Most of Christianity teaches that the ultimate reward for a life well-lived is getting into Heaven. This comes from a warped view of the Gospel, and conflates two distinct concepts - the "free gift" of Eternal Life (Romans 5:15-18, 6:23), which is received without works (Ephesians 2:8-9), and the "reward of the inheritance", which is based on service to God (Colossians 3:24).
This article will show the Biblical distinction between these two concepts, and will also document what the Bible says about how to earn these rewards.
To begin, the Bible is very clear that rewards are based on works, as two of the most famous passages on the topic clearly teach, and many other verses besides (Romans 4:4: 1 Corinthians 3:8, 3:14, Colossians 3:24: 2 John 1:8):
Matthew 16:27
27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
Revelation 22:12
12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
As is understood by most readers of this site, and as was mentioned in the introduction, the above two verses simply distinguish rewards from Salvation, as Salvation is not based on works:
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Rewards are based on works, Salvation is "not of works", and "not by works of righteousness which we have done" (Titus 3:5). Therefore, rewards are distinct from Salvation.
Another way to prove this would be to look at the fact that entering Heaven is "free" (Romans 3:24, Revelation 22:17 with John 4:14), and based on faith (John 3:5 with 1 John 1:5), whereas inheriting the Kingdom is expensive, and based on service (Colossians 3:23-25).
Entering a building is not the same thing as inheriting that building, or even parts of that building. Entering a house does not mean that you've inherited that house. As will be demonstrated in later sections of this article, it's possible to get to Heaven, and not earn rewards, and squander any chance that you had to earn a greater inheritance in Heaven.
Therefore, we've established that the rewards being discussed in this article are completely distinct from the "free gift" of Salvation, which is supremely logical, and also answers the most common objection to the teaching that Salvation is by faith alone. These rewards are the primary motivator that God gives us for behaving and doing good works, even though our eternal destiny is fixed the moment we believe. If we misbehave, God doesn't threaten us with Hell. He instead uses the motivators of obtaining blessings in this life (Psalm 1:1-3), avoiding chastening in this life (1 Corinthians 11:30-32, Hebrews 12:6), and the opportunity to earn eternal rewards in Heaven.
As believers, we know that we "are not condemned" (John 3:18), and "shall not come into condemnation" (John 5:24), in the eternal sense of the word. However, the Bible teaches that believers in Jesus Christ will still appear before a judgment, called "The Judgment Seat of Christ" in Scripture:
2 Corinthians 5:9-11
9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
Romans 14:10-12
10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
Notice above, in two letters written to Christians (2 Corinthians 1:1, Romans 1:7) - "we" will still be subjected to a judgment. There is very obviously something that still hangs in the balance for us believers, and we will judged to determine what the outcome is.
This judgment on believers will take place just before the millennial reign of Jesus Christ (Luke 14:14, Revelation 11:18). Just prior to the Millennium, all the saved throughout history will be raised (1 Thessalonians 3:13) to rule with Christ in His earthly kingdom:
Revelation 20:4-6
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
"The second death", that is to say, Hell (Revelation 20:14), has no power on those who are raised in the First Resurrection. This is a resurrection for the saved only, and it's when our judgment will take place.
This judgment is where a Christian will either be rewarded or castigated by the Lord for the things that they did in their bodies, after they were saved:
1 Corinthians 3:8, 11-15
8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Notice:
It is not until over 1,000 years later that the Final Judgment takes place (Revelation 20:7-15), which will be the main judgment for the unsaved. By that time, we've already been raised bodily, judged, and have lived with Christ for over 1,000 years. The judgments are not even close to being the same, despite most of Christianity trying to make them one and the same.
Therefore, the judgment on believers, which will determine their rewards, is entirely separate from that of the unsaved. It takes place over 1,000 years before their resurrection, and it determines the amount of rewards that a Christian receives, and not whether they go to Heaven or Hell.
Knowing all of this, how can we ensure that we earn rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ?
A large part of the New Testament deals with earning these rewards. This should be a large focus of any Christian's life, as God told us about rewards, obviously, as a motivator to earn them. If God didn't want us coveting and aiming for these rewards, He wouldn't have made them known.
In fact, we are commanded by the Lord to "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6:20, Luke 12:33), because as the Lord Himself said, "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:21, Luke 12:34). Later, the Lord instructs us in Revelation to "buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich;" (Revelation 3:18) - a command to earn the imperishable rewards that withstand the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Furthermore, doing the things that earn rewards is, by definition, pleasing to the Lord, so earning them is simply a by-product of doing what God tells us to do, which should be the goal of any Christian that loves God. If you don't do what God tells you to do, you don't have Biblical love for God (John 14:15: 1 John 5:2-3).
It is also a fact that while we are told that we can earn rewards, we are not told specifically what those rewards will be, and so this article cannot really discuss that, as the Lord told us:
1 Corinthians 2:9
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
To be clear, we are given some sparse indications, for instance, that rewards will have to do with authority (ruling over cities - Luke 19:12-19, etc.), or something akin to wealth here on earth (Matthew 19:21, etc.). However, while we don't know precisely what these rewards will be, we are commanded to strive to earn them, and are assured that they will be worth the effort.
