Reward

Originally posted by @divegeester
Sonship, I'm guessing you have abandoned this thread?

No Divegeester. I'm a little bewildered but have not given up yet.

Does any of it make sense to you?

Before the judgment seat of Christ the saved will still have opportunity to receive mercy from Christ. This mercy that I speak of is not pertaining to eternal salvation or eternal perdition. It is mercy related to reward or punishment during the millennial kingdom.

Some examples will follow.

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy." (Matt. 5:7)

This is pertaining to position, rank, reward in the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens.

Those who are strict with themselves but merciful towards others - will be shown lenience before the Judge - Christ.

To be merciful here is not to be so sloppily liberal that you don't care what anyone does. It is merciful in conjunction with being strict with yourself in following the King, the Lord Jesus.

The line I am on now is about the Christians' being shown mercy when Christ determines reward or discipline for the coming millennial kingdom.

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy." (Matt. 5:7)

The Apostle Paul knew of a Christian brother named Onesiphorus. This brother may have not been all that sanctified, (But this I do not know for certain). However he assisted Paul in his severe persecution. Paul desires that this disciple would be shown mercy by Jesus on the day he appears before Jesus for reward.

"May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesipherus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain.

But being in Rome, he sought me out diligently and found me.

May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord in that day. And in how many things he served me in Ephesus, you know best." (2 Timothy 1:16-18)

Originally posted by @sonship
The Judgment Seat of Christ is set up to determine what is the [b]reward given to the Christian who has received the gift of eternal life.

I begin with a quote from one A.T. Pierson.

[quote] "With many disciples the eyes are yet blinded to this mystery of rewards, which is an open mystery of the Word. It must be an imputed righteousness whereby ...[text shortened]... n. This thread will examine reward for Christ likeness awarded in the coming millennial kingdom.[/b]

So, Earthly works don't lead to salvation, but they do determine the quality of that salvation in regards to status in heaven.

Am I understanding you correctly?

I don't believe that there are any Christians who do not realize that they themselves need mercy from the Lord Jesus. Because we Christians all have many failures.

Christ's principle of the kingdom is that a disciple be strict towards himself or herself yet merciful towards others. Human nature is usually the opposite. We are lenient on ourselves but strict and exacting towards others.

The kingdom life requires the opposite.

Here Jesus warns that with the judgment a Christian judges others the same strictness will be applied to THEM before the judgment seat of Christ.

"Do not judge, that you be not judged.

For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged, and with what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you." (Matt. 7:1,2)

Christian brother or sister, do you delight to point out others' faults? Do you delight to expose the failures of fellow believers with ease ??

Get ready then. With the standard that you measured others Jesus Christ will measure you.

Me, I am like everyone else. I can easily murmur about another's behavior. Sometimes I remember this verse and I pray -

Lord Jesus, I would have a merciful thought concerning that brother or sister. For you know Lord, how I have done the exact same things as I criticize here.

Lord Jesus, remember that I choose to have mercy on this saints. I know You will Lord. I drop my harsh criticism Lord. I pray for this person. Have mercy upon them Lord.

Please notice here. This verse does not really say "Don't Judge PERIOD." It says don't judge in a manner that will call for YOU being judged in the same way. There's a difference.

" ... with the measure you measure, it shall be measured to you."

We do judge. But we must be careful how and with what attitude we do so.

Originally posted by @ghost-of-a-duke
So, Earthly works don't lead to salvation, but they do determine the quality of that salvation in regards to status in heaven.

Am I understanding you correctly?

So, Earthly works don't lead to salvation, but they do determine the quality of that salvation in regards to status in heaven.

Am I understanding you correctly?

By works of the law, the NT says, no flesh will be justified.
We need Christ to justify us with His redeeming death.

Before the age of eternity outlined in Revelation 21 and 22 there is an intervening period of one thousand years.
This is called the millennial kingdom.

This period was set up as an incentive to cooperate with the grace of God. God in His wisdom knew that some would take advantage of His grace, under appreciate His grace, lightly esteem His grace, and expoit His grace.

He knew some would be defeated by this. And He knows that others who received grace would be overcoming in their cooperation with His desire to sanctify them; transform them; conform them during the church age into the image of Christ.

All will be eventually sanctified, transformed, conformed. Some will be in a timely manner as when they SHOULD have been. And others will be late in a remedial manner having procrastinated during the age of grace.

Reward and discipline in the passages I write here pertain to those saved.

Before I understood these passages, as Christian I knew intuitively in my heart that God could not be SO stupid as to allow me to cheaply use grace as an opportunity to live further the same sinful way.

Going to HEAVEN forever is a natural concept.
We may visit HEAVEN but not stay there because God cares about the EARTH.

If you will read Revelation 21 and 22 carefully you will see that the eternal holy city comes DOWN out of heaven. Now I take this as symbolism mostly. But it shows that the eternal destiny is not to be in heaven forever, But it is to partake of something whose ORIGIN and SOURCE is from Heaven.

I know I am verbose.

I am sorry that I sometimes cannot answer questions with fewer words. I think that really interested people will take the time to read a few more words.

So you get saved. And you have the inner assurance of eternal life. And no one can take it away from you. No one gave it to you in the first place but God Himself.

Well, now there is the matter of the incentive to love Jesus and allow Jesus to not only save you but spread and grow and infuse and permeate your personality.

TIME is for this.
Each day the Christian needs her or his share of little bit of transformation through obedience of faith.

The line I am on now is about obtaining mercy before His examination. We will ALL (who are saved) need this mercy.

James 2:13

" So speak and so do as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom.

For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy, mercy triumphs over judgment."

Originally posted by @sonship
By works of the law, the NT says, no flesh will be justified..

There is something in the relationship between faith and works
that you do not understand.

Salvation, saved, eternal life, all mean different things.

[i]Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
ea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works:
shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Thou believest that there is one God;
thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works,
when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Seest thou how faith wrought with his works,
and by works was faith made perfect?
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith,
Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness:
and he was called the Friend of God.
Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works,
when she had received the messengers,
and had sent them out another way?
For as the body without the spirit is dead,
so faith without works is dead also.
(James 2:17-26 KJV)

Originally posted by @sonship
..Going to HEAVEN forever is a natural concept. .

Nobody goes to heaven.
Heaven going is another false doctrine preached by the church.

the church is designed to draw people by whatever means necessary.

Originally posted by @sonship
So you get saved. And you have the inner assurance of eternal life..

Is there a bible reference for this statement?

Originally posted by @sonship
At one time I might have not known about the rewards as far as Scripture teaches. But I had an intuitive feeling in my conscience that something like this must be the case. Otherwise it would kind of make God unwise. For the tendency to take grace for granted is often an attitude, especially in a surrounding atmosphere of degradation.

Don't think of a "g ...[text shortened]... ble classifications. Don't use this as evidence of schism or sectarianism being practiced by me.

(Bump for sonship.)

I'm not sure if that was a yes or a no...

I'm asking you if you are, at this point in time one of the "many" Christian disciples which you have identified as having "eyes are yet blinded to this mystery of rewards"?

Originally posted by @divegeester

I'm asking you if you are, at this point in time one of the "many" Christian disciples which you have identified as having "eyes are yet blinded to this mystery of rewards"?

Why do you think this is an interesting question that I should spend more time on ?

Originally posted by @sonship
Why do you think this is an interesting question that I should spend more time on ?

Because of your responses just like this one!

Avoidance, obfuscation,

Originally posted by @rajk999
Is there a bible reference for this statement?

Yes.