October 18, 2024

John 5:28-29
Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves
will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection
of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

Those who search the Scriptures know that the mode of judging at the last day will be entirely according to works. Will men be saved then for their works? No, by no means. Salvation is in every case the work and gift of grace. But the judgment will be guided by our works. It is due to those to be judged, that they should all be tried by the same rule. Now, no rule can be common to saints and sinners, except the rule of their moral conduct, and by this rule shall all men be judged. If God does not find in you any holiness of life whatever, neither will he accept you. “What,” says one, “of the dying thief then?” There was the righteousness of faith in him and it produced all the holy acts which circumstances allowed; the very moment he believed in Christ, he confessed Christ and spoke for Christ, and that one act stood as evidence of his being a friend of God, while all his sins were washed away. May God grant you grace so to confess your sins and believe in Jesus, that all your transgressions may be forgiven you. There must be some evidence of your faith. Before the assembled host of men there shall be no evidence given of your faith fetched from your inward feelings, but the evidence shall be found in your outward actions. It will still be, “I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.” Take heed, then, as to practical godliness, and abhor all preaching which would make sanctity of life to be a secondary thing. We are justified by faith, but not by a dead faith: the faith which justifies is that which produces “holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”

C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 1) (Day One Publications, 1998)
Scripture for opening text taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.