Perfection of Saved People at Final Judgement
The concept of perfection for saved individuals at the final judgment is rooted in the ultimate consummation of God's redemptive plan, where believers are fully conformed to the image of Christ [4]. This final state is often understood as the complete realization of salvation, which includes the resurrection of the body and soul in perfect union [9].
The New Testament speaks of a future perfection that believers "received not" in their earthly lives, referring to the "final completion of 'salvation' promised at Christ's coming again" [1]. This ultimate blessedness, encompassing both body and soul, awaits the full number of the elect [1]. The process of salvation, initiated by an effectual call, culminates in glorification, where believers are fully transformed [4].
Scholastic theology, as seen in Thomas Aquinas, suggests that a perfect judgment cannot be passed on any changeable subject before its consummation [6]. This implies that the full and final assessment of humanity, and thus the complete state of the saved, occurs at the end of time, when all actions and their results are complete [6].
Reformed theology emphasizes that this perfection is a supernatural work of God, not a gradual natural process [10]. Charles Hodge argues that while moral excellence is often gradual, the final change from imperfection to perfect moral excellence at death or the resurrection is a sudden, divine act, akin to Christ instantly healing a leper [10]. This final state is not achieved by human power but is entirely "of Christ," who raises the dead and lives in them [5]. The intrinsic worth of Christ's satisfaction means that those who believe are no longer condemned by God's law and are entitled to divine fellowship and favor, leading to their ultimate perfection [7, 8].
The idea of perfection is also found in early Christian writings. Clement of Alexandria speaks of God leading both Greeks and Barbarians "to the perfection which is by faith" [3]. This suggests that faith is the pathway to this ultimate state of completeness. The resurrection itself is tied to this final judgment, as God will judge the works of the body no less than the soul [2]. Thus, the perfection of the saved at the final judgment involves a complete restoration and glorification of the whole person, body and soul, in Christ.
Sources
- Hebrews (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Hebrews 11:39: having obtained a good report--Greek, "being borne witness of." Though they were so, yet "they received not the promise," that is, the final completion of "salvation" promised at Christ's coming again (Heb 9:28); "the eternal inheritance" (Heb 9:15). Abraham did obtain the very thing promised (Heb 6:15) in part, namely, blessedness in soul after death, by virtue of faith in Christ about to come. The full blessedness of body and soul shall not be till the full number of the elect shall be accomplished, and all together, no one preceding the other, sha”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 3: Tertullian — CHAP. XIV.--A SUFFICIENT CAUSE FOR THE RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH OCCURS IN THE FUTURE JUDGMENT OF MAN, IT WILL TAKE COGNISANCE OF THE WORKS OF THE BODY NO LESS THAN OF THE SOUL. (part 2): how He is God, who is neither the Creator, which God is; nor the Lord, which the Creator is. Inasmuch, then, as it is most suitable for the great Being who is God, and Lord, and Creator to summon man to a judgment on this very question, whether he has taken care or not to acknowledge and honour his Lord and Creator, this is just such a judgment as the resurrection shall achieve. The en”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 2: Hermas, Tatian, Theophilus, Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria — CHAP. II.--THE SON THE RULER AND SAVIOUR OF ALL. (part 5): who believes not is without excuse. For by a different process of advancement, both Greek and Barbarian, He leads to the perfection which is by faith.[2] And if any one of the Greeks, passing over the preliminary training of the Hellenic philosophy, proceeds directly to the true teaching, he distances others, though an unlettered man, by choosing[3] the compendious process of salvation by faith to perfection. Everything, then, which did not hinder a man's choic”
- Romans (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Romans 8:30: Moreover--"And," or "Now"; explanatory of Rom 8:29 --In "predestinating us to be conformed to the image of His Son" in final glory, He settled all the successive steps of it. Thus whom he did predestinate, them he also called--The word "called" (as HODGE and others truly observe) is never in the Epistles of the New Testament applied to those who have only the outward invitation of the Gospel (as in Mat 20:16; Mat 22:14). It always means "internally, effectually, savingly called." It denotes the first great step in personal salvation and answers to "c”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 30: it by their own power. Our whole salvation is of Christ. Those who are in the grave hear his voice. They are raised by his power. And when they live it is He who lives in them. This is the doctrine which our Lord Himself so clearly and so frequently teaches, and upon which his Apostles so strenuously insist. St. Paul in the sixth and seventh chapters of his Epistle to the Romans, where he treats of this subject “ in extenso ,” has for his main object to prove that as we are not justified or our own righteousness, so we are not sanctified ”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Third Part (Tertia Pars), Of Christ's Judiciary Prayer, Art. 5: Article: Whether after the Judgment that takes place in the present time, there remains yet another General Judgment? I answer that, Judgment cannot be passed perfectly upon any changeable subject before its consummation: just as judgment cannot be given perfectly regarding the quality of any action before its completion in itself and in its results: because many actions appear to be profitable, which in their effects prove to be hurtful. And in the same way perfect judgment cannot be passed upon any man”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 99: § 2. The Intrinsic Worth of Christ’s Satisfaction. The first point is that Christ’s work was of the nature of a satisfaction, because it met and answered all the demands of God’s law and justice against the sinner. The law no longer condemns the sinner who believes in Christ. Those, however, whom the infinitely holy and strict law of God does not condemn are entitled to the divine fellowship and favour. To them there can be no condemnation. The work of Christ was not, therefore, a mere substitute for the execution of the law, which God in”
- Romans (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Romans 3:26: To declare . . . at this time--now for the first time, under the Gospel. his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus--Glorious paradox! "Just in punishing," and "merciful in pardoning," men can understand; but "just in justifying the guilty," startles them. But the propitiation through faith in Christ's blood resolves the paradox and harmonizes the discordant elements. For in that "God hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin," justice has full satisfaction; and in that "we are made the righteousne”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 1: Clement, Polycarp, Ignatius, Barnabas, Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus — CHAP. VI.--GOD WILL BESTOW SALVATION UPON THE WHOLE NATURE OF MAN, CONSISTING OF BODY AND SOUL IN CLOSE UNION, SINCE THE WORD TOOK IT UPON HIM, AND ADORNED WITH THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, OF WHOM O (part 2): part of a man, as I have already said, or as something else than a man. For that flesh which has been moulded is not a perfect man in itself, but the body of a man, and part of a man. Neither is the soul itself, considered apart by itself, the man; but it is the soul of a man, and part of a man. Neither ”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 76: death? Progress in moral excellence is gradual; as no one becomes thoroughly evil by one act, or in a moment, so, it is said, it is unreasonable to suppose that a sudden change from imperfect to perfect moral excellence takes place at the moment of death. This objection supposes that the salvation of men is a natural process; if it be a supernatural work, the objection has no force. Curing a man of leprosy was a slow process; but when Christ said to the leper “I will 726 be thou clean.” he was healed in a moment. The change which takes pl”