“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work“
The conclusion of Revelation runs from 22:6 through 22:21. John now turns to applications to the churches.
“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
When Jesus comes during the Rapture (verse 7), He will come with rewards for the church. Immediately after the Rapture, He will evaluate believers according to their works and reward them at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10-11). This evaluation at the judgment seat of Christ is a judgment of works (1 Corinthians 3:1f).
Principle:
Jesus will reward Christians according to the standard of their works.
Application:
When we stand before the Lord, our works will either be “wood, hay or stubble,” or they will have lasting impact as do “gold, silver, and precious stones” (1 Corinthians 3:1f). God will be fair to the Christian.
God will allow no trumped-up evidence. There will be no circumstantial evidence. He will evaluate every last Christian who has ever lived in absolute fairness, including you and me. We will receive nothing we did not earn. We will receive rewards for everything we did for His glory.
“And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14).
“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 [worthless]” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior years ago. I'm a very shy and quiet person and I don't speak for Christ as boldly as I should. Even though I'm a believer, does the statment…Jesus will reward Christians according to the standard of their works…mean that I will still be judged by Him; and I won't be able to live in New Jerusalem with Him unless I live boldly?
Maeflower, thanks for your blog.
This passage is speaking of Christians, not non-Christians. There will be no punishment for Christians because there is "no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Ro 8:1). The issue here is reward for Christians, not salvation. God will reward Christians according to how they lived in time on earth. Begin a study with this verse http://versebyversecommentary.com/1-corinthians/1-corinthians-312/ and study to the end of the chapter.
Thank you Dr. Richison.
I'm am understanding God's Word so much more by using your site as a study tool along with my Bible. You clearly have a gift that is from God.
Thank you as well Maeflower.
why does he say 'my reward', why not your reward?
Mac, it is because He is the one who gives the reward.
thanks alot for this exposition.
Someone said they have accepted Christ for years and have not spoken boldly of Christ because of being quiet and shy,but the great Christ in me has allowed me to be bold in His word. What i would like to be clear on when going through hard testing and hard trials we fail at times and tend to be reading or doing something out of line will that christian be wood, stubble.will that person make it in?
Sandra, Anything we do while out of fellowship with God will be wood, hay and stubble, even if it is our witness. That does not mean that a non-Christian will be unresponsive. Everything depends on whether we have confessed the current sin in our lives. God does not give tit for tat, therefore, divine discipline will be slow in coming but it will be sure if we do not deal with the sin that is in our lives.
All of this is what we call divine discipline for Christians (He 12:6,7). Christians will enter eternal life by faith, not works or bad works for that matter.
Non-Christians will go to hell for one reason–they reject God’s solution to the sin issue–faith in the death of Christ for our sins.
You may be interested in a study that shows that God will keep Christians save, even if they sin: http://versebyversecommentary.com/articles/eternal-security/
Thank you!
Sandra Griffiths
I am currently at Bible School . I have been going to church for years but only discovered recently based on 1 Corinthians chapter 3 how serious we should take our work for God. God wants excellence from us. It needs to be emphasized that although salvation is not by works we shall be rewarded according to our work Rev 22:12. Paul warned the Corinthians that on that Day each one’ work will become clear, they work shall be tested by fire,