One of the emphases of Free Grace Theology is the doctrine of eternal rewards. While every believer will live with Christ forever, some believers will have greater honor and privilege in the kingdom, based on what they did after believing in Jesus for eternal life. Most Christians either don’t think there will be differences among believers in the kingdom, or have never even heard of the idea. However, Free Grace teachers rightly understand that teachings on rewards are found throughout the NT.
But what about the OT? Even some FG folks might question whether OT believers knew about rewards in the kingdom. GES is working on a commentary for the entire OT. One thing that will set it apart from other OT commentaries will be its emphasis on FG themes. I have talked with some of the authors. They have all said that we find rewards taught throughout the OT.
One such author is Brad Doskocil. Brad has been assigned to write the commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes. Very few would think that rewards are taught in Ecclesiastes. But Brad rightly points out that the book’s major theme is rewards.
This theme is found in the conclusion. In the last two verses, Solomon writes:
Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or bad (Eccl 12:13-14).
Throughout the book, Solomon writes about how temporary the things of this earth are. They are like vapor. We get an idea of what he means when we see our breath on a very cold morning. We see it for an instant, and then it disappears. The things the world seeks are like that.
Such a view might lead to despair. What is the purpose of anything? Even if I am a believer and know I will live forever in the kingdom of God, what difference does it make what I do now?
Solomon gives the answer. Even though this world is passing away, we should fear God. We should be concerned about what He thinks of us. We should obey him. Why?
He will judge us. He will judge our works. He will even judge the things done in darkness. He will judge our motives. He will judge both our good deeds and our bad.
It is impossible to read Solomon’s words without being reminded of the NT teachings about the coming judgment of believers. Paul says that we will appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ. The Lord says that He will judge all our works. Luke says that Christ will judge the things done in secret. He will judge our motives. He will judge both our good deeds and our bad (Luke 8:17; I Cor 4:5; II Cor 5:10; Rev 22:12).
It may surprise many who read the Bible that Solomon understood this. It shouldn’t. Hebrews 11 gives a long list of OT believers who lived godly lives. Why did they live this way? These believers knew they would be in Christ’s kingdom; however, they they wanted to not only be in the kingdom, but to also be great in the kingdom.
Solomon was a believer. He made a lot of mistakes and did many evil things. As he looked at his life, he knew the things he did would come into judgment. This world had nothing of eternal value to give him. The things we do for the Lord are not like vapor. They have eternal value because they will result in eternal rewards. Many OT believers, including Solomon, knew more about these things than many do Christians today.
