I am also not clear on what a reward is,I always kind of thought that because I have faith,keep the commandments and practice the beatitudes I would be rewarded with heaven. Can you untangle this for me? I also am convinced that Jesus is my only way to the Father,that He is the Way and the Truth and the Life.
In James 2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works can faith save him.
Notice the question that James asks here. If a person says they believe in Jesus but there has been no change in their life and they aren't doing anything that would prove they are Christian, can their faith save them? This person has no works that accompany this belief. They don't live for God. Don't attend church, don't read the Word. When confronted with the truth of the bible they don't change thier path. They just go on the way they are, yet they say they believe. Can their faith save them? That is the question that is asked.
James 2:15-16 If a brother or sister be maked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled not withstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? James answers by giving an illustration.The point is that if a man says, "I believe in Jesus, but his life isn't any different, does he TRULY have faith? Can he truly be saved?
James 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. If a man says, I bieve, but he doesn't show any works, his life hasn't changed, he is still the same, just as much as a liar as he ever was, he has a dead faith.
Salvation is a free gift. When you understand exactly what Jesus did for you on the cross, and understand that you couldn't do it for yourself, and He didn't have to do it except that he loved us that much. and you accept the gift, it will change you life and you will WANT to do everything you can to be able to thank him and earn rewards to give back to him. But even those rewards are truly really his because without him having saved you you wouldn't have them.
Becky
THE JUDGMENT OF TRUE BELIEVERS (1 Co. 3:11-15; 2 Co. 5:9-10; Ro. 14:10-12). The Purpose of this judgment. (1) It is for Christians, not the unsaved (1 Co. 3:1,11-12). (2) It is to examine the believer's service, not to determine his salvation (1 Co. 3:8,10,13). The believer is judged as a son and an heir (Ga. 4:6,7).
The Foundation for this judgment. The foundation is Jesus Christ and the eternal riches of Calvary (1 Co. 3:12). While the believer can fall on this Foundation; praise God, he cannot fall off! The Element of this judgment. The fire which shall try the believer's work is the Word of God (Je. 23:29; Jn. 12:48). The Nature of this judgment. The believer's judgment is not for punishment, but to manifest his service for reward or loss of reward. It is the judgment of an Olympic athlete or the worker on the job or a son in the family business. The materials of this judgment. The "wood, hay, and stubble" are associated with man and that which is of the world, temporal. The gold, silver, and precious stones" denote that which is of God, that which has eternal value. We note that it is not the size of one's labor, but its value before God which is important. Some things which are "gold, silver, and precious stones"--faithful church membership (1 Ti. 3:15; He. 10:25; 13:7,17); being a loving, providing husband (Ep. 5:25; 1 Ti. 5:8); being a submissive, serving wife (Ep. 5:22; Tit. 2:4); being an obedient child (Ep. 6:1); Gospel preaching and world evangelization (Mk. 16:15); training children in the way of God (Pr. 22:6); being filled with the Spirit (Ep. 5:18); seeking God (He. 11:6; Pr. 8:34-35); sacrificing for Christ (Mk. 10:29); approving excellent things (Ph. 1:10); being pure in spirit and body (2 Co. 7:1).
The Loss of this judgment. The loss will NOT be salvation (1 Co. 3:15) or one's riches in Christ (1 Pe. 1:3,4; Ro. 8:18; Col. 3:4). The loss will be crowns; reigning positions (2 Ti. 2:12; Re. 2:25-26; 3:21; 20:4). No one who appears at this judgment will lose salvation for poor service; he WILL lose rewards and suffer shame (1 Co. 3:15; 1 Jn. 2:28; 2 Jn. 8). Salvation is not gained through faithful service, but through faith in the blood of Christ (Ro. 3-4; Ep. 2:8-9). For the Christian, the judgment of God's wrath upon his sin is forever past. It was poured out upon the Savior on Calvary (Jn. 3:18,36).
The Grace of this judgment. It is God's nature to be gracious (Ps. 103:8-14), and His marvelous, free grace in Jesus Christ will be manifest in the believer's judgment. "In the counsels of God I am elect before the foundation of the world; hence I think that my own history will be detailed before the judgment seat, and, parallel with it, the history of the grace and of the mercy of God toward me. The why and the how we did this or that will be manifested then. For us the scene will be declarative, not judicial. We are not in the flesh before God; in His eyes, by His grace, we are dead. But then, if we have walked according to the flesh, we must see how we lost in blessing thereby, and what loss we have incurred. On the other hand, the ways of God towards us, all ways of wisdom, of mercy, and of grace, will be perfectly known and understood by us for the first time"
The Motivation of this judgment. The Judgment Seat of Christ is one of the greatest motivators in the Christian life. It should motivate the Christian to be spiritual (1 Co. 3:1-3), to be busy (1 Co. 3:9,10), and to be faithful (1 Co. 4:2-4).
