Reward

[Xeno.of.athens]

If one does what pleases God then there is a reward for what you did. That's what a Catholic calls merit. One does that which pleases God and rightly embraces God's promise of reward.

(Matthew 5:12 HCSB) Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

(Matthew 5:46 HCSB) For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don't even the tax collectors do the same?

(Matthew 6:1 HCSB) "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of people, to be seen by them. Otherwise, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

(Matthew 6:2 HCSB) So whenever you give to the poor, don't sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. I assure you: They've got their reward!

(Matthew 6:4 HCSB) so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

(Matthew 6:5 HCSB) "Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They've got their reward!

(Matthew 6:6 HCSB) But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

(Matthew 6:16 HCSB) "Whenever you fast, don't be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so their fasting is obvious to people. I assure you: They've got their reward!

(Matthew 6:18 HCSB) so that you don't show your fasting to people but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

(Matthew 10:41 HCSB) Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. And anyone who welcomes a righteous person because he's righteous will receive a righteous person's reward.

(Matthew 10:42 HCSB) And whoever gives just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple --I assure you: He will never lose his reward!"

(Matthew 16:27 HCSB) For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done.

(Mark 9:41 HCSB) And whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of My name, since you belong to the Messiah--I assure you: He will never lose his reward.

(Luke 6:23 HCSB) "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! Take note--your reward is great in heaven, for this is the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets.

(Luke 6:35 HCSB) But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is gracious to the ungrateful and evil.

 

[BobRyan]

If one does what pleases God then there is a reward for what you did. That's what a Catholic calls merit. One does that which pleases God and rightly embraces God's promise of reward.

(Matthew 5:12 HCSB) Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Do you do that as someone who is lost, so then not born-again, not saved -- and then get the 'reward' of being saved?
Or do you do that as a born-again saved saint and then get a "reward" in Heaven?

What is your POV?

Most non-Catholics seem to affirm the second case.

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

Do you do that as someone who is lost, so then not born-again, not saved -- and then get the 'reward' of being saved?
Or do you do that as a born-again saved saint and then get a "reward" in Heaven?

What is your POV?

Both. Look at the verses posted in the OP.

 

[eleos1954]

If one does what pleases God then there is a reward for what you did. That's what a Catholic calls merit. One does that which pleases God and rightly embraces God's promise of reward.

(Matthew 5:12 HCSB) Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

(Matthew 5:46 HCSB) For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don't even the tax collectors do the same?

(Matthew 6:1 HCSB) "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of people, to be seen by them. Otherwise, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

(Matthew 6:2 HCSB) So whenever you give to the poor, don't sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. I assure you: They've got their reward!

(Matthew 6:4 HCSB) so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

(Matthew 6:5 HCSB) "Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They've got their reward!

(Matthew 6:6 HCSB) But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

(Matthew 6:16 HCSB) "Whenever you fast, don't be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so their fasting is obvious to people. I assure you: They've got their reward!

(Matthew 6:18 HCSB) so that you don't show your fasting to people but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

(Matthew 10:41 HCSB) Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. And anyone who welcomes a righteous person because he's righteous will receive a righteous person's reward.

(Matthew 10:42 HCSB) And whoever gives just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple --I assure you: He will never lose his reward!"

(Matthew 16:27 HCSB) For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done.

(Mark 9:41 HCSB) And whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of My name, since you belong to the Messiah--I assure you: He will never lose his reward.

(Luke 6:23 HCSB) "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! Take note--your reward is great in heaven, for this is the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets.

(Luke 6:35 HCSB) But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is gracious to the ungrateful and evil.

The catholic stance is that one gets to heaven by their good works (works required) .... the protestant stance is that by the grace of God .... when one accepts Jesus as their Lord and savior .... then good works will follow as the Lord works through them .... they are His works working through the believer. Works are not based on our merits .... they are based on the merits accomplish by Jesus.

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

The catholic stance is that one gets to heaven by their good works (works required)

Not accurate.

 

[bling]

Luke 17:7 “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

Matt. 20:1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

If you do everything perfectly (allow the Spirit to work through you doing everything) after becoming a Christian, you have done the minimum and also the maximum you can do, so why would you get anything "more"?
God has forgiven me of all I could/should have done and did not do.

