Judged and punished to a differing degree, according to works?

[Denique Coelum]

I have a question regarding punishment according to works.

C.H. Mackintosh writes that every man will be judged according to his works. This I'm familiar with, it being written on the pages of Scripture. Mr Mackintosh goes on to say that each unsaved person will be judged according to each and every one of their own sins, not just for rejecting Christ as Saviour. This too, I'm familiar with and count as Scriptural.

Mr Mackintosh then goes on to state that there will be a difference in the degrees of judgement and punishment, which came as a great surprise to me. He cites the following Scriptures as the basis for this understanding:

"But that bondman who knew his own lord's will, and had not prepared himself nor done his will, shall be beaten with many stripes; but he who knew it not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. And to every one to whom much has been given, much shall be required from him; and to whom men have committed much, they will ask from him the more." - Luke 12 v 45

"But I say to you, that it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in judgment-day than for you." - Matthew 11 v 22

The writer goes on to say that:

"Are we to suppose that the poor ignorant savage, who has lived and died amid the gloomy shades of heathen darkness, will be found in the same "book," or punished with same severity as a man who has lived and died in the total rejection of the full blaze of gospel light and privilege? Not for a moment, so long as the words "more tolerable" stand on the page of inspiration. The savage will be judged according to his works, and the baptised sinner will be judged according to his works, but assuredly it will be more tolerable for the former than the latter. God knows how to deal with people. He can discriminate, and He declares that He will give to each according to his works."

Miscellaneous Writings of C.H.M.: Pages for the Anxious - C.H. Mackintosh

Before I read that, I thought that hell would be the same hell for everyone, that every unsaved sinner would suffer the same terrible punishment.

I've always been exercised about the fate of those tribes you hear about who're lost in the heart of the Amazonian jungle, never having had contact with other humans. These would be modern-day equivalent of the 'savages' that Mr Mackintosh refers to. I'd always assumed one of the following would be true, that

a) These people would someone be saved through the direct intervention of God in their souls without the need for human missionary contact (something which is possible, and there are known cases of it).

or,

b) They would be excused punishment on Judgement Day because they never heard the gospel and weren't in a position to reject or accept Christ as their Saviour, and thus they would be, like children below the age of responsibility, accorded their own place in heaven.

or,

c) They would be judged and punished along with everyone else who hadn't accepted Christ as Saviour, and their fate would be a part of the sad tax of sin on the suffering people of the Earth.

As I say, I'd assumed that one of the above must be true. I'd never so much as thought that they would be punished, but to a lesser degree than those who'd spurned the gospel.

What's your thoughts on this?

 

[handy]

There is also this:

Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.†Acts 17:29-31

And I'll throw in John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."

I believe that for those who are born, live and die without ever hearing of the gospel (I think of a distant ancestor of mine who lived 1000 years bc in the wilds of Ireland) there is hope. Not a firm, assurance of salvation that we who have embraced the Gospel of the Lord, no...but most certainly hope. As Paul says, God overlooks the times of ignorance.

Often John 14:6 is used to say that all who die without confessing a belief in Christ will go to hell. However, Jesus didn't say that...rather He said that no one goes to the Father but through Him. He is the Judge...the Gateway. But, as John 1:17 states, "For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ."

Grace is Christ's biggest "trump card". His judgements will be just and merciful. He will be able to look into the heart of my great-great² grand-pappy and see whether he was one who recognized, even if he didn't fully understand, God's invisible attributes, eternal power and divine nature through His creation. And, if he did recognize the Divine, how did he then respond. I believe that will be what our Lord will base His judgements on.

I used to worry about this as well. Now I don't. I'm confident that Jesus will judge the ignorant with mercy and grace.

 

[Bonairos]

"Grace is Christ's biggest "trump card". His judgements will be just and merciful. He will be able to look into the heart of my great-great² grand-pappy and see whether he was one who recognized, even if he didn't fully understand, God's invisible attributes, eternal power and divine nature through His creation. And, if he did recognize the Divine, how did he then respond. I believe that will be what our Lord will base His judgements on."

Amen, Amen, Amen.

Exactly. "How did he then respond . . ."



Be blessed, Stay blessed, and be Bold!

