From the desk of Pastor Ben
Warning About His Return – Part 2

“He will then repay every man according to his deeds.”     (Matthew 16:27b)

Among the last words of Scripture is Jesus’ declaration, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done” (Revelation 22:12).

Unbelievers are unable to produce genuinely righteous works because they don’t have the indwelling Holy Spirit to produce them nor a godly new nature through which the holiness of the Spirit can be expressed. Conversely, believers are characterized by righteous works because they have God’s life and Spirit within them as the source and power for those works. A person who has no evidence of righteous behavior in his life has no basis for assurance of salvation, no matter how long and vocally he may have professed being a Christian.

Yet, the honest believer knows that no matter how faithfully he studies and obeys God’s Word and has fellowship with Him in prayer, he still falls short of the Lord’s perfect righteousness. But he also knows, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”
(1 John 1:9). When a believer has given his life to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit produces in him works that are worthy of God’s reward. For the believer, therefore, the truth that the Lord “will then repay every man according to his deeds” is a wonderful promise.

Ask Yourself:
If anything assures us that grace is much more than a one-time event, it is our daily experience of realizing how much we need Him to do anything that is lasting, truly meaningful, and worthwhile. How have you learned again how dependent you are on His grace?