for the purpose of determining their heavenly rewards, privileges, positions. Some will rule and reign with Christ, while others will be established in far lesser capacities. All believers go to heaven, but there are degrees of eternal rewards in heaven, just as there are degrees of eternal punishment in hell for the damned.
Patricia, you responded:
Except for LDS I haven't read of any church that teaches this. What Scripture are you basing this belief on?
First, let me say that I am amazed (although I guess I shouldn't be in this day and age) that you have never heard this teaching in a mainline church.
Scriptures:
1 Cor 3:11-15 shows that the quality of a Christian's work and/or service to Christ will be evaluated on a day of judgement:
11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
2 Cor 5:10 and Romans 14:10 each point to the reality of the Judgement Seat of Jesus Christ, or the Bema Seat:
2 Cor 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Romans 14:10 You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.
Note, these verses pertain to Christians only, not man in general. There is a time and place of judgement for all Christians (the Bema Seat) in which the works they performed during their earthly lives will be evaluated by Jesus Himself. Works that were done for the purpose of self-promotion or drawing attention to oneself will be exposed as such, for the motives behind the deeds will be examined. Personal agendas will be exposed. These would be the "wood, hay, and stubble" deeds. They will not survive the fire of Christ's examination, and will ultimately be shown to be worthless. Deeds which were done in a spirit of selflessness, truly ministering to others, will be brought to light. Works and service that truly honored Christ will be seen for what they are. These would be the "gold, silver, precious stones" deeds. They will survive the examination intact, and thus be shown to have true eternal value. You may recall from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) that Jesus said, those who do pious things merely to be seen doing them by other men, have already received their reward (temporary earthly acknowledgement or admiration or praise from other men). On the other hand, those who "do not let their right hand know what their left hand is doing" -- in other words, who perform genuine works of service that truly minister to others without concern for public accolades or the praise of men -- these will receive a heavenly, eternal commendation from the Father, a true, lasting reward. There are several verses in the Bible which speak of "crowns" (rewards) for the Christian's earthly service/deeds. If you go to biblegateway.com and do a keyword search on "reward" or "crown" in the New Testament, you will see quite a list of verses returned.
You are right in what you post, however most Christians are not aware of this. They don't bother to read the Bible and most clergy today are into "feel good" messages.
The Scripture you have cited seems to be awfully vague support for your belief in a rewards system in Heaven. What church denomination has told you these things?
The most powerful verses to me are those with Christ's parable about the workers in the vineyard who are hired at different hours of the day for a given amount, and those hired at the end of the day get the same amount as those hired at the beginning even though they bore the most burden.
And yes, one can say that parable refers just to the reward of "Salvation", but Salvation is not a reward, it is a gift. And it is not a reward for faith, as faith is a gift, too, a gift from the Holy Spirit.
There is the time the mother of two of the disciples is trying to get Christ to say that her sons will sit at His side when he comes into His Kingdom and they will get the greatest honors among the disciples, and He isn't happy with that importuning to be placed ahead of others. And I believe "the last will be first and the first last" refers to this Earth, not Heaven. That those of us who had it easy here on Earth (good looks, money, brains, talent, stable country with lots of food, etc.) will be given tougher assignments in Heaven.
Now personally, I'll be tickled pink to be in the remotest part of the hall seated on the floor against the wall, but the idea that there is a hierarchy of "rewards, privileges and positions" in Heaven that one earns on Earth somehow doesn't sit well with me. It belies that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and should embrace and accept each other equally. It mocks my belief that all our works are but dirty rags in His sight and we are only saved by the grace of God, by His mercy in sending us our Savior.
Maybe I'm too American, too much raised in the American ideal of equality before the law and the ideal of a society where all treat each other as equals. If there is a hierarchy of jobs for believers, I'll protest by putting in a job application for toilet bowl cleaner, and I'll be very happy to get that assignment as all work is good work.
To my mind, you are wasting your time and mind to even think about getting ahead of others in Heaven, time better spent discussing God's grace and our Savior's sacrifice and the Holy Spirit's comforting presence. Discussing rewards in Heaven is too akin to discussing how many virgins or pretty boys you're going to get in Paradise after you suicide bomb a bunch of kids for me to do anything but blanch at the idea.
Sorry, but that is the way I feel about that. It isn't that I feel I should be regarded as equal with people who showed unusually great and true virtue here on Earth, but that others of my brothers and sisters in Christ should not be relegated to an unequal status with other regular Christians. Though I don't deserve it, I feel God does love us all equally and the assignments He gives us in eternity will be based on that love and His wisdom of where we can be used most effectively.
My dream job would be to be part of the celestial choir, but I think there may be other universes that God may want to create, and He'll need workers in the vineyard in many capacities in His new creations. And it should be a joy to serve Him in any capacity.