SOUNDING OUT: The Principle of Rewards (Part 1 of 2)
Our faith determines our salvation,
and our behavior determines our eternal reward. The
Bible clearly teaches that we are saved by God’s
grace, through personal faith in Christ, apart from
any works whatever (Ephesians 2:8-9). However it also
teaches, with equal clarity, that we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, that we may be recompensed
for what we have done in the body, whether good or bad
(II Corinthians 5:10). This judgment (which is only
for believers) is not to determine whether or not we
are saved. Its purpose is to evaluate our works and
determine what if any rewards we shall receive (1 Corinthians
3:10-15).
Our works are what we have done with our resources,
like time, energy, talents, money, possessions, etc.
The apostle Paul describes our works as a building project.
At the judgment seat of Christ the quality of our work
will be tested with fire. If we have used quality building
materials (gold, silver, precious stones), then our
work will endure and we will be rewarded by the Lord.
If we have used poor building materials (in this case,
wood, hay, or straw), then our work will be consumed
and we will not be rewarded for it (I Corinthians 3:10-15).
This raises some important questions. What are
we doing with the resources that God has entrusted to
us? Are we seeking to build the Body of Christ, in God’s
way, empowered by God’s Spirit? Or are we merely
engaged in empire-building for our own glory? Are we
investing our resources in reaching the world for Christ?
Or are we only concerned with satisfying our own immediate
selfish wants and desires?
Most of us would probably find it difficult to
use our resources in the service of God or our fellow
man if we thought that this life was all there is and
that death is the end of our personal existence. But
the Bible teaches that there’s more – a
lot more. What we do in life
echoes in eternity, and the missing ingredient in the
lives of many believers today is motivation.
The principle of rewards for our obedience is a neglected
key to unlocking our motivation.
Questioning
Our Motivation
Is the desire for eternal rewards a proper
or legitimate motivation for serving Christ? Isn’t
it somewhat shallow, maybe even selfish, for our service
to Christ to be motivated by a desire for heavenly rewards?
Furthermore, shouldn’t we serve Christ simply
because of who He is, rather than for what we can get
out of it? To some people, the promise of eternal rewards
sounds like a crass appeal to our baser instincts. I
used to think so, but what changed my mind?
I realized that reward for obedience wasn’t
my idea; it was His! Let’s look
at some of the verses:
I Corinthians
3:8:
Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and
every man shall receive his own reward
according to his own labour.
Luke 6:35:
But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping
for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and
ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind
unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Now if God commands us
to do this, how should we respond? My excuse was I only
do it because I love Him, not for the reward. Well,
Jesus says In John 14:21 “Whoever has my commands
and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.” Therefore
we could make the argument, that the one who
does not run to obtain the prize (I Corinthians
9:24,25) is being disobedient to Christ’s command
and demonstrating a lack of love for him!
It is certainly true that desire for reward should
not be our only motivation. But it is also true that
it’s a fully legitimate motive encouraged by God.
In fact, two of the most basic things we can believe
about God are first that he exists, and second that
he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.
Hebrews 11:6:
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for
he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that
he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
As fundamental as believing
that God is, is believing that He is a rewarder. Our
faith pleases Him because it allows Him to do for us
that which He desires. He wants the best for us, and
we must accept it by faith.
Of course, we must always remember that the Lord
knows the motivations of our hearts – and these
will be taken into account at the judgment seat of Christ.
I Corinthians
4:5:
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord
come, who both will bring to light the hidden things
of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of
the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of
God.
Part of the trouble I
had with the principle of reward was the hypocrisy that
I saw associated with it. People did things to be rewarded
by men. They acted as men pleasers, not as concerned
with God’s opinion as I thought they ought to
be.
Ephesians 6:6:
Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants
of Christ, doing the will of God from
the heart;
Jesus warned us about
that kind of hypocrisy. When we act so superficially,
the reward becomes substantially different.
Matthew 6:1-4:
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be
seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father
which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest
thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the
hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets,
that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you,
They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms,
let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be
in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself
shall reward thee openly.
When thinking about rewards,
we should understand that: The Lord is absolutely worthy
of our obedience and service, whether we ever personally
profit from it or not. We obey because we recognize
Who our Lord is, it is our duty.
Luke 17:7-10:
But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding
cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come
from the field, Go and sit down to meat? 8 And will not rather say
unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself,
and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward
thou shalt eat and drink? 9 Doth he thank that servant
because he did the things that were commanded him? I
trow not. 10 So likewise ye, when
ye shall have done all those things which are commanded
you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done
that which was our duty to do.
Still, the Lord is a rewarder
of those who seek Him and He commands us to seek His
rewards as well! And when one really thinks about it,
Hearing our Master say, “Well done thou good and
faithful servant” will not simply be for our pleasure
but for His!