 

[Denique Coelum]

Thanks for your response, handy, very helpful. So, do you think that the ignorant will be punished? After all, they haven't come to the Father through Jesus, and by what other way is there? In essence, will your unenlightened ancestor spend eternity in heaven, or in hell?

 

[handy]

So, do you think that the ignorant will be punished? After all, they haven't come to the Father through Jesus, and by what other way is there?

But, if Jesus shows them unmerited grace and mercy and forgives them their ignorance, they will have come to the Father through Jesus. ;)

As for my unenlightened ancestor, there is no way for me to know where he will spend eternity. It must be something that can only be known by Christ and His perfect and holy, yet merciful judgements.

However, I do have hope for him. I'm not going to consign him to eternal hell...I have no way of know for sure that it what is in store for him.

Some might say (and indeed have)...well, if by ignorance one can enter into heaven...then isn't it better to remain ignorant...aren't the missionaries actually doing a bad thing, enlightening people to their guilt and sin?

My answer to that is: Certainly there is hope for those who live and die fully ignorant of the Gospel of Christ...But, what a wonderful thing it is to not just hope, but have the assurance of salvation in Christ! While I hope for my great-great granddad...I am fully at peace regarding my husband, my children and my own eternal life, because we walk in the light of the Gospel...a far superior and far more secure status.

 

[Denique Coelum]

But, if Jesus shows them unmerited grace and mercy and forgives them their ignorance, they will have come to the Father through Jesus. ;)

That's true! But... what will their stripes consist of? The verses in Luke would suggest that the ignorant will still be punished? Have I been misconstruing scripture and Mr Mackintosh by assuming that they will be punished in hell?

As for my unenlightened ancestor, there is no way for me to know where he will spend eternity. It must be something that can only be known by Christ and His perfect and holy, yet merciful judgements.

However, I do have hope for him. I'm not going to consign him to eternal hell...I have no way of know for sure that it what is in store for him.

How true... there's so much we don't know, but we live in hope regarding our which is absent from the life of the unbeliever. One of our many blessings, for sure!

Some might say (and indeed have)...well, if by ignorance one can enter into heaven...then isn't it better to remain ignorant...aren't the missionaries actually doing a bad thing, enlightening people to their guilt and sin?

My answer to that is: Certainly there is hope for those who live and die fully ignorant of the Gospel of Christ...But, what a wonderful thing it is to not just hope, but have the assurance of salvation in Christ! While I hope for my great-great granddad...I am fully at peace regarding my husband, my children and my own eternal life, because we walk in the light of the Gospel...a far superior and far more secure status.

Again, how wonderfully true! Blessed assurance, what a delight to the soul, and one of many which we enjoy. It's wonderful to think that while we enjoy this huge degree of peace in life, how infinitely much more it'll be in the eternal day! And that thought increases our peace.

 

[for_his_glory]

This is something I always wondered about as we have TV, radio, internet and actual Churches all over the world and that truly gives no one an excuse that they never heard the word of God, but what about those that live in hidden seclusion that have never had contact with anyone outside their own village like tribes in India, Africa etc. etc. as new tribes are discovered all the time, but even some of them are unapproachable until you win their trust. If they are never approached with the word of God and have never known what sin is are they even sinning for it was by the law that revealed our sins, but if they are ignorant to sin are they still separated from God or does God have grace on them.

 

[Webb]

Said Jesus: "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned" Mk.16:15,15.

Why the devine command to go preach the gospel if the heathen or anyone can be saved without the gospel? Its time we began to take Jesus at face value for what He says. What worries me is not so much those who have not yet heard, but those of us who have heard and do nothing to preach it to every creature. Then it concerns me that some who do go, go with a false gospel. The reality is, it places a great burden on those who have the gospel and do very little if anything about it.

 

[Denique Coelum]

This is something I always wondered about as we have TV, radio, internet and actual Churches all over the world and that truly gives no one an excuse that they never heard the word of God, but what about those that live in hidden seclusion that have never had contact with anyone outside their own village like tribes in India, Africa etc. etc. as new tribes are discovered all the time, but even some of them are unapproachable until you win their trust. If they are never approached with the word of God and have never known what sin is are they even sinning for it was by the law that revealed our sins, but if they are ignorant to sin are they still separated from God or does God have grace on them.

