“that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”
Do you want rewards from God when you get to Heaven? Yeah, yeah, I know, just being with Jesus is reward enough. But seriously, in the Resurrection at the judgment seat of Christ, all of your works will be judged. That which is of the right sort will be rewarded, and that which is of the wrong sort will be burned away.
1 Corinthians 3:12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
How do you know if your works will receive rewards? Jesus teaches in Matthew 6 to do your charitable deeds in private, not letting the right hand know what the left hand is doing. He says if you boast about your good deeds, and people acknowledge you in this life, then you have received your reward. But if you do good works in private, you will be rewarded openly in Heaven.
We obviously don’t do good deeds for rewards only, we do good deeds as a result of walking in love, but God is interested in our lives so much that he wants to say a big thank you in front of other people for being a loving person.
I want to highlight part of verse 15 above, “he himself will be saved.” At the judgment seat of Christ, you will not be judged for righteousness, your salvation is secure, but the motivation behind your words and actions goes through a final judgment. It’s almost as if the final remaining aspects of your dead identity will be burned away, and all that will remain is the saved you and rewards for the love you showed,
This is a complex and nuanced doctrine. There is much more than I am addressing here, but I simply want to make the point to be mindful of how you conduct yourself. Not as a threat. And I don’t suggest that you live in fear of this judgment. I see it more as a celebration than a negative thing. I just want to highlight that everything you do matters.
God is more interested in private integrity than public piety. He’s more interested in who you are in the secret place than in the public square. He looks at every moment of your life as significant. No second is a throwaway in God’s eyes. He cares about everything you do so much that he will bless you and reward you for all the seemingly insignificant acts of kindness, mercy, and compassion. Let’s live as if every moment counts.
1 John 4:17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
