eternal rewards Archives

Have you ever wondered about the crown of life? A reader recently sent in the following question about what the crown of life is, though it might also be important to understand how we gain the crown of life. But let us begin with her question. Here is what she wrote:

I just finished reading your article on Yeshua drinking the bitter cup. I am just amazed at this view. I was searching for what it meant because a few years back I was told to drink a bitter cup. All I know is I have never felt lost until that time. To drink the dregs of it is a horrible thing, and all I had was a taste. But Jesus drank the dregs for us! I am still stunned at what you have shown. Your article makes me appreciate even more what He has done for us. It makes perfect sense to me.

I would like to ask you if you have written anything on the crown of life? After all this incident, I was told on April 19 that I had made it through my tribulation and received the crown of life. Can you help explain what this means?

First, thank you for the encouragement about the article where Jesus prayed to “Let this cup pass.” I must give credit to one of my seminary professors for that view.

From your question, it sounds like maybe you are attending a church or Bible study that gives prophetic “Words of knowledge” to its members. Is that true?

Be careful about what people tell you through these “words of knowledge.” My experience is that usually the messages they give are designed to control you and instill fear in you, rather than help or encourage. In the case of the two things you were told, it looks like someone quoted some poorly-misunderstood Bible passages at you, and then misapplied them to your life so that you lived in fear.

Remember, God has not given us a Spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7). If a message comes “by the Spirit” and results in you feeling lost and fearing for your life, it is not likely a message that originated with God.

But let us move on to your question about the crown of life.

The Crown of Life

So what about the Crown of Life? What is the crown of life and how can we gain it?

There are five crowns mentioned in Scripture. They are the Everlasting Crown (1 Cor 9:25), the Crown for the One who Wins Souls (Php 4:1; 1 Thess 2:19), the Crown of Righteousness (2 Tim 4:8), the Crown of Glory (1 Pet 5:4), and the Crown of Life (Jas 1:12; Rev 2:10).

Part of the difficulty with these crowns is that most cultures today do not use crowns, and those that do reserve the crowns for royalty. But the word used for “crown” is stephanos, which can also refer to a “reward” or “laurel wreath.” In the original Greek Olympics, the winner of the sporting contests was awarded the stephanos, a laurel crown.

So each of the crowns mentioned above represents a reward for some particular special act of service or perseverance within the Kingdom of God. By all appearances, the crowns will be some sort of actual reward handed out to believers when Jesus returns again in the future. This will be at the Bema — the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Therefore, none of the crowns are equivalent to eternal life itself. That is, while eternal life is the absolutely free gift of God to anyone who simply believes in Jesus for it (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47), the various crowns are rewards that are given to Christians who complete certain tasks and practice certain behaviors.

Each of the five crowns deserves its own study, but let me just focus on the Crown of Life. (There is a short study of the other crowns in my Gospel Dictionary Online Course, in the lesson on “Crown.”)

The Crown of Life is NOT Eternal Life

James 1:12 and Revelation 2:10 indicate that the Crown of Life is for those who persevere in faith through temptation, tribulation, and persecution.

Some people wrongly teach, however, that if you fail to persevere in faith through temptation, tribulation, or persecution, that you prove you do not have life, or that God will take away your life. This is not true.

Eternal life is a free gift to everyone and anyone who believes in Jesus for it. You do not have to work your way to eternal life. Eternal life cannot be earned or kept by good works.

The Crown of Life, however, is a reward for special acts of service and perseverance under trial.

The Crown of Life is special reward for a special act of service and dedication to the King.

So if you are experiencing severe temptation, trials, or persecution, be encouraged and persevere through them.

Just as a runner perseveres through the difficulties of the race so that he reaches the finish line and receives the reward, so also Jesus wants to put the Crown of Life upon your head when you reach the finish line after persevering through pain, trials, and persecution.

It will probably not be an actual crown or ring of leaves, but will be some sort of special blessing, honor, privilege, or recognition in the future, eternal reign of Jesus.

By offering this Crown, Jesus encourages us to stay strong, keep the course, and remain faithful.

