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What Is Your Reward in the Next Life?

Next Part Are You Required to Do Anything?


Back to By David C. Pack


BY DAVID C. PACK

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Nothing is more misunderstood than salvation. Why are so many confused—deceived—about what they will do in the afterlife? Does salvation come by grace or through works—and what is the difference? How—on what basis—are people rewarded in the next life? This vital booklet removes all confusion!

Many expect to receive salvation at the end of this life. But what does this mean? So many are ignorant about what the Bible says their final reward will be. Most have no idea what they will actually be doing for all eternity.

Do you?

A famous evangelist was once asked what heaven would be like. He answered, “I don’t know but it will be wonderful and we will all be there.” He dodged the question.

Obituaries speak of people who “passed away” and “went home to be with the Lord.” Others write that their departed loved one “joined the angels” and that they are “looking down on us right now.”

Some believe that they are “bound for glory.” When asked what this means, most are unsure. But the most common ideas are that everyone will “ride clouds,” “play harps,” “walk the streets of gold in front of the pearly gates,” “sit in rocking chairs” and just “roll around heaven all day.”

Hundreds of millions of others have been taught to believe that salvation is staring at the face of Jesus for all eternity. Not only is this idea based on a wrong scriptural understanding, but it also teaches that no one will actually be able to see His face directly.

What could possibly be more boring than fulfilling these ideas? I cannot imagine doing any of these things for an extended period—let alone for ALL ETERNITY! When one man considered these popular ideas, he remarked that he would “rather go to hell, because it sounded much more exciting.”

So much confusion! So much ignorance! The vast majority have been deceived into believing a false salvation.

What have you assumed? What popular concepts have you absorbed without checking to see what the Bible actually teaches?

Salvation is a Gift

Do works have anything to do with your salvation? Put another way, is your “righteousness” connected to being saved? If so, do these things automatically ensure salvation? Is salvation “by works?” Can you earn salvation by anything that you do?

Some believe that they can earn their salvation. We have been accused of teaching “salvation by works,” simply because we believe Christians have a responsibility to do certain things.

The Bible does teach that there is something that people “earn” by their works. It states, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Romans 6:23 adds, “the wages of sin is death”—“but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.”

But what is sin? I John 3:4 states, “for sin is the transgression of the law.”

Isaiah 59:1-2 explains that sin cuts people off from God. He is literally “unreachable” to the sinner whose past has not been forgiven and cleansed. Isaiah 55:6-7 instructs those who wish to come to God, “Let the wicked forsake his way.”

Many verses explain that sin can be forgiven only through Christ’s sacrifice. The apostle John was inspired to write, “And this is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life” (I John 5:11-12).

Unless we have a Saviour—One who paid the penalty for our sins—we are headed for death! Many more verses could be cited to prove this. Examine John 5:26 to see that only God has the power to grant eternal life. The good news is that God does hold the power to grant the gift of eternal life. Make no mistake! Salvation cannot be earned—it is a free gift. But it is a gift given with conditions to those who qualify.

Most Christians believe they are “saved by the blood of Christ.” This is not true! The Bible says that we are “saved BY HIS LIFE” (Rom. 5:10), while we are “reconciled to God” and “justified by His blood” (Rom 5:9). Understand this point. We are not justified by works, but by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Repentance—turning to God and obeying Him—addresses a Christian’s future obedience. It does nothing to cover up PAST sins. Christ’s blood justifies—makes clean, white, righteous—all past transgressions, sins. See also I Corinthians 15:17-18. But, being “saved BY HIS LIFE” is vital to understand and requires explanation.

Consider! If Christ is not risen from the dead, then His Spirit cannot guide and strengthen new converts, for it is the Holy Spirit that leads Christians. Paul wrote, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). It is this same Spirit that God will use to change the converted into spirit-composed sons of God—resurrected Spirit Beings. This Spirit in them, when they are changed, makes eternal life—salvation—possible. Is this clear? If Christ had not been resurrected, then He could not have gone to heaven where the Father and He could send Their Spirit to His followers. Without this Spirit living in a Christian’s mind, there is no hope of eternal life.

