Jo 5:24-29 implies 2 ways to God's Grace: election & works

[Alfred Persson]

[FONT=&quot]There are two access points to God's Grace: [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1)via election (Eph 1:4ff; 2:7ff; Rom 8:28ff) [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2)via a judgment according to works (John 5:28f; Mat 25:33-40; Rom. 2:6-11; Rev 20:11-15).[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]5 ...the righteous judgment of God,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] 6 who "will render to each one according to his deeds":[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] 8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness-- indignation and wrath,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] 10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] 11 For there is no partiality with God. (Rom 2:5-11 NKJ)[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]We see both access points to God's Mercy in John 5:24-29. The church (elect) saved by grace not works---have passed over from death into life in verse 24 "and shall not come into judgment"; therefore verses 28-29 are NOT about the church, they are about the intermediate and wicked, who are judged according to their works.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]25 "Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]26 "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]27 "and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]28 "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]29 "and come forth-- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot](Joh 5:24-29 NKJ)[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The judgment according to works is a "low bar" the non elect hurdle to indicate they love light, not darkness...so even if they are ignorant of Christ's relationship to light (cp Mat 25:34-40; John 3:19-21), God can then save them by undeserved grace just as He did the elect, and therefore God is innocent of the charge of partiality. All are saved by the same undeserved grace, the same vigorous action that saved the elect, was also expended to save the non elect, if they did the equivalent of those who believed in Christ...acted in such a manner as to indicate love of light.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]In other words, the NT organizes humanity under three categories, the righteous, the unrighteous and the intermediate or middling. They are average sinners of uncertain loyalty. Generally speaking, these three classes were carried forward into the NT from the Judaism of the time. Paul's instructor (Ac 22:3) Gamaliel presided over the school or "Beth" Shammai around 30 A.D. our LORD Jesus while counseling a scribe called some oral tradition relevant "treasure":[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]52 Then He said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old." (Mat 13:52 NKJ) [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] The House of Shammai say, “[There will be] three groups on the Day of Judgment [when the dead will rise]: one comprised of the thoroughly righteous, one comprised of the thoroughly wicked, and one of middling [people]. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][C] “The thoroughly righteous immediately are inscribed and sealed for eternal life. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][D] “The thoroughly wicked immediately are inscribed and sealed for Gehenna, [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][E] “as it is written [Dan. 12:2]: ‘And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to eternal life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.’ [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][F] “Middling [people] go down to Gehenna [17a], scream [in prayer], and rise [again], [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][G] “as it is written [Zech. 13:9]: ‘And I will put this third into the fire and refine them as one refines silver and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them.’ [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][H] “And, concerning this group, Hannah said [1 Sam. 2:6]: ‘The Lord kills and brings to life. He brings down to Sheol and raises up.’ ”- Neusner, Jacob: The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation and Commentary. Peabody, MA : Hendrickson Publishers, 2011, S. 6 [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]This existence of the intermediate group saved by grace via works destroys the logical corollary where unconditional election to life for some results in the non-elect receiving positive or negative reprobation, BECAUSE then that is a false dilemma; It does not follow those not selected unto life then must die, for there is a way to God's Grace via a judgment of works. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]In other words, the three groups manifest in John 5:24, 28-29 show there are two ways to God's Grace by which men are saved:[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The church (elect) saved by grace, not works, pass over from death into life in verse 24 "and shall not come into judgment", therefore verses 28-29 are NOT about the church, they are about the intermediate and wicked, who are judged according to their works.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]25 "Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]26 "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]27 "and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]28 "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]29 "and come forth-- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.(Joh 5:24-29 NKJ)[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Works save no one. If a person's works indicate love light not darkness; then God can save them by grace, write their names in the book of life because God is merciful, not because their works merited it:[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.(Rev 20:11-15 NKJ)[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The church is not being judged in Rev 20:11-15, its a resurrection of the dead who failed to believe in this life. The church was already raised up in the first resurrection/rapture long ago (Revelation 20:4-6; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-58; John 5:24; Mat 24:29-31; Rev 14:14-16 and served with Christ in His Kingdom as kings and priests. This is a judgment (1000 years later) according to works as it plainly says, and if their works prove they love light, God saves them by grace.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]That is why the book of life is open, to see if their names should be added to those "written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world." (Rev 17:8 NKJ) Names can be added (Mal 3;16-18) or deleted (Rev 3:5-6) from the book of life.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Because apart from incarnate God the Eternal Son---Jesus Christ, who analogically sold all He owned as infinite God in Heaven to serve the Father (Phil 2:6ff), no human can do enough works to merit God's kingdom, therefore all are saved by grace.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]WHAT is the practical effect of all this?[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Billions now living may never die; and there is hope the vast majority of dead humankind will rise up into life, only the Devil's children and those who sinned eternally in this life, will be eternally punished.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] 31 "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] 32 "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. (Mat 12:31-32 NKJ)[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Billions will be saved:[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] 5 Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] 6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. (Gen 15:5-6 NKJ)[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations… saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!... "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.[/b] (Rev 7:9-14 NKJ) [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Chronologically speaking, the "Great Tribulation" is a short period of time (Dan 12:1 lxx; Mat 24:15-31; Mar 13:14-27), if we cannot number these how much less can be number all the saved from every generation of mankind?[/FONT]

 

[Drew]

I politely disagree with your position, at least as I understand it. My basic position, shamelessly based on the thinking of the theologian NT Wright, is this:

1. As Romans 2 asserts, there will indeed be a "good deeds" judgement at which all mankind will stand, with eternal life at stake. So, yes, final salvation is based on good deeds (for all people). HOWEVER:

2. The only people who will be able to produce saving good works are those who are being regenerated by the action of the Holy Spirit. And since this Spirit is given on the basis of grace through faith alone, it is effectively the case that salvation is by faith alone.

3. No one is saved by "moral self-effort" - only believers with the Spirit will be saved. But Paul means what he says in Romans 2 - there will be a universal judgement at which salvation will be given on the basis of good works.