In Luke 10:17–20, the Lord gave some disciples two reasons they could have joy. He had sent out seventy disciples to serve Him by proclaiming the offer of the kingdom to the nation of Israel. To prove the truth of their message, He gave them the authority to heal the sick and to cast out demons (vv 9, 17). 

The seventy returned from their mission “with joy.” They had this joy because the Lord gave them power and authority to serve Him (v 17). These seventy believers had paid the price to obey the Lord and walk in His footsteps. They had the privilege of seeing Him use them for His purposes. That is a great reason to have joy! 

We could summarize their reason for joy: They were serving the King. That service meant that when He set up His kingdom, they would be rewarded for their effort. Whatever price they paid to follow Him was worth it. They saw the proof of that service when they healed the sick and cast out demons.  

This is a reason for any believer to have joy. All believers will be in the kingdom. But those believers who follow the Lord will see Him at work in them and will be rewarded in this life and the life to come. 

But there is a second reason for joy. The Lord tells these seventy men that they should rejoice because their names are written in heaven (v 20). I recently had a conversation with a fellow church member. She wondered whether this also refers to rewards in the kingdom. In Rev 2:17, the Lord promises that those believers who are faithful to Him will receive a stone with a “new name written” on it as a reward.  

Was the Lord expanding on the joy the faithful believer has when he sees Him at work in his life? Was He saying that these seventy disciples should also have joy because, as a result of their work, their names would be proclaimed in the presence of God and His angels (Rev 3:5)? Perhaps. 

Most Grace folks believe He was saying that the basis of all service to Him is having eternal life. The name of every believer is written in the book of life. Every believer already has eternal life. 

Certainly, those who will be rewarded for their service to the Lord have eternal life. There are two basic reasons that the believer who serves the Lord should be filled with joy: He will be in the kingdom, and he will be great in that kingdom. 

Have you noticed, however, that many within Christendom deny both these reasons? Most Bible teachers say that you cannot know whether you have eternal life. They say that you have to do good works until you die in order to prove you were saved or to keep your salvation. Since nobody knows whether they will do that, nobody can know whether their name is written in heaven and cannot, therefore, have joy. How many people have been robbed of joy because they were taught such horrible theology? 

At the same time, most Bible teachers also say that there will be no rewards in the kingdom. Anything a believer does has no impact on eternity. If he is “truly” saved, when he “goes to heaven,” his good works were simply proof that he was a child of God. In such a theological system, the joy of serving the Lord in this life in order to gain His approval, reward, and greater intimacy with Him in His kingdom cannot exist. 

The Lord tells the seventy to have joy. He wants believers today to have joy as well. Those who deny the assurance of eternal life or the reality of rewards in Christ’s kingdom do all they can to rob believers of that joy. 

Don’t let them do that to you.