Our Works in the Judgment.
By J. N. Andrews
“For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Eccl. 12:14. “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” Matt. 16:27. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” 2 Cor. 5:10. “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Rev. 20:12. We have in these passages a distinct idea of the nature of the Judgment of the great day. That Judgment will make an investigation of our conduct, and the decision will be in accordance with the facts of our history. We learn that our works are written in the books of God, and that all these works, whether good or bad, whether open or secret, will be brought into the Judgment, and that the decision will be according to the things written in the books. These facts ought to make us walk circumspectly before God. But it is generally thought that we may be saved by faith without works, and by grace without obedience. Thus when we urge men to obey God they often taunt us by saying: You expect to be saved by your good works, but we are saved by grace. But these persons seem never to ask, How do I know that the grace of God saves me? They conclude that grace saves them because they profess faith in Christ. Yet they are not careful to obey God. They are as likely to sell a poor article as though it were a good one as are their neighbors who do not pretend to be Christians. They are as likely to neglect the poor, and even to oppress them, as are many who do not profess the religion of Christ. In their lives may be seen anger, impatience, envy, jealousy, and covetousness. Yet these persons are saved by grace, and they think they should dishonor the grace of God if they attempted to obey God, because it would show that they do not trust in the grace of God for salvation, but are trying to add to that grace the merit of their good works. The capital error of these persons consists in the idea that the grace of God can dwell in the heart without manifesting itself in our acts. In their estimation the difference between a saint and a sinner is that one professes to be a Christian and the other frankly acknowledges that he is not such. But of what value is the grace of God if it does not change our character? And how can it change our character without changing our conduct? If grace has saved us, will not our neighbors be able to see that we are new creatures in Christ? If we have put off the old man, and put on the new man, will not our conduct be entirely changed? But these persons say: “God accepts us because we have faith in Christ.” But does this faith produce good works? Does it cause you to obey God? Do you read his word to learn your duty, and then hasten to obey? Do you study the life of Christ to learn his example, and then do you follow carefully in his steps? 1 Pet. 2:21. To this they always answer: We do not expect to be saved by our good works; Christ has done all for us, and we are saved by him. Alas! what words can ever awaken these persons from the deception of Satan, and from the sleep of sin? Christ says to this very class: “And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Luke 6:46-49. St. Paul says of Christ: “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” Heb. 5:9. And St. James says to those who excuse their disobedience under pretense of faith in Christ: “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” James 2:20. If such passages fail to alarm these sinners in Zion, we call their attention to the following impressive fact: Faith will cease when we behold the Son of God coming to the Judgment, for it will then be changed to sight. And it is of special importance to notice that in the Judgment our works are to be examined, but not our faith. In every passage it is said that we shall be judged according to our works, and never in one is it said that we shall be judged according to our faith. But when the Judge shall ask these persons what were their works as Christians, their answer must be: We believed in Christ. When he shall further demand, Did you obey the Saviour in whom you professed to believe? they can only answer so far as to say: We made profession that we were his disciples. But, says the Judge: Did you obey his precepts? Have you repented of your sins? Have you been careful to restore to others what you have taken from them by fraud or falsehood? Have you denied yourself of ungodliness and worldly lusts? Have you really sought to imitate the life of Christ? Have you possessed your soul in patience? Have you walked humbly with God in keeping his commandments? And the answer must be: We have never thought these disagreeable things to be necessary. We were saved by grace, and certainly that was enough. But, says the Judge: If you had been saved by grace that grace would have manifested itself in all the things which I have enumerated. This inquiry into your conduct is simply that it may appear whether it was grace or sin that reigned in you during your life. Though you were a mortal man exposed to temptation, and always in danger of falling into sin, it was your privilege always to repent and to find pardon through the blood of Christ. And it was always your privilege to advance in the grace of Christ and in the love of God. Alas! that you had a name to live and were dead. Let us bring this subject home to ourselves. Two questions will test us most severely: 1. What have you done? 2. Why did you do it? Let us suppose that in answer to the first question the history of our lives shall show that we have apparently led lives of obedience to God. Thus we have manifested much zeal for Christ; we have given much money to sustain his work; we have given much to relieve the poor; we have endured much suffering in his cause, and said much to induce others to become Christians. This will be a noble record if it shall appear that we did it to glorify God and to save men. But the Judge will ask, Why have you done these things? And if it shall appear that our real motive was to glorify ourselves and to be counted of men persons of good piety, the Judge will say, You have had your reward. We need every day of our lives to seek God in the most solemn manner. He will convert our inmost souls if we really desire that he should do it. J. N. A.