Heb 9:27 says, "It's appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment." Everything we receive reward for is what we actually did on earth.
In your book In Light of Eternity, you say we can lose our crowns and quote I Corinthians 9:27: "But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection: lest by any means, when I have preached to others I myself should be a castaway." I have understood the word "castaway" translated as rejected from the competition. I can see this as not receiving a crown that would have been available just as not receiving a reward that would have been available, but losing a crown and having it taken away from you, a crown that is already ...
I enjoy your books, but I’m put off by the notion that we as Christians should work to earn eternal rewards. How can we who are unworthy of anything possibly do something to earn rewards? The whole concept of earning implies “putting an employer in our debt by virtue of the value of our service.” How can God be in our debt when in fact we are absolutely in His? God is not our employer, He’s our Creator and Savior! Yes, to rewards, but NO to earning. All my good deeds are done by the grace of God which is with me.
Service as a Reward
Those coming out of the Great Tribulation will be specially rewarded by being given a place “before the throne of God,” where they will “serve him day and night” (Revelation 7:14-15). Notice that the Master rewards his faithful servants not by taking away responsibilities but by giving them greater ones.
Service is a reward, not a punishment. This idea is foreign to people who dislike their work and only put up with it until retirement. We think that faithful work should be rewarded by a vacation for the rest of our lives. But God offers ...
The New Earth is going to be so amazing, wonderful, beautiful, breath-taking, tangible, relational, joy-filled (the list goes on and on) and is also void of pain, suffering, death, sin, and grief. In light of all that, how much will rewards really matter?
All believers will be judged in heaven. All righteous acts—many of which will have been disregarded and some punished on earth—will be finally rewarded. All believers will stand before the “Bema seat,” the judgment seat of Christ. The result of this judgment will be the gain or loss of eternal rewards (1 Cor. 3:12-15; 2 Cor. 5:9,10; Rom. 14:10-12). These are sometimes depicted as crowns (James 1:12; Rev. 2:10; 1 Cor. 9:24-25; 1 Pet. 5:1-4; 2 Tim. 4:6-8; 1 Thess. 2:19). These represent positions of leadership and service ...
Dr. Wayne Grudem and Randy Alcorn spoke on the theme "Between Heaven and Earth" at the April 2010 Clarus Conference. This is one of two messages given by Randy at the conference.
First, for His glory; second, for our good.
If even Paul said that gaining Christ made “everything else” seem comparatively worthless, doesn’t that show that Christ should be the treasure we are seeking after?
Randy Alcorn answers the question,"Will we be satisfied with the rewards we receive in Heaven or will we be jealous of others' rewards?"
Then Jesus says, "When you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men" (Matt. 6:2).
Randy Alcorn teaches from 1 Timothy 6 at the Eternal Perspective Ministries February staff meeting. Message addresses the false doctrine of "health and wealth gospel."
How many times have we done small acts of kindness on Earth without realizing the effects?
Despite my best attempts to be careful with Scripture, my understanding is far from complete and is without doubt incorrect in some areas. But if the reader diligently investigates the Scripture passages referred to in this summary, he may discover to his surprise (and either to his delight or discomfort) that some of his own notions and assumptions about heaven are in fact not biblical. In the process, he will gain a far greater understanding of this vital subject.
We have so emphasized the idea of never acting in our own self-interest, that we ignore the continuous appeals of Scripture to be motivated by the fact that following our Lord is not only right, but smart. And sin is not only wrong, but stupid.
©1991 - 2010 Eternal Perspective Ministries. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy
