Read and pray: "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." (Mt 11:12)
REWARD AND GIFT
Now we will see the third difference—the difference between reward and gift; in other words, the difference between the kingdom and eternal life. Today, there are many Christians in the church who cannot distinguish between the kingdom of heaven and eternal life. They think the kingdom of heaven is eternal life and that eternal life is simply the kingdom of heaven. They confuse the Word of God, believing that the condition for receiving the kingdom is the condition for keeping eternal life.
They think that losing the kingdom is losing eternal life. However, the distinction between the two is very clear in the Bible. A person may lose the kingdom of heaven, but he will not lose eternal life. He may lose the reward, yet he will not lose the gift. So, what is the reward, and what is the gift? We were saved because of the gift. God gave us the gift freely by His grace; therefore, we were saved.
The reward has to do with the relationship between us and the Holy Spirit after being saved. When we were saved, we began to have a relationship with Christ. This relationship allows us to receive the gift that we are totally unworthy of receiving. In the same way, after we have been saved, we have a relationship with the Holy Spirit. This relationship allows us to receive the reward that we could never obtain by ourselves.
If someone believes in the Lord Jesus as Savior, accepting Him as life, he is saved before God. After being saved, God immediately places that person on a path so that he may run the race and obtain the reward that lies before him. A Christian is saved because of the Lord Jesus. After being saved, he must manifest Christ’s victory through the Holy Spirit day by day. If he does this, then at the end of the race he will obtain heavenly glory and God’s heavenly reward.
Therefore, salvation is the first step of this way, and reward is the last step. Only the saved are qualified to obtain the reward. The unsaved are disqualified from it. God has given us two things instead of one.
God places the gift before the people of the world and places the reward before the Christians. When someone believes in Christ, he receives the gift. When someone follows Christ, he receives the reward. The gift is obtained through faith, and it is for the people of the world. The reward is obtained through faithfulness and good works, and it is for the Christians.
There is a great deception in the churches today. Man thinks that salvation is the only thing and that there is nothing beyond being saved. He considers the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as if they were the same thing. He thinks that once someone is saved by believing, he does not need to worry about works.
The Bible makes a distinction between God’s part and man’s part. One part is the salvation given by God, and the other part is the glory of the millennial kingdom. Being saved has absolutely nothing to do with a person’s works. As soon as a person believes in the Lord Jesus, he is saved. But after his salvation, God immediately places the second thing before him, telling him that beyond salvation there is for him a reward, a coming glory, a crown, and a throne.
God places His throne, crown, glory, and reward before the Christians. If a person is faithful, he will obtain them; if he is unfaithful, he will lose them. Therefore, we do not say that good works are useless. However, we do say that good works are useless in regard to salvation. Man cannot be saved by his good works, nor can he be hindered from receiving salvation by his evil works.
Good works are useful in regard to the reward, the crown, the glory, and the throne. Good works are useless in regard to salvation. God cannot allow man to be saved by his works; nor will He allow man to be rewarded for his faith. God cannot allow man to perish because of his evil works. God can only decide on man’s salvation or perdition based on whether or not he believes in His Son.
In the same way, God cannot decide that man receives His glory based on whether or not he believes in His Son. Whether you have His Son in you or not determines the matter of eternal life or perdition. Whether you have good works before God or not determines the matter of receiving the reward and the glory. In other words, God will never save a person because he has merits, and He will never reward someone who has no merit. If someone has merits, God will not save him for that reason. On the other hand, God will never reward someone who has no merit.
Man must come before God totally needy and without merits, so that He may save him. However, after salvation, we must be faithful, and we must strive to produce good works through His Son Jesus Christ, in order to obtain the reward. Please do not think that good works are useless. We are saying that good works are useless with regard to salvation. They have nothing to do with salvation whatsoever.
Salvation depends on whether or not you repent of your former position. It depends on whether or not you regret your past, so that you may believe in His work on the cross and in His resurrection as proof of your justification. This is the crucial point of all the issues.
The matter of works is related to the reward. Works are useful, but only in regard to the reward. The problem today is that people do not distinguish between salvation and the kingdom.
In the Bible, there is a clear distinction between salvation and the kingdom, and between the gift and the reward. Because people do not differentiate these matters, the matter of salvation is misunderstood, and the matter of reward is also misunderstood. God has never placed the matter of reward before the unsaved. God only wants the unsaved to obtain salvation.
However, after salvation, God places the reward before the saved, so that they may strive, pursue, and run after the reward. Salvation is not the last step of the Christian experience. On the contrary, salvation is the first step. After we have been saved, we must run and pursue the reward that is before us.
The problem is that we think our salvation is our reward. Sinners think that being saved is obtaining the reward, and so they rely on their works. Christians think that glory is simply grace, and so they become foolish in their living. Please apply works only to the reward, and grace to salvation.
Enjoy more:
Hymn - The Kingdom - "As Exercise and Reward"
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