Rewards in Heaven
Calvinists are not only completely mistaken on the biblical theme of redemption; they are also completely wrong with respect to the biblical topic of rewards in heaven. Oddly enough, their error stems from the wrong premise that humility, modesty and meekness are founded on the correct attitude to God’s absolute sovereignty. Allow me to explain. In their estimate, the slightest observance of faith or trust in God, especially in the procurement of your salvation, is superciliousness in the extreme and demeans the absolute sovereignty of God. Hence, God must at all costs sovereignly and monergistically (unilaterally) regenerate only his elect so that his absolute sovereignty ought not to be compromised. To my mind, this is feigned humility that not only maligns God’s love, the very essence of his Being, but leads multitudes into a maelstrom of deception. It is a deception that borders very close on Jesus’ warning in Matthew 23:13:
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. (Emphasis added).
Only the final Judgement will reveal how many poor souls will be eternally lost because they were told to believe the vile doctrines of Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace and Perseverance of the Saints. Referring to the pronouncement of this doctrine at the Synod of Dort, England’s King James of King James Bible fame, though he was no Arminian, expressed his repugnance:
This doctrine is so horrible, that I am persuaded, if there were a council of unclean spirits assembled in hell, and their prince the devil were to [ask] their opinion about the most likely means of stirring up the hatred of men against God their Maker; nothing could be invented by them that would be more efficacious for this purpose, or that could put a greater affront upon God’s love for mankind than that infamous decree of the late Synod . . . (King James I; in Jacobus Arminius, The Works of James Arminius, trans. James and William Nichols (Baker Book House, 1986), 1:213).
One of the most dangerous offshoots of their feigned humility is their adamant belief that man does not have a free-will. Humility, in Jesus’ own words, is something you need to learn, through experience, from Him personally (Matthew 11:29). In order to learn something, you must have the freedom of choice. Enforced learning, i.e. a learning process that is void of any means to the making of calculated choices, leads to disaster. When Jesus said “learn from me” He actually said “give your yoke of sins and transgressions to Me, take up my yoke and see for yourself (and begin to understand experientially) that my yoke is soft and easy to bear.” He never forces his yoke on anyone. His yoke is to be taken in the very same way his Living Water is to be taken (Revelation 22:17), which clearly implies that man must exercise his own free choice to either receive or to reject his yoke ( and Living Water).
Calvinism announces there are no rewards in heaven
Their lop-sided view of God’s sovereignty forces them yet again to feign humility by making public announcements that heaven does not afford any kind of recompense to the saints because God cannot accept any shape or form of works saints do in their mortal bodies. If that were true, we would have to remove from holy Writ a great deal of passages relating to the giving and receiving of rewards in heaven. So, to prove that our Calvie friends are totally wrong once again, let’s turn our attention to what the Bible says about rewards in heaven.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10)
Paul makes it very clear that the things saints do in their bodies may either be good or bad which completely debunks the Calvinist view that they are only capable of doing bad things in their mortal bodies. “Good” and “bad” are not used in the sense of being sinful (bad) or not sinful (good). The word “kakos” used here for “bad” describes something that is worthless and fruitless and relates particularly to the doing of works in the flesh, by means of the flesh and in behalf of the flesh. It is devoid of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Paul alludes to these kinds of fruitless works in his second epistle to the Corinthians.
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)
Both the bad (worthless, fruitless) and good (Holy Spirit empowered) works the saints had done in their mortal bodies are going to be tested by the consuming fire of God (Hebrews 12:29) at the Bema Throne Judgement subsequent to the Rapture.
For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1 Corinthians 3:9-15).
The saints are all co-labourers with God and they are going to be rewarded by God Himself for the things they had done in their earthly, mortal bodies. There is no doubt about that. In Revelation 22:12 Jesus says: “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” and in Revelation 3: 11 He says: “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” The works the saints have done and to which they must hold fast, are the works the Holy Spirit wrought through them. Is it possible for a saint to lose his reward/s? According to Jesus mortal man is capable of robbing God’s saints of their reward/s and crowns.
