This afternoon, our annual conference begins. At 1:00, I will be speaking to the Vacation Bible School children about the question in the title.
I expect every child present to know the difference between a gift and a reward.
They all know they do not have to do any chores to get a gift on their birthday. But they also know that they will not receive their weekly allowance unless they take out the trash, wash the dishes, set the table, and do the chores assigned to them.
Adults know the difference between a gift and a reward as well, except in Christianity.
Most professing Christians think that everlasting life is both a gift and a reward. It is a gift that we must buy for ourselves. And that gift is not secure unless and until we persevere in faith and good works until the end of our lives.
Steve Lawson wrote a book entitled It Will Cost You Everything: What It Takes to Follow Jesus. Like all Lordship Salvation teachers, he views following Jesus as the condition of everlasting life.
James Montgomery Boice said the same thing in his book, Christ’s Call to Discipleship (p. 114). We need to count the cost of salvation, and the cost is everything.
In The Gospel According to Jesus, after writing, “Eternal life is indeed a free gift (Romans 6:23),” John MacArthur added, “salvation is both free and costly…in a sense we pay the ultimate price for salvation” (p. 140).i
However, unless you’ve been to seminary or sat under a Bible teacher who teaches that strange doctrine of a free gift that costs you everything, that doesn’t make sense to you. A free gift does not cost you anything. Jesus paid it all. We pay nothing. We simply believe in Him and receive the gift of everlasting life (John 3:16).
Here is a preview of what I’m planning to tell the VBS kids:
You get gifts on your birthday. You don’t have to do any chores to earn those gifts.
But if you get an allowance, you have certain chores you must do to earn your money. Maybe you must take out the trash, set the table, or wash the dishes. Your allowance is a reward for the work you do.
God gives everlasting life as a gift, and He also gives eternal rewards according to how well we have served Him.
The Lord Jesus said that everlasting life is the gift of God in John 4:10. Paul called it “the gift of God” as well in Ephesians 2:8-9.
We don’t earn everlasting life. We can’t earn it. Either we receive it as a gift by believing in the Lord Jesus for it, or we won’t receive it at all.
According to John 3:16, whoever believes in Jesus will never perish but instead will have everlasting life. Believing in His promise requires no work on our part.
But the Lord also said that He is coming back, and He will reward us according to the work we have done for Him (e.g., Luke 19:16-26; Rev 22:12; cf. 2 Cor 5:9-10).
Never forget that if you have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for everlasting life, that cannot be lost.
And never forget that the work you do for Christ will never go without its reward. God rewards us for the work we do for Him.
**********
Keep grace in focus and you won’t lose sight of the fact that gifts are free, and rewards are earned.
