Will God Reject the Repentant Sinner at Judgment
The Repentant Sinner at Judgment
The question of whether God will reject the repentant sinner at judgment is addressed in various biblical and theological sources. According to Ezekiel 18:32, God "takes no pleasure in the death of anyone" and desires repentance [5]. This sentiment is echoed in the writings of Tertullian, who notes that God has "engaged to grant pardon by means of repentance" [6].
The biblical basis for this concept is rooted in passages such as Psalm 77:7, which asks, "Will the Lord reject forever? And will He never be favorable again?" [1]. The answer is found in various scriptures that indicate God's willingness to pardon the repentant. For instance, in Jeremiah 3:12-13 and Joel 2:12-14, God promises to forgive those who repent and turn to Him [2].
The Patristic tradition emphasizes God's mercy towards the repentant. Lactantius instructs bishops to "judge with authority like God, yet receive the penitent; for God is a God of mercy" [3]. Tertullian also highlights that repentance is "life," since it is preferred to "death" [6].
In Reformed theology, John Calvin explains that God's will is not changed by human repentance, but rather, God's eternal counsel is to pardon those who repent. Calvin notes that Ezekiel 18:32 means that "God is undoubtedly ready to pardon whenever the sinner turns" [5]. This understanding is also reflected in the Lutheran interpretation of Ezekiel 14:12, which suggests that the righteousness of the godly can avert judgment, but not necessarily for the wicked [4].
However, some traditions caution that certain sins can hinder repentance. Maimonides lists 24 deeds that can hold back Teshuvah, including causing the masses to sin and leading others astray [7]. Similarly, Calvin warns that God may harden the reprobate, whose impiety is not to be forgiven [10].
The Baptist/Reformed tradition, as represented by John Gill, interprets Lamentations 3:30 as indicating that God will not cast off his people forever, although He may seem to do so for a while [9]. This understanding is in line with the idea that God's mercy is available to the repentant.
Ultimately, the biblical and theological sources suggest that God is willing to pardon the repentant sinner. As Tertullian puts it, "To all sins...committed whether by flesh or spirit, whether by deed or will, the same God...has withal engaged to grant pardon by means of repentance" [6]. The condition for this pardon is genuine repentance, which is met with God's mercy and forgiveness.
The concept of God's judgment and mercy is complex, and different traditions offer nuanced understandings. Nevertheless, the overarching theme is that God desires repentance and is willing to forgive those who turn to Him. As Calvin notes, God's procedure may seem to change, but His counsel and will remain unchanged [8]. The repentant sinner can therefore find assurance in God's mercy and forgiveness.
Sources
- Psalms “Psalms 77:7 (NASB) — Will the Lord reject forever? And will He never be favorable again?”
- 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”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 7: Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius — INSTRUCTION AS TO HOW A BISHOP OUGHT TO BEHAVE HIMSELF TO THE PENITENT.: XII. Do thou therefore, O bishop, judge with authority like God, yet receive the penitent; for God is a God of mercy. Rebuke those that sin, admonish those that are not converted, exhort those that stand to persevere in their goodness, receive the penitent; for the Lord God has promised with an oath to afford remission to the penitent for what things they have done amiss. For He says by Ezekiel: "Speak unto them, As I live, saith the Lord, I would not the”
- Ezekiel (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Ezekiel 14:12: The Righteousness of the Godly will not Avert the Judgment The threat contained in the preceding word of God, that if the idolaters did not repent, God would not answer them in any other way than with an exterminating judgment, left the possibility still open, that He would avert the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem for the sake of the righteous therein, as He had promised the patriarch Abraham that He would do in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 18:23.). This hope, which might be cherished by the people and by the elders who had come to the prophet, is ”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 79: his eternal counsel, by which he separated the elect from the reprobate. 506 506 Bernard, in his Sermon on the Nativity, on 2 Cor. 1:3 , quoting the two passages, Rom. 9:18 , and Ezek. 18:32 , admirably reconciles them. Now, if the genuine meaning of the prophet is inquired into, it will be found that he only means to give the hope of pardon to them who repent. The sum is, that God is undoubtedly ready to pardon whenever the sinner turns. Therefore, he does not will his death, in so far as he wills repentance. But experience shows ”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 3: Tertullian — CHAP. IV.--REPENTANCE APPLICABLE TO ALL THE KINDS OF SIN. TO BE PRACTISED NOT ONLY, NOR CHIEFLY, FOR THE GOOD IT BRINGS, BUT BECAUSE GOD COMMANDS IT. (part 1): To all sins, then, committed whether by flesh or spirit, whether by deed or will, the same God who has destined penalty by means of judgment, has withal engaged to grant pardon by means of repentance, saying to the people, "Repent thee, and I will save thee;"[5] and again, "I live, saith the Lord, and I will (have) repentance rather than death."[6] Repentance, then, is "life," since it is preferred to "death." Th”
- Mishneh Torah (Maimonides) (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Mishneh Torah (Maimonides), Mishneh Torah%2C Repentance 4:1: There are 24 deeds which hold back Teshuvah: Four are the commission of severe sins. God will not grant the person who commits such deeds to repent because of the gravity of his transgressions. They are: a) One who causes the masses to sin, included in this category is one who holds back the many from performing a positive command; b) One who leads his colleague astray from the path of good to that of bad; for example, one who proselytizes or serves as a missionary [for idol worship]; c) One who sees his son becoming associated with ”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 33: repentance, the same term applied to God simply means that his procedure is changed. In the meantime, there is no inversion of his counsel or will, no change of his affection. What from eternity he had foreseen, approved, decreed, he prosecutes with unvarying uniformity, how sudden soever to the eye of man the variation may seem to be. 14. Nor does the Sacred History, while it relates that the destruction which had been proclaimed to the Ninevites was remitted, and the life of Hezekiah, after an intimation of death, prolonged, impl”
- Lamentations (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Lamentations 3:30: For the Lord will not cast off for ever. Which is not to be understood of all his creatures; for there are some he does cast off for ever, as the angels that sinned; reprobate men, profligate and abandoned sinners, that live and die impenitent; and unbelievers, carnal professors, and apostates; but not his own special and peculiar people, the people whom he has foreknown and loved with an everlasting love, his spiritual Israel; or, as the Targum supplies it, "his servants"; see Psa 94:14; he may seem for a while to reject them, but not in reality and for ever; a”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 58: them to repentance ( Heb. 6:6 ); that is, God by renewing those whom he wills not to perish, gives them a sign of paternal favor, and in a manner attracts them to himself, by the beams of a calm and reconciled countenance; on the other hand, by hardening the reprobate, whose impiety is not to be forgiven, he thunders against them. This kind of vengeance the Apostle denounces against voluntary apostates ( Heb. 10:29 ), who, in falling away from the faith of the gospel, mock God, insultingly reject his favor, profane and trample unde”