Justification and Judgment

Here’s an excerpt from Justification and Judgment, Cornelis P. Venema’s contribution to the October issue of Tabletalk

In debates about the doctrine of justification, one of the oft-disputed issues pertains to the relationship between justification and a final judgment according to works. If justification is a definitive verdict in which God declares that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1, emphasis added), what must we make of Scripture’s teaching that believers are subject to a final judgment at the last day? The Westminster Larger Catechism teaches that the righteous will be “openly acknowledged and acquitted” in the day of judgment (Q&A 90). Does this final acquittal of believers require a distinction between two stages in justification: an initial justification that is based on the righteousness of Christ alone and a future justification that is based at least in part on good works? And if such a distinction between two stages in the justification of believers is required, how can we avoid the conclusion that the present justification of believers is suspended on a future event in which God’s justifying verdict depends on works?

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