Do We Need Ultimate Judgment?

I talk to people about Jesus frequently. They say to me things like, “R. C., if you find believing in Jesus meaningful, if that turns you on, if it gives you some kind of solace or what- ever, then that’s fine for you. But I don’t feel the need for Jesus.”

What are they saying? It’s like somebody who says he doesn’t feel the need for a fireman because his house is not on fire. Who needs a fireman when there’s no fire? Who needs a Savior when there’s no clear and present threat of judgment? People today simply do not believe that there will be a day of judgment. But if we believed it, really believed it, the energy of our evangelism would increase a hundredfold.

- R.C. Sproul, Saved from What?, p. 23

I think most people can resonate with the Biblical idea of "the day of judgment".  Who wants Hitler to not have to give an account for his horrific life?  He gets to commit suicide and that's it?  Game over?  In my experience, that rattles the cage of most unbelievers.  We just can't handle the idea of personal judgment and thus have the innate need to suppress the idea that judgment will come upon us individually.  That is the rub.  In our world we know we need judgment in a general sense but certainly not in a personal one.