Tuesday

Related Verses
1 Cor. 3:14
14 If anyone’s work which he has built upon the foundation remains, he will receive a reward;

2 Cor. 5:9-10
9 Therefore also we are determined, whether at home or abroad, to gain the honor of being well pleasing to Him.
10 For we must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done through the body according to what he has practiced, whether good or bad.

1 Cor. 4:3-5
3 But to me it is a very small thing that I should be examined by you or by man’s day; rather I do not even examine myself.
4 For I am conscious of nothing against myself; but I am not justified in this, but He who examines me is the Lord.
5 So then do not judge anything before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then there will be praise to each from God.

Rom. 14:10
10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God,

Matt. 16:27
27 For the Son of Man is to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will repay each man according to his doings.

Related Reading
Some think that to suffer loss [in 1 Corinthians 3:15a] is to lose one’s salvation, that is, to perish. The truth, however, is that we will still be saved, “yet so as through fire” (v. 15b)…After we are saved, there are still great issues to take care of. Our conduct is an issue, and our work also is an issue. When the Lord comes back, there will be a judgment. In that judgment He will determine whether we will receive a reward or punishment. 

The unbelievers will be judged at the great white throne a thousand years later (Rev. 20:11-15), but the Lord Jesus will judge all His believers at the judgment seat [2 Cor. 5:10]. There, the decision will be made regarding what reward they will receive—the enjoyment in the coming kingdom or some punishment. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 4453-4454) 

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The Bible reveals that the overcomers will reign for a thousand years, but it does not say how long the punishment for believers will last. However, we can still infer that the receiving of punishment will definitely take place during the millennium…In principle, the Lord wants to motivate us to cooperate with Him and to warn us of the loss that we will suffer for not cooperating with Him. 

The possibility of punishment in the future should keep us on the alert and be a warning to us. We should see that if we do not pay the price to pursue to overcome and to be faithful to work for the Lord after we are saved, we will eventually suffer loss, which will be so severe that we will feel as though we are passing through fire (1 Cor. 3:15). The Bible also reveals that if we habitually commit sins and remain in the enjoyment of sin, we will be salted with fire to purge the germs of sin and evil from us (Mark 9:49). As to where the punishment of fire will take place and what kind of fire it will be, we do not need to investigate. These words concerning reward and punishment are spoken to…those who are pursuing the Lord. We should not speak these words casually to others; rather, we need to first help them to have a hungry and thirsty heart for pursuing. When their heart is stirred up to pursue the Lord, we can speak the words spoken by the Lord on the mountain and in the house (Matt. 5:1; 13:36). 

Reward and punishment are determined according to God’s thought and wisdom. This determination in God’s wisdom is mainly to motivate or compel us to cooperate with Him. This is because there is a part in God’s salvation that requires us to put the self aside, forsake everything, and cooperate with Him so that He can work Himself into us. This is a very difficult thing to work out in us; hence, in the economy of God’s grace, reward and punishment were determined according to His wisdom. God uses reward to motivate and attract us to put the self aside and forsake everything; He also uses punishment to compel us to forsake everything and put off all sin and evil. This is the first aspect of God’s intention. 

The second aspect of God’s intention with reward and punishment is to manifest His righteousness in His children. We should not think that after we are saved, there can be no problem simply because we are God’s children. If this were the case, it would seem as if God’s grace comes to us without a sense of sobriety or righteousness and without any consideration of differentiations in the living and work of God’s children. However, God is not befuddled; His approval is based on a clear and distinct realization of such differentiations. Therefore, God determined to have reward and punishment in the future in order to manifest His sobriety and righteousness in us. (CWWL, 1955, vol. 3, “Reward and Punishment,” pp. 42-43) 

Further Reading: CWWL, 1990, vol. 3, “The Prophecy of the Four ‘Sevens’ in the Bible,” ch. 1