Go thru and read the verses and it will come to life for you.
Hope this helps.
Becky
Salvation and eternal life are not one in the same. The Bible hinges all promises of God on obedience to him. Eternal life is such a promise. And it is garaunteed to only those who 'finish the race' to borrow from Paul. That, again, according to the Bible, is a matter of Obeying God and following his will - living righteously. To further flesh it out, it means being free of sin and constantly rooting out all areas in your life that may lead to sin and denying the sin nature. Be ye perfect even as Christ was perfect. He did it, and so can you - with his help. That's why he came - to prove it could be done and to provide the sacrifice for sin needed to get it done. Any Christian with Jesus in them who sins and tells you they don't know if they have or not is a liar. God convicts us of Sin. We know when we are doing wrong before we do it and after. We may not always understand what the sin is specifically - it is enough to know it's disobedience to God because He convicts and the sinner paid Him no attention.
It all goes back to John 10. If you aren't hearing and obeying the Lord - following His will - you have no promise. "There is therefore now no condemnation" What's the rest of it? Romans 8:1 "[There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Lets look at the two things this says:
1) There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk after the spirit.
2) There is condemnation for those in Christ Jesus who walk after the flesh.
Did that sink in, everyone? Walking after the spirit is being led by the spirit. Walking after the flesh is following the natural man: reason, philosophy, doing there own thing in what they think is right, disobedience... It's plain as day. No mention of sacrements. No mention of anything here except being in Christ (saved) and following the spirit of God. That John 10 thing again. No condemnation for the Sheep (those that hear and obey - following the will of God). If one can still be condemned, there is no promise of eternal life there! The two are diametrically opposed.
As far as rewards, Spiritual rewards are due those who do the Father's will. Note: this is not what others tell you to do; but, what God tells you to do - doing what others tell you to do is doing their will, not God's. And one must do the Father's will without seeking earthly recognition or reward for it. The Word says if you get your reward here, you have your reward already. There is plenty written in the Bible about rewards. Is there something more you need to know? And no - keeping the Commandments and practicing the beatitudes will not get you to heaven. Following God's Commandments is only part of Obedience. You have to follow His will too. You have to know Him to know His will. Jesus and the Apostles did it. Their recruits did it. You can too. You just have to stop relying on philosophies of men and get with the program.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad [2 Cor. 5:10].
This is the judgment seat, literally, the beµma. There is still a beµma in Corinth. This was the place where the judges of the city would meet the citizens and would judge them for certain things—there was no question of life or death. At the judgment seat of Christ only believers will appear. It is not a judgment of the believer’s sins, which Christ fully atoned for on the cross. The judgment is to see whether you are going to receive a reward or not.
When Paul says, “We must all appear,” remember that he is writing to believers. All we believers will be judged, that we may receive the things done in the body. We will be judged on the way we lived the Christian life, how we have lived in these bodies down here. When we go into His presence, we will be finished with these old bodies. The question He will ask is how we used these bodies. How did we live down here?
Paul faces this question when he writes to the Philippians. He says in Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Then he talks of his desire to go to be with Christ but also of his desire to live longer so that he can minister to the Philippians. He wants to stay so that he can preach the gospel of Christ a little longer.
You see, he felt like the little boy years ago in southland. The preacher asked one night, “How many want to go to heaven?” Everybody put up his hand except that one boy. The preacher looked down at him and said, “Don’t you want to go to heaven?” The boy answered, “Sure, I want to go to heaven, but I thought you was gettin’ up a load for tonight.” Paul didn’t want to go. He said he wanted to stay in his body and preach a little longer. He wanted Christ to be magnified in his body that he might be accepted of Him and that he might receive a reward.
This is the way I feel. I want to stay in this body and do as much for the Lord as I possibly can. Here is the first motivation for believers: We are all going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and we will answer to the Lord for our lives. We are going to give a report to Him. Let me make it very clear that this is not the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11–15 where only the unsaved will stand. If you are a believer, your name is written in the Book of Life, and you have eternal life. However, you will stand before the beµma, the judgment seat of Christ, to be judged for rewards. You and I will stand before Him. This should motivate us to serve Him acceptably. Then when we come into His presence, He will be able to say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
BigMack
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God [Rom. 14:10–12].
“Why dost thou judge thy brother?” You remember that the Lord Jesus said to that bunch of Pharisees who wanted to stone an adulterous woman, “… He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (John 8:7). And not one of those boys threw any stones that day. My friend, you and I need to recognize that we have to give account of ourselves to Him. I’ll be honest with you, that disturbs me a little. I am wondering how I am going to tell Him about certain things. So I can’t sit in judgment upon you; I’m worried about BigMack
BigMack