In my last article I proposed a definition for the reward of grace: namely, that it is the wages of Jesus Christ, which is freely bestowed by God in election and which superabundantly replaces all that the children of God lose in this life as they follow after Christ.¹

Thus far, we have considered that the reward of grace is the wages of Christ. That this reward is the wages of Christ means that the reward belongs to him, for he merited it according to his person and by his own arduous toil. Since the covenant head did all the work for this reward in the place of his people, they need nothing more than his perfect work to receive it. God freely bestows the reward of Christ upon all of his people by grace. And if by grace, then it is no more of works. To think that our works determine the reward—in whatever way we could conceive—is wicked unbelief in the perfect work of Christ.

Now we move on to the wages themselves. What did Christ earn for himself and for his people?

Eternal Life

The apostle Paul, after speaking of Christ’s humiliation in Philippians 2, goes on in verses 9–11 to speak about what Christ’s wages are:

9. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

10. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

11. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.²

God rewards Christ with a name and place above all men so that he may be worshiped and highly exalted.

Yet there is more to this reward, as was foretold in Isaiah 53:10–12:

10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

12. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

In addition to receiving a name and place above all men, Christ received “a portion with the great”—that is, a kingdom—together with power and authority to execute God’s counsel. He also received posterity—“his seed”—and eternal life—“prolong his days.”

This eternal life is that which Christ bestows upon his posterity, who are the covenant children of God. Thus the reward of grace is nothing less than eternal life.³

Both scripture and the creeds identify the reward this way. The Canons speaks of “the reward of eternal life.”⁴ From scripture, Matthew 19:29: “Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”⁵ Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Also James 1:12: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

What is this eternal life? Bucan’s definition in Heppe is excellent:

Life eternal is the glorious state in which the elect, united most fully with Christ their Head, are to know God in heaven along with the angels, to enjoy His presence and to celebrate it eternally, to obtain the highest good acquired for us by Christ, to be conformed in body and soul to His image, so far as he is man.⁶

The essence of eternal life is “to know God in heaven.” God gives himself as the reward of grace. That the reward is God himself is God’s own testimony to Abram in Canaan: “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Gen. 15:1). When one has God and knows God, he has life because God is life. As Christ prayed in John 17:3, “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God.”

The book of Revelation uses wonderful figures to depict the truth that eternal life is to know God in heaven. Revelation 22:4 teaches that the saints shall see the face of God, “and his name shall be in their foreheads.” God reveals himself by his name, and for him to place his name in the foreheads of his saints means that his saints will be given the knowledge of God in their minds and hearts.⁷

Furthermore, in heaven the saints will know God immediately. They “shall see the face of God.” They will know him even as they are known. This is also what scripture means when it says that there is no night in New Jerusalem. Revelation 22:5: “There shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light.” Just as the medium of earthly light-bearers provides the possibility of seeing and knowing in this life, so God causes himself to be known truly without medium in life eternal. He is the light. God gives light to his saints and causes them to perfectly receive him.⁸ And God gives his light through Jesus Christ. Revelation 21:23: “The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” The Lamb is the light. Through him alone is the knowledge of God, for he is the Son—the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of his person.

That the saints might know God, they are “united most fully with Christ their Head.” It is through Christ that there is unity of life between God and his church. “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one” (John 17:23). Through the wonder of grace wherein the Son of God took upon himself human flesh, suffered and died, arose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, Christ is become the life-source of the church. He is her “hidden manna,” as Revelation 2:17 calls him. Just as material manna sustained the life of the Israelite pilgrims through the waste-howling wilderness, so Christ is the hidden manna that nourishes all his people unto eternal life. He is for them wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. He is what eternally satisfies their souls.⁹

Christ is the life of his saints in and through his Spirit. The Spirit is depicted in Revelation 21:6 and 22:1 as the water that proceeds from the throne of God and the Lamb. The Spirit is the living water that flows out of God, through Christ, and into the belly of the church. The Spirit imparts the very life of God into the glorified church, so that the church has one life with God in Christ. Just as water sustains earthly life, so the Spirit sustains the heavenly life of the saints by imparting the fullness of Christ to them. The Holy Spirit realizes all the blessings that Christ earned by his perfect obedience. And the Holy Spirit is an ever-flowing stream of life that eternally satisfies all who drink of him.¹⁰

Being made partakers of Christ, the saints “obtain the highest good acquired for [them] by Christ, to be conformed in body and soul to His image.” They will be made like God to the highest possible degree. The saints will bear the image of God in its highest possible development. This is what Christ means when he promises to the church in Philadelphia, “I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem…and I will write upon him my new name” (Rev. 3:12). The saints will be like God, being recreated in Christ Jesus his Son. They will be clothed with the white robes of Christ’s righteousness. And being like God, true and perfect communion is possible.¹¹

Being united to God and made like him through Christ, the saints shall “enjoy His presence” and “celebrate it.” In this connection it is clear that eternal life is the culmination and perfection of the covenant of grace. That eternal life is the culmination and perfection of the covenant of grace is the doctrine of Psalm 25. Verse 13 speaks about the God-fearing man who enters the new creation: “His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.” Then verse 14: “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” In the culmination and perfection of the covenant of grace, God and his people enjoy each other’s presence as friends.

Such is taught in Revelation by the symbolism of the saints’ eating of the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God (Rev. 2:7; 22:2). In Eden the tree of life was a symbol of the everlasting covenant with God. About this tree Herman Hoeksema said,

It had a certain sacramental character. It was a sign and seal of God’s favor, an emblem of God’s covenant. It was a visible and tangible sign of that higher aspect of Adam’s life which consisted in the knowledge of and fellowship with God…It was the tree of life…Even though Adam’s life was earthy, nevertheless life also for Adam implied the favor and fellowship of God, his Creator-Lord. And if in this connection we bear in mind that the tree of life was in the midst of the garden, in the very heart of Paradise the First, we may say that according to the analogy of the temple, the tree of life constituted the most holy place. There, in the midst of the garden, where the tree of life was, dwelt God…To approach the tree of life…before the fall, was to approach God.¹²

In heaven there shall not merely be the sign of God’s favor and friendship, but the saints shall enjoy the ever-present reality of this favor and friendship. They shall ever be in God’s presence, knowing and speaking and tasting his goodness in Jesus Christ.

That the culmination and perfection of the covenant are realized in eternal life is also the significance of the proclamation from heaven in Revelation 21:3: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” In New Jerusalem the entire city shall be the tabernacle of God. God’s abode will be with his people perfectly and completely. He will take up his abode in them and fill them. They will be bound to one another in the unbreakable bonds of everlasting friendship.¹³

The saints shall know, enjoy, and celebrate God “eternally.” As Christ promises in Revelation 3:12, he will make each of his saints “a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out.” If the temple is the symbol of God’s dwelling place among men, then to be a pillar in his temple is to enter into everlasting communion with God.¹⁴

This eternal life will be possessed by the saints without interruption. Absolutely nothing will deter or reduce their life with God. It will be life to the fullest. Such is the promise of Psalm 103:2–5:

2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

3. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

4. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

5. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

This fullness of life is also the symbolism of the tree of life that gives forth its leaves for the healing of the nations. Sickness of whatever form is forever excluded from the new creation because of the life-giving presence of the Spirit.¹⁵

The reward of grace that is promised in scripture is, very simply, eternal life.

A Name and Place

Yet there is another important aspect to the reward of grace.

More specifically, the promised reward as the wages of Jesus Christ is the name and place that each elect child of God possesses in the everlasting covenant and eternal kingdom of God. That each saint has a place in heaven is implied by the very essence of the covenant and the kingdom.

By virtue of his peculiar creation, man was formed to stand in a covenant relationship with Jehovah God. Man was made a covenant being, bearing the image of God and possessing the capability to have a relationship of friendship with God. And standing in this particular relationship to God, man was given a very special place. He was made to reign over the works of God in order to direct them unto God’s glory.

According to the infinite wisdom of God, man’s place of honor in creation was lost and forfeited in Adam in order to be regained and raised to the greatest plane of glory in the kingdom of Jesus Christ.¹⁶ The culmination and final manifestation of the covenant of grace is the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Now that Christ has accomplished the forgiveness of sins through his blood and fulfilled all righteousness, his people have a name and place in this new kingdom.

The prominent characteristic of a kingdom is its rule. Christ rules. He rules by the decree of God, which he declares in Psalm 2. God shall give Christ absolute dominion over all nations in the way of smashing all hostile powers to pieces with his rod of iron. And he shall reign for ever and ever.

