Romans 14:11-12
“For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account on himself to God.”
If anything is certain about the future, there is a judgment according to works for all who live and die. How can anyone who says he believes the Bible claim that works are not required of the Christian when God emphatically declares that they are required of us, even though they do not justify us before Him?
The truth is plain. If a Christian does not work, there will be nothing for God to judge and thus no evidence the person is prepared for His Kingdom. God will not give that person salvation because there will be nothing to verify that he belongs there. The lack of evidence proves he does not belong there! Such a one is not a child of God. A faith that does not work is dead (James 2:17, 20, 26). God is the God of the living, and, according to James 2:22, faith is perfected, brought to completion, by works. Sanctification is necessary as a witness to the Christian’s character as he passes before the judgment seat of Christ.
We need to be sanctified as well as justified. Sanctification requires the works of submission to and cooperation with Almighty God to bring to completion His purpose for us. King David writes in Psalm 16:11, “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures evermore” – a brief snapshot of what life will be like in the Kingdom of God. None can be happy where they are not in their element.