Let us look in more detail at the two texts which mention the Crown of Life.

The Crown of Life in 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 (James 1:12).

The crown of life that James mentions here is often confused with eternal life.

But as with every other crown, we know that the crown of life cannot be the same thing as eternal life because eternal life is the free gift of God to everyone who believes in Jesus for it, but the crown of life, as described here by James, is given to those who endure temptation.

In other words, Jesus gives the crown of life to those who persevere in faith through temptation, tribulation, and persecution.

Therefore, the crown of life is a reward for a life well-lived. It is an honor that Jesus bestows upon those who endure the trials and temptations of this life.

Some people wrongly teach that those who fail to persevere in the midst of temptation prove that they not actually Christians or that as a result of their failure, God takes away their eternal life. But this is not what James is teaching.

Eternal life is a free gift to everyone and anyone who believes in Jesus for it. The crown of life, however, is a reward for special acts of service and perseverance under trial.

This is actually a great encouragement for those who face trials and temptations. It is much easier to endure in the midst of trials when we know that we are safe and secure in the arms of God, and that even if we fail to stand up in the temptation, He will not abandon or forsake us, but will always be there to love, comfort, protect, and restore us.

This sense of safety gives us strength to stand in the midst of temptation. It allows us to run the race with perseverance, rather than giving up out of fear and frustration.

This crown is an encouragement to stay strong, keep the course, and remain faithful. As with the other crowns, it is likely not a literal crown, but is symbolic of praise, honor, and glory that Jesus bestows upon those who faithfully stand with Him in the midst of trial and temptation.

The Crown of Life in Revelation 2:10

Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life (Revelation 2:10).

The crown mentioned in Revelation 2:10 is also the crown of life mentioned in James 1:12. In both cases, the crown of life is a special honor, reward, or recognition given by Jesus to those who stand up against the temptation and trials of the devil.

The crown of life is not eternal life, but is a way that Jesus recognizes and honors those people who faithfully serve Him and remain steadfast in the storms of life (cf. Revelation 3:11).

Here in Revelation 2:10, Jesus warns the Christians in Smyrna that the devil is coming to accuse and test them. Some of them will be thrown into prison, and they may even lose their lives. But Jesus says that if they remain faithful, He will bless and honor them with the crown of life when they stand before Him in the resurrection. They will be shown special honor in the life to come.

One further piece of evidence that the crown of life is not the same as eternal life is that all seven letters to the churches in Revelation 2–3 contain promises of rewards and special blessings for those Christians who persevere and overcome.

Just as eating from the tree of life (Rev 2:7), getting a new name (Rev 2:17), receiving power to rule the nations (Rev 2:26), being recognized before God in heaven (Rev 3:5), and being made a pillar in the temple of God (Rev 3:12) are not the same thing as receiving eternal life, so also, the crown of life is not the same thing as eternal life.

These are all special ways that Jesus rewards and recognizes those who faithfully serve and honor Him.

So What is the Crown of Life?

The crown of life is not equivalent to eternal life. Eternal life is the free gift of God to all who believe in Jesus for it. The crown of life (like all the crowns mentioned in Scripture) is a form of honor and recognition that Jesus bestows upon those who faithfully serve and honor Him.

It is helpful to think of these crowns as a medal for winning a race, or as some form of public recognition where we receive praise for a job well done. This recognition and reward will be received at the Judgment Seat of Christ. This is especially true of the crown of life.

So as you live your life, be eager for the Lord’s coming, faithfully love and serve one another, teach and train each other in the truths of the gospel, and stand strong in the face of trial and temptation. If you do these things, you will receive crowns from Jesus so that you may cast them at His feet in eternity.

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Does 1 Corinthians 9:27 teach that you can lose your salvation?

By Jeremy Myers

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In 1 Corinthians 9:27, Paul writes about his fear of being disqualified by God. Does this mean that Paul thought that he could lose his eternal life?

When I was in High School, I had a teacher who read 1 Corinthians 9:27 in class (I attended a Christian school), and said that all of us need to be careful how we live our lives, or else we could end up in hell if we disobeyed God.

