works of faith

What Are Heavenly Treasures?

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We know there are heavenly treasures, because Jesus says so, but what are they? Some say God is going to dispense treasure, mansions, and even cities to those who have proven faithful. “There had better be some reward for my hard work—a gold star at least—otherwise why I am working?” Others say there are [...]

Is Grace a License to Be Lazy?

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One of the complaints made against the gospel of grace is that it promotes sin and slothfulness. However, those who say such things know little about the grace of God that empowers us to reign in life. Elsewhere I have addressed the misperception that grace is a license to sin. Today I want to look at its evil [...]

The Parable of the Two Sons

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From time to time people ask me to write about the parables of Jesus. This is something I enjoy doing because I love the parables. The parables of Jesus are launch pads to revelation and if we have ears to hear they reveal the wisdom of God. Especially this one: What do you think? There was a man who had two [...]

Rewarded for Doing Good?

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Jesus and Paul both said we would be rewarded for doing good, which sounds like a punch in the face to the gospel of grace. In the previous post we looked at the words of Jesus (in John 5:28-29) and saw that “doing good” means trusting him. But what about Paul who said this: God will repay each person [...]

Judged for What We Have Done

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The good news of heaven declares that everything comes to us as a free gift from our heavenly Father. But the bad news of earth says you better work baby, because there’s no such thing as a free lunch! Your choice is grace or works. Either the favor of God is given or earned, but it can’t be both. The gospel [...]

Rewarded for What We’ve Done?

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The Bible says that we will be rewarded for what we have done. Not what we have believed, but done-diddley-done-done. So what do we have to do? In this three-part series, we’re going to look at some of the rewarded-for-what-we’ve-done scriptures, beginning with this one: For the Son of Man is going to come in [...]

Rewarded for their Labor? (1 Corinthians 3:8)

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I have been asked this question again and again: What are heavenly rewards? Or, how do rewards fit in with grace? Some say there are no rewards, yet Jesus spoke about storing up treasure and Paul spoke about being rewarded for our labor. I have a long chapter on Eternal Rewards in my book The Gospel in Twenty [...]

Labor to Enter His Rest (Hebrews 4:11)

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The other day a strange man approached a young girl and offered her candy if she would get in his car. Thankfully, the girl knew all about stranger danger and quickly walked to a shop where she was safe. I know you’ve heard this sort of story before but this was different for us because it happened on the [...]

Myth 12: The Hyper-Grace Gospel Makes People Lazy

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“Grace is a soft gospel for soft Christians,” say the critics. “Grace promotes passivity and laziness.” It does? I guess somebody forgot to tell Paul: By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that [...]

How to Become an Unbeliever in 3 Easy Steps

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How do you turn a believer into an unbeliever? How do you extinguish the flame of faith? These questions have been on my mind lately because I have seen people reject that which is good and shipwreck their faith. Perhaps you have seen this too. What causes someone to walk away from the Lord of Grace? I can [...]

Questions Ain’t Questions

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Growing up in Australia, I was used to seeing trucks from a company called “Soils Ain’t Soils.” Strange name for a company but I get it. They’re saying there are different types of soils, and some soils are better than others. The same could be said of questions. Perhaps you’ve noticed an upsurge in the [...]

God is Not Your Employer

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The good news of God’s acceptance is not widely preached. You are much more likely to hear about God’s high standards than his unmerited favor. It’s like Jesus has this list of positive qualities he is looking for in his ideal bride. She needs to be a good cook, like Martha, and have plenty of good works, [...]