This, unlike Salvation, is a matter of discipleship, and is where works and self-denial come into play in the Christian life (Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23). Discipleship, in its purest, best form, requires forsaking all to follow Christ (Luke 14:26-33), as the Lord says, "whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33).
At a high level, we can summarize the way to earn rewards as "obeying Jesus's commandments". That's a concise summary, but it's not very focused, as the Lord commanded a lot of things. So what are some specific passages that mention rewards, and what, logically speaking, should we focus our work and time on as Christians, here on earth?
Firstly, the Lord discusses rewards extensively in the Sermon on the Mount, where He mentions rewards for:
The Lord also specifically mentions that helping other Christians, even in small matters, will earn you rewards (Matthew 10:41-42, Mark 9:41).
When the Lord meets the rich young ruler, He mentions rewards for almsgiving, and discipleship, which could include a lot of things:
Matthew 19:21
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
The same account is given in Mark 10:21 and Luke 18:22, and each time God specifically mentions selling what you have and donating the money earning you treasure in Heaven, and then gives an exhortation to discipleship/taking up your cross to follow Jesus.
Jesus also mentions being rewarded for forsaking a comfortable lifestyle in order to preach the Gospel:
Mark 10:29-30
29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,
30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
Adding to our "inheritance" in Heaven, as well as receiving a multiple of whatever we forsake in rewards and blessings here in this life, are also mentioned in the parallel passages (Matthew 19:29, Luke 18:29-30). So even in this life, the Lord promises to reward His disciples.
Adding to this last point, preaching the Gospel is the last thing that the Lord commanded us to do (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15). Persuading people to believe in Jesus Christ secures their eternal destiny, and so obviously it is tremendously important - perhaps the most important thing that a Christian should be doing, at any given point in time.
There are also mentions of rewards in the Epistles, where we are told that we will earn rewards for:
We are also told three times in the Epistles about "inheriting the Kingdom of God", and that certain sins cause us not to inherit the Kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:5). These passages are covered in their own article here, as they are often used to teach works Salvation.
These commandments and guidelines, along with the commandments of Christ, help give us details about what is involved in keeping the two "Great Commandments", which are given as "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength", and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31).
Therefore, by keeping the Great Commandments, especially in the manner specifically mentioned by God in these verses, we earn rewards, and increase our inheritance in the world to come.
The Bible also specifically mentions "crowns" that the Lord will give to people for various reasons.
These are:
There may be more crowns, and maybe some of these passages are speaking about the same reward - obviously in what it takes to earn them, there is some overlap. However these crowns as rewards are spoken of by God too often to not mention them in this article.
Revelation 3:11
11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation are addressed to 7 churches. In this section, Jesus mentions many rewards given to those who "overcome". He also mentions "overcoming" again towards the very end, in chapter 21.
The things given to "those that overcome" are stated as:
That's a massive list of things, some of which are quite incredible rewards, others are clearly "basics" that anyone in Heaven must necessarily partake of. So, what does it mean to overcome, and who is an "overcomer"?
Firstly, there is a sense in which every believer is an "overcomer", as we read:
1 John 5:1, 4-5
1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
1 John 4:4
4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
It's reasonable to conclude that the "overcoming" in Revelation is referring to this same "overcoming the world". So in the answer to "What does it mean to overcome?", we can say that it means "to overcome the world", and in response to "Who is an overcomer?", we can say that, at least in some sense, every single Christian.
This is bolstered by the fact that some of the things promised to "overcomers" are essentially "not going to Hell" - as in the case of, for example, not being hurt of the Second Death (Revelation 2:11), and not being blotted out of the Book of Life (Revelation 3:5).
However, many of the things promised to overcomers are obviously exalted rewards that go beyond the "basic" reality of Eternal Life that all believers receive. Logically, because these things are presented in warnings to churches, at least a subset of them are rewards that hang in the balance, which are given mention in order to motivate us to earn them. I do not believe that they would be mentioned in the manner that they are (I implore you to read Revelation 2-3 to get the sense yourself) if they were all automatic.
Furthermore, it is explicitly stated that you have to keep Christ's commandments - work - in order to have right to the Tree of Life, which is one of the rewards promised to "overcomers" in Revelation 2:7:
Revelation 22:14
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Therefore, it is safe to assume that a subset of the things promised to overcomers are rewards which hang in the balance, and that implies that there is a spectrum of overcoming - Christians overcome to different degrees, based on their works, above the baseline "overcoming" guaranteed to all believers by virtue of Jesus Christ.
In conclusion, the Lord makes it clear that He will reward those who do the things that He wants His creation to do. As a Christian then, you should aim for these rewards, as earning them, by definition, is pleasing to God.
These rewards, and your meeting with Christ for judgment in determining which of them you get, should always be in the forefront of your mind. Anyone who loves Jesus Christ should want the King of all creation to tell them, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:20-23).
So, be disciplined to walk in the Spirit, and strive to ensure that you aren't "ashamed before Him at His coming" (1 John 2:28), but receive a "full reward":
2 John 1:8
8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.