Human beings do not have life inherent within them. They are not born with an immortal soul. Genesis 2:7 states that people ARE souls—they do not HAVE souls. And Ezekiel 18:4, 20 states, “The soul that sins, it shall die.” Matthew 10:28 confirms this. You are not an immortal being. Your life span will cover a certain allotted time, after which you will die. Unless God intervenes, you have no future beyond a limited time of about 70-80 years. Christ alone has inherent immortality with the Father (I Tim. 6:16; 1:17).

Let’s get this straight! We must remove all doubt about what brings salvation. It is a free gift from God. There is absolutely nothing a Christian can do to merit or earn it. The only wage that human beings can earn is death. Before studying the subject of Christian works, recognize that no one can earn eternal life through works.

Salvation is by God’s grace. But what is grace? It is completely unmerited pardon of one’s sin. This is what grace means. Salvation means that one is saved from death. Unless God intervenes to apply the blood of Jesus Christ to cover the repentant sinner’s past, there can be no salvation.

What role does faith play? Some believe that being “justified by faith” is all that Christians must be concerned with. They believe that anyone who teaches that any works are necessary denies God’s gift of salvation. (We will explore this more fully later.) Faith does play a role, but what is it?

Ephesians 2:8-9 expands on Romans 6:23: “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that [the faith] not of yourselves: it [faith] is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Salvation comes as a free gift, by grace—through faith! However, Paul explains that even the faith must be a gift. Otherwise, it would be a “work” generated by human effort. If God gave salvation on this basis, it would mean that a Christian earned it through humanly-derived faith. (Read our free booklet What Is Real Faith? to truly understand this subject.)

Another question arises. Should a Christian be preparing—training—for anything that he will be doing in the next life? And what does this have to do with the gift of salvation? These questions speak to the heart of another great question: What is a Christian?

So many do not know the answers to these basic questions—but you can!

What is a Christian?

Before explaining whether or not a Christian must perform good works in his life, we must examine a more basic question.

Just what is a real Christian? Is he one who “attends Church”—“professes Jesus”—“knows Christ”—has been “baptized?” Is there a single verse that gives the Bible definition of a Christian and eliminates all confusion?

Paul wrote, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). A Christian is one who has the Holy Spirit leading him. But is having God’s Spirit absolutely essential to being a Christian? Earlier, Paul had said, “But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His!” (Rom 8:9).

It is that simple! One either has the Spirit of God and is a Christian, or does not have it and is not a Christian—is “none of His.” All those who are truly converted must have the Holy Spirit in them. The apostle Peter taught, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy [Spirit]” (Acts 2:38).

As with salvation and faith, the Holy Spirit is a gift! Unless God gives it, one can not have it. But notice! There are CONDITIONS to receiving it. Repentance and baptism precede receiving God’s Spirit. Neither of these earn God’s Spirit but they are qualifiers—CONDITIONS—that must be met for the Holy Spirit to be given!

Now notice what receiving God’s Spirit means, in terms of eternal life, which will be given later, at the resurrection: “Christ…in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph. 1:12-14). God’s Spirit, in a person’s mind, is a down payment—“earnest”—of our future inheritance with Christ in the kingdom of God. We are “heirs according to the promise” of salvation (Gal. 3:29)!

Receiving God’s Spirit begins a process that ends in inheritance with Christ. Is this all there is to Christianity and conversion, or is there more?

There is much more!

When Christ kept the Passover on the night before He was crucified, He indirectly, through prayer, explained an important principle to His disciples: “I pray not that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through Your truth: YOUR WORD IS TRUTH” (John 17:15-17).

A Christian believes and follows the truth. The truth sets him apart (sanctifies him) from all those around him. He is not of the world and its ways, customs, and traditions. Again, what does this mean? Also, what is the truth about how a Christian’s life now relates to what he will be doing for all eternity?