BE NOT DECEIVED - PART 3 (ABOUT SERVICE) Pastor Art Watkins of Coden Bible Church (Coden, Alabama) April 18, 2017 Be Not Deceived About Service! Many Christians are deceived into believing that everything is free under grace and that all Christians will receive the same rewards and crowns in the resurrection regardless of their service to him in this life. One Bible teacher says; "That being in Christ and identified with Christ automatically entitles you to every blessing and promise under grace as a free gift." Another Bible teacher says; Grace is a free gift system... A SYSTEM OF UNCONDITIONAL BLESSING... Under grace, blessings are fully given as a free gift... Grace is not against good works! It simply DOES NOT BLESS ON THE BASIS OF GOOD WORKS.' What these two men teach is that under grace God gives us all things freely and unconditionally. I have quoted these two men because this is typical of what many preachers and Christians believe about service under grace. They assume that if we are under grace, God must give us all things freely and unconditionally, otherwise they assume it is not grace. The mistake that many of the brethren make is assuming that because salvation is free, everything is free. But this is not true. In the Pauline epistles there are a number of blessings that have conditions attached to them and if you don't meet the conditions you will not receive them. They are earned by faithful service to the Lord. A REWARD THAT IS CONDITIONAL In 1 Corinthians 3:13-14 Paul writing about the judgment seat of Christ said; 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. A reward is promised in these verses, but like all rewards it has a condition attached to it. Verse 14 says; IF any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. God will try every man's work at the judgment seat of Christ and IF a man's works make it through the fire he will receive a reward. This reward is not free, for it is conditional upon our work and service to him in this life. The apostle of the gentiles who preached the gospel and doctrines of grace till the day he died, plainly says that rewards given out at the judgment seat of Christ are conditional upon the works we do in this life. They are based upon our service to the Lord in this life. A HARVEST THAT IS CONDITIONAL In 2 Corinthians 9:6 Paul writing concerning giving said; But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. In writing about giving under grace, Paul compares it with the law of sowing and reaping. What a man sows the same he will reap. All Christians under grace will not reap the same harvest of blessings. Those who give sparingly will reap sparingly. Those who give bountifully will reap bountifully. The point is; bountiful blessings are conditional upon bountiful giving. Only those who give bountifully (in relation to their income) will reap bountifully. AN ACCEPTANCE THAT IS CONDITIONAL In Colossians 1:22-23 Paul wrote that Christ would: present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: IF ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. If these verses mean what they say, being presented holy and unblameable and unreprovable in God's sight when Christ comes again is a conditional promise. The condition is in verse 23 which says; IF ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. AN INHERITANCE THAT IS CONDITIONAL In Colossians 3:23-24 Paul wrote; And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. The inheritance in this verse is called a reward. Rewards are earned by works. In this verse the reward of the inheritance will be given to those who serve the Lord Christ. It is not free for it is conditional upon service. A REIGN THAT IS CONDITIONAL In 2 Timothy 3:12 Paul wrote; All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. In 2 Tim. 2:11-12 he said; For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us. Those who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, but IF we suffer, we shall also reign with him. Reigning with Christ is conditional upon suffering for Christ. The suffering that God will reward is the suffering you endure for Christ's sake in this world. Read carefully 2 Timothy 1:8, 2:9, 3:11, 4:14-17. No amount of scripture juggling can get around this fact: to reign with Christ you must suffer for Christ. Living with Christ in verse 11 is free, but reigning with Christ in verse 12 isn't. A CROWN THAT IS CONDITIONAL In 2 Timothy 4:8 Paul said: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but all them also that love his appearing. The crown of righteousness will be given only to those who love Christ's appearing. All Christians do not love Christ’s appearing for some are moved away from it (Col. 1:24) some fear his appearing, and some like Demas (2 Timothy 4:10) love this world more than his appearing. A MINISTRY THAT IS CONDITIONAL In 2 Timothy 2:20-21 God said: But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor. If a man purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. Just being saved and identified with Christ and living under grace does not automatically make you a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use. Only those who purge themselves from the vessels of dishonor and depart from iniquity are. God does not use just anybody under grace. He uses those who obey the "IF" of verse 21. Just because salvation is free under grace does not mean everything is free. The fact is: God does indeed bless on the basis of works and service under grace. These are just some examples of blessings and promises and rewards that are all earned by the works we do in this life and any man who says that ALL blessings and promises are free and unconditional under grace is preaching a false grace. The false teaching that everything is free under grace and rewards are not conditional upon our service to the Lord in