This is a direct continuation from my last post in this series…
We have a picture in 1 Cor. 3:10-15 of a refining process in which (at the judgement) our deeds are revealed for what they truly are.
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
Verse 14 states that the one who builds on the foundation of Christ will see his work survive the refining fire and he ‘will receive his reward.’ We might view the reward as eternal life itself, but verse 15 contains a contrast to the man whose works will burn, yet he is saved. So, mere salvation does not seem to be the reward in view in verse 14.
We have a somewhat similar picture in 1 Cor. 4:5:
Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
One thing we know about the judgment is that everyone will see things for what they really are. Sin and darkness in the present age have allowed us to obscure evil. There is even an aspect of evil seeming to be rewarded (Matt. 5:45).
So, how much regret will one have at the judgment when he sees the house, boat, summer cabin, and self-fulfilling career be exposed as wood, hay, and straw and going up in smoke? In contrast, how rewarding will it be for one to hear Jesus say “Well done” as He looks with him at the self sacrificing acts of faithfulness that one thought didn’t accomplish anything significant and seemed to go unnoticed at the time emerge from the fire as gold or diamonds (metaphorically of course)? That sounds pretty rewarding to me.
Now, if it were that simple, I don’t think we’d have the controversy over this issue that we do. Now, we’ve got to go and test this idea against all of the passages that speak of heavenly rewards.
For clarity at this point, let me restate where I am. There was one side that said that rewards will be meted out to believers at the judgement and some will get more than others, whatever it is. There was another side that says no, the reward is eternal life itself and each believer gets the same. I’m staking out a position that says that there is are varying levels of rewards for believers, but this is not stuff or status or position, but the joy (or lack thereof) that is derived from the truth that will be revealed in the judgment.
We have weak shadows of this idea in life. Imagine the high-school graduation ceremony where awards are given for honorable achievement. There is nothing tangible gained in the recognition that is given, but these still form precious memories that we take with us throughout our lives. Now imagine the Lord of the universe bestowing recognition upon you before the eyes of every creature under heaven, then having the memory of that experience for all of eternity. It’s mind-blowing in it’s richness, but it’s also frightening as I think of the wood, hay and straw I’m likely to watch go ablaze on that day.
In part 6 (hopefully tomorrow) I’ll start holding this view up against some of the passages that are most likely to conflict with it. In the meantime, feel free to bring up any objections and I’ll try to deal with them as well.
Just wondering…
Is there any basis for the hope of hearing Jesus say “Well done” apart from the parable Jesus told in Matthew 25?
That seems like it might be making the parable say more than was intended. The other texts you’re citing point to rewards, but do they suggest praise? I have a hard time thinking God should owe a debt of praise to anybody…
I also just can’t imagine what I — or anybody, for that matter — could possibly do that would meet with “Well done” from the Lord of all creation.
So, Hugh, do I detect that you are in the “Sheesh! Eternal life is reward enough.” camp? 🙂
Matthew 25 would be the primary passage for that particular choice of words. I would also point to…
In this passage the believers are protesting that they have not done anything praiseworthy, and Jesus is correcting them. It may not be “Well done.” but I’ll take it! 🙂
This one is a little weaker…
But we have Jesus declaring good deeds.
Well, I never said “sheesh…” 😉
It’s a minor point. I was actually provoked to thought about the “well done” question recently when Krista and I watched Saving Private Ryan. When Capt. Miller tells Pvt. Ryan to “earn this” — I thought, “how can I possibly earn what those men did?” The real men who fought and died, of course — not the guys in the movie.
My next thought was, “I can’t earn salvation, and if I can’t even earn what those men did, how can I hope to hear Christ say, ‘Well done?'” The standard there would have to be pretty high, you know?
On one level, your points are well taken — whatever else we say about these texts, they tell us that Jesus is decidedly “pro-good deeds” and good things come to those who do them.
But…
Matt. 25:33-40 is about separating sheep from goats, not separating sheep from sheep. Wouldn’t that take it out of the “rewards” category and put it into a discussion about judgment?
Whatever the nature of rewards are, I think we can all agree that the deeds that might earn them will never merit salvation.
That was one of Tom’s key points in arguing against the idea of rewards (beyond salvation itself). So, I think I’ll give my take on that next up in part 6.