“Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” John 5:28-29

Not only did God the Father entrust to His Son the power and authority to call the spiritually dead to faith and life through His Word, but He has also entrusted to the Son the power and authority to raise all the dead on the last day and judge them.

We confess this truth about Jesus Christ in the Apostles’ Creed when we say, “He shall come to judge the living and the dead.” And the Bible teaches this throughout.

In Revelation 1:7, we read of the Lord Jesus: “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Yes, amen.”

Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 24: “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other” (Matt. 24:29-31).

In Matthew 25:31ff., Jesus said, “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left …”

And in 2 Corinthians 5:10, we read that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

What does Jesus say will be the basis of His judgment? “Those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”

While this sounds as though Jesus’ final judgment will be entirely based on whether we have done good deeds or bad deeds, we must remember that God’s Word clearly teaches that “there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins” (Eccl. 7:20); that “all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, carry us away” (Isa. 64:6). The Bible tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

St. Paul also lays out this truth in Romans 3:19-20 when he says, “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are in the Law, so that every mouth may be shut and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”

So, how can we be made acceptable to God? How can we do works that God accepts as good and righteous in His eyes? The Bible tells us in Colossians 1:21-23: “You were formerly alienated and enemies in mind and in evil deeds, but now He reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach ⁠— if indeed you continue in the faith firmly grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.”

It is through faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross that our sins are washed away and we are counted righteous and holy in God’s eyes. And through faith in Christ, our works are cleansed and made acceptable to God.

It is as Jesus said in His parable of the vine and the vinedresser: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit from itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).

Jesus explains this in his parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:34-46): “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom, which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For 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.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that 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 eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

So, Jesus Himself says that He will judge based on whether we’ve done good or bad. However, no one measures up — even our best works are tainted by sin and are unclean in God’s eyes. But those who trust in Christ have forgiveness for all their sins — their sins will not be held against them. And they have a new birth and a new life. They are born again and trust in Christ by the gracious working of God’s Spirit through His Word and seek to do those things God created them to do (cf. Eph. 2:8-10). Though their good works are still imperfect, God forgives their sins and accepts their works done for Him and counts them perfect in His eyes for the sake of Christ Jesus and His holy life in our stead and His innocent sufferings and death on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for all our sins. Only those who trust in Christ do works counted as good and acceptable in God’s sight.

O Jesus, Son of God, our only source of life and salvation, move us to hear Your voice and repent of our evil ways, looking to You and Your cross in faith for pardon and forgiveness that we may be acceptable in Your eyes and bring glory to Your name by the works You enable us to do. Amen.

Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com

“Verily, verily, I say to you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.” John 5:25-27

While many misunderstand these words of Jesus to be a reference only to His raising of all the dead and His judgment on the last day, Jesus here speaks of the power of His Word to raise up those in spiritual darkness and death to spiritual life.

The Apostle Paul also speaks of this when he wrote to the Ephesians (Eph. 2:1-7): “And you hath he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins; in which in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our manner of life in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath made us alive together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

Jesus pointed out that the hour was coming and now is that the spiritually dead would hear the voice of the Son of God calling them to faith through His Word, and those who hear Jesus calling them to faith in Him and His cross would be raised up from spiritual darkness and death to light and life eternal through faith in His name.

Jesus also told His apostles in Luke 10:16: “He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.”

What are we to make of this? Jesus is calling us with His life-giving Word. When ministers faithfully preach and teach the Word of Jesus, Jesus is speaking through them. He is calling the spiritually dead to faith and life in Jesus through faith in His name.

Of course, not all who read the Bible or hear the words of faithful preachers hear Jesus’ voice calling them to repentance and faith through the Word. Many take His Word lightly and do not take it to heart and believe. They remain dead in their sins and under the wrath of God. But those who hear Jesus’ voice calling on them to repent of their sins and trust in Him and His atoning sacrifice on the cross for pardon and forgiveness are raised up to spiritual life and live — eternally! Cf. John 3:14-18.

Jesus explains: “For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.”

