Revelation 14:13 tells us that the deeds done by God’s saints (that is, those ‘in Christ’) will ‘follow them’ into eternity. The produce of this labour and effort on Earth is a product of the common and special grace at work in the believer, translated into the hereafter. Kuyper raises the question of what this means for little ones who die before any possible effort is possible? He answers that it is coherent with his other gracious workings that the Lord will supply the deficit for them and suggests that judgement will be in accord with the time of personal formation afforded. Kuyper cites the parables of the Workers in the Vineyard and of the Rich Man and Lazarus in support of the idea that “the least fortunate on earth” will not “in eternity perpetually lag behind”. So he envisions a twofold path of natural giftedness and effort / sweating and provision. Either way, things get produced and the ‘work’/ fruit / profit follows the saints of God, thus explaining how those with short or long earthly existences both receive reward. Kuyper evidences a Protestant understanding of the receipt of full sanctification as a gift, saying “at death he cuts away sin from our heart once and for all and in this way completes our sanctification.”
Light in Public Life
