In considering the many biblical passages that speak of a future evaluation of believers’ lives, the overwhelming emphasis lies on the side of rewards.  This is not surprising, since Jesus paid the penalty for our sins in his atoning death.  Since there will be no tears, mourning, or crying in heaven (Rev. 21:4), Christians may look forward to Christ’s return with an overwhelming expectation of divine approval and reward.  And this anticipation is treated in the Bible as a very significant source of motivation for sanctification and Christian service. 

It seems that every generation of the church sees a struggle to rightly define Christian sanctification.  This happens in part because of the importance of the subject.  Sanctification is the present tense of salvation for those who have believed; it is the salvific address to which our mail is sent in this life.  With this in mind, the two errors associated with this doctrine are among the most deadly.  To be a legalist means to forfeit the peace and joy that comes through the grace of Christ.  To be a libertine is to justify a wayward and messy life instead of living in step with the Holy Spirit as we should.

How we understand sanctification will further exert a dramatic influence on our approach to Christian ministry.  One question in this regard is the validity of appeals for godliness based on rewards or punishments.  Is the doctrine of salvation by grace compatible with warnings given to Christians or rewards offered for godly living?  For many in the so-called Contemporary Grace Movement, the answer is No.  These preachers teach that gratitude is the only valid basis for holiness.  Guilt-Grace-Gratitude is the only track on which the train of godly living runs.  But is this true?  Are punishments and rewards biblically consistent with the idea of God’s saving grace?

In addressing this subject, the Gospel Reformation Network’s statement of Affirmations and Denials affirms both the importance of gratitude for grace and the validity of rewards and punishments in the Christian life.  Article V says:

We affirm that gratitude for justification is a powerful motivation for growth in holiness.

We deny that gratitude is the only valid motivation for holiness, making all other motivations illegitimate or legalistic.

The affirmation wholeheartedly embraces the importance of the believer’s gratitude for what Christ has done in motivating a holy life.   The New Testament frequently emphasizes the relationship between godly obedience and the motive of thanksgiving.  Paul prays that believers may be strengthened “for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father” (Col. 1:11-12).  Paul urges: “whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col 3:17).  The Puritan John Owen thus stressed that our obedience should never be offered for our righteousness, but “it is that for which God has created us and which we do out of love and gratitude to him for his grace.”[1]

Having emphasized thanksgiving, the denial insists that gratitude is not the only valid motive for holiness.  It is not legalistic, as some claim, to urge believers to godliness in light of threatened punishments or offered rewards.  We can be sure of this because Jesus and the apostles frequently press these motivations upon us.  After all, what else could Jesus have meant when he taught us not to store up treasures on earth, where they are so easily lost or destroyed, but instead to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Mt. 6:20).  Unless we are prepared to denounce Jesus as a legalist, we will have to accept the validity of using promised rewards to motivate godliness.

We see his even more pointedly in his parable of the talents.  The master’s servants were given talents to invest and then he returned to inspect their work.  To the faithful servants who had earned him a profit, the master said, “Well done, good and faithful servant.  You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.  Enter into the joy of your master” (Mt. 25:21).  Not only should Christians be motivated by the desire to hear these same words at the end of our lives, but the nature of heavenly rewards is indicated.  Instead of earthly goods like gold or silver, the reward is presented in terms of fellowship with our Savior in heaven and an increased scope of service to him in glory (see also Luke 19:17).

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