Mitigating Unfaithful Works at Christ's Judgment Seat
The concept of mitigating unfaithful works at Christ's judgment seat involves diverse theological perspectives regarding the nature of judgment, the role of works, and the efficacy of divine grace. While some traditions emphasize the impossibility of mitigating unfaithful works once committed, others highlight avenues for divine mercy and forgiveness.
In the Reformed tradition, John Calvin asserts that at the judgment seat, "all these blustering dogmas will behave to disappear" and the true question will be "what ground of defense we can produce" [7]. This perspective underscores the seriousness of judgment and the need for a solid foundation in Christ. Calvin further explains that works become acceptable to God only when they are "received with pardon" and viewed "as in Christ," meaning that "our iniquities are covered with his innocence" [9]. Therefore, works are deemed righteous not by their inherent merit but by their connection to Christ's righteousness [9]. This suggests that unfaithful works cannot be mitigated by human effort but are covered by Christ's atonement for those who are "ingrafted into Christ" [9]. Charles Hodge, another Reformed theologian, emphasizes that faith itself is not a work that procures justification but rather an act of embracing God's mercy and sealing "upon our hearts the righteousness of Christ" [10]. He also notes that true faith involves "supreme love and gratitude to Christ, and the fixed purpose to forsake all sin and to live devoted to his service" [6].
The Anglican tradition, as articulated in the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, states that "Good Works, which are the fruits of Faith, and follow after Justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's Judgement" [12]. However, these works "are pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ" and "spring necessarily out of a true and lively Faith" [12]. This means that while good works do not mitigate past unfaithful actions or earn salvation, they are evidence of genuine faith and are accepted by God through Christ [12]. The Articles further clarify that "Works done before the grace of Christ, and the Inspiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God" and "have the nature of sin" because they do not originate from faith in Christ [13].
Patristic thought, as seen in Augustine, suggests that while God's power is equal in creating righteous beings and making the ungodly righteous, there is "greater mercy in the latter" [8]. This highlights the role of divine mercy in addressing human unrighteousness. Lactantius, another early Christian writer, distinguishes between "trades of the faithful" as "works by the by" and "the worship of God" as their "great work" [11]. This implies that one's primary focus should be on devotion to God, which can influence the nature and acceptance of other actions [11].
The Bible itself provides various insights into the nature of judgment and the possibility of averting divine anger. Torrey's Topical Textbook notes that the "anger of God" is "averted by Christ" for those who believe [1]. Passages like John 3:14-18 and Romans 5:1 are cited to support the idea that faith in Christ leads to the averting of God's wrath [1]. Furthermore, divine anger can be averted "upon confession of sin and repentance" [1], with examples from Job 33:27-28 and Joel 2:12-14 [1]. This suggests that while unfaithful works are serious, there is a path to reconciliation through Christ and genuine repentance. The concept of a good conscience is also emphasized, as seen in 1 Peter 3:16, where believers are encouraged to have a "good conscience" so that those who malign their conduct may be put to shame [5]. Josephus, in Antiquities of the Jews, speaks of the importance of one's "own conscience" in matters of trust, suggesting an internal moral accountability [3].
The New Testament also warns against spiritual blindness, which is described as an effect of sin and unbelief, and a work of the devil that leads to evil [4]. This spiritual state can hinder one from discerning God's will and performing faithful works. Conversely, believers are encouraged to "labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief" [2]. This exhortation implies that ongoing effort and faithfulness are necessary to avoid falling away.
