Common Myths About Eternal Rewards

Welcome again to the Ask Pastor John podcast. You all ship us some actually good Bible questions. To ask good Bible questions, it’s important to ship us perplexing texts. And also you do this with nice frequency. I’ve mentioned previously that our most asked-about Bible textual content in our historical past is Romans 9:22 (we talked about that in APJ 1720) — a textual content rife with questions. Nicely, the third most asked-about Bible textual content in our inbox is 2 Corinthians 5:10, the textual content about some type of closing judgment for believers that claims, “We should all seem earlier than the judgment seat of Christ, so that every one could obtain what’s due for what he has finished within the physique, whether or not good or evil.” We’re studying that in our Bible studying tomorrow.

We all know that rewards might be unequally distributed in heaven. That’s been nicely lined on the podcast, as you’ll see within the APJ e book on pages 363 and 364. However Caroline has in thoughts one other angle to this query, an angle now we have not checked out, about how rewards ebb and rise, based mostly on this textual content.

“Pastor John, howdy,” Caroline writes us. “Based mostly on 2 Corinthians 5:10, can we lose rewards in heaven that we beforehand accrued in life? Like, let’s say I’ve a terrific 12 months and serve the Lord joyfully. However the subsequent 12 months I sin grievously, like sexual sin for instance. As I perceive my Roman Catholic mates, these previous rewards would get washed away by the later sin. Or, extra subtly, I’ve heard aged individuals in my life counsel one thing related. Not for sin, however in turning into intellectually incapacitated in later age, in being unable to actually reside a totally fruitful life for Christ, that the works they did all their life would slowly ebb away. Would the incapacities of later years, or the sins of a future 12 months, negate or trigger to wane the rewards earned from earlier years?”

My reply, and I’ll attempt to present that it’s biblical, is not any. The great works of a real Christian won’t ever be canceled out, not by something. The great deeds will at all times have their reward that God thought-about becoming once we did them. That’s my thesis.

True Christians and Becoming Rewards

Now, there are a pair phrases in what I simply mentioned, a few important, essential phrases that I must make clear. As a result of if you happen to get them incorrect, it gained’t make sense. “True Christian,” I mentioned — “true Christian.” The works of a real Christian won’t ever be canceled out — not a faux Christian. Not a hypocritical Christian. True Christians are born once more. They’re elect earlier than the muse of the world. They’re persevering in religion to the top of their lives.

Once I say, “persevering to the top in religion,” I don’t imply they’ve the identical zeal for Jesus in each part or season of their life. It’s not that they’ve the identical energy of religion in each season. I’m simply saying they persevere in real religion to the top. In keeping with Romans 8:30, “These whom he predestined he additionally referred to as, and people whom he referred to as he additionally justified, and people whom he justified he additionally glorified.” No person falls out. Everyone perseveres to the top, in accordance with God’s promise in Romans 8:30.

Which means, for instance, that an individual could go to church for twenty or thirty years and seem like a Christian. After which that individual could commit apostasy and completely reject Christ, reside all the remainder of their fifty years in riot towards Christ, and perish. And in accordance with 1 John 2:19, that individual was by no means born of God, as a result of people who find themselves born of God (that’s, who’re actually Christian) are saved by God from turning away and by no means coming again. Jude 24, one of many best doxologies, celebrates this maintaining energy of God.

Now, that signifies that all these presumed spiritual and good deeds throughout these twenty or thirty years of hypocrisy weren’t seen by God because the sort of factor he rewards — regardless that individuals noticed them that approach. Particularly, they weren’t works of religion as a result of there was no true religion. And the one factor that will get rewarded within the Christian life is works of religion, as a result of every little thing else is sin, in accordance with Romans 14:23. God doesn’t reward sin. There’s no considered any rewards being canceled, as a result of that hypocrite was not storing up any rewards within the first place. So, that’s the primary time period — “true Christian” — that must be clarified in my first assertion.

The opposite essential time period that I used was this: “the reward that God thought-about becoming once we did the nice deeds.” He sees a very good deed, he sees it precisely for what it’s, and he deems it applicable to reward. God is aware of all our motives. And our rewards gained’t merely be owing to an outward act however to the connection between the outward act and the motivation. God sees all of it. We are able to’t see it, however God does. He is aware of precisely the standard of each single deed {that a} Christian does.

“Not solely is our conversion to Christ a present of completely free grace, however so are all our virtues and good deeds.”

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:5, “Don’t pronounce judgment . . . earlier than the Lord comes, who will convey to mild the issues now hidden in darkness and can disclose the needs of the guts. Then each will obtain his commendation from God.” So, God is aware of the inward and outward high quality of our deeds approach higher than any human being does. And his assessments of what needs to be rewarded are excellent. And since they’re excellent, they’ll by no means change. He doesn’t make any errors, like, “Oops, I shouldn’t have thought that one was going to be rewarded.”