this life promotes a life of apathy, carelessness, laziness, fruitlessness and carnality. It also steals blessings and rewards from the believer. If a believer is led to believe everything is free under grace he will fail to do the works necessary to gain the rewards, crowns, and blessings mentioned afore. If everything is free under grace as some teach this means that carnal backslidden Christians who never served God will have the same rewards and crowns as the apostles and prophets and the martyrs who gave their life in service for the Lord. It would mean a man like Demas who forsook Paul will have as many rewards and crowns in the resurrection as Paul. Be not deceived; Demas will not be rewarded as Paul at the judgment seat of Christ. He will be saved but empty handed. Many Christians also mistakenly assume that because they have eternal security they cannot lose anything under grace. They think that if salvation is secure and cannot be lost, then everything is secure and cannot be lost under grace. If all blessings and promises are free and unconditional, then it only stands to reason that you could not lose any blessing or promise under grace. That is what many Christians and preachers believe. They assume that grace secures everything like salvation. But what saith the scriptures? According to the scriptures there are many blessings, rewards, and promises that are not free and have conditions attached to them. If they are conditional upon works and service then they are not secure like salvation. This is why all the apostles in their epistles warn us about suffering the loss of blessings and rewards under grace. God rewards faithful service to him and he penalizes a lack of service. LOSS OF REWARD In 1 Corinthians 3:13-14 Paul writing about the judgment seat of Christ said; 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. A reward is promised in these verses, but like all rewards it has a condition attached to it. Verse 14 says; IF any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. But that is not the end of the story because he goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 3:15: If any man's work shall be burned, HE SHALL SUFFER LOSS; but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. The fact a man can suffer loss at the judgment seat of Christ shows you two things: Everything isn't free under grace and everything isn't secure under grace. God will reward good works at the Judgment Seat of Christ and he will penalize bad works too. LOSS OF INHERITANCE In Colossians 3:23-24 Paul wrote; And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. The inheritance in this verse is called a reward. Rewards are earned by works. In this verse the reward of the inheritance will be given to those who serve the Lord Christ. It is not free, for it is conditional upon our service to the Lord in this life. But this is not all Paul says about this reward. In the next verse he says: But he that doeth wrong SHALL RECEIVE FOR THE WRONG WHICH HE HATH DONE: and there is no respect of persons. Doing wrong in verse 25 is the opposite of doing right. Doing right in the context is serving the Lord Christ in verse 24. Those who do right by serving the Lord gain something. Those who do wrong by failing to serve the Lord lose something. The ones who serve the Lord will receive the reward of the inheritance. The ones who fail to serve the Lord will suffer the loss of the reward of the inheritance. This inheritance is a reward and as a reward it is earned by works and service. If you fail to do the work or service required to receive it, you will be denied this reward. (Col. 2:18) Here is a sobering thought; those who win the reward of the inheritance will enjoy it forever. It is an eternal reward. But those who suffer the loss of this reward will suffer that loss eternally. It will be an eternal loss. LOSS OF A REIGN In 2 Timothy 3:12 Paul wrote; All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. In 2 Tim. 2:11-12 he said; For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. Those who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, but IF we suffer, we shall also reign with him. Reigning with Christ is conditional upon suffering with Christ. The suffering that God will reward is the suffering you endure for Christ's sake in this world. But I quoted half on verse 12 for the last half says: If we deny him, HE ALSO WILL DENY US. When it comes to suffering in the last days many Christians will deny the Lord as Peter did to save their own neck. Those who do so will be denied the privilege of reigning throughout eternity with Christ. They will live with Christ because they died with Christ. Eternal life is free and guaranteed, but reigning with Christ is conditional upon suffering. If you deny the Lord to avoid suffering he will deny you a reign. Contrary to what many believers believe God does bless and reward on the basis of works and our service to him in this life. There are many blessings and promises that are not free under grace. They are earned by works and service. And contrary to what many people believe everything is not secure under grace. Many blessings and promises can be lost under grace. Writing about the reward in 1 Corinthians 3 Paul said: If any man's work shall be burned, HE SHALL SUFFER LOSS. Salvation is free and secure but many blessings and promises are not. IT'S UP TO YOU There are blessings and rewards that can be won or lost under grace. It all depends upon the choices you make in this life. If you want to spend your life in the pursuit of fun, wealth, prosperity, popularity, recreation, ease, entertainment and developing a following, go ahead, but don't expect to receive the reward of 1 Corinthians 3:14, or the inheritance of Colossians 3:24, or the privilege of reigning with Christ of 2 Timothy 2:12 and many other blessings.