Matthew 16:13-28
For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done. (v. 27) I’m always intrigued by these “rewards” verses. See also Mt. 5:12, 19:27-30; Luke 6:23, and others. I’m going to quote John S. here, something he posted a couple of weeks ago that really hit me:
“One additional thing to note here: actions/deeds/works matter. While it is quite evident that one cannot earn one’s way into heaven by works of the law (Rom 3:20; Gal 2:16), it is also true that faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26), and Jesus is quite clear here that what we do will serve as the basic evidence for what kind of resurrection we will see on that Day. This is one place where (some of?) the reformers went too far with “sola fide” (faith alone).”
I believe John was referring especially to John 5:28-29. “…actions/deeds/works matter…”. So our actions, our deeds, our works – are they earthly or heavenly activities? Verses like these quoted or cited above make me want to do more, personally, but really what I prefer for myself is to do what I can to motivate others to want to do more. To get others to be more involved…! For others to feel Holy Spirit power in their lives as I have felt a number of times in my life…! There’s not much that thrills me more than to see the rest of you plugging away at these daily Scripture readings – reading, digesting, posting, sharing. God is honoring your efforts to get to know Him better! …and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice… (Philippians 1:18b)
See also: June 5 / Matt. 16:13-28