I want to visit Rome so I can see the art that I’ve admired since I was a kid.

I especially loved Michaelangelo.

I grew up reading and drawing comic books, with all the muscled superheroes. As I taught myself to draw, I drew inspiration from Michaelangelo. All his figures—whether painted or sculpted—were very muscly, even the women! You’d think Renaissance Italy was filled with female body builders.

Did you know that Michelangelo actually painted male models and added female features afterwards? For example, take a look at the rippling back muscles of this “lady.” Why’d he do that? Partly due to modesty (i.e., it was inappropriate for women to disrobe in front of a man). But partly, we’re not sure. The culture may have considered the male body to be normative, and the female body a less perfect version of it (see here). Whatever the reason, it sure helped me draw superheroes!

I also want to see Michaelangelo’s fresco of The Last Judgment (look at all the muscles!). What a powerful image!

There is Jesus, front and center.

There is a vast company of people swirling around him. Their faces express excitement, concern, peace, and righteous purpose.

Below Jesus, about a third of the way down, a group of angels are gathered. They blow trumpets summoning all people to the judgment.

On the left hand side, bodies rise from the dead. They are judged according to a small book, and enter heaven.

On the right, an angel reads from a large book, as demons pull down sinners into hell.

This kind of art has taught generations of people, both Catholic and non-Catholic, to expect a Last Judgment based on their sins. If you did good, you would be saved. But if your sins outweigh your good deed, you will be damned.

Many of us get more theology from paintings, than from preaching. As a result, our minds are filled with unbiblical theology. We think we know what the Bible teaches, but nothing could be further from the truth.

For example, did you know the word sin is never mentioned in the Bible’s description of the Last Judgment? There is a book of works (Rev 20:12). But what if that book is not meant to condemn people to hell for their sins? What if it is meant to show unbelievers they have no claim to heaven on the basis of their works?

Zane Hodges argued for that interpretation in his booklet on the Atonement. This morning I came across the same insight from R. B. Thieme in his booklet The Slave Market of Sin. Here is a smattering of quotations:

“Ultimately, every member of the human race faces this issue: Will you depend on the work of Christ—redemption and unlimited atonement—or will you depend upon your own human works, your good deeds?

Many people believe good deeds are the basis of salvation. This Satan-inspired lie has been perpetrated by all manner of confused people and religious organizations, including so-called evangelicals…

…God will not mention the unbeliever’s sins at the Last Judgment. The law of double jeopardy must be applied—you cannot be tried twice for the same crime. Since every sin has already been judged at the cross (1 Pet 2:24), and since Christ will be the judge at the Last Judgment (John 5:22), He cannot mention that which has already been judged…

…Notice that unbelievers who have been resurrected, called the “dead,” are judged according to their works, not according to their sins. In this context works does not connote personal sin because the sins of all humanity were imputed to Christ at the cross and have already been judged. Therefore, sins are never the basis for indictment at the Last Judgment. Condemnation of the believer is based solely on human works, the only “good” deeds left open for examination and judgment. Why? When an unbeliever rejects the work of Christ, he has only his good works to rely on as a substitute. These works can never measure up to God’s perfect righteousness…

…all the good deeds in the world will not open the door to heaven….

…If evangelists and pastors are to be accurate they would have to say, “Every good deed that any unbeliever has ever done will be brought up at the Last Judgment to prove that, as good as they might have been, they are not good enough for God. The only work that opens the door of heaven is the work of Jesus Christ on the cross—redemption and unlimited atonement.” The only righteousness that God accepts is His own righteousness…imputed at the point of faith alone in Christ alone (Thieme, The Slave Market of Sin, pp. 20-25).