The three angels’ messages of Revelation 14 present the pre-Advent investigative judgment as an integral part of the gospel: “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel [euangelion, “good news”] to preach to those who dwell on the earth . . . saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come’ ” (Rev. 14:6, 7).
Is the biblical message of the end-time investigative judgment really assuring, good news? I have not always considered it good news. While growing up as a fourth-generation Seventh-day Adventist Christian, I used to shudder at the mention of divine judgment. Even as a young pastor, I avoided preaching about the judgment. Imagine then my surprise when I came across a number of prayers in the book of Psalms in which David prayed, “Judge me, O Lord!” (Ps. 7:8; 26:1; 35:24; 43:1). He seemed to be saying, in effect, “Hurry up, Lord! Send the judgment. Bring it on! Let my name come up. I can hardly wait!”
How could David pray such a prayer? Later in his life David acknowledged the heinousness of his own sin and the reality of the judgment (Ps. 51:3, 4). But he also grasped the message of righteousness by faith! He prayed, “Purge me with hyssop [the plant used to apply the blood of the Passover sacrifice upon the doorposts of the house (Ex. 12:22; Lev. 14:4-6; Num. 19:18)], and I shall be clean” (Ps. 51:7). In effect, he prayed, “Cleanse/cover me with the blood of the Lamb of God, my Substitute, and I shall have assurance of acceptance with You in the judgment!”
The Bible consistently upholds the seriousness of sin and the certainty of the judgment. But it also reveals that the judgment is good news! In fact, I have found at least seven scriptural reasons for joyous assurance in the judgment.1
Christ Is Our Substitute
As just mentioned with the testimony of David, the Bible teaches that the Lamb of God our Substitute has been accepted in our place. When we receive Christ, we are covered with the robe of His righteousness (Isa. 61:10; Zech. 3:4; cf. Gen. 3:21). We are acquitted, pardoned, and cleansed. We are no longer “anxious about what Christ and God think of us, but about what God thinks of Christ, our Substitute.”2 What does God the Father think of Christ our Substitute? He is accepted! Thus, when we are in Christ, we may know that we are “accepted in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:6).
When I was a young pastor, the beauty and simplicity of the gospel began to dawn before my eyes. Through a chain of marvelous providential influences, the sublime promises jumped out at me from Scripture, and I dared to claim them for myself: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47). “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).
Since that experiential introduction to gospel assurance, the beauty of righteousness by faith has grown ever more precious. Christ is my substitute, who has paid the penalty for my sins with His blood. What assuring good news! But there is more!
Christ Is Our Lawyer/Advocate
In the judgment Christ is also our advocate, our lawyer. “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). Our heavenly Advocate has never lost a case that has been committed to Him (John 18:9). A courtroom loses its fear for the one being tried if the lawyer can guarantee that he has never lost and will never lose a case committed to his hands. This is what Jesus promises, based upon His sacrifice on our behalf.
In the heavenly court Christ eloquently and persuasively pleads our case based upon His blood. In the judgment “Jesus pleads in [His followers’] behalf His wounded hands, His bruised body; and He declares to all who would follow Him: ‘My grace is sufficient for thee.’ 2 Corinthians 12:9.”3
For those in Christ, the heavenly courtroom is a friendly place. Our heavenly Lawyer stands beside them with His arm around them, as it were; He “does not excuse their sins, but shows their penitence and faith, and, claiming for them forgiveness, He lifts His wounded hands before the Father and the holy angels, saying: I know them by name. I have graven them on the palms of My hands [citing Isaiah 49:16].”4
Christ is my lawyer, who has never lost a case that has been committed to Him. What assuring good news! But there is more!
The best news of the judgment is saved for last. And it is ultimately not about us, but about God Himself.
Christ Is the Star Witness on Our Behalf!
To the church at Laodicea (a name that means “people of the judgment”), representing the people who are living during the time of the pre-advent judgment, Christ reveals Himself as the “Faithful and True Witness” (Rev. 3:14). Not only does He warn the Laodicean people of their true spiritual condition; but for those who repent of their sins and open the door of their heart for Him to come in and dine with them, He also testifies on their behalf in the heavenly court. As their Star Witness, He brings evidence to the heavenly jury in support of His people that silences the false accusations of the adversary.
Christ is my Star Witness in the heavenly court. That is assuring good news. But there is more!
