There is a preaching of the gospel which, while rejoicing in justification and in the new life in Christ, yet seems to stop short at that point - as if the beginning of new life is all there is to salvation.
Questions on the holy life of sanctification are scarcely raised, a joi de vivre of the simple gospel prevails, often with a wealth of extravagant praise, but owing little or nothing to the Christian experience of fellowship in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ - as if that was exclusively for our Lord on our behalf, but not for us.
Whereas the very new birth itself introduces us to a life of costly obedience which, for all its grace, carries obligations of service as sacred duty, and promises rich, abiding, heavenly rewards. Horatius Bonar's hymn says: 'The life above, when this is past, is the ripe fruit of life below.'
Major fallacy
We often hear the Christian life ex-pounded as if consecration to Christ was a second, almost optional, extra for especially keen and devout believers. This is a major fallacy, which is attended, alas, with appalling consequences for the health of individual Christians; and it is bound to lead to the tragic impoverishment of the Christian church in her work and witness to the world. Surely it is the proliferation of superficial conversions resulting from the activities of 'fly-by-night' evangelists and sensational entrepreneurs which produce an evangelical experience which knows little or nothing of sharing the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But this obligation is something one seldom hears preached. And when I introduced the subject of 'Reward and Loss' from 1 Corinthians 3.10-15 to Keswick in 1952, it caused a furore! The leaders of the movement were shocked that one dared to speak of 'loss in heaven'!
Losing out
Admittedly, the 'loss' Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 3.15 is a loss of reward, and of course does not affect the status of the saints as citizens of heaven rejoicing in unalloyed bliss. But then, if it is a loss at all, and for ever, that is surely a very serious matter. It means that every earthly failure to serve the Lord as he desired, failing to grasp opportunities afforded us by his grace, will surely be seen in heaven as a lack of reward.
We may think that because such failures will not interfere with our bliss in being there in the presence of the Saviour - that we are there at all with less weight and glory to our presence because our deeds were fewer than they ought to have been, thus relegating us, whatever rewards mean, to lesser enrichments of grace than were possible - is surely a matter for much prayerful concern!
By fire
What does the apostle Paul say about this? That the testing of our earthly service of Christ down here will be by fire, and if that service has been of the meretricious order of 'wood, hay and stubble', it will be destroyed by fire, but the believer's soul will be saved, 'yet so as by fire'. This surely needs to be taken with great seriousness, and a balance struck which neither impugns the state of bliss which will obtain among the saints in glory, nor does it diminish the importance of the great Assize at which the record of our Christian life on earth will be thoroughly examined by fiery trial; for judgment will be given in the form of reward, whatever that reward may be, for all acceptable service, and loss of reward for that which was not done acceptably in the Spirit of Christ.
Why, otherwise, is Paul writing of this to the saints? Nor is the passage in 1 Corinthians 3.10-15 on its own. Writing later to the same people in 2 Corinthians 5.10 he says: 'For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in his body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad.' That is even more specific.
This word is further clinched by the apostle John towards the end of the book of the Revelation (22.11-12); where he says with regard to the fixity of the character we have gathered to ourselves on earth: 'He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.'
Is this not, therefore, an exceedingly strong motive - next to the supreme one of living a life of loving gratitude towards the Lord Jesus - for seeking to be the very best we can be down here? The fact is, as John in the Revelation makes plain, that by the quality of our life down here we are weaving our own wedding garment for the marriage Supper of the Lamb. For the fine linen in which the Bride of Christ will be arrayed at her marriage to the Lamb will be 'the fine linen' of 'the righteous deeds of the saints'. Notice the emphasis on the deeds of the saints, because every Christian is called to a life of service, whatever that service might be.
Nor is there lack of examples in the New Testament of the kind of service we may render our Lord, from that of the highest offices in his Church, to the simplest service of others - even to a cup of cold water, which we are told will not lose its reward.
Nor is the Lord arbitrary as to the forms of service he insists we should render him, for there must be good works he wants us to do which suit every conceivable human temperament and bent and inclination. No one can opt out because they are not fit, since we are all fit for some kind of service in his will.
Handicapped souls
This is often seen in the dedicated service of helplessly handicapped souls who still find room for some kind of influence or service - even from a wheelchair or bed. There is something for every believer to do to please the Lord and enrich the life of some needy person for which the Lord generously offers a permanent reward. Isn't that exciting?
But there are those who will say with Ignatius Loyola, that 'to serve the Lord as he deserves, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to ask for any reward save that of knowing that we do his will', should exclude all thought of reward.
Not necessarily, if we note his word 'save'. For the motive of the godly in seeking reward is not some worldly advantage in heaven, which would be quite inappropriate there; but to be as near as possible to the Lord in glory, and to be in most intimate fellowship with him.
To love the Lord for himself therefore, seeks no reward but that that desire should be fulfilled; but the purity of the desire, says the Word of God, will certainly be rewarded.
The Rev. William Still
