A Different Reward

And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.

Revelation 22:12-13

Christ uses the word ‘reward’ in more than one sense.  Our text rests upon other statements of Scripture which give it clarity.  We understand that acceptance with God is all of Grace, ‘for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.’  In the passages we have been discussing for the past days the subject has been works.  How shall we understand this?  Perhaps the simplest way is to consider that we act according to what we believe.  If we want to know who a person really is, we hear their words but watch their behavior.  The behavior is the true indicator of belief, regardless of the professions.  If we believe Christ, then His behavior becomes the pattern for our own behavior.  It is that which demonstrates what we believe.  Christ rewards those works, done not to gain acceptance with God, but as a result of that acceptance.  By contrast, Christ rewards the behavior that reflects unbelief.  He says to those people, ‘Then He will answer them, saying, Assuredly; I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.  And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’  Their unbelief led them to their behavior.  Christ is the Great Divide of all humanity.  At Christ, we divide to salvation or damnation, acceptance or rejection, heaven or hell.  We receive the reward, which is appropriate for each of us. 

Our Holy and Righteous God,
we rejoice that You do all things well.
We praise You that in every way,
You give unto all of us
what is right and good.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning