A Blazing Righteousness
Teaching Pastor; Staff Governing Elder; Staff Director
The book of Malachi ends by describing the great and terrible day of God’s judgment. While the wicked are brought low, those who trust in Christ will experience freedom beyond what we can imagine. We can rest in the confident expectation that on that day, God will make everything right.
Study Questions
Application
Even though the idea of God’s judgment can make us uncomfortable, we all crave justice in the world. How is God’s judgment actually a source of hope for believers?
Obeying God even when we don’t understand displays our trust in him. Can you think of a time when you had to take a step of obedience that was challenging? How did that impact your faith?
Confession is not the same as repentance. Think of sin patterns you have struggled with in the past. Can you see a pattern of repentance evidenced through change over time?
Key Points
When God comes to judge the world, it will be a day of great reversal—the wicked rulers will be brought low, and the oppressed will be free and joyful.
We should caution ourselves against evaluating God’s ability to judge. Such evaluation exposes our entitlement.
No matter what the political or cultural voices in the world tell us, we will never get a man-made form of justice that accomplishes what our souls want.
God calls the Israelites to obedience. This is not transactional, but rooted in his love and their allegiance to him.
At the end of time, those who trust in Jesus will be judged not by their own works, but by his perfect life. This is the hope of the gospel.