Your Kingdom Come

Blood-washed believers will be spotless in God’s sight, but not all will have the same service record. God is after obedience. Salvation gets us to heaven, but works determine what we do after we get there.  -C.S. Lovett   Any discussion of rewards raises a host of questions, and we will seek to answer them in the pages that follow. But the most important issue is how good works for rewards and salvation by grace fit together. To state the issue simply: What is the relationship between faith and works, or redemption and rewards? Avoiding any confusion about these two lines of truth is essential.  We could call faith (salvation) and works the two master keys of the law or principle of rewards. Faith and works determine everything about your eternal existence and mine. Understanding what the Bible says about these truths is crucial. These two master keys are basic, yet supremely significant. Here’s the simplest way I know to express these twin truths.  Key #1:  Yo...

  These men have touched some of the deep problems of humanity and being among some of the best minds among men have made brilliant observations, analyses, and offered possible solutions to create a better kingdom of man. I like the realistic pessimism of both men especially Zizek that admit the reality of man's wickedness and none of them offers a perfect systematized cure for everything to bring about a guaranteed utopia. What's incredible is they have thought hard and deep about these serious issues and considered the contribution of the Judeo-Christian worldview but just like what Zizek said, people nowadays hold to ideologies that work even if they don't believe in it. The thing about Christianity is it doesn't work if you don't believe. Sure, you may enjoy some temporal benefits of following biblical wisdom but as Jesus said, what good is it even if you gain the whole world yet lose your soul? Christianity is not about just having a good short life here on ear...

You can download and listen to this excellent series of overview on the book of Revelation by Abner Chou on the links below. Abner Chou is the John F. MacArthur Endowed Fellow at The Master’s Seminary. He earned his ThD from The Master’s Seminary, California. Dr. Chou as written a number of articles and he is the author of I Saw the Lord: A Biblical Theology of Vision (Wipf & Stock, 2013) and The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers: Learning to Interpret Scripture from the Prophets and Apostles (Kregel, 2018). He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and Society of Biblical Literature. He is married to Johanna, and has four children. Revelation 1-3 • Introduction and The Practicality of Studying Revelation • Abner Chou Revelation 4-9 • Christ the Hero • Abner Chou Revelation 10-14 • Reality of Evil and the Resilience of God • Abner Chou Revelation 14b-19 • God's Vengeance for His People • Abner Chou Revelation 20: 7-10 • God's Resolution of the Problem of Evil...

Study of Matthew 20:1-20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place; and to those he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’  When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. When...

  Study of Matthew 19:27-30; Mark 10:28-31; Luke 18:28-30 Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last; and the last, first. — Matthew 19:27-30 Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers an...

Study of Matthew 19:16-26; Mark 10:17-27; Luke 18:18-27 And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter th...