Christ Is Our Judge!
While still on earth, Jesus announced, “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). Our Elder Brother, our Best Friend, is the Judge! This Judge has never made a mistake, and He is on our side! He is not a stern, harsh magistrate seeking to condemn all He can, but a loving, gracious God seeking to save all He can.
The multiple functions of a single individual in the judgment may seem strange to our modern Western legal system, but it is entirely in keeping with the biblical concept of administering justice. At the city gates the same elder(s) could convene the judicial proceedings, argue as an advocate, give testimony, and render the verdict. At the Israelite sanctuary the priest not only did all of this (Deut. 17:8-13) but also bore the penalty of the sins (Lev. 10:17).
With Christ as our substitute and surety, our advocate and mediator, our witness and friend and judge, what more assuring news can we ask for? What we have described thus far is the basis of our acceptance in the judgment, justification by faith.5 But there is more!
Christ Is Our Purifier
Jesus does not wish to leave us wallowing in our sins. In the context of eschatological judgment, Ezekiel records God’s promise of cleansing for His people:
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them” (Eze. 36:25-27).
God Himself assumes ultimate responsibility for the cleansing and the obedience of His people. What assuring good news! We are saved by blood, by grace, alone, but the efficacy of the blood becomes manifest to all by its holy fruit in the lives of God’s people (see especially Phil. 1:6, 9-11).
Assurance and judgment—these two concepts meet and take on ultimate meaning in the antitypical day of atonement. This is assuring good news indeed. But there is more!
Christ Is Our Vindicator
When we belong to Christ, in the judgment the tables are turned. No longer do we stand accused as a defendant, for Christ has paid the full price for our acquittal. Now we become the plaintiff, calling for vindication against the false charges of Satan. Like David, we can pray, “Judge [“vindicate” (ESV)] me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness” (Ps. 35:24).
The outcome of the eschatological judgment is certain. It is “in favor of the saints of the Most High” (Dan. 7:22). The judgment brings vindication for God’s people, who have been falsely accused by Satan (Rev. 12:10). Throughout Scripture the primary use of judgment terminology refers to God’s work of justification, salvation, deliverance, and vindication of His people.6
Vindication of the saints in the judgment! What assuring good news. But there is more! The best news of the judgment is saved for last. And it is ultimately not about us, but about God Himself.
The Vindication of God
The investigative judgment is not conducted to reveal to God who are His and who are not. He who is omniscient knows who are His (Isa. 46:9, 10; John 10:4, 14, 27; 2 Tim. 2:19; Heb. 4:13). Rather, at the end of the great controversy all the universe will have opportunity to witness and attest to the wisdom, justice, and truthfulness of God’s dealings with humankind. Satan’s charges against God will be shown to be false.
All humanity will either become fully “established, strengthened, and settled” into the truth as it is in Jesus (see 1 Peter 5:10) and be sealed (Rev. 7:2-8), or become fully established, strengthened, and settled into the lie (2 Thess. 2:11) and receive the mark of the beast (Rev. 13:16, 17; 14:11). Then God can point to the ultimate result of the two ways—the ways of God and the ways of Satan—and the whole universe will see the justice and truth of God’s way and the deceitfulness and lie of Satan’s way.
At the grand climax to the great controversy there will be a time of great rejoicing—and the good news will be about God’s vindication in the judgment. The redeemed will sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!” (Rev. 15:3).
By means of the entire process of the end-time divine judgment, God fully vindicates His character of love, and thus the universe will be rendered eternally secure. Assurance in the judgment will give way to assurance for eternity! What glorious good news!
1 In what follows I freely draw from material from my book A Song for the Sanctuary: Experiencing God’s Presence in Shadow and Reality (Silver Spring, Md.: Biblical Research Institute, Review and Herald Academic, 2022), chap. 27.
2 Ellen G. White, Selected Messages (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1958, 1980), book 2, pp. 32, 33.
3 Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1911),p. 489.
4 Ibid., p. 484.
5 For a full treatment of the biblical doctrine of justification by faith, with emphasis on the Old Testament foundations, see Richard M. Davidson, “How Shall a Person Stand Before God? What Is the Meaning of Justification?” in God’s Character and the Last Generation, ed. Jiří Moskala and John C. Peckham (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 2018), pp. 58-102.
6 See Davidson, Song for the Sanctuary, pp. 431-441.