Rewards!

One of my very dear brothers in the Lord Jesus, the Christ, has been vocally adamant, in the past, that in Glory, we will all be exactly the same. I have begged to differ! The Word of God certainly does so. 

What, I suspect, confuses him - and many others - is the difference between salvation and reward. Salvation is a free gift, that may be received only through our personal faith in the Lord Jesus, and His sacrificial death, on the cross at Calvary, for our sins. Neither you, nor I, can ever earn our salvation; purchase our salvation; or even deserve our salvation! Paul makes this abundantly clear when he writes to the Ephesian believers: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph 2:8-9; emphasis added). Again, writing to the young pastor, Titus, he reminds him that "... when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared, He saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in [God] the Holy Spirit, which He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that we might be justified by His grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:4-7; emphasis added). By the way, note that Paul here fully equates the Father and the Son!

So that is salvation - freely offered to all who will confess their sins, accept their own inability to do anything about their sinful nature, and accept "... the free gift of God ... eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 6:23). Rewards are different! They are earned by what we actually do in the Name of,  and for the sake of, the Lord Jesus. They are what we receive for our faithful witness and work for Him. 

In his second letter to the believers in Corinth, and writing in the context of the physical death of the disciple of Jesus, Paul states; "So whether we are at home [i.e. physically alive] or away [i.e. out of our mortal body], we make it our aim to please Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body." (II Cor 5:9-10; emphasis added).  He had, of course, already referred to this in his first letter: "... no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire." (I Cor 3:11-15; emphasis added).

Note those words that I have not emphasised: "... the fire will test what sort of work each one has done." In other words, it is not the quantity of my "works" that will be measured, but my faithfulness to the written Word of God, and the quality of my "works". I am not saved by my works, however good they may be; but I am saved in order to serve, and that means action, or works. Immediately after those well-known words to the Ephesians, quoted above, Paul states that "... we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Eph 2:10; emphasis added).

Allow me to emphasise that this does not affect my salvation. However, although we will still be the recipients of eternal life, there will be those of us who will learn, to our deep dismay that we shall receive very little reward. Let me also point out that this is the Judgement Seat of the Christ, before which only believers will stand. This is not the Great White Throne where the Lord will separate the sheep from the goats, and where many, according to the Lord Jesus, "... will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your Name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in Your Name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'" (Matt 7:22-23; Rev. 20:11ff.). At the Great White Throne, true disciples of Jesus are covered by His blood and righteousness. However, unbelievers, and those who are "wolves in sheep's clothing" (see Matt. 7:15), will receive their own 'reward' - eternity, separated from the Lord.

The final promise recorded for us in the Word of God is from the lips of the Lord Jesus: "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay every one for what he has done." (Rev 22:12; emphasis added). Let us be like the Lord Jesus, Who said: "We must work the works of Him Who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work." (John 9:4).