As long as it is day and God would have us preach the Gospel of reconciliation to all men everywhere.
When that day ends God will establish His Theonomic Rule.
While I am not antinomian (see “Is Salvation Conditional?“) I do believe that we cannot force Salvation or enforce righteousness on men, especially those outside the Church (see 1 Cor. 5:9-13). God did not create man as robots and does not want man to obey laws because they must, or to live a facade of holiness. Presently God’s intent is to restore His image in believers, through the regenerating and renewing power of His Spirit through Christ’s atoning work.
This is not to say until He comes that we do not call things as they are, otherwise there could be no word of reconciliation. What God calls a thing is what we call it. What God is against we are against. When we take action we do what Jesus would, how Jesus would. We have the mind of Christ, what we need more of is His compassion, His servants heart.
“For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh” Romans 8:3
When that Gospel of Peace is preached, God will act and lives will change. When all the earth is filled with the Glory of the Lord there will be no need for laws. We will by our regenerate nature be holy.
When a man is born “from above ” (born again) as stated in John 3:3, he then begins to be changed from within and has a new nature which is not only able but even desires to obey God. It is the declared will of God that all men be saved but whether they are is not up to us. Our responsibility as Ambassadors of Christ in this world is to preach the Cross as the Word of reconciliation. The way is narrow it is true but not hard when we are yoked to Jesus, the Christ of God who bore our sorrows. In my article “Is Salvation Conditional” I listed the “Conditional” statements pertaining to salvation. Rather than saying salvation is conditional perhaps it would be more appropriate to re emphasize the “IF” statements as the fruit of salvation. “IF” we are “born from above” then these statements will either be true of us or not. True if they are positive affirmations of the fruits of God’s Spirit evidencing His regenerating work, not true of us if they are negative revealing that which has no place in the life of those “Born from above”. .
There are other factors too, injunctions of Christ which are also the result of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Things like being perfect, as our Father in heaven, is perfect especially as that nature is merciful and compassionate.
According to Jesus there will be some surprises when He separates the ” sheep from the goats” The “when did we ever” statements paint for us a picture of many who did not expect His approval but got it and many who expected it but were rejected! Couple that with ALL His teachings and statements and I think we can make a pretty good guess as to who will be, if I may use so mild a term here, “disappointed”.
Does legalistic, judgmental, unloving, proud, unforgiving, self righteous, Pharisee sound right?
Yes; even though the Pharisees were a Jewish sect I think the appellation translates well in Christianity. See the analysis on the Article The Publican and the Pharisee.
The Ezra Project: An Exploration and Study of Theology & Christianity 