REWARDS IN HEAVEN

God told Abraham “I am thy exceeding great reward.” (Gen. 15:1) Christ Himself was the exceeding great reward of Abraham’s faith. Nothing has changed for God’s elect. Christ is the reward of every believer’s faith, whether it be great faith or small faith. Anyone who desires rewards in heaven does not value Christ as highly as they should. If Christ is the believer’s wisdom (I Cor. 1:30) then one believer is not wiser than another. If Christ is the believer’s righteousness (I Cor. 1:30) then one believer is not more righteous or less sinful than another. If Christ is the believer’s sanctification (I Cor. 1:30) then one believer is not more holy than another. If Christ is the believer’s redemption (I Cor. 1:30) then one believer is not more redeemed than another. If Christ is the believer’s glory (I Cor. 1:31) then every believer will have the same degree of glory when we are with Christ and made just like Him. If Christ is the believer’s life (Col. 3:4) then one believer does not have a better life than any other. Everything the believer has now and hopes for in the future is all based upon the doing and dying of Christ and our works do not add to or take away from Christ and His work of redemption. Christ is the exceeding great reward for every believer and the reward cannot get any better than that.

Pastor

Psalm 65:4 Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts.

The Lord in grace performs the work of salvation in his chosen vessels of mercy. Salvation is his operation of grace in his people. We who believe are blessed because of his work. Our works didn’t save us. Our works do not bless us. Paul affirms the source of our blessings saying “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).

Accordingly, we do not choose God by our will. Instead God chooses whom he will. “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest” is how the Lord worded it. Our will is corrupt and bound in sin and darkness. So God does the choosing. And God brings forth the work of faith in us. He causes us to approach him and beg for mercy. He bears the fruit of faith in his people. And God further reveals to that faith that salvation is his blessed work. He bears the fruit of thanksgiving and rejoicing in his people for his work. “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain” (John 15:16). In spite of the lies that dead religion teaches men, the Lord’s people are brought into the light of Christ. And in Christ their Lord and Savior they learn that “it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Romans 9:16).

Pastor Eric Lutter

God has sworn with an oath that he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, yet, He has also sworn that the soul that sinneth, it shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4 Ezekiel 33:11) Can both of God’s sworn oaths be kept? They must be in order for God to be just. The love of God and the law of God must be reconciled. God cannot love and save a sinner apart from Divine justice. Therefore, God Himself satisfies justice and justifies the ungodly. It’s called substitution, and it is all about WHO died and HOW He died for the sins of the elect. Only God can provide the perfection that God requires.