Crowns & Legalism
The question of rewards for doing the right thing - what the Bible calls "crowns" - is a tough one... and one of you guys raised it on the cards. I probably need to do some teaching on it in the near future - but for the time being, I'll give you an excerpt from Randy Alcorn, whose little books entitled The Law of Rewards and The Treasure Principle contain some of the best teaching on the subject.
Q: How do we stay away from legalistic living if so much of our focus is on the rewards we will be receiving in Heaven for the good works we do here on earth?
Page 72 (The Law of Rewards)—”Whether I read my Bible today, pray, go to church, share my faith, and give my money—actions graciously empowered not by my flesh but by his Spirit—is of eternal consequences, not only for other souls, but for mine.”
If I am always thinking, I’ve got to read my Bible today, go to church, and share my faith so that I can store up some treasures today, that seems like legalistic motivation rather than doing them out of a love of Christ.
A: Legalism is always wrong. So what is the solution? To disobey Scripture by not looking to our reward in Heaven? No. You dare not throw out rewards because you can get legalistic about them, any more than you should throw out Bible study, fasting and prayer because you can get legalistic about them.
We can pervert any good thing into legalism. To avoid it we have to remind ourselves that apart from Christ we can do nothing and he is the one who empowers our good works for his glory. It’s about Him, not us. But we still have to believe Him when he says He wants to reward us. To disbelieve Him, and act as if rewards don’t matter when he says they do, is to insult Him.
This doesn’t mean we can’t relax, ride a bike, or have fun. These are part of the life God gives us, and we should enjoy it. In fact, some of the fun—loving activities we do lead to investments in eternity. For instance, after playing tennis with a man one day I had the joy of leading him to Christ. That doesn’t usually happen, and it doesn’t have to happen for God to be pleased. We should not frantically run through life fearing that if we stop to take a nap or pick an apple or watch a football game that we’ve displeased God. He rewards us for obedience. So if we honor him by doing nothing in a grace-motivated keeping of a day of rest, he may reward us for “doing nothing” that day.
The sheer size and scope of the biblical doctrine of rewards demonstrates how important this subject is. Consider all the passages I’ve compiled. Because some try to work their way into Heaven, which is foolish and sinful and impossible, we have come to fear good works and reject them as insignificant, when in fact God says we were created to do good works (Ephesians 2:8-10). We should not throw out the baby of eternal reward for good works with the bathwater of works—righteousness.
With legalism, the problem is us exalting ourselves and doing good works in the power of the flesh, and seeking the reward of men. Properly, we are to live for the Audience of One, seeking to please Him and gratefully anticipating the miracle of rewards he will give us which will testify not to our goodness, but to his grace at work in our lives. If we remind ourselves of what Scripture says about who he is and who we are, about his worthiness and our unworthiness, we will break free of legalism. Apart from Him we can do nothing.
Worship Planning
In the next few weeks, I'll be working with a worship planning team on mapping out the major teaching/preaching series for the next year... I'd really appreciate two things from you guys:
- Prayer - please pray for wisdom, inspiration & obedience to the call of God. I want to preach what He wants me to preach.
- Input - I'd love to hear from you guys about topics & passages you'd like me to preach on. Please know that I can't possibly use all of your suggestions - but they are still needed to help us form the best possible teaching calendar. Just make a note on your Connection Card & mark it "worship planning".
Quote of the Week
On top of these temporal benefits connected to serving, there are eternal rewards as well. Christ Himself, while preparing the Twelve for a lifetime of serving others, promised an eternal reward even for holding out a cup of cool water.
Charles Swindoll
Who are the 144,000?
The question refers to Revelation 7:1-8... and while I could dither on & on, I think it's better to let some real theology experts fill you in:
The problem with the number is that it is clearly symbolic, but the question is, symbolic of what? Three major scholarly options have been given. The first is that this figure is symbolic of a group of Jews whom God will redeem at the end of the age. The second is that this is symbolic of a group of martyrs whom God preserves for martyrdom. The third is that this number is symbolic of the whole of the church, which God will protect through the tribulation at the end of the age...
The 144,000, then, stand for God's faithful people, Jew or Gentile. They are, just as the text says, ‘the servants of our God.’ The image of Israel is probably drawn from the picture in Ezek 9. Just as all of the tribes of Israel present in Jerusalem (the last stand of Judaism before the exile) were included then, so all of the tribes of humanity will be included in the end. The 12 x 12 x 1000 stresses the completeness of this number; all of God's servants from all of humanity are sealed. The purpose of their sealing is to protect them not from temptation or martyrdom, but from the judgment of God..
This is God's church of the end times, when God's judgment is coming to a peak. Since they are faithful, there is no reason for judgment to fall upon them. In Rev 7 the image of the 144,000 protected on earth is coupled with a parallel image of the church in heaven, an encouragement to persevere. In Rev 14 the 144,000 are in heaven, for in the same chapter is the harvest of the earth. The final judgments, which will destroy everything and everyone in their path, are about to begin.
from Hard Sayings of the Bible by Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Peter H. Davids, F.F. Bruce, Manfred T. Brauch, published by InterVarsity Press.