She said, “Look at Paul! He was an apostle. He wrote a large amount of the New Testament. He was the greatest missionary the world has ever seen! But even Paul was afraid that if he sinned, he would go to hell when he died. We should all be concerned about the same thing!”

Is this right? Is this really what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 9:27? Here is what he wrote:

But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:27).

So was Paul afraid that although he had loved and served Jesus for many years, if he messed up late in life, he might end up being eternally separated from God?

The short answer is No. Let me explain why.

(Note: The following article is drawn from what I teach in my “Gospel Dictionary” online course. This comes from the lesson that looks at the word “approved.”

The key term in 1 Corinthians 9:27 is “disqualified”

The key term in 1 Corinthians 9:27 is the word “disqualified” which is the opposite of the word “qualified” or “approved.”

The Greek word used in the biblical texts which use this word is dokimos. The word approved is a good translation of this Greek word, but it can also be translated as acceptable or pleasing.

What is most important is that the word was often used in connection with money. The ancient world did not have paper money, but used coins as currency. The precious metals used for these coins were melted down and poured into molds. Once the metal cooled, the coins would be put into circulation. Some people, however, would shave the edges off these coins so they could take the shavings and make additional coins.

But since the coins were valued based on weight, such a practice would reduce the value of the coins that had been shaved. This was such a problem that during one year in Athens, over 80 laws were passed to try and stop the practice of coin shaving.

Not surprisingly, there were people who had the job of examining coins to make sure they had the proper weight. If you were selling something for 10 silver coins, and you suspected that you were getting paid with shaved coins, you could take your coins to this person and have them weigh the coins to make sure that they were the proper weight.

You didn’t want to get cheated by being paid with coins that contained less silver than they were supposed to. This person who examined and weighed the coins was called a dokimos, an approver. A dokimos made sure that only coins of the proper weight were kept in circulation (cf. Gen 23:16; Zech 11:13).

This helps us understand several of the New Testament texts where God is described as the dokimos of men.

God is the weigher of men, the one who make sure that we are not cutting corners, taking shortcuts, or cheating others.

The problem with this word as it relates to the gospel is that some people teach that God’s approval has something to do with whether or not we receive eternal life from God.

They teach that if God does not approve of someone, this means that God does not give them eternal life.

But this is not what the word means at all.

The approval of God has nothing to do with whether or not a person has eternal life, but instead has to do with whether or not God’s finds a person useful and honest in their dealings with others.

Due to this, “useful” is a good synonym for the Greek word dokimos.

So what was Paul teaching in 1 Corinthians 9:27?

First Corinthians 9:27 is sometimes quoted to show that not even Paul was certain that he would go to heaven when he died. Paul writes that he keeps close watch over his body so that he does not end up disqualified (adokimos).

I remember listening to a sermon not long ago in which the pastor said that if even the Apostle Paul could not know for sure that he had eternal life, it was the height of arrogance to believe that we had it. All we can do, this pastor taught, was try our hardest and hope that when we stood before God, we discovered that we had done enough.

Thankfully, that hopeless message is not what Paul is teaching at all.

In context, Paul compares his ministry to that of a runner who seeks to obtain a prize. The prize that people compete for in a game is a perishable crown, but we seek an imperishable crown. Toward this end, Paul runs with certainty, not with uncertainty (1 Corinthians 9:23-26).

In the following context, Paul gives the example of people who were disqualified. He writes about some of the Israelites who had all the same blessings and benefits as everyone else, but who died in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:1-12).

The point in the entire context is not about receiving eternal life or going to heaven when Paul dies, but is instead about being faithful and useful to God in what God wants to accomplish in Paul’s life. The prize is not eternal life, for eternal life is a free gift of God.

The prize, or the crown, is significance in the Kingdom of God, blessing in his life and ministry, and praise from God when he stands before Him for a life well-lived in His service.

So Paul is not concerned with losing his eternal life, but is very much concerned with being disqualified for ministry.

Since Paul desires to continue his ministry, and to run in a way that is pleasing and honoring to God, he runs with care and perseverance.