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

Many passages in the scriptures speak of a reward for those who did what pleased God; it is nothing to be frightened of when one acknowledges that human beings who do and say what pleases God (not say and do not do) then God rewards them. This is what merit is, their actions are meritorious, meaning that the merit a reward from God because he says so.

 

[eleos1954]

Not accurate.

Treasury of Merit

In Christ, the Redeemer himself, the satisfactions and merits of his Redemption exist and find their efficacy. This treasury includes as well the prayers and good works of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Based on the Works of Mary and the saints.

In Roman Catholicism, the treasury of merit is the super-abundant store of righteousness and good works belonging to Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the saints. The treasury of merit is filled with the merit of Christ and Mary (who were sinless), and the saints, who had more than enough merit to enter heaven themselves—they had earned more spiritual rewards than they needed. This merit is now available to others to “supplement” their own meritorious works.

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

Treasury of Merit

In Christ, the Redeemer himself, the satisfactions and merits of his Redemption exist and find their efficacy. This treasury includes as well the prayers and good works of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Based on the Works of Mary and the saints.

In Roman Catholicism, the treasury of merit is the super-abundant store of righteousness and good works belonging to Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the saints. The treasury of merit is filled with the merit of Christ and Mary (who were sinless), and the saints, who had more than enough merit to enter heaven themselves—they had earned more spiritual rewards than they needed. This merit is now available to others to “supplement” their own meritorious works.

While what you quoted is correct I cannot help but think you have missed the point of merit altogether. Let me offer this as helpful information, which I hope you will receive, but should you not receive it I pray God be with you always and that your studies will yield a peaceable fruit of eternal life, which is my prayer for myself also and for all Christians.

The Catholic Church teaches that merit is recompense owed by society to an individual for some action, good or bad, which deserves a reward or a punishment according to the principle of equality 1, 2. However, the Church also teaches that only Christ is capable of meriting in the strict sense, and that the most merit humans can have is condign 3. Condign merit is when, under the impetus of God’s grace, humans perform acts which please him and which he has promised to reward.

 

[Clare73]

If one does what pleases God then there is a reward for what you did. That's what a Catholic calls merit. One does that which pleases God and rightly embraces God's promise of reward.

(Matthew 5:12 HCSB) Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

(Matthew 5:46 HCSB) For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don't even the tax collectors do the same?

(Matthew 6:1 HCSB) "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of people, to be seen by them. Otherwise, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

(Matthew 6:2 HCSB) So whenever you give to the poor, don't sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. I assure you: They've got their reward!

(Matthew 6:4 HCSB) so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

(Matthew 6:5 HCSB) "Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They've got their reward!

(Matthew 6:6 HCSB) But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

(Matthew 6:16 HCSB) "Whenever you fast, don't be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so their fasting is obvious to people. I assure you: They've got their reward!

(Matthew 6:18 HCSB) so that you don't show your fasting to people but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

(Matthew 10:41 HCSB) Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. And anyone who welcomes a righteous person because he's righteous will receive a righteous person's reward.

(Matthew 10:42 HCSB) And whoever gives just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple --I assure you: He will never lose his reward!"

(Matthew 16:27 HCSB) For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done.

(Mark 9:41 HCSB) And whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of My name, since you belong to the Messiah--I assure you: He will never lose his reward.

(Luke 6:23 HCSB) "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! Take note--your reward is great in heaven, for this is the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets.

(Luke 6:35 HCSB) But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is gracious to the ungrateful and evil.

There is reward for the good works of the redeemed, based on their Christian life.

However, salvation is not on the table, that is an already settled matter.

 

[bling]

Many passages in the scriptures speak of a reward for those who did what pleased God; it is nothing to be frightened of when one acknowledges that human beings who do and say what pleases God (not say and do not do) then God rewards them. This is what merit is, their actions are meritorious, meaning that the merit a reward from God because he says so.

Our reward is a home in heaven and I do not see degrees of rewards. Why would God, the giver, hold anything back from one of His children? I do think we go and have different amounts of agape (Love), but is the anything to lust over? If you Love me more than I Love you back am I the loser in that or are you?
Rulers are servants of those they rule.

 

[RileyG]

Do you do that as someone who is lost, so then not born-again, not saved -- and then get the 'reward' of being saved?
Or do you do that as a born-again saved saint and then get a "reward" in Heaven?

What is your POV?

Most non-Catholics seem to affirm the second case.

Those (saved) in heaven will be rewarded.