That's precisely the question I have, for_his_glory. I think that what handy has said has gone most of the way towards answering it, for me at least.

There's no doubt that when or if these tribes are contacted, they could well be unapproachable. I imagine that it takes an immense amount of wisdom to be a missionary to these parts of the world. I came across an interesting quote recently, which isn't entirely 'on topic', but it's quite interesting. It's the words of 19th century British mission founder Robert Moffat, speaking about the mission in Africa:

"[There have been] no conversions, no enquiring after God; no objections raised to exercise our powers in defence. Indifference and stupidity form the wreath on every brow; ignorance - the grossest ignorance - forms the basis of every heart. Things earthly, sensual and devilish, stimulate to motion and mirth, while the great concerns of the soul's redemption appear to them like a ragged garment, in which they see neither loveliness nor worth... We preach, we converse, we catechize but without the least apparent success. Only satiate their mendicant spirits by perpetually giving and you are all that is good. But refuse to meet their endless demands, their theme of praise is turned to ridicule and abuse."

Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World - Niall Ferguson

That's a very sad account (and somewhat bitter too, possibly), but, as the author notes further on in the book:

"Today Livingstone [, Africa], with a population of just 90,000, has no fewer than 150 churches, making it surely one of the most evangelized places on earth. And this is only one small town in a continent where millions of people today embrace Christianity. Africa is in fact a more Christian continent than Europe. There are now, for example, more Anglicans in Nigeria than in England."

How amazing it is to observe divine operations in the same people whose indifference frustrated the 19th century missionaries! I've no doubt that God's word will penetrate every corner of the globe. Maybe not quickly enough in our own limited view, but I'm sure it'll happen.

 

[Denique Coelum]

Said Jesus: "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned" Mk.16:15,15.

Why the devine command to go preach the gospel if the heathen or anyone can be saved without the gospel? Its time we began to take Jesus at face value for what He says. What worries me is not so much those who have not yet heard, but those of us who have heard and do nothing to preach it to every creature. Then it concerns me that some who do go, go with a false gospel. The reality is, it places a great burden on those who have the gospel and do very little if anything about it.

That's so true, Webb. We have such a responsibility, and I know myself that I don't discharge it often enough.

A young friend of mine (well, I say young, I'm young myself, but he's a teenager) said something to me that I'll never forget. He said, "What if we knew that the Lord was coming today or tomorrow? We wouldn't be going around pleasing ourselves, we'd rush out onto the street and grab the first person we came across and preach the gospel to them!" How true that is! We don't know when the Lord will come, but we might only have a few days, hours or minutes left. Time is so precious, and the message we've been entrusted with is so vital!

 

[for_his_glory]

James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

The more I thought about it the more this verse was impressed in me. This is what God calls pure religion and who are we to say whether or not those who have never heard the word of God are not that of this pure religion undefiled by the teachings of a false gospel that so many love to preach.

I know Jesus said he is the only way to the Father and I believe this with all my heart, but what about the time before Christ, the only thing they had was God himself speaking through His prophets, but even all the prophets could not reach every remote areas in the world, just like today as no one knows every remote area.

For instance, all these tribes that are hidden from the world I believe could be that of Gods pure religion as they are not defiled by man, but are that of God as they are kept from the world unto the day of the Lords return. Could it be that they are protecting that of what God gave them through the promises of a land filled with milk and honey as the same as the Israelite protected that of what God gave them. I believe if they are found then it is Gods calling on them to be found and if they are not found then maybe God is keeping them hidden.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Bonairos]

". . . but what about those that live in hidden seclusion that have never had contact with anyone outside their own village like tribes in India, Africa etc. etc. as new tribes are discovered all the time . . . "

Perhaps Romans 1:18-21 could shed some light.

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened."


Back to Handy's post. "How did he then respond . . . "



Be blessed, Stay blessed, and be Bold!

 

[Webb]

James 1:27 is certainly necessary as well as anything else God has stated necessary for salvation. However many have practised Jas.1:27 without giving heed to anything else, such is not the whole duty of man.