Judged according to their deeds. By grace we are saved.

Revelation 20 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. ² And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; ³ and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.

⁴ Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. ⁵ The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

⁷ When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, ⁸ and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. ⁹ And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. ¹⁰ And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. ¹³ And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

In Revelation 13:4-8 it says:  So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.   In today’s text it speaks of a one thousand year time period, saying:    Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.  Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.   Just as we do not know the time when these things will take place, it is difficult to know for certain whether the references to time are literal or representative of time in relation to other things. As 2 Peter 3:8 says:  Do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.   Because of the fact that God is eternal, that He exists and operates outside of our finite time, determining those finite times, in relation to His plan and His will, is not as critical as understanding His plan and will itself.    

In 13:8 it says:  All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.   Jesus Christ came to live among people and gave His life as a sacrifice for our sins in a finite period of time. A time which so impacted the finite time of the world that all time is measured from it. We refer to time as B.C. or A.D., two eras separated by the life of Christ. Yet even though He died on the cross in an exact, finite moment in time and in John 19:30 He said:  “It is finished!” That finished work of the cross extends backward and forward in time. Hebrews 10:10 says:  By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.    The finished work of the cross, Jesus saying: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34) was for the sin of Adam and Eve and for the sins of all who came after them up to the time He lived and died. It also is for every sin from that time on, up to now and into the future, once for all sin and once for all time. The finished work of the cross, like God Himself, is outside of our finite time. By faith, all who believe are written in the Book of Life, from the foundation of the world.    

In the text it says:  Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.   That people would be judged according to their deeds seems to contradict what Ephesians 2:8-9 says:    By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  The judgment in Revelation is like the judgment Jesus Himself spoke of in Matthew 25:31-46:     “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy  angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”    The things is though, that none of us will be able to do what is good and right all the time. Even the best of people will fall short. As Romans 3:23 says: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.     So it is not our works or our deeds which save us or condemn us, But rather as Ephesians 2:8-10 says: For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.    Whatever good we do is not the cause of our salvation, but rather it is the result of it. John 3:16 says:  “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”   1 John 4:19 says:  We love, because He first loved us.    The good that we do, the works which God prepared beforehand are in response to His eternal love, the good that we do is evidence of Christ in us.

In Acts 1:7-8 Jesus says:  “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”   We cannot fully understand or comprehend the eternal time of God. All that we can do is live, in this finite time, in faith and grace. We can choose to do the good works God prepared beforehand in response to His great and eternal love. In the end what will matter the most, the deed that we will be judged for, is whether we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the eternal finished work of the cross.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit I believe in and receive the love and grace of the eternal finished work of the cross. Holy Spirit empower me to do the good works God has prepared for me and prepared me for, in response to His great love.  Amen.