Three Causes for Enduring Rewards

Let me give three extra the reason why I feel it’s a mistake to say {that a} true Christian can lose rewards in heaven that they’d have had apart from some downturn in energy of their religion or dementia of their previous age. Listed below are my three causes.

First, there are texts within the Bible that make guarantees which might be unqualified regarding this. For instance, Matthew 10:42: “Whoever provides one among these little ones even a cup of chilly water as a result of he’s a disciple, actually, I say to you, he’ll not at all lose his reward.” Ephesians 6:8 says, “No matter good anybody does, this he’ll obtain again from the Lord.” So, since these are unqualified guarantees, we’d higher watch out lest we cancel God’s guarantees by some sort of theology of reward-loss.

Right here’s the second purpose. It’s a matter of God’s faithfulness and justice to not overlook what he has thought to be one thing to reward. Right here’s what I imply. Hebrews 6:10: “God is just not unjust in order to miss your work and the love that you’ve got proven for his identify in serving the saints.” It appears to me that’s clearly promising, as time goes ahead, that God’s not going to vary his thoughts on this. God’s not going to overlook that.

I feel one of many causes, as we get older — I’m considering to myself right here; I take into consideration this query so much. One of many causes, as we get older, the query turns into pressing — whether or not we’ll obtain rewards for the deeds we did thirty years in the past, like after I was a pastor — is as a result of we really feel the fact of our current expertise as our true life. We even really feel it as our solely life, as a result of the life we lived thirty years in the past is so distant. And nearly all of its particulars and emotions, good and dangerous, are gone.

I imply, we could have ten recollections from 1972. However we are able to’t assist however really feel as if, if we get any rewards, it’s simply going to be for at the moment. “I used to be a jerk at the moment,” or “I did one thing good at the moment,” or “I used to be trustworthy at the moment,” or “I used to be red-hot for Jesus at the moment. And yesterday I used to be cool.” However what occurred forty years in the past? Good night time — that’s simply to this point gone in my reminiscence.

However right here’s the essential factor. The life you lived ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years in the past is as actual and current earlier than the face of God as if you have been dwelling it at the moment. It counts with him as a lot in his thoughts, in your rewards, as what you might be doing at the moment. It’s that actual. It’s that current to God. And no sin that you simply commit at the moment, if you’re a real Christian, modifications God’s evaluation of what he thought to be a very good deed to be rewarded fifty years in the past.

3. Good deeds are God’s present.

Lastly, third — and this can be a very powerful factor for individuals to consider. I’m considering particularly as a result of the one that requested this query referred to her Roman Catholic mates, and this can be the place the stumbling occurs. One of many fundamental causes individuals suppose that current defects in religion and zeal and love and obedience can cancel out previous virtuous acts is as a result of they consider rewards as earned, not freely given. They consider good deeds as meritorious. So, good deeds earn benefit on the optimistic facet of the ledger of life, and dangerous deeds diminish benefit, in order that when the deserves and the demerits are added up, the demerits in later life can cancel out a number of the deserves in adolescence. That’s completely a incorrect approach to suppose.

Why is it a incorrect approach to suppose? As a result of not solely is our conversion to Christ, our new beginning, our religion, our repentance, a present of completely free grace, however so are all our virtues and good deeds.

Christians by no means earn something good from God. The whole lot good that they do is a present of grace from God. “What do you have got that you simply didn’t obtain?” Paul mentioned. “If you then acquired it, why do you boast as if you happen to didn’t obtain it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). Hearken to Paul: “I planted, Apollos watered, however God gave the expansion. So neither he who crops nor he who waters is something, however solely God who provides the expansion.” That’s 1 Corinthians 3:6–7. By the best way, simply six verses later, he’s speaking about rewards. So, this can be a context of rewards. He hasn’t forgotten what he’s speaking about. That planting that Paul did, that watering that Apollos did, these labors are going to be rewarded freely, regardless that he mentioned, “We’re nothing; God is every little thing.” God rewards his personal presents in us.

Or right here’s what he says in 1 Corinthians 15:10: “By the grace of God I’m what I’m, and his grace towards me was not in useless. Quite the opposite, I labored more durable than any of them, although it was not I, however the grace of God that’s with me.” So, Paul labored. He labored works of religion. He was trusting God’s working in him. And he might be rewarded for that onerous work, however it will likely be as graciously given as was his conversion.

All the nice deeds that God approves and rewards are works of religion and the fruit of the Spirit. So, let’s get the concept of benefit for these good deeds completely out of our minds. If we do, then we will see extra simply that the weaknesses of our current life don’t diminish God’s gracious promise to not overlook the nice of the primary sixty years.

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and instructor of Wanting God and chancellor of Bethlehem School and Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He’s creator of greater than 50 books, together with Wanting God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist and most not too long ago Foundations for Lifelong Studying: Schooling in Severe Pleasure. ” from the Transcript