Season 5 Podcast 8 Argument for the Existence of God, Episode 23, “Judged by Works.” The question is, what role do works have in the great plan of salvation? The purpose of this podcast is to explain the purpose of works.  First of all, what are works?  Works are obedience or disobedience to the commandments of God. All good works fall under the two great commandments: Love the Lord with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. Good works are an illustration of that love for God and man.  Evil works are an illustration of hate for God and man.In a nutshell, one could assert that works are the conditions placed upon the law of mercy by the law of justice. In fact, it could be said that one of the primary purposes of the Holy Scriptures is to define the conditions placed on the law of mercy by the law of justice, thus making it our choice whether we obey the commandments of God or not.  The very existence of the Holy Scriptures is a testimony of the vast effects of the atonement of Christ. Without Christ, there would be no conditions. Without the law of mercy, or the atonement of Christ, the scriptures would simply say, “Go to hell.  Go directly to hell. Do not pass goal.  Do not collect $200.”We must ask the obvious question, if we are saved by grace, what do the scriptures mean when they say that we are judged by our works? Let’s read Revelation 20:12-15.“12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Every law of Christ holds our agency sacred.  Nothing signifies this more than the fact that we are saved by grace but judged according to our works. So, we will all be resurrected and judged for our works, that is the gift of grace. That means that everything we do on earth matters.  We know that works can’t save us, but good works can reward us, and evil works can condemn us.If we take the extraordinary scripture above by John literally, proposition by proposition, assertion by assertion, we get a clearer understanding of justice and mercy, heaven and hell.  Proposition 1“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God”Everyone will stand before Christ to be judged. No low position makes one invisible; no high position makes one exempt. All are equal before Christ.Proposition 2“And the books were opened”This refers to the Holy Scriptures, written by apostles and prophets. It is from those books which contain the laws or commandments of God that we will all be judged. They are the conditions placed on the law of mercy.  Conditions give us agency and freewill. In effect only the commandments of God give us agency and freewill.Proposition 3“And another book was opened, which is the book of life.”We have the Holy Scriptures on earth written by the true prophets of God. The book of life, however, is kept by the angels in heaven and contains the names of those who are not sons of perdition and, therefore, qualify for the grace of Christ based on the conditions made possible by the atonement.

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