Sources
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Anger of God, The — Averted by Christ -- Lu 2:11,14; Ro 5:9; 2Co 5:18,19; Eph 2:14,17; Col 1:20; 1Th 1:10. Is averted from them that believe -- Joh 3:14-18; Ro 3:25; 5:1. Is averted upon confession of sin and repentance -- Job 33:27,28; Ps 106:43-45; Jer 3:12,13; 18:7,8; 31:18-20; Joe 2:12-14; Lu 15:18-20. Is slow -- Ps 103:8; Isa 48:9; Jon 4:2; Na 1:3. Is righteous -- Ps 58:10,11; La 1:18; Ro 2:6,8; 3:5,6; Re 16:6,7. The justice of, not to be questioned -- Ro 9:18,20,22. Manifested in terrors -- Ex 14:24; Ps 76:6-8; Jer 10:10; La 2:20-22. Manifested in judgments and”
- Hebrews “Hebrews 4:11 (KJV) — Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 8, section 20: of a wall, that may prevent any persons from rolling down and perishing. 38. Let him that has received any thing in trust for another, take care to keep it as a sacred and divine thing; and let no one invent any contrivance whereby to deprive him that hath intrusted it with him of the same, and this whether he be a man or a woman; no, not although he or she were to gain an immense sum of gold, and this where he cannot be convicted of it by any body; for it is fit that a man's own conscience, which knows what he hath, should in a”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Blindness, Spiritual — Explained -- Joh 1:5; 1Co 2:14. The effect of sin -- Isa 29:10; Mt 6:23; Joh 3:19,20. Unbelief, the effect of -- Ro 11:8; 2Co 4:3,4. Uncharitableness, a proof of -- 1Jo 2:9,11. A work of the devil -- 2Co 4:4. Leads to all evil -- Eph 4:17-19. Is consistent with communion with God -- 1Jo 1:6,7. Of ministers, fatal to themselves and to the people -- Mt 15:14. The wicked are in -- Ps 82:5; Jer 5:21. The self-righteous are in -- Mt 23:19,26; Re 3:17. The wicked wilfully guilty of -- Isa 26:11; Ro 1:19-21. Judicially inflicted -- Ps 69:23; Isa 29:10”
- I Peter “I Peter 3:16 (LEB) — But do so with courtesy and respect, having a good conscience, so that in the things in which you are slandered, the ones who malign your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame.”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 68: this sacrament demands should exist in the heart, without producing supreme love and gratitude to Christ, and the fixed purpose to forsake all sin and to live devoted to his service. Our Church, therefore, teaches that it is required of them who would worthily partake of the Lord’s Supper, that they examine themselves, of their knowledge to discern the Lord’s body, of their faith to feed upon Him, of their repentance, love, and new obedience. It is, however, not to be inferred from this that a man must be assured that he is a true believe”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 69: such discussions sitting in their soft chairs under the shade, but when the Supreme Judge shall sit on his tribunal, all these blustering dogmas will behave to disappear. 427 427 French, “Tout ce qu’ils auront determiné ne profitera gueres, ains s’evanouisra comme fumee;”—All their decisions will scarcely avail them, but will vanish like the smoke. This, this I say, was the true question: not what we can fable and talk in schools and corners, but what ground of defense we can produce at his judgment-seat. 2085 16. In this matter th”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 7: Augustine — Homilies on John — ON THE SAME PASSAGE. (part 4): a co-worker in his own eternal salvation and justification? I dare not call for any hurried decision on such a point: let him who can, understand, and let him who can, judge whether it is a greater work to create righteous beings than to make righteous the ungodly. For at least, if there is equal power employed in both, there is greater mercy in the latter, For "this is the great mystery of godliness which was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in th”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 72: maintain), but that they are approved by God as if they were absolutely perfect. If we remember on what foundation this is rested, every difficulty will be solved. The first time when a work begins to be acceptable is when it is received with pardon. And whence pardon, but just because God looks upon us and all that belongs to us as in Christ? Therefore, as we ourselves when ingrafted into Christ appear righteous before God, because our iniquities are covered with his innocence; so our works are, and are deemed righteous, because e”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 73: Mt. 11:28, 29 ). 10. At length, after they have wearied themselves with perverting Scripture, they have recourse to subtleties and sophisms. One cavil is, that faith is somewhere called a work ( John 6:29 ); hence they infer that we are in error in opposing faith to works; as if faith, regarded as obedience to the divine will, could by its own merit procure our justification, and did not rather, by embracing the mercy of God, thereby seal upon our hearts the righteousness of Christ, which is offered to us in the preaching of the go”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 7: Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius — THAT WE MUST NOT PREFER THE AFFAIRS OF THIS LIFE TO THOSE WHICH CONCERN THE WORSHIP OF GOD. (part 1): LXI. But if any one allege the pretence of his own work, and so is a despiser, "offering pretences for his sins," let such a one know that the trades of the faithful are works by the by, but the worship of God is their great work. Follow therefore your trades as by the by, for your maintenance, but make the worship of God your main business; as also our Lord said: "Labour not for the meat which perishes, but for that which end”
- Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (Anglican) “Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (Anglican, 1571), Section 231: Albeit that Good Works, which are the fruits of Faith, and follow after Justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's Judgement; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith; insomuch that by them a lively Faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit.”
- Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (Anglican) “Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (Anglican, 1571), Section 233: Works done before the grace of Christ, and the Inspiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ, neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the School-authors say) deserve grace of congruity: yea rather, for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin.”