In the same way as God the Father raises people up from spiritual death to spiritual life through His Word, so also God the Son gives life to those who hear His voice and place their faith in Him.

So, not only is Jesus given the authority to be our judge on the last day, He now raises the spiritually dead and gives life — spiritual and eternal — to all who hear His voice calling them to repentance and faith through the Scriptures. And those who hear and heed His voice now will not be condemned in His judgment on the last day because they have “passed from death to life” (John 5:24).

Dear Lord Jesus, open my ears that, when the Bible is read and proclaimed, I may hear Your voice calling me to repent of my sinful ways and look to You and Your cross in faith for pardon, forgiveness, and life everlasting. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the Revised 1833 Webster Version of the Bible.]

“Verily, verily, I say to you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but hath passed from death to life.” John 5:24

While unbelievers, those who do not repent of their sinful ways and look to Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross in faith for pardon and forgiveness, face the condemnation of God’s Son on the Last Day, the day of His coming in judgment, those who hear Jesus’ Word and trust in the promises of God to pardon and forgive the sins of all who trust in Jesus the Messiah and His sacrifice for the sins of the world have every reason to take comfort and rejoice.

Why? Listen to Jesus’ words: “Verily, verily, I say to you …” Jesus is telling us to listen up, for this is absolutely true! “… He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life …”

What does this mean? While all who continue in impenitence and unbelief remain dead in their trespasses and sins and under the wrath of God, those who hear Jesus’ Word and look to Him and His cross in faith have everlasting life!

And of great comfort to sinners like me, they “shall not come into condemnation; but [have] passed from death to life.”

This means that all who trust in Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross will not be condemned on the day of judgment but have passed from death to life — from being dead and under the curse and condemnation of God because of their sins to being alive to God and free of all condemnation because their sins were judged and atonement was made on the cross of Christ.

Jesus said the same thing to Nicodemus in John 3:14-16, 18: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. … He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

If you believe Jesus’ words and trust in Him and His cross for pardon and forgiveness, take comfort! You will not be condemned on the day of judgment but have passed from death to life!

But, if you do not believe Jesus’ words and do not trust in Jesus and His cross for pardon and forgiveness, you stand condemned already because you do not believe in the name of the only-begotten Son of God, your only Savior. Now is the time to repent and look to Jesus for pardon and forgiveness!

Dear Lord Jesus, Son of God and my only hope of salvation, wash away my sins in Your blood, shed on the cross when You made atonement for the sins of the world. Keep me in the true and saving faith that I may not be condemned when You return in judgment but partake of the everlasting joys of heaven for Your sake. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the Revised 1833 Webster Version of the Bible.]

“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” Romans 10:3-4 (Read Romans 10)

The apostle Paul had a sincere desire that his people, the people of Israel, would be saved. He prayed that they, too, would repent and place their hope and confidence in Messiah Jesus and His innocent sufferings and death for the sins of the world.

Paul wrote (Rom. 10:2-3): “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God.”

Why were so many of his fellow Jews not saved? Because they did not know of God’s imputed righteousness for Christ’s sake and sought their own righteousness based upon their obedience to the law. In fact, in their zealous efforts to keep all of God’s commandments and be acceptable to God by their own works, they rejected the perfect righteousness of their Messiah and Savior and failed to place their hope and trust in Jesus, who was crucified for their sins and is risen again in glory.

And this remains an obstacle for so many today, whether Jew or Gentile. People seek to be acceptable to God through their own works and lives and hope they have done enough that God will be satisfied and admit them into the joys of heaven.

What the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob failed to understand in Paul’s day, and what so many fail to grasp today, is that none of us measure up to God’s standard.

Moses wrote of God’s standard in Leviticus 18:5: “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man doeth, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.” The problem is that none of us has kept all of God’s commandments and judgments, and the Scriptures also say: “Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them” (Deut. 27:26); “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Eccl. 7:20); and, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek. 18:20).

None of us measure up. As it is written in Isaiah 53:6: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way …” But Jesus did measure up. He was holy and righteous under God’s law. The Scripture tells us that He “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15); and the Scripture tells us that “the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6).

