Who gave you the right to judge me?

Good question. And it is one we see people ask in various ways. Take the recent debate surrounding Israel Folau and Billy Vunipola - roundly being condemned for posting a orthodox Christian belief on social media. A lot can be said, a lot can be learnt from the comment surrounding this case. However, what has struck me is that no-one wants to be judged. In fact, people are repulsed by the idea of a God who judges. Especially, one who judges eternally. With that in mind, we come to issue of judgement and hell in the catechism.

Q28. What happens after death to those not united to Christ by faith?

A. At the day of judgement they will receive the fearful but just sentence of condemnation pronounced against them. They will be cast out from the favourable presence of God, into hell, to be justly and grievously punished, forever.

Some points to note:

• We shall all be judged

We cannot escape the judgement of God. We shall all stand before his bar on the day of judgement. His judgement shall be searching. And it shall be fair. When sentence is pronounced it shall be final; there is no appeal, there is no comeback.

• Only one thing matters

We cannot escape the judgement of God. We are all equally and justly guilty before him. So only one question matters - are you united to Christ by faith? Are you trusting in him? If so, he has paid the penalty - so even though you are guilty, you go free. If not, then you have to pay the penalty yourself, you shall be cast from the favourable presence of God, forever.

• This is serious

Hell is real. We don't like to talk about it. We don't even like to think about it. That's because even the idea of hell is terrifying. But because it is serious, we shouldn't dismiss this. We should remind each other about the eternal realities; the eternal consequences of our choices in this world. Jesus did. He didn't avoid talking about hell. He never failed to warn people about the danger of rejecting him. And thankfully, he did not shrink back from taking the full wrath of God, so that we need never do so.