Question:  Dear Greg,

            I have heard and read from numerous sources that at the final judgment all our sins will be made known to everyone.  I don’t understand.  If we have confessed and repented of these sins, what is the purpose of this revelation?

            In Christ,

            Dave

Answer:  Dear Dave,

            What you report as having heard and read re erroneous ideas about heaven and hell.  Jesus did say that there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, but that was not said in the context of a time when everyone’s sins will be available on the internet, prime-time television, or in some extended tabloid editions (wouldn’t tabloids love that?).  As you say, there is no purpose of such a revelation--no part of God’s attributes that it fits.  What we have done and who we are--along with whom we are not--is known to God.  We answer to him, and in repentance already have—no public listing of our transgressions would be in keeping with the God of the Bible.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht