Rewarded

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

We’ve been saved by grace - aren’t you glad! When we came to Jesus for salvation, He didn’t tell us that we were too far in sin and needed to clean up first! Salvation was the last thing we deserved, but it was the only thing that was in God’s plan for us! When we were saved, it was a free gift of grace!

I am a grace man. I love the freedom we have in grace. I do everything I can to live out Ephesians 5:1 - “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” I know that my salvation was, and continues to be, a free gift of grace. I’m not striving for grace, I’m not trying to earn grace, and I refuse to forget that this grace cost God everything He had.

Having said that...I wonder sometimes why people don’t finish Paul’s thought in Ephesians 2:8 and 9. Let’s read the whole context: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Too many believers have the mindset that grace has made obedience unnecessary. What we need to realize is that we weren’t saved by works, but we were saved for works. Jesus saved us for a reason, He had things for us to do “prepared beforehand.” So, even though your salvation is absolutely free, you can’t expect to live your own life and let grace cover it. That’s not what grace is about!

Do you realize that every believer is going to stand before Jesus’ judgement seat one day? It’s true! 2 Corinthians 5:10 makes this very clear: “For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” Don’t be confused, this isn’t the white throne judgement of Revelation 20. That’s a judgment to decide eternal destination - that’s already decided for us! The judgement seat of Christ is to decide eternal rewards.

Pay attention to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

Jesus Christ is the author of our salvation. Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection secured our place with Him in eternity. This salvation is the foundation of our new lives. But a foundation isn’t the finished project, is it? Salvation is the start, but now we must build on it. And we can see from this passage, rewards will be given based on what we do after we’re saved. I do not want to be one of those who “makes it in” to Heaven but still suffers the loss of any reward. I want my life to be worth something for the Kingdom of Heaven!

Thankfully God didn’t leave us by ourselves, to try to be obedient on our own. The very same grace that brought us into God’s kingdom also causes us to live “soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.” (Titus 2:12) We don’t have to obey God by our own strength. Paul told Timothy where his strength came from in 2 Timothy 2:1 - “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Hebrews 12:28 echoes this thought, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”

Why do we serve God with fear? Let’s read 2 Corinthians 5:10 again, this time including verse 11 - “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.” The fear of the Lord comes when we realize this, everything we do in this life will be seen on our judgement day and rewarded!

Remember these words from Jesus out of Revelation 22:12. This is from the closing chapter of the Bible, one of the last things Jesus had to say in His Word. “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.” I don’t know about you, but I want all of Jesus’ reward that I can get!

We Weren’t Saved For This

In Jeremiah 7, God pleads with the kingdom of Judah to leave their wickedness. This was just after the death of king Josiah - one of Judah’s godliest kings. Despite Josiah’s extensive reforms, Judah never turned their hearts to God. They simply added the worship of Yahweh to their sinful, disobedient lifestyles. Listen to the warning God gives them and see if it applies to America’s church today:

Jeremiah 7:1-11

The Word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, “Stand in the gate of Yahweh's house, and declare there this Word, and say, ‘Hear the Word of Yahweh, all Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship Yahweh. So says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, “Make your ways and your doings good, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Do not trust in lying words, saying, ‘The temple of Yahweh, The temple of Yahweh, The temple of Yahweh are these.’ For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if you completely do judgment between a man and his neighbor; if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your hurt; then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever.

“Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot do any good. Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know; and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’?

Do you think God’s complaint against His people was valid? They came to His temple every day to worship Him, but they never changed the condition of their hearts. Isaiah 29:13 speaks about these kinds of people, “These people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me.”

Their backslidden heart soon produced backslidden actions. You see, sin starts in the heart but spreads to your actions. And the people of Judah were doing some very wicked things! Listen to what God accused them of! “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods...” Theft, murder, adultery, lying, and idolatry! No wonder God wasn’t happy with them!

Do you think this behavior is in God’s house today? Do you think there are any thieves, liars, or adulterers (if not in action, in heart)? If hatred of your brother is the same in God’s eyes as murder...how many murderers are in our worship services? Are there any idolaters in church - people who put their priorities on temporal things of this life and not on the things that God sees as important?

“Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot do any good.”

What were the lying words these people were trusting in? What was it that made them think their sin was ok? They were listening to the message of false prophets. These men would say, “The temple of Yahweh, The temple of Yahweh, The temple of Yahweh are these!” Judah was being told that as long as they kept worshipping in  Yahweh’s temple...these other things didn’t matter!

Because of what the false prophets were saying, the people took up a motto, “We are delivered to do all these abominations.” They were claiming that God saved them, but that He didn’t care what they were doing!

This is the cry that is being raised in too many churches right now! “God loves you. God forgives you. God’s grace will cover what your sin.” It’s the message of distorted grace.

Let me tell you, no one believes in God’s forgiveness like I do! I am so grateful that He forgave my sin and wiped it out of His record! He delivered me from the punishment I deserved! But He did not deliver me so I could keep doing it!

I said before and I’ll keep saying it until someone listens, God forgives sin when you repent! When there’s no repentance, there’s no forgiveness!

God’s grace does wipe away our sin, that is an absolute fact! But the rest of the story is found in Romans 6:15, “Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!” Grace is not liberty to do as you please!

I believe that Jeremiah 7:9 and 10 applies just as much to the church as it did to Judah.

“Will you steal, hate your brother, commit adultery in your hearts, lie, and chase after the things of this world (like you should be chasing Me) - and then come to church and stand before Me in My house and say, ‘We’re sinning but it’s ok, we’re covered by grace’?”

The Lost Art Of Fear

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom

If you were to ask churchgoers today what the “fear of the Lord” is, I honestly am not sure what the answer would be. You would probably get a lot of vacant stares. Maybe you would get an answer like, “that's something from the Old Testament that God used to keep His people in line.” But the truth is, the fear of God is often mentioned in the New Testament – not just the old!

If you were asking a pastor, he would probably say, “it's a reverential respect of how big God is.” This is a little closer to the point, but it's still only partially right. The simple fact is, we haven't been very clear about what it means to fear God.

That's a shame, because there is so much in our Christian life that depends on the fear of the Lord!

Divine protections is a result of a person fearing God. Psalm 34:7 says, The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. Being delivered from trouble is a direct result of a believer's fear of God!

Long life is another benefit. Look at Proverbs 10:27: The fear of the LORD prolongs days. Now look at what Proverbs 22:4 says: By humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches and honor and life. In that verse we see that not only is your life attached to your fear of God, but so is your wealth and reputation! Psalm 128:1 echoes that by saying, Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways. (By the way, Psalm 128:1 also has a clue to what Godly fear is all about – you'll see it again later.)

And we can't list the benefits of fearing the Lord without going back to our starting verse! Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. How often do we need wisdom in our life? How often have you wished you had more? The way you start getting wisdom is by learning how to fear God!

So what is the fear of God? Proverbs 8:13 says it in the simplest way: The fear of the LORD is to hate evil. That's the bottom line, fearing God is hating what God hates.

Paul goes a little bit deeper in 2 Corinthians 5:10-11 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the rewards for things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences. Did you see that? The fear of God is knowing something. It's knowing that one day you're going to stand before Jesus and give an account of what you've done on earth. Keeping that knowledge in the front of your mind is going to make you hate evil. Why? Because you shudder at the though of having to give an account for those things when you stand before Jesus!

That's the fear of God! The fear of God is when you know that you're going to give an account of what you do here, so you keep yourself away from sin. 2 Corinthians 7:1 agrees with this: Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

This brings us back to the second part of Psalm 128:1, Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in His ways. Psalm 112:1 says essentially the same thing: Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who delights greatly in His commandments.

Fearing God will even deliver those weak believers out there who are struggling with sin. You see, when you know someone is watching you, you tend to straighten up, right? That's why most of a Christian's sin is done in private – because we don't want anyone to see us! But when you understand the Fear of God – that He's always watching you, and you will have to stand before Him one day – you find the strength to resist! That's what Proverbs 16:6 says: In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil. The way you depart from evil is by fearing God! No wonder David says in Psalm 19:9, The fear of the LORD is clean...

I feel like I need to repeat yesterday's post a little bit. Don't think this is about getting saved. There is only one way to be saved, by grace through faith. Obedience isn't going to get you into Heaven. And, for a believer, the judgment of Jesus isn't about Heaven or Hell. When you believe in Jesus Christ - His death, burial, resurrection, and Lordship – you're going to Heaven. Jesus paid the price for you, it's not about your obedience. But, the judgment seat of Christ is where your rewards are going to be given.

We are going to be rewarded for our obedience here on earth. Wouldn't it be a shame to have Jesus say to you, “Son, you believed in Me and I saved you. You're going to Heaven. But I'm sorry - you didn't do what I asked you to do while you were on Earth. You didn't listen to the men and women I gave you (Ephesians 4:11) who were trying to instruct you. You never picked up My Word for yourself, you never asked Me what I wanted done. So, you can go in, son...but you won't get any of the rewards that I wanted to give You.”

I don't know about you, but that put's godly fear in me! I want to make Him proud of what I do here! I want to see what the rewards He has for me are. His rewards are going to stay with us for eternity – but so is the lack of them. Just making it into Heaven isn't enough for me, is it enough for you?