The idea of reward makes people in evangelical camps a little uneasy. We believe that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone. Our works could never merit the blessings that we receive freely from God. We must be careful, however, not to make these glorious truths eclipse other glorious truths. And there is one glorious truth that I believe is being eclipsed. It is the glory of being rewarded for our obedience.
From the beginning, the Lord has used the promise of reward to encourage obedience in His children, especially when obedience was commanded during difficult circumstances. After establishing His covenant with Abraham, the Lord tells him, "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great" (Gen 15:1). The Psalmist also understood reward when he said, "Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth" (Ps 58:11).
And Christ Himself spoke of reward often, saying things like, "Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven..." (Lk 6:22-23).
So how do we reconcile the reality of reward within the framework of meritless grace? How are we supposed to obey with reward in mind and not think that we merited the reward? I would suggest a few thoughts to bring reconciliation in this matter:
First, the concept of reward shows up after the Lord establishes His gracious covenant with Abraham. This is not to say that reward did not exist before. It may have. Noah would have undoubtedly understood the reward that accompanied his faithful obedience in building the arch. The point here is that reward is placed within the context of the covenant of grace, and not the covenant of works. Reward, by nature, is gracious.
Second, reward is promised only to those who have been graciously delivered. When we understand that the law was given to a delivered people (Exod 20), we understand the nature of obedience. We must be delivered to obey. We do not obey so that we may be delivered. Once we are freed to obey, through faith and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are promised that our obedience (in this context) will be rewarded.
Third, it would be foolish of us to believe that we merit the reward under the covenant of grace. The Lord Himself sustains our every breath, He ordains our every step, and He empowers and prepares for us every good work. The Bible says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph 2:10). How could we possibly take meritorious credit for something that was all of grace!
Fourth, the giver of the reward is always the Lord. Jesus said, "If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you?...And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you?...And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you?...But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High..." (Lk 6:32-35). Our benefit and reward does not come from others, but from the Lord Himself. This encourages us to freely and selflessly love others while not expecting anything in return from them.
Fifth, trusting the Lord (and not man) for His promised reward is a way for us to glorify Him on earth. It is a way for us to show that He is both generous and trustworthy; and that His reward far surpasses anything we want or desire on earth (Ps 73:25). We are willing to give up all treasures here because we eagerly await glorious treasures in heaven.
Sixth, we must pay attention to the grammar in order to stay away from infusing merit back into this doctrine. The Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Romans that God will render to each one according to his works. The preposition is extremely important as the Apostle did not say on account of his works.
Seventh, because the reward comes to the redeemed according to their obedience, we understand the necessity of a Redeemer - One who purchased our freedom. This Redeemer, Jesus Christ, received what we meritoriously deserved on account of our works - death on a Cross. But He also purchased, on account of His own works, our inheritance. Our reward, therefore, while according to our imperfect obedience, was merited on account of His perfect obedience.
Eighth, consequently, the reward that we receive is far greater than anything we could merit or purchase ourselves. It is truly a gift that is according to our obedience. There is a great chasm between what we do and what we receive! When we finally receive our inheritance in glory, we will be overwhelmed by the gracious generosity of our God. And we will be in awe of the perfect obedience of Christ, that actually merited and purchased the reward! We will see the greatness of His obedience in the greatness of our reward!
Finally, the greatest part of the reward is that it is eternally relational. Our text in Lk 6 is deeply informative in this regard saying, "and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High." First, the verb "you will be" is in the 2nd person plural form. Jesus is saying that many will be sons of the Most High. Second, those who place their faith in Christ and thus obey His commandments, will be sons of the Most High. They will be deeply and significantly related to God Himself. In other words, to be rewarded by God means that we will have an eternal, perfect, faithful, loving Father as well as brothers and sisters who are without sin, and who will be in our family for eternity!
This is why we can love others for the sake of reward and not be ultimately selfish. When we love others and they ask us why we are doing so, we can say, "Because I love you and I long to have the reward of living with God my Father and you, in glory, forever!"
The message of reward gives us something to hope for. It gives us a motive for obedience. It gives us yet another reason to trust, love, obey and praise God. And it empowers and encourages us to cling to Christ more closely. He is our reward as well as the gracious cause of it. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things! Go out today and love someone. Show them that your faith is alive and that your reward in heaven is wonderful! If they persecute you and say bad things about you...
REJOICE! For BEHOLD, your reward is great in heaven!
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