Find Your Rest In Him

God's grace is the miracle of Christianity and our lives. His love provides us with grace, His unmerited favor. Through grace we are saved; it's not of ourselves. It's God's gift. Salvation, the result of His grace, is available to each and every one us us. It is our choice to receive it or reject it. God's arms are open wide, beckoning us. If you are unclear about God's gift of salvation, ask for understanding and guidance from the Holy Spirit as you investigate His Word. Open up your heart; find your rest in Him.

A prayer begins . . .

O God, we give you thanks. Your grace is more than sufficient for us. Help us to understand and accept your gift of salvation and keep us safe in your arms till we meet again.

Announcement . . .

The SoAmazing Letter will cease publication with this edition. The SoAmazing.com website will remain open and available. Read the details here.

On a personal note, I am in a reflective mood as I prepare this final edition of the SoAmazing Letter. Of course, I hope and pray that I will be able to work well as a "Tentmaker" and be able to provide for my family and generate sufficient funds to put the SoAmazing Letter on a secure financial footing. With God's help, I believe it will be done. Pray for me. It has been a labor of love and I'm grateful for your loyal participation. I will not forget what this has meant to me, and I trust to many of you. May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ fill your heart with His love. May He help you be cognizant of His presence, recognize His provision, enjoy His protection and know the deep, thrilling peace of His that is beyond our understanding. You matter to God and you have mattered to me these many years. Live well ... by His power and grace! God's best to you,

A book quotation begins . . .

Triumph And Tears

Erwin W. Lutzer, Your Eternal Reward, Triumph and Tears at the Judgment Seat of Christ, Moody Press, 1998, pp. 12, 13. SoAmazing.com

Category: Evangelism
ISBN: 0802441939

"Yes, those who trust Christ alone for their salvation are redeemed, eternally forgiven, and legally perfect before God. We are not under condemnation but have 'passed out of death into life' (1 John 3:14). We enter heaven with the righteousness of Christ credited to our account; we are accepted on the basis of His worthy merit. To this all Christians must say, 'Amen.'

But -- and this is important -- we should not conclude that every Christian will do well at the judgment seat of Christ. We can suffer serious loss; many of us might stand in shame before Christ as we see our lives pass before us. It is not true, as some teach, that ten minutes after our personal confrontation with Christ our meeting will have little significance because all of us will essentially receive the same reward. What happens at the judgment seat can have permanent consequences.

There are degrees of punishment in hell and degrees of reward in heaven. This does not mean that heaven will be divided into the haves and have-nots. Eventually, everyone will be happy in heaven because God will comfort us by wiping the tears from our eyes. Everyone will be a servant and enjoy the fellowship afforded to all who enter the presence of God through Christ. But we shall not all have the same privileges, for the way we live will have a ripple effect that will go on for an eternity. Paul did not see a contradiction between teaching justification by faith and the related fact that we shall be judged for all our 'deeds [done] in the body' since our conversion. The hows and whys will be explained in later chapters.

A second misconception is the belief that even after we have been converted our works have no merit before God. When the Reformers preached (and rightly so) that we are saved by grace alone and not by works, some theologians went on to say that works after salvation are also nonmeritorious. They concluded that in heaven all Christians will either receive the same reward, or else any differences will be due to God's sovereign will. Many Bible students since that time have accepted the same basic premise.

Almost all Christians agree that some believers will receive the approval of Christ, whereas others will receive censure and disapproval; nevertheless, it is argued, any negative consequences will soon be forgotten. If some would have a different status in heaven, the argument goes, that would imply that works had some merit which God accepted, and this, it is said, would be contrary to the grace of God.

Let us test this premise.

Of course, I passionately agree that when we put our faith in Christ we are declared righteous by God because of Christ and not because of our works. Our deeds before our conversion are of no merit in the sight of God. 'For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast' Ephesians 2:8-9). If anyone reading this book thinks that he will be saved because of human effort, he will be tragically disappointed for all of eternity.

But works done after we have received the free gift of eternal life are special to God. Indeed, the same passage (quoted above) that affirms we are saved by faith alone because of grace continues: 'For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand that we should walk in them' (v. 10). These works are sought by God and honor Him. We should strive to please Him, and for such works we shall be rewarded. Although we shy away from thinking that something we do has merit, Christ did not hesitate to promise those who performed sacrificial acts would be 'repaid' (Luke 14:14)."

SoAmazing Review. Your Eternal Awards, by Erwin Lutzer explains the hows and wherefores of the final judgment and the rewards we might gain for the works we do. You need to know this information. It a great book and worthy of your time and attention.

Buy Your Eternal Reward Now!   Amazon