The same thing is true for your life. Being disqualified does not mean losing eternal life, but losing your ministry, or your opportunity to serve God in this life. It is these things Paul could lose, and which any of us can lose as well if we fail to love, follow, and obey God.

This course costs $297, but when you join the Discipleship group, you can to take the entire course for free.

The Role of Faith and Works

By Jeremy Myers

22 Comments

Lots of Christians struggle with the role of faith and works in the life of the believer. Since there are a myriad of positions on this debate, it can become quite confusing to sort through the various views and determine which is right. During my life as a Christian, I have held almost all the various positions at one time or another, but in the last fifteen years or so have settled on a position which seems to make the most sense of most biblical passages surrounding this debate.

One reason I am sharing this now is because a reader submitted the following question:

I am new to the Christian religion. I thought that I was believing correctly and realized that a relationship with Christ is all about faith and not works. I’m not going to lie, I still have doubts about what I believe and am still learning. Every time I read something about Christianity and faith I get a new outlook on it, then I read something else about works, works, works, there is no faith without works and then I get discouraged and fearful.

I have tried to read books and internet to get some clarification of the bible, I think well this person would be good to learn from because they are so knowledgeable about the Bible and then they speak about faith and works and I get so confused all over again.

I came across your website by accident really and I’m hoping to learn more from it. Thanks.

Thank you for reading.

The question you have asked is one of the most fundamental questions that can be asked, and yet at the same time, a question which never seems to get answered.

As you have discovered, there are a thousand different ways people try to answer this question. Some say “faith alone.” Some say, “faith plus works.” Some say, “faith that leads to works.”

The Role of Faith and Works in the Life of the Christian

As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, I have a position on the role of faith and works which seems to make the most sense out of most of the troubling and difficult passages of Scripture.

Essentially, when it comes to the role of faith and works, it is critical to understand the important distinction between the free gift of eternal life to all who simply believe, and many of the other benefits of the Christian life which can be gained through following Jesus daily.

Not many recognize this distinction, which causes them to read passages about the cost of discipleship as if they were passages about how to receive eternal life. As you can imagine, this causes them to read the passage wrongly and apply it incorrectly.

Here is a little chart which begins to show some of the distinctions between the free gift of eternal life and the life of discipleship as a follower of Jesus.

Eternal Life	The Abundant Life
Free Gift	Prize
Received through faith alone	Received through faithful living
Once for all time	A daily practice
Instant justification	Life-long sanctification
Jesus paid the price	The Christian pays the price
Believe in Jesus for eternal life	Follow Jesus as Lord of your life

There are certainly other distinctions that could be made, but these are some of the basic ideas to get you started as you seek to understand the role of faith and works in the life of the believer.

So as you are reading the Bible and seeking to follow Jesus, remember these distinctions, and many of the tough texts will begin to make a lot more sense.

The Role of Faith and Works in the Bible

It is also helpful to understand that probably about 95% (or more) of the Bible is primarily concerned with the right-hand column of the chart above. When you read in the Bible about proclaiming Jesus as Lord, following Jesus, taking up your cross, eternal reward, inheriting the Kingdom, life in the Spirit, faithful living, and on and on and on, the author who wrote that text was primarily thinking of how we should live as followers of Jesus so that we can experience the life God meant for us to live.

Let me put it another way: Most biblical authors assume that their readers have already received eternal life by faith. Most biblical authors assume that their readers want to know how to obey God and follow Jesus better.

The Bible is primarily a book for discipleship. While there are many texts which tell readers how to receive eternal life by faith alone, the vast majority of the Bible is intended to encourage and inspire those who have received eternal life to live in light of the free gift they have already received.

There is a lot of confusion about the role of faith and works

As you have discovered, there is a lot of confusion among Bible teachers, pastors, seminary professors, and Christian authors about the role of faith and works in the life of the believer.

I have no desire to criticize these other teachers and writers, so let me encourage you to go ahead and read and learn from as many of them as you can. As long as you understand the basic distinction I have briefly laid out above, and recognize that most teachers and writers are going to be a little confused on this topic, you can benefit from what they teach and write by making the little mental adjustment in your mind to whatever they are saying.