What are these rewards/crowns we will receive in heaven?
- An incorruptible crown for those who triumph over their old fleshly nature (1 Corinthians 9:25)
- A crown of rejoicing for the soul winners (1 Thessalonians 2:19)
- A crown of life for those who endure temptations (James 1:12)
- A crown of righteousness for those who love his appearance (at the Rapture) (2 Timothy 4:8)
- An incorruptible crown of glory who loyally tend to and feed the sheep and the lambs with the right spiritual food (1 Peter 5:4)
“I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one may rob you and deprive you of your crown.” Revelation 3:11 – Beware of those who tell you that there are no rewards in heaven; they are the ones who rob you of your rewards/crowns, in particular those Calvinists who do not believe in rewards.
I have heard, all my 58 years on Earth that we will “cast our crowns at His feet.” There is not a verse that says we will do that. This is the closest verse. Revelation 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Of course the 24 Elders are the head of each (12) tribes in Israel & the 12 Apostles. Now with that said, I will gladly lay any crowns I may get at the feet of Jesus. But I also know that we will be “Kings and Priests unto our God.” Revelation 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Revelation 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. I guess we will find out in Heaven.
If I could choose a crown it would be the one who loves His appearing.
To the Deb-ster, Where did you find the information that Calvinist do not believe in rewards in heaven? That is a new one for me. My very best friend of 53 years turned Calvinist back in 2004. The church we grew up in was not Calvinistic at all. I study constantly about Calvinism, not for me to believe in it, but I want to be able to answer her. Thanks.
Sharon wrote:
Your arithmetic is a little confusing. There are 24 elders and twelve tribes. Do the twelve tribes each have two heads? As far as I know the twelve apostles shall sit in judgment over the the twelve tribes (Matthew 19:28). The 24 elders represent the raptured church.
Hi Sharon,
Sharon wrote:
Yep, that’s the one to go fer! The more rewards and crowns, the more to lay down at his feet, and the more you will glorify Him.
Math was not my best topic in school :o) I meant to say the Sons of Abraham 12 and the 12 Apostles.
12+12=24 I’m such a goofball
Thomas Lessing wrote:
Sharon
Don’t worry, I didn’t even notice 😉 Only when Tom said something did I realise lol.
Calvinists believe they are marked by God for salvation and cannot resist God’s call to repent and believe. That is their twisted and perverted view of His sovereignty and grace. They also believe that if one does fall into sin that God will again in His sovereignty force one to repent and return to the straight and narrow. If one claims Christ and falls into sin, and one does not repent, it is assumed that one is not truly one of the chosen. What is puzzling is that if that doctrine allows that believers can fall into sin, how does that come about unless that believer has a free will? Would that not have to say that God ordains sin?
Therefore, the logical conclusion is that the Calvinist cannot possibly do anything of his own volition for God and that would mean that there would be no rewards because there was no issue of obedience or serving heart on the part of the Calvinist. In other words, a programmed robot.
In their world, why is there even any need for the Bema Seat Judgment?
What is really strange is that this devious doctrine is often cloaked in a ministry to expose the evils of Romanism and other false teachings. What does that tell us? Doesn’t that mean that the enemy must use his cleverest methods of deception to cover up a doctrine that destroys the very Gospel.
Oh that more people would see it for what it is and not turn a blind eye. Those entrapped in it are precious in the sight of God and need to know the truth. Unlike the traditional Calvinist, those who believe in the true Gospel have compassion upon ALL the lost and have a burning desire to reach them and rescue them from an eternal hell. God is not willing that ANY should perish and this is NOT limited to a certain number of people.
Oh that our hearts would break for the lost. What of our Lord’s final words in the Great Commission? HIS heart broke for them and so should ours. Even Calvinists who believe a false gospel. There is no hatred here for them, just a desire to sound the alarm that others will not fall into that trap.
Redeemed wrote:
I can only say AMEN to this.