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

Our reward is a home in heaven and I do not see degrees of rewards.

If you try harder you will see the rewards of a godly life.

Why would God, the giver, hold anything back from one of His children?

Every deed has its consequence, some are hard and some are wonderous, God withholds no gift, but the reward of serving God faithfully in a godly life is there for the taking.

I do think we go and have different amounts of agape (Love), but is the anything to lust over? If you Love me more than I Love you back am I the loser in that or are you?

Rewards are not a zero sum game, it is not I won therefore you lose, it is always each wins according to his deeds.

Rulers are servants of those they rule.

Jesus served all, God is Lord of all.

 

[bling]

If you try harder you will see the rewards of a godly life.

Every deed has its consequence, some are hard and some are wonderous, God withholds no gift, but the reward of serving God faithfully in a godly life is there for the taking.

Rewards are not a zero sum game, it is not I won therefore you lose, it is always each wins according to his deeds.

Jesus served all, God is Lord of all.

The "rewards" in this world can be like poor Lazarus or are most like his?
God will have to keep maintaining us through eternity, so He is serving us in that way.
Give me an example of what you consider a "reward" for one that another does not get?

 

[eleos1954]

While what you quoted is correct I cannot help but think you have missed the point of merit altogether. Let me offer this as helpful information, which I hope you will receive, but should you not receive it I pray God be with you always and that your studies will yield a peaceable fruit of eternal life, which is my prayer for myself also and for all Christians.

The Catholic Church teaches that merit is recompense owed by society to an individual for some action, good or bad, which deserves a reward or a punishment according to the principle of equality 1, 2. However, the Church also teaches that only Christ is capable of meriting in the strict sense, and that the most merit humans can have is condign 3. Condign merit is when, under the impetus of God’s grace, humans perform acts which please him and which he has promised to reward.

Supplement ... good works of Mary and the saints ... supplement what?

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

recompense

to repay; remunerate; reward

1. to repay; remunerate; reward, as for service, aid, etc. 2. to pay or give compensation for; make restitution or requital for (damage, injury, or the like)

Salvation is a gift through the faith of Christ Jesus. Jesus paid the price for our sins (there is no other "recompense"). It is through His works one is saved and is given salvation as a gift .... else we boast. A gift is freely given .... it does not require a person to DO anything.

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Our works serve as evidence of faith .... works within themselves have no redeeming quality .

There is no supplement to the works of Christ ... everything is in and through Him .... no other "supplements" needed.

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

The "rewards" in this world can be like poor Lazarus or are most like his?

Lazarus, who is mentioned in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, receives his reward in heaven, not here on earth.

Give me an example of what you consider a "reward" for one that another does not get?

Blessed Mary is rewarded with a crown of 12 stars, the sun as her garment, and the moon under her feet. Symbolic as these things are, perhaps, they are signs of her status in heaven. The saints are clothed in white and comforted by God, Saint Paul mentions a crown awaiting him, having run the race.

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

Supplement ... good works of Mary and the saints ... supplement what?

Saint Paul did works that completed what was lacking in Christ's afflictions - Colossians 1:24 “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.”

 

[bling]

Lazarus, who is mentioned in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, receives his reward in heaven, not here on earth.

Blessed Mary is rewarded with a crown of 12 stars, the sun as her garment, and the moon under her feet. Symbolic as these things are, perhaps, they are signs of her status in heaven. The saints are clothed in white and comforted by God, Saint Paul mentions a crown awaiting him, having run the race.

In the Spiritual Kingdom what might that "crown" be?
Are not all saved people in heaven clothed in wedding garments or do some get in not dressed in wedding garments?
Do not all those that finish the race (stay on the track until their death) receive a crown? 1 Cor. 9: 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

 

[Clare73]

Saint Paul did works that completed what was lacking in Christ's afflictions - Colossians 1:24 “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.”

You do understand that what was "lacking in Christ's afflictions" refers to the suffering of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, right?

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

In the Spiritual Kingdom what might that "crown" be?

Read the scriptures to see, but I am not sure you will find a description that is too detailed.

Are not all saved people in heaven clothed in wedding garments or do some get in not dressed in wedding garments?

Of course they are, all those in Heaven are saints.

Do not all those that finish the race (stay on the track until their death) receive a crown? 1 Cor. 9: 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

Indeed, all receive their reward, do you object to the term reward? It is used by saint Paul.