"According to What He Has Done"

This is a follow-up to the last blog I wrote (Are You Prepared for the Judgment Seat of Christ?). In that blog, I point out that everyone has an appointment to stand before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). That includes Christians. We are to be judged for our works (Revelation 22:12), and God has already chosen the works He desires each person to do. But not all works that we consider to be ‘good works’ find their source in Him (Matthew 7:22-23). Remember, James warned that even something as religious as prayer can be twisted into something unwanted by God (You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures [James 4:3]).

How can we know that the things we do on behalf of God are those which He “prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Ephesians 2:10)? There are three questions we can ask ourselves to bring clarity:

1) Is this work initiated as an act of obedience to Scripture?

2) Will God be honored and glorified by this deed (without saying so)?

3) Does it reflect mercy?

If we look to Jesus in the Gospels as our example (and we must), then we see that all the works He did basically fell into two categories:

1) Works that demonstrated His sovereignty over the natural order.

2) Works that revealed God’s mercy to those in need.

Walking on water (Matthew 14:25), commanding a storm to instantaneously cease (Matthew 8:24-26), and raising the dead (Mark 5:38-42; Luke 7:11-15; John 11:38-44) are examples of the former. Restoring wellness and dignity to those in need (spiritually and physically) are examples of the latter. These works range from restoring sight to the blind to healing for lepers, the bedridden, and those sick with any number of diseases to exorcising demons from the possessed to turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana (the last two are a combination of God’s sovereignty and mercy).

Where does this leave us and the works we will be judged for on “that day”? Let’s focus on works that reveal God’s mercy to those in need since only a handful of people in the Bible were able to affect the natural order of the world (like Moses, Elijah, and a few of the apostles).

There are two kinds of works of mercy:

1) Passive

2) Aggressive

All of the healings of Jesus in the Gospels are examples of works of passive mercy. By that, I mean it was mainly an interaction between Jesus and another person or group of people (like the 10 lepers). No one else was really involved. Healing the blind or those with withered limbs had no worldly impact on others besides their opinion of Him for doing it.

Acts of aggressive mercy, however, often affect others and their lot in this life. When Jesus cast the Legion of demons from the demon possessed man in Mark 5 into a herd of pigs the man was mercifully restored to wholeness but the herdsmen of the pigs (which numbered about 2,000) were impacted because the pigs immediately rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea (Mark 5:13). A herd of 2,000 of any kind of animal is a big herd representing a large financial investment. It was gone in a moment. That’s probably why Jesus was quickly asked to depart from their region (Mark 5:17). Mercy to one came at the expense of another. Aggressive mercy.

In Psalm 23:5-6, David writes,

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

God’s mercy to David is the banquet prepared for him. It comes at the expense of his enemies being forced to witness David’s justification. This is fulfilled in Revelation 19 as we read of the marriage supper of the Lamb, which is immediately followed by the return of Christ to destroy His and His bride’s enemies. Again, aggressive mercy.

Keep in mind that Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:10 that when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, it will be so that each person is recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

The only way a work of mercy could be deemed ‘bad’ before the throne would be if it was done for selfish reasons (to be noticed, thanked, rewarded, etc.). We have so many opportunities to do acts of mercy (because God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them). Concerning the passive acts of mercy, one only needs to read Matthew 25:31-46.

I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me (verses 35-36).

Has anyone lived without being given the opportunity to personally interact with people in need as listed above? Isn’t it easy to be confronted with those in need and say, “That’s what welfare is for. That’s what the Salvation Army is for. That’s what church food pantries are for. That’s what Goodwill thrift stores are for. That’s why we pay the pastor. That’s what prison ministries are for.”?

What we may not realize is that God planned that personal interaction between us and the needy long before we were even born. And we punted. We made it somebody else’s responsibility. We just threw a little money at it in the offering plate or made a donation somewhere. I can’t imagine Jesus being very pleased with how we handled those passive acts of mercy.

What about what I have been calling aggressive acts of mercy? In Ephesians 5, Paul writes about exposing the unfruitful deeds of darkness (5:11). He then goes on to say that when the darkness is exposed to light, something wonderful happens:

Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you (v. 14).

He would know, wouldn’t he? Wasn’t it the light of God’s mercy that shone on him on the way to Damascus to persecute Christians? And didn’t he awake from the darkness that he was in? And didn’t his conversion infuriate the Jewish leaders?

When we expose unbiblical sexuality to the light of Scripture (premarital sex, adultery, homosexuality, trafficking, etc.), the repercussions to those promoting the darkness are negative, but those who embrace the light find deliverance. Aggressive mercy.

Or consider Jude who admonished the recipients of his epistle to contend earnestly for the faith (v. 3). He then spent the majority of his letter calling out ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (v.4). But by calling them out he concludes with the hope of what doing so will accomplish:

And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh (verses 22-23).

Again, aggressive works of mercy.

When Jesus returns, it will be to render to every man according to his work (Revelation 22:12).

Our first work is to believe in Him (John 6:28-29). Thereafter, it is to do works of mercy. What works will you be “recompensed” for when Christ returns?

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy (Matthew 5:7).

Show Comments

Please Note: We moderate all reader comments, usually within 24 hours of posting (longer on weekends). Please limit your comment to 300 words or less and ensure it addresses the content. Comments that contain a link (URL), an inordinate number of words in ALL CAPS, rude remarks directed at the author or other readers, or profanity/vulgarity will not be approved.