“Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” (Matthew 13:40-43)
The other day I watched a VLOG in which a pastor asked this a question: can God commit injustice? Seems like a simple question. Justice is one attribute of God’s nature, so the answer is no. Yet these days many people and many churches preach about a Jesus who loves everybody so much that He does commit injustice. He overlooks sin and lets everybody into heaven regardless of whatever evil they have been guilty of. Part of the reason they can make such a statement is that they have redefined or disregarded what the Word of God calls evil, what God calls sinful.
Jesus paid the penalty for the sins of all mankind so that it is possible for everyone to get into heaven. But only those who have faith in Jesus as their sin offering actually are guaranteed eternal life. Only those who realize that they are inherently sinful and incapable of pleasing God by any effort of their own can come to faith, can accept the sacrifice of Christ. And that Faith is granted them by the Lord God. Why he grants this to some and not all is a mystery. He has His reasons. He will never act unjustly.
Justice was meted out on Jesus at the cross for us all. But for those who reject God’s way and His will, justice will be meted out as Jesus states in this parable about the wheat and the weeds: judgment and the punishment of hell. Until the last judgment, the Lord allows the righteous and the evil to dwell together until He has set as the tight timer to harvest.
This may seem odd to us. We would like to see the wicked judged and punished in this life yet they continue to flourish and prosper while we suffer at their hands. We need to have the patience and wisdom of God. Those wicked and perverse people have an opportunity to come to repentance and faith in this life. The Lord knows who they are; we do not. So let us refrain from hasty condemnation and pray for those who persecute and abuse us. We must also not hesitate to convey to them the warnings Jesus has given about sin and wickedness. We must work to spread the gospel that all may know that there is a fiery judgment coming. The only way to escape it is by grace through faith in Jesus.