponding" and 3408 /misthós, "reward") – properly, proportionate reward; matching compensation (which can be pleasant or painful).

Ms. Prata ought to be embarrassed.)

• Testimony

During the Tribulation, the Two Witnesses testify to and of Jesus constantly for three and a half years.

“And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them,’ (Revelation 11:7) (This is getting tiring. This testimony is not a court proceeding, it is the telling of the Gospel.)

• Verdict

“‘The decision is announced by messengers [‘Watchers’ in ESV], the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.'” (Daniel 4:17). (Again, how about a more appropriate verse? 

Jn. 3:19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

It's seems like Ms. Prata is just doing word searches of her Bible and saying, "Ooo, here's one.")

I sure would like to know who these mysterious Watchers are mentioned three times in Daniel 4:13, 17, 23 but nowhere else. They seem to be a class of angel, because they are holy, and angel, because they are messengers. The term is introduced by Nebuchadnezzar who describes how he saw “a watcher, a holy one come down (singular verb) from heaven.” They seem to me to be both Bailiff keeping watch over proceedings, and Jury Foreman announcing the verdict. But I don’t know for sure. The Bible is cloaked on the subject, only alluding to but not explaining these Watchers.

• Witness

Paul is ordained as a witness for Jesus.

“for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard” (Acts 22:15) (??? This has nothing to with law. Paul is to "witness" [testify, speak of] the Gospel, see "testimony" above.)

The Two Witnesses testify to the power and holiness of God. Rev 11:1-14. (Gérard Jollain, engraving 1670)

This article is intended to remind us of the fact that God is HOLY HOLY HOLY. Everything stems from that. Sin, its effects, its lawlessness, our pardon, His justice…is all about dealing with sin in the face of a Holy God. Oh, yes, Jesus will judge. Are you ready?

All a person needs to do is be penitent, that means, to be sorry for your sins. (This is incorrect: 

2Co. 7:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

There is no verse that tells us that God wants us to be sorry for our sins.)

You must ask the Judge (who is Jesus) to pardon you. (No, we repent and He decides to forgive: 

Ac. 8:22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.

Beholden to a faulty view of God's Justice, Ms. Prata digs an even deeper hole to the point where she is actually unable to accurately articulate the Gospel message.)

His death on the cross satisfied the justice required from God (No, His death on the cross propitiated for our sin:

He. 9:22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.)

as the blood sacrifice to satisfy the penalty. (No, no, no! Jesus did not die to pay for our sin, He died to pay for us! 

1Ti. 2:5-6 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men — the testimony given in its proper time.)

God’s wrath is therefore satisfied in all people who come to Him through Jesus. You will be pardoned and washed clean of your crimes. The Judge will say “You are justified and free to go.”

Failure to repent before your own death means that you die having committed many crimes. Those must still be dealt with. Just because you’re dead doesn’t mean your crimes go away. They are in fact still boomeranging around the Universe, tainting everything. On the day of Judgment, Jesus will stand you before Himself and you will answer for those crimes in His court. (No, He will simply consult the Book of Life to see if your name is written there. You were already condemned, until your name is written there. That's all that happens.)

The penalty for them is eternity in hell (jail) with no hope of parole. All judgments are final. But all His mercies are eternal!