Question:
Dear Greg,
I
thank God daily for his grace and understanding and that there is no part of
salvation that I can earn. Hebrews
11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God, that we must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.
Since salvation couldn’t be a reward if it’s free, is there some
other reward beyond salvation for those of us who believe and are diligent?
Mark
Answer: Dear Mark,
What
God is saying is that it is impossible to please him on the basis of our works.
We are saved by faith alone, grace alone and Christ alone.
That is the only way to please him—by not attempting to gain some
superior standing with him on the basis of merit or to earn his love.
We cannot please him that way.
He
rewards us—specifics of the reward are not spelled out—if we diligently seek
him. In order to be saved and
rewarded by God, we must seek him—not our own will, not our own way, not the
“principles of this world” (a term used by Paul).
In other words, God doesn’t say, “I have done something for you, now
you need to pay me.” Seeking God
means renouncing all forms of performance-based religion and surrendering all to
him. We need to lay our trophies
down, as the great hymn counsels, seeking him by repenting of any and all of our
religious credentials, which pretend to qualify us for his grace.
Hope
that helps--your question is something I address in detail in my book, “Bad
News Religion”.
In
Christ,