This rule Christ shares with his people, who have been perfectly united to him and who live one life with him. He promises to the church, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne” (Rev. 3:21). Every child of God shall have a glorious place of power and rule in the new creation, given to him by Christ the king. And together the saints will be a royal priesthood. They will use their position of rule to direct all of creation to the service and glory of God. They will do this forever without any possibility of erring.¹⁷

That the reward of grace implies a specific name and place for every saint is further underscored by the fact that the kingdom is called New Jerusalem. Eternal life in heaven is described as a city, a society. It is the perfect community. All the citizens share one life and principle and purpose as they live together in social intercourse. Yet as citizens they each have a unique name and occupy a specific place within that community.¹⁸

There are several examples from scripture to demonstrate this truth. First of all, there is the great type of Christ’s heavenly reign in the kingdom of Israel under Solomon, which was characterized by its prosperity and dominion and peace. In this kingdom there were nobles, priests, singers, players of instruments, porters, officers, judges, governors of the sanctuary, scribes, the royal entourage of Cherethites and Pelethites, laborers in the fields and cellars, rulers over the vineyards and oil production, rulers over the treasuries and storehouses, keepers of the flocks and herds and camels, counsellors, captains over hundreds, captains over thousands, table servants, cupbearers, and those who sought out the exotic and precious objects from the surrounding nations. Each position had its unique activity with definite tasks and services, which served for the glory of God and his anointed king.

Second, that each saint has a unique name and place in the kingdom of God is illustrated by Jesus’ parable of the talents, recorded in Matthew 25:14–30. The “talents” of the parable refer specifically to that unique name and place that every person in the church has on earth and subsequently in heaven. As Herman Hanko wrote,

The new heavens and the new earth are their possession. They are given the care of that new and glorious and heavenly creation, for in it and into all eternity they have their assignment and work. There they will labor diligently and faithfully in their calling before the face of God in perfection. There they will labor forever for the glory of God and the praise and honor of Jesus Christ, their Master and Lord.¹⁹

Finally, Christ himself promises to the church this unique name and place in his kingdom when he says, “To him that overcometh will I give…a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it” (Rev. 2:17). The stone, inasmuch as it is a white stone, is a symbol of the verdict of righteousness that the saints shall receive in the day of the Lord. Yet there is more to this stone than its color. Each saint will be given a unique stone with a new name written in it. The name will express his individual personality that he will possess through the perfect renewal of his being. The saints will not share identities. They will not be replicated like clones. Rather, they will all be unique. Personality will reach its highest degree in the New Jerusalem, since only he who receives a stone knows his name.²⁰

The saints will all contribute in a special way to the glory of the whole redeemed church. Hoeksema said that “each particular child of God shall…manifest his own peculiar shade of God’s image.”²¹ Such is illustrated by the description of New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 as it descends from God out of heaven. The glory of God permeates and fills the city with brilliant light “like a jasper stone, clear as crystal” (v. 11). God’s knowledge is imparted to the whole glorified church. And the church manifests God’s glory in manifold beauty, for the city’s foundation is garnished with twelve layers of colorful precious stones. The glory of God radiates from Christ through the body, and the body—fearfully and wonderfully fashioned together—radiates in perfect harmony the fullness and beauty of the divine image unto the glory of God, all the while maintaining the individuality and personality of the saints.²²

Thus the reward of grace as the wages of Jesus Christ includes the name and place of each child of God in the new heavens and earth. They shall live before God in their own unique places that he has determined for them according to his eternal love for them. And they shall possess such a glory that has never entered into the heart of man to conceive.

Therefore, we expect the coming of the great day of the Lord with a most ardent desire, to the end that we may fully enjoy the promises of God that are yes and amen in Jesus Christ our Lord, unto the glory of God by us!

Gradus Gloriae?

In Reformed dogmatics there is a lot of buzz about degrees of glory in heaven. Are there degrees of glory in heaven among the saints? If there are degrees of glory, how is everyone perfectly blessed by God in heaven? Is there correspondence between degrees of glory and good works? If good works in some sense correspond with the glory of the reward, how does this reconcile with the fact that the reward is of grace?

In addition to its implicit teaching of merit, the “Reward of Grace” sermon also occasioned discussion about degrees of glory in heaven.²³ The sermon explicitly taught degrees of reward, which the consistory of Hope Protestant Reformed Church defended on the basis that scripture teaches degrees of glory in heaven.²⁴ Classis East in January 2020, in dealing with a protest about this sermon, concurred with Hope’s consistory that there are degrees of glory.²⁵

That there are degrees of glory in heaven is an inference from corroborating passages in scripture. There is the analogy of the glory of the saints to the shining of the stars in the night sky, which stars differ in brightness from one another (Dan. 12:3; 1 Cor. 15:41–42). Christ uses superlative language when speaking about the citizens of the kingdom: “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:4). And then there is the parable of the pounds in Luke 19, wherein the two faithful servants who exercised the lord’s pounds each received a different number of cities to rule, one ten and the other five.