I asked my Calvinist friend what happens if you don’t perceiver? She said that they believe in a “perpetual atonement”, so that means Jesus Christ is perpetually atoning for sins that are already forgiven. In Hebrews 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. Jesus atoned for all sin once and for all. Hebrews 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. He poured out His blood on the Mercy Seat in Heaven, one time and for all. The only verse that uses the word “Perseverance is Ephesians 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; This is the only verse in the Bible that teaches us to “persevere” when it comes to prayer. Other wise we are to endure. 2nd Timothy 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
Calvinism is so screwed up and it is wrecking havoc in some churches today. Some Calvinists I know hate being called a Calvinist, so they changed the name to Sovereign Grace. No, they are Calvinist.
Redeemed wrote:
I have Dish TV but it no longer has God TV on it, Thank God! Most of the “Christian” stations I do get are as bad for the most part. All of the Wolves like to be on TV.
One time as I was “Channel Surfing” there was a man on God TV and his program was on about 11:30pm. His name was Barry Smith from New Zealand. He died a couple of years ago. He made some very interesting comments about the Pyramids in Egypt & who built them.
I was just wondering if you waaaayyyyyyy over there have heard of him.
Sharon
Those New Zealanders are even waaaaaayyyyy further than us, and this Barry Smith guy (have not heard of him) like most have interesting ideas as to who built the pyramids…
now thinking about it, this is a strange comment for this article? LOL
I agree. My best friend turned Calvinist in 2004 she and I grew up in a church that was not Calvinistic at all. I remember a pastor that we had back when I was about 6 or 7 years old. One Sunday he preached Calvinism. My Dad, my Uncle and the other 5 deacons told him not to preach Calvinism any more. Well the very next Sunday he did it again. To do this again is typical Calvinistic Arrogance to get back in the pulpit and try to preach it again.
All of Deacons stood up and told him to come down from behind the pulpit because he was no longer pastor there. They gave him severance pay because he was married and had about 4 or 5 kids. Of course as a little kid I didn’t know all about what had happened. But as I look back I believe the 7 Deacons did the right thing, harsh as it may seen. But there was a cancer in the Pulpit and they took it out.
Thomas Lessing wrote:
Debs
Barry Smith was a typical doomsday prophet who said Jesus will be here in the year 2000. He started about the same time as Benni Hinn but was more a Jimmy Swaggart type of preacher.
He loved to display a “timeline” and to set specific times for the fulfillment of Bible prophecy.
I have not heard from him in… 25 – 30 years?
Yes Sharon. I was new in the field then but I used to watch his videos. They became very popular in the early 1980’s here in the RS of A
It will be interesting to go back and check who sent him then? I found his preaching on prophecy extremely interesting but like I said… I was a babe then.
I only saw him that one time. I don’t know if the program was new or if they were playing old re-runs. He died a few years ago. He made a comment something like he believed the Great Pyramid of Geza was built by God Himself since it was perfectly built. I don’t know if I agree with that because God’s eye is on Jerusalem more than any other place. Oh well, I was just wondering.
Robbie wrote:
if I be faithful till death then I will get a crown when I get to heaven
Danielle Woodard
According to the Bible there are five crowns you may win.
1) The crown of life for those who endure suffering and temptation (Revelation 2:10; James 1:12).
2) The crown of glory for the shepherds (pastors and elders) who are faithful in giving their flocks the right food (and not a load of heresies and lies) (1 Peter 5:4).
3) The crown of righteousness for those who love and wait for his appearing at the Rapture (2 Timothy 4:8).
4) The crown of rejoicing for winning souls to Christ (1 Thessalonians 2:19).
5) An incorruptible crown for those who gain victory over their carnal nature (1 Corinthians 9:25).
A question: In the judgment seat of Christ will we also be judged for the sins we have committed after being saved?
Dear Bic
The BEMA seat of Christ or Judgement Seat of Christ takes place in heaven, and the judge at the BEMA seat is Jesus Christ Himself and this happens immediately following the rapture of the Bride of Christ See (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52).
