A Full Reward

A Full Reward

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Heb. 9:14.

Both living and dead works are mentioned here. The difference is that works that are living are brought forth by the Holy Spirit. Jesus mentions an example of dead works in Matt. 6:1-5. “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Matt. 6:1. What is noteworthy here is that the reward has already been paid out.

Serving the living God must become a matter of the heart for me. “How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?” John 5:44. If honor-seeking is the driving force behind what I do, the result will likewise be dead works.

“Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 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.” 1 Cor. 3:12-13. Inferior building materials amount to easy solutions—the kind that cost nothing. We tend to find an easier way to get by as cheaply as possible, but this falls into the same category as dead works.

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Gal. 5:25. This becomes a key word for our conscience to be cleansed from dead works, so that we can continue as servants in Spirit and truth. John exhorts in his second letter in verse 8: “Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.” This is written in connection with walking in the truth and loving one another. A full reward means that I don’t receive honor or find an easier way. The truth about myself and love for my friends help me to stay focused on the goal.