Degrees of glory could also be inferred from the fact that the final manifestation of the everlasting covenant is the kingdom of Christ. Since all kingdoms have rank and gradation that serve for the ordering of that kingdom, Christ’s kingdom must also have rank and gradation. At the head of the kingdom is the Lord Jesus Christ in greatest glory and honor, and from him there are subsequent degrees of glory.²⁶

Whenever the doctrine of degrees is taught, it is usually conditioned by the statement that each saint shall have a “cup” of glory, and this cup of glory shall be full.²⁷ The analogy of cups is an allusion to Isaiah 22:24, which says, “They shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.” Some cups are smaller. Some cups are bigger. But every cup will be full.  As Hoeksema said, “All the saints will be completely filled with blessing, but some will have a greater capacity for blessing and glory than others.”²⁸

Many who speak of the degrees of glory in heaven teach that these degrees are proportional to works in this life. Again, this was the doctrine of the “Reward of Grace” sermon:

There is a correlation [between good works and the reward], so that we understand the less of a good work, or the less good that a good work is, the less or smaller the reward. The less number of works, the less of a reward one receives. So too with regard to the more. The more that one walks in good works, the more of a reward is received.²⁹

Although I doubt that any would be so bold as to say what was quoted above, the Reformed theologians and church fathers who taught the essence of this quote are legion.³⁰ But let this quotation by Hanko in connection with Luke 19 suffice:

The measure of faithfulness here below will be proportionately rewarded above. The diligence with which we labor in the kingdom, the earnestness with which we make use of the Word of God, the single-heartedness of purpose with which we pursue our heavenly calling—all will be proportionately blessed.³¹

That the reward of grace corresponds to good works may appear to be what Belgic Confession article 24 teaches as well: “We do not deny that God rewards good works, but it is through his grace that he crowns his gifts.”³² When it speaks of crowning his gifts, the Confession draws its language from Augustine, who wrote on this matter, “So when God crowns your merits, he is not crowning anything but his own gifts.”³³ What could be inferred by the Confession is that more good works earn a greater degree of glory.

In all my research for this article, I am surprised that Caleb’s inheritance in Canaan is not used by those who teach that the reward is proportional to good works. It would be one of the strongest arguments. One might say that Caleb was the greatest warrior in the church during his age—perhaps even in the whole old dispensation. Against the overwhelming majority of spies who gave an evil report about the land of Canaan, Caleb defended God’s name and promise. At the ripe age of eighty-five, he battled three giants to take possession of his inheritance (Josh. 15:14). And this faithful servant of Jehovah received a special inheritance of unusual size (14:6–15). It included two cities, and the region was so large that at the time of David it was simply called “Caleb” (1 Sam. 30:14). Since the land of Canaan was a type of the heavenly inheritance,³⁴ Caleb’s inheritance appears to be indisputable proof that one receives a reward according to his works.

That the reward is according to works has been commonly taught in connection with suffering and persecution.³⁵ In a postscript after his series on the sermon on the mount, Luther took up the issue of the reward and said about the saints,

If they suffer much and labor much, He [Christ] will adorn them specially on the Last Day, more and more gloriously than the others, as special stars that are greater than others. So St. Paul will be more brilliant, more bright and clear than others. This does not refer to the forgiveness of sins nor to meriting heaven, but to a recompense of greater glory for greater suffering…There will be a distinction in the glory with which we shall be adorned, and in the brightness with which we shall shine. In this life there is a distinction among gifts, and one labors and suffers more than another. But in that life it will all be revealed, for the whole world to see what each one has done from the degree of glory he has; and the whole heavenly host will rejoice. Let this be sufficient on the matter.³⁶

Shall we admit of degrees of glory that correspond to our works in this life and have it be taught this way to the flock?

I contend that it is improper—even detrimental—to teach that the reward of grace is according to good works. Instead, I contend that the only way to speak about the reward of grace is in connection with our election in Jesus Christ. This is the election theology of the reward. But this will have to wait until next time.