Note, that those who deny the rapture of the bride of Christ also deny the Judgement Seat of Christ and henceforth believe they are actually unsaved and will be judged at the resurrection to the Great White Throne Judgment (John 5:29; Romans 14:10-12; Revelation 20:11-151).
At this BEMA seat or tribunal which is Jesus Christ Himself (2 Corinthians 5:10; John 5:22; Romans 14:10) believers works will be made manifest; each believer will receive rewards according to what works he has done, whether it be good or bad while on earth. There they will receive rewards for their faithfulness to the Lord, but for everything done by, or though, the flesh contrary to God’s will they will suffer loss of rewards. (1 Corinthians 3:15).
The purpose of the BEMA seat is to make a public manifestation of the motives of the each born again Christian. “Every man’s work shall be made manifest” (1 Corinthians 3:13-15). The believer’s works are brought into judgment or into question; these are called “the things done in his body” (2 Corinthians 5:10), in order that it may be determined whether they are good or bad.
This judgment is not to determine what is good or evil, but rather that which is acceptable and that which is worthless/unprofitable to the work of Jesus Christ.
The results of the BEMA seat judgment are too determined 2 things:
1) a reward received or
2) a reward lost.
All our works will be tested by fire. If a believer’s work remains undamaged by the fire, he receives rewards. If a believer’s work does not endure the fire, and is consumed in the fire, then he shall suffer loss of a reward.
1 Corinthians 3:13-15 “13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.”
Everything a believer has devoted himself to in this life (those things done in his own strength and for his own glory) shall be burnt up suddenly. “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:15).
It is important to notice that such a man does not suffer the loss of his salvation, nor is this a judgement of his sin, but the loss of reward for his works. The stress is not on a man’s relationship to Christ, but upon service to Jesus Christ.
— Recourse: Liberty Bible Commentary, Volume II, pp. 421-422.
The main reason for this is very simple, no man can enter heaven on or through his own works of the flesh, but on the Will of God alone.
Do not be afraid, it will be a glorious day :yahoo:
Indeed, Jesus has dealt permanently with our sins on the cross. It is finished (Tetekestai). He will deal with our works at the Bema throne judgment with his consuming fire (Deut 4:24; Hebr 12:29).
thanks! I really appreciate your responses!
And what should I do to build with gold and precious stones? How can I build with those materials?
Should it be some big job or something like that?
There are mainly two things you need to do.
It means that you should go to the Lord in prayer and say to Him. “Lord, I am wholly and completely – spirit, soul and body – your possession. Let your will be done in my life. Use me whenever and wherever it pleases you.
And then, daily live a holy life unto the Lord by not being conformed to the rudiments of this world. Study God’s word and let it renew your mind to teach you the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. Remember, when you give something to the Lord, He WILL take it and use it to his glory.
This is the case that they make: https://reforminus.com/2021/08/24/8-24-21-there-are-no-rewards-in-heaven-for-your-good-deeds/
basically since good deeds aren’t a real thing and never have been (else they would save you the same way sin damns you), the ‘works’ are those you ‘evangelize’ or threaten with hell. Your reward in heaven is the ones you successfully evangelize (I guess they’re your slaves in heaven or something?)
Hi Gordon. What did Jesus mean when He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” (John 14:12). What are the works that are the greater ones than those Jesus performed? Once you have answered me this question, we can elaborate some more on your post.
I cannot speak for them, but I would suppose having the NT and reading it to threaten others with eternal torture is what must be seen as greater than healing with miracles.
Calvinism and Campbellite Restorationism have both abolished the Holy Spirit’s existence in favor of the Bible’s text itself which is “the perfect” that came to replace the Holy Spirit, thus using the book must be the ‘greater’ work than anything the Spirit did that the book does not.
Dear Gordon.
The Word of God (the Perfect) does not replace the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit abides in ever born again believer, and it is the Holy that illuminates script for the believer to understand.