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1 Corinthians 3:10 - 15
ESV - 10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
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Matthew 19:27. Then Peter said, Look we have left everything and followed you. What are we to have then? Vs. 28 Jesus said to them, In truth I tell you when everything is made New again and the Son of man is seated on His throne of glory, you yourselves will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. We as Christians work, because we have been given the gift of faith, and have received salvation by Grace. 1 Corinthians 3:15 The one whose work stands up to it will be given his wages.. reward There are 5 crowns we may receive: 1 Corinthians 9:24, 25 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an incorruptible crown. 1Thessalonians 2:19, 20. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy. James 1:12. Blessed is the man who endures temptation for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 2Timothy 4:8 Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. 1Peter 5:4. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. Crowns are given for faithfulness in trials, for witnessing, to martyrs, to those who watch and wait, those who live good lives, and to those who lead succesfully. (Pastors)
This is such an important question. Salvation is a free gif of God for all that have trusted Jesus as their only savior. Those that have become a child of God through the new birth when we first trusted Jesus as our savior. That is when we received the free gift of eternal life, all of our sins have been paid for, and the Spirit of God is given to us. Ephesians 1:13 Once we have received the Holy Spirit we are saved and are given eternal life without works. Jesus paid it all and we paid 0. After we have received the free gift of eternal life, our works count toward our rewards in heaven. Never toward our salvation as Jesus paid for that. We must never get those two mixed up. Romans 11:6 What did Jesus tell us to do? He told us to love God and our neighbor. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. All of us are given a different life. How we handle what we have been given will have some effect on how we are rewarded in heaven. We are saved by grace, without works, so no one can boast and say I earned my way to heaven. But we earn rewards by how we live after we have received the free gift of salvation by grace. As it says in Romans 4:1-2 If Abraham were justified by works, he would have something to glory in, but not before God. It is very easy for unbelievers to believe they are justified by works rather than grace. And we can justify our selves before men by our works, but not before God. We can only be justified by faith without works before God. Jesus has paid for all our sins and we are made a child of God through Him who loved us and gave His life a ransom for us. We are saved by grace without works, then do good works because we are saved, not to save us. Those that are trusting in their works are not saved. If we could be saved by works, then Jesus died for no reason. But He did not die in vain, He came to save sinners which we all are because in our flesh there is no good thing. But all of those that have trusted Jesus blood sacrifice for all sin, are saved and have eternal life. We have nothing to boast in but the cross. First John 5:13 John 6:40 tells us what the will of God is, And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one who seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. So after we have received the free gift of salvation by grace, we do good works to earn rewards in heaven. Heaven is the reward for our faith, not our works.
Here in 1 Corinthians 3 it is speaking of the Judgment Seat of Christ that is established for all believers. We are rewarded for our works, good or bad; some will receive crowns, others will suffer loss. Those that suffer loss, they are not lost but yet their souls are still saved. The Judgment Seat of Christ will take place early upon His second coming for us to receive our reward (crowns) to where we will be placed in His kingdom here on earth. The Apostle John recorded in Revelation 22:12 what Christ said to him: "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." We do not receive rewards for heaven, but the rewards will be utilized in the Millennial Reign with Christ. At His second coming the saint and the ungodly will receive their reward. The saints will go to the Judgment Seat of Christ for their reward and the ungodly will go to the Valley of Jehoshaphat for their reward. (the great winepress of the wrath of God, Revelation14:19) We receive rewards to be executed or utilized during the Millennial Reign, not in Heaven. Eternal life is not a reward, it is a gift What is the Great and Terrible day of the Lord? 2 Peter 3:8: "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord is the 1000 year Millennial Reign. When Christ returns at the beginning of His reign the saints go to The Bema Seat of Christ for their rewards, the wicked to the Wine Press and the army’s of Armageddon that surrounds Jerusalem will be judged (destroyed) by Christ, and then the Great wrath of God will be poured out on this earth. We will reign with Christ for a thousand years during the Millennial Reign and take our proper placement according to our rewards. Christ spoke in Matthew 25:21 --- "Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Revelation 20:6: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." I have named the Millennial Reign the Dispensation of Judgment because it is full of judgment from the beginning of the Reign until the end of the Reign. In Revelation 14 here in verse 13 is the close of the Dispensation of Grace and a New Dispensation is birthed. In the Dispensation of Grace our works went before us; in the New Dispensation their works will follow them. The 144,000 Israelites that are saved during the tribulation are considered first fruits. We being gentiles are considered first fruits. The Jews (the elect) will be the second fruits. Christ said in John 1:11: "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." Christ was born a Jew but the Jews rejected Him. Jews, being first, now will be last. Matthew 20:16: "So the last shall be first, and the first last." In Matthew 24:22: "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." Christ’s second coming is not to take us to heaven but redeem the world of sin. John the Baptist said that Christ was the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Has sin been eradicated from the earth yet? No. In Matthew 6 we read beginning in verse 9: "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Se the kingdom of God is coming to us; there will be a new heaven and a new earth after the Millennial Reign. After the Great White Throne Judgment and death has been conquered, Christ will tender a sinless world back to the Father, and at this point we will no longer need our crowns and we will cast them at the feet of Christ. Then there will be a new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
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