So, for example, if your hear a pastor saying, “You have to take up your cross daily and follow Jesus in order to go to heaven when you die,” you can look in the text he is preaching from (maybe Matthew 16:24-26 or Luke 9:23-26), and see that Jesus is talking about saving your life (which is NOT the same thing as receiving eternal life) by living in a profitable way here on earth (cf. Luke 9:24-25). You will further see that Jesus is referring to receiving glory, honor, and recognition from Him when He returns (Luke 9:26). Again, this is not eternal life, but is the prize or the reward of living life for Jesus, which has benefits here and now and benefits for all eternity.

One of the key passages which is often debated regarding faith and works is James 2:14-26. I have written previously about James 2, dead faith, and the faith of demons so won’t write about this text here.

Obviously, a lot more could be said on this, and eventually I hope to write a lot more about this important topic. Hopefully this will be enough for now to steer you in the right direction on the role of faith and works in the life of the believer.

By the way, one book I highly recommend on this topic (though it rather expensive) is Joseph Dillow’s Final Destiny. An earlier version of this book was of immense help to me as I learned about the roles of faith and works in the life of the believer, and how to understand most of the tough texts in the Bible on this topic.

The Parable of the Talents Revisited

By Jeremy Myers

32 Comments

Typically the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 or Luke 19:11-27 is thought to teach that we must use what God has given us in ways that will multiply these gifts for God, and therefore, grant us eternal reward from Him in heaven.

I have taught it this way for most of my life, and this is the basic message you will get from most pastors and most Bible commentaries as well when explaining the Parable of the Talents.

The Parable of the Talents Summarized

In the Parable of the Talents (in Matthew 25:14-30 anyway), the first servant turned his five talents of money into ten, the second turned his in to four, but the third hid his talent in the ground so that he would not lose it. We are instructed to be like the first servant, or at the bare minimum, like the second, but we should avoid at all costs being like the lazy, unprofitable third servant.

I now believe that this interpretation of the Parable of the Talents is completely opposite of what Jesus meant. Let me explain…

Money in an Honor-Shame Culture

Over the past twenty years or so, I have read, written, and taught a lot about the cultural and historical backgrounds of various Biblical texts. I have come to see that the cultural lens through which we read Scripture is completely foreign to the cultural lens in which Scripture was originally written or read.

If we really want to understand the meaning and significance of what was written, we need to understand the cultural background of the people who wrote and originally read it.

We live in a materialistically-driven culture, governed by greed and the accumulation of stuff. The Bible was written in an honor culture, where stuff and money didn’t matter. In an honor-shame culture, people want honor. Money is not a end, but a means to an end. Money and wealth is one way to gain more honor.

In an honor-shame culture, someone might be insanely rich, but if they had no honor, they were not well-liked or respected.

Furthermore, honor-shame cultures typically believe that wealth and possessions are in limited supply. They believe in a zero-sum economy. In other words, if one person gained wealth, it was only at the expense of someone else. The only way someone could accumulate wealth is if they took it from someone else. The rich get richer only at the expense of the poor, which, in an honor-shame culture, was an extremely shameful way to live. This is one reason why honor-shame cultures had so many “Patrons.” As the rich accumulated wealth, they saw it as their duty and responsibility to give this wealth back to society in the form of music, arts, schools, hospitals, and other such humanitarian works. This way, the wealthy gained greater honor, but not necessarily greater wealth.

The Parable of the Talents Revisited

Once we re-read the Parable of the Talents through this cultural lens, the entire passage get turned around.

In our materialistic, economic-driven culture, the heroes are the servants who accumulate more stuff. But in an honor-based culture, the people who accumulate stuff are the villains. Why? Because the only way they were able to get more stuff was by taking it from someone else. The hero of the story if the third servant, who did not become richer, but instead was content with what he was given.

The third servant in the Parable of the Talents was so content, he didn’t even put his one talent in the bank to collect “interest” (read “usury”). The master gets mad at this third servant and tries to shame him by taking away (read “stealing”) his possessions and giving it to the one who is already rich. This again is shameful behavior on the part of the master, but it explains why two servants behaved in such shameful ways — they have a shameful master.

