Jesse Medina

Imagine this view of heaven: It is one where we Christians get off scotch free, told “well done my good and faithful servant,” and are invited into paradise.  We, unlike our unbelieving counterparts, are not judged at all.  In place of our names and our sins is the name of Jesus and his righteousness, his blood that covers all of our sins.  We are guaranteed a spot in heaven, no judgment no nothing.  We’re in and that’s that.

Sound familiar?

This is a view that is held by many a Christian.  Any suggestion to the contrary is often met with some opposition about how if God were to judge us for anything we do, it would turn from a faith-based Gospel into a works-based Gospel, from grace to law, from truth to…well, blasphemy.

But that’s not the case at all.  And the Bible is very clear about that.

Jesus once told a parable about talents.  A master is going away, but before he does, he gives sums of money to three servants.  One servant was given five talents, one two and one was given just one.  Then he leaves for a time and when he comes back he asks for each servant to give an account.  The one who had five invested his talents and received five more.

“Well done.”

The second who had been given two talents also invested his and earned two more.

“Well done.”

But the third was afraid of his master so he buried it.  And what did the master say to him?

“…throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Crazy, huh?  Our first reaction is to assume that the one who had one talent was the non-Christian.  But that is exactly the wrong assumption.  The point Jesus is making (and that his followers are hearing) is that each servant is already considered “on the inside.”  Each servant is a Christian, so to speak, waiting for the Kingdom to come in full.  And the moral of the story,is this: we, in fact, will be judged.  Jesus entrusts his followers with something valuable and based on what we do, one day we will give an account.

That is not to say that our salvation will be earned at all.  We need to stop thinking in these either/or, black or white categories not because they are necessarily bad, but they often fall short of the full picture that the gospel paints.  Our salvation is not earned, not in any way, shape, or form.  It is freely given.  When we find our identity in Jesus and obey his commands we escape the condemnation that would have otherwise been visited upon us.  But…and there is a but…simply because we will not be condemned (that is, without commenting on the remainder of the parable – which is pretty scary even just as a cursory read) does not mean that God won’t have anything to say to us.  Redeemed, as we should know by now, does not equate with perfection; saved does not equate with Christ-like.

This should not cause us to be afraid, but it should motivate us to be good stewards.  We are not saved by our good works or anything else, but neither are such things inconsequential.  The parable suggests quite the opposite, actually, that our good works, our stewardship, means more than perhaps we realize.  These things do not save us, but they obviously please God and when we are faithful to God with all that we have been given, our gifts are multiplied and actually become a part of our inheritance in the next life.

And this, my friends, actually is good news.  This is exactly what grace looks like.  And that makes it all the more true and all the more beautiful.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Bible, Condemnation, God, Gospel, Heaven, Jesus, Judgment, Salvation