I came across a verse today that I don't recall ever hearing or seeing in the evangelical church. Now, I did read the Bible through when I was younger, so obviously, I read the verse at some point, and I can guess how my evangelical leaders would have interpreted it.

1 Peter 1:17
And if you invoke as Father him who, without respect of persons, judgeth according to every one's work: converse in fear during the time of your sojourning here.

I can guess that the evangelical interpretation is that we are saved by grace (alone), but God judges what we've done as Christians and that determines our place in heaven.

Now, I don't believe they are entirely incorrect. However, from what I understand, as Catholics we believe that, yes, we are saved by grace but that our works count pretty heavily towards our final grade of pass or failing. (A little scholastic humor for the end of the school terms.)

So, I decided to dissect the verse a little.

"Work," in this verse, is the Greek is ἔργον (érgon).

Google AI says:
ἔργον (érgon) is an ancient Greek noun that translates to "work," "deed," "action," or "task". It is deeply rooted in Western philosophy and theology, appearing frequently in classical texts and the New Testament, and serves as the etymological root for modern words like energy, synergy, and ergonomics.

Classical Philosophy (Aristotelianism): In Aristotelian ethics, ergon refers to the characteristic function, task, or ultimate purpose of a thing (e.g., the ergon of a knife is to cut; the ergon of a human being is the rational activity of the soul in accordance with virtue).

Biblical Usage: The word appears 169 times in the Greek New Testament. It is used to describe God's creation, the miraculous works of Jesus, and the ethical "good or evil deeds" of humanity.

Theology of Faith: It famously features in the Pauline epistles and the Epistle of James regarding the relationship between grace, faith, and deeds.

So, to me, the work by which we are judged is more than just "being a good person," or "being a good Christian." It means our PURPOSE as Christians, our contribution to goodness and righteousness. The Greek word's meaning and the usage in Scripture suggest something laborious, real work, not menial or benign, or busywork, or staying occupied with something, but real hard work with accomplishment possible and a driving purpose.

I moved on to the word "judgeth," which is κρίνοντα. Bill Mounce describes it as: to decide, consider, as preferring one thing over another or determining the correctness of a matter; by extension: to judge, pass judgment on, condemn in a legal sense.

This, to me, is more than just deciding the character of someone, but rather a real separating of wheat and chaff. "Condemn in a legal sense" stands on to me because, while one could argue that the verse is talking about those who are already saved by Grace (alone), the judgment of their works is for their position in Heaven, not whether they are going to heaven or hell. However, I don't think it is entirely an either/or matter, but rather a both/and.

The verse goes on to tell us to respect God and respect His judgement, and the seriousness of it by conducting ourselves in fear while we are here on earth. So, that makes what we do on earth a big deal!

The chapter in 1 Peter continues:

Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver, from your vain conversation of the tradition of your father: But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled.

This is where a lot of evangelicals would pause their cause, so to speak. But, something I notice is that they pause here with a sense of satisfaction and "kick-backery." "See? We are saved by faith alone through grace alone. None of this works stuff. It condemns this 'buying your way' into heaven and 'tradition.""

But that's NOT the attitude the verse is trying to convey. In fact, it is conveying the opposite in its condemnation of thinking that we can approach our salvation with such a laid-back attitude of "I did this one thing and now I'm safe."

(Ultimately, "saying the sinner's prayer" has become the "vain conversation of the tradition of your fathers" in evangelicalism. However, I could also point out that the attitude within Catholicism of shoving one's children through the sacraments without actually living out the faith and practicing Catholicism can fall under the same category. Baptized Catholics have gone to hell. Baptized, catechized, confirmed, ordained Catholics have gone to hell.

Faith without works is dead.

The verses emphasize that what we do, how we conduct ourselves means all the more BECAUSE of the precious blood of Jesus and His Holy Sacrifice!

The verses go on:

Foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but manifested in the last times for you, Who through him are faithful in God, who raised him up from the dead, and hath given him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. Purifying your souls in the obedience of charity, with a brotherly love, from a sincere heart love one another earnestly: Being born again not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the word of God, who liveth and remaineth forever.

These verses go on to proclaim the Glory of God and Christ Jesus, again emphasizing why we should take this so seriously and reverently. Our souls are purified in obedience...not in reluctant or mechanical obedience, but, as the verse says, "from a sincere heart love one another earnestly."

Now these last few verses I definitely remember from evangelicalism because they say "born again." But the attitude was definitely a "yay, Jesus did all this for us! We're saved because we believe (and there's nothing more to do)." Of course we were taught to love others, help others, minister to others, but that was just what Christians were supposed to do. There were no teachings on growing in virtue and purifying our souls. We didn't need to purify our souls through obedience in charity because Jesus did all the purifying for us!

But that's not what the verse says! This isn't a proclamation of final victory and time to party. It's a call to action, a battle cry as we sojourn here on earth.

If one reads on in Peter's epistle, he goes on to discuss how we should behave, what we should do, how to grow in virtue, and the sins to cast off and repent.

I don't see these verses as saying we're one and done saved, just wait for Jesus to come back, but rather they reveal not only the reason and importance of the Christian faith walk, but that we have to work at it constantly if we're going to be welcomed into heaven. The epistle speaks of going astray, growing unto salvation.....

Yes, St. Peter is speaking to believers. As our first Pope, he is speaking to the Catholic Church! But he's saying that believing is good, but it is the beginning, not the end.

I could keep going, but my character count is already large, as usual. I'm not posting this to stick a finger in the face of evangelicals, but moreso how reading the Holy Scriptures again as a Catholic I can see the Catholic reason, the Catholic interpretation and it always surprises and excites me.