I know this is a challenging way of reading the Parable of the Talents, because we are typically taught that the master represents Jesus, and that when He returns, each of us must give an account to Jesus for how we used the time and money He has blessed us with.

Obviously, in this alternate way of reading the Parable of the Talents, since the master behaves shamefully and teaches his servants to do the same, the master cannot represent Jesus.

So who does the master represent? The master represents the god of this age, the one who teaches models and the morally reprehensible behavior of stealing from the poor to make themselves rich. Jesus is teaching that this is the kind of behavior Christians can expect from the world when we try to live according to His new code of honor ethics.

There are, of course, objections to this view of the Parable of the Talents.

For example, how can I say that the master represents the upside down me-first mentality of this world when Jesus says in Matthew 25:14, “For the Kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country …” Doesn’t Jesus equate the Kingdom of heaven to the master who travels to a far country?

No, actually. If you look in a normal Bible, the words “the kingdom of heaven is” are in italics, which means they are not in the original. Jesus didn’t say these words; our translators added them! The reason the translators did this is because they thought it was a parallel story to the parables that come before and after the Parable of the Talents, but it is just as likely that the middle parable is set in contrast to the surrounding parables.

This is especially true when we read the text with new eyes and see hints of something else going on. For example, the master went into the “far country,” which is where the prodigal son went, and which represents life apart from fellowship with God.

In Luke’s account the message of the Parable of the Talents (Minas in Luke) is even more clear since it immediately follows the story about Zacchaeus, who is the perfect example of a man who became rich by robbing and stealing from the poor. Is Jesus a greedy tax-collector like Zacchaeus? Of coruse not! Yet if the traditional interpretation of the Parable of the Talents (and Minas) is accepted, Jesus had no right to tell Zacchaeus to give back the money he had received by doing his job (there was nothing illegal about what Zacchaeus did). Instead, Jesus should have praised Zacchaeus for being a good steward of his money. But Jesus told Zacchaeus to regain his honor by giving away his wealth.

Furthermore, the final statements of the Parable of the Talents has the master demanding that his enemies be outcast and killed. Again, this does not represented something God will do, but foreshadows what will happen to Jesus Himself and those who follow Him when they stand up to the god of this age because “they do not [him] to rule over them” (Luke 19:27). This master wants his enemies slain before him. Immediately after this, Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem where He knows He will be killed (Luke 19:27-28).

When he arrives in Jerusalem, one of the first things Jesus does is clear the temple of those who were using it to enrich themselves by stealing from the poor (Luke 19:45-48). As a result, the wicked “servants” of the temple seek to destroy Jesus (Luke 19:47).

I could go on and on about the Parable of the Talents and how this alternative reading of this parable makes much more sense in context and in light of the complete message and ministry of Jesus. If you want to learn more, here is one resource which talks about this perspective, and many similar themes as well:

A Recommended Resource

One of the many books which has helped me in this area is the Social-Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels by Bruce J. Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh. If you want to understand the gospels, go buy this commentary. The “reading scenarios” at the end of the book are more than worth the price of the book. The commentary has rocked my world and allowed me to see and read the entire Bible in a whole new light. If we want to understand the Bible, we need to read it as it was written, not as we want it to be read.

What is the Crown of Life?

The Crown of Life

The Crown of Life is NOT Eternal Life

The Crown of Life in James 1:12

The Crown of Life in Revelation 2:10

So What is the Crown of Life?

Does 1 Corinthians 9:27 teach that you can lose your salvation?

The key term in 1 Corinthians 9:27 is “disqualified”

So what was Paul teaching in 1 Corinthians 9:27?

The Role of Faith and Works

The Role of Faith and Works in the Life of the Christian

The Role of Faith and Works in the Bible

There is a lot of confusion about the role of faith and works

The Parable of the Talents Revisited

The Parable of the Talents Summarized

Money in an Honor-Shame Culture

The Parable of the Talents Revisited

A Recommended Resource

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