Because Jesus fulfilled all righteousness for us and then suffered the just punishment for the sins of all when He died on the cross — and He rose again in victory, showing God accepted His perfect sacrifice for sin — the righteousness of God, the only righteousness which avails before Him, is that perfect and imputed righteousness of Jesus the Messiah, received through faith in Him.

The Bible tells us in Romans 3:19-26: “Now we know that whatever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ to all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he may be just, and the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus.”

Indeed Christ Jesus is the end — the fulfillment (telos) — of the law for righteousness to all who believe. Jesus fulfilled all righteousness for us and, through faith in His sufferings, death, and glorious resurrection, God “hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:6-7).

Do we then return to the law for righteousness before God? Never! We hold fast to Christ Jesus and the perfect righteousness which is ours through faith in Him.

Thy righteousness, O Christ, alone can cover me; no righteousness avails save that which is of Thee. To whom save Thee, who canst alone for sin atone, Lord, shall I flee? Amen. (“Thy Works, Not Mine, O Christ,” Horatius Bonar, 1857)

[ Scripture is quoted from the Revised 1833 Webster Version of the Bible.]

Romans 9

From the Revised 1833 Webster Version of the Bible

1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. 3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: 4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertain the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; 5 Whose are the fathers, and from whom according to the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

6 Not as though the word of God hath taken no effect. For they are not all Israel, who are descended from Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. (Genesis 21:12) 8 That is, They who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. (Genesis 18:10) 10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12 It was said to her, The elder shall serve the younger. (Genesis 25:23) 13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. (Malachi 1:1-3)

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? By no means. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. (Exodus 33:19) 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.

17 For the scripture saith to Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18 Therefore he hath mercy on whom he will have mercy , and whom he will he hardeneth. (Exodus 7:3; 9:12, 16)

19 Thou wilt say then to me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it , Why hast thou made me thus? 21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour? 22 What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had before prepared for glory, 24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (Isaiah 64:8; Jeremiah 18:1-6)

Formula of Concord (Triglot, p. 1081, paragraphs 57‐59, 60b, 62, 63; M. p. 716f.): “That one is hardened, blinded, given over to a reprobate mind, while another, who is indeed in the same guilt, is converted again, etc. — in these and similar questions Paul fixes a certain limit to us how far we should go, namely, that in the one part we should recognize God’s judgment. For they are well‐deserved penalties of sins when God so punished a land or nation for despising His Word that the punishment extends also to their posterity, as is to be seen in the Jews. And thereby God in some lands and persons exhibits His severity to those that are His in order to indicate what we all would have well deserved and would be worthy and worth, since we act wickedly in opposition to God’s Word and often grieve the Holy Ghost sorely; in order that we may live in the fear of God and acknowledge and praise God’s goodness, to the exclusion of, and contrary to, our merit in and with us, to whom He gives His Word and with whom He leaves it and whom He does not harden and reject … And this His righteous, well‐deserved judgment He displays in some countries, nations and persons in order that, when we are placed alongside of them and compared with them (quam simillimi illis deprehensi, i.e., and found to be most similar to them), we may learn the more diligently to recognize and praise God’s pure, unmerited grace in the vessels of mercy … When we proceed thus far in this article, we remain on the right way, as it is written, Hos. 13:9: `O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in Me is thy help.’ However, as regards these things in this disputation which would soar too high and beyond these limits, we should with Paul place the finger upon our lips and remember and say, Rom. 9:20: `O man, who art thou that repliest against God?’”

25 As he saith also in Hosea, I will call them my people, who were not my people; and her beloved, who was not beloved. 26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said to them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. (Hosea 1:9-11; 2:23; 1 Peter 2:5-10)

27 Isaiah also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: 28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. 29 And as Isaiah said before, Except the Lord of Hosts had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like Gomorrah. (Isaiah 10:22; 1:9)

30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith. 31 But Israel, who followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. 32 Why? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; 33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. {ashamed: or confounded} (Isaiah 8:14-15; 28:16; 1 Peter 2:5-10)