It is believed by sections of the Christian population,
that all ‘Servants of God’, that is, men and women who have dedicated their
lives to serve God and the Church, and preaching the Gospel to all; have
already won their entry to Heaven.
These, however, are two concepts totally distinct from
each other, and places salvation on a personal meritorious scale, leaving aside
the Atoning Sacrifice of our Lord Jesus for the salvation of our lives.
The idea itself, it is appealing to many. What else
can an average human think of someone who preaches the Gospel, brings to
salvation many lost people, lives according to the commandments of Lord Jesus,
and miracles are performed through them?. The most logical thing would be to
assume that God is with them, and at their moment of their death, their entry
to God’s Presence is guarantee beyond any doubt.
If things are as good as that, it is very probable
that they will be saved as we think, and not only that, rewarded greatly for
their loyalty to God. But nevertheless, we do not know them deeply. We only know
what we see externally.
TWO EXAMPLES
The Scripture has two stories where the characters
were Servants of God, but they ended up in condemnation after all.
Apostle Judas Iscariot is one of them. He was called
by Lord Jesus as an Apostle, one of the selected Twelve (Matthew 10:1-4) who
performed miracles and converted people during his ministry (Luke 10:17-20), but
Scripture speaks of his evil nature even from before he decided to betray his
Lord (John 12:6). Indeed, he ended up losing himself, as Lord Jesus said it
(John 6:70; 17:12).
Another example is in the story of the Judgement of God
to those who prophesied and did miracles and casted demons out of people in the
Holy Name of Jesus, effectively. The story told by Jesus himself, tells us that
even though the power of God, worked through them during these events, they
were condemned due to their unholy lives (Matthew 7:22-23).
WHY
Often, we seem to forget that God saves us through his
Grace, and not because our actions, good or bad. However, this salvation can
only be owned by anyone, through Faith and Repentance (Mark 1:5). This Faith
and Repentance of our sins, brings, according to the Scriptural principles, a
conversion from an ungodly life, to a life in harmony with God (Matthew 3:7-9).
Every time the Bible speaks of ‘salvific faith’, speaks of an obedient faith,
and not only from an intellectual assent (Matthew 7:24-27; 2Corinthians 10:5-6).
Any Christian, in fact all humans, including God’s
Servants, will be judged taking into account their actions, and then, their
Faith and Repentance.
Unbelievers will be judged by their unbelief and bad
actions, and having not ground for forgiveness, they will be irremediably
condemned eternally.
Those who died in Faith and Repentant, will be
judged by their actions, and then absolved of their sins due to their Faith and
Repentance through Lord Jesus atonement.
But those ‘believers’ who have worked for God, but
have died in Faith but unrepentant, they will be judged by their actions, and
since there was no repentance of their bad actions, they will not be forgiven
for their mental ‘faith’, and will be also condemned eternally (Matthew
7:22-23; Revelation 20:12).
EVERYTHING IS GRACE
Lord Jesus said once:
“So you also, when you have done
everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have
only done our duty.”
Luke 17:10
All gifts given to us by God, are given out of his
free will and goodness; and never because we have gained the merits to get one
(1Corinthians 12:11); and that is exactly what the word translated as ‘gifts’,
in Greek, χαρισμάτων, equals to an ‘undeserved favour’ (1Corinthians 12:4).
But the reception of gifts from God, to be used for
his greater Glory in service of his purpose for his Church, has nothing to do
with our own personal moral accountability before God; and we eventually, will
have to answer for our personal behaviour, when none of what we have done for
God will be able to erase our personal guilt.
The problem with the Servants of God of the above
story our Lord spoke about; it was that all of them lived sinfully, not
according to Jesus’s teachings, and worse of all, they in an unrepentant way, tried
to ‘earn’ their entry to Heaven, based on what they had done during their lives
for God. This lack of repentance caused their sins to remain in them, and they
were judged according to their heart’s inclinations, without the opportunity of
late forgiveness.
CONCLUSION
Every man and woman, will be judged morally by God,
through their Faith, Repentance and actions. Since everyone sins, then all humans
will be found short of the Glory of God, and then their faith and repentance
will be taken into account; finding those who believed in Jesus and repented of
their sinful lives before death, forgiven and admitted into paradise; and those
who died in unbelief and unrepentance, or with faith but unrepentant, will not
be acquitted of their sinfulness, and will be condemned equally to Hell Fire;
whether they were simple men, or great Servants of God, during their lives on
Earth.
Omar Flores.
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