Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:8)No matter how good I try to be, the only goodness that counts is that which You bestow by grace. Any actions of obedience are empowered by You. All desires for obedience come from Your Spirit who lives in me. This means that the wonderful righteousness You promise as a crown and a reward is also given by grace. I will not have earned or deserved it — for apart from Christ, I have no righteousness.
Pope Celestine had it right when he said, “So great is God’s goodness to men that He wills that their works should be merits, though they are merely His own gifts.”
2 Timothy 4:8 also says that this reward is for all who have loved Your appearing. My Greek dictionary says “appearing” refers to a manifestation of You in three ways.
The first was Your advent. We celebrate Christmas at a time of year that may not coincide with the exact time You appeared to us in human form. Nevertheless, that advent is precious to all who believe. How sad for those who shun Christmas yet claim to believe in You, and how sad for those who have turned this holy celebration into a love of all things worldly.
Another “appearance” is Your presence and power seen in the Salvation You offer. How wonderful that day when I literally saw the light of Your glory as You revealed that Jesus is God. At the same moment, I knew that I was a sinner in need of forgiveness and eternal life. Your Advent is special, yet that appearance is even more precious.
The third sense of “having loved Your appearance” hasn’t happened yet. The love and longing for this event is in my heart, but Your return from heaven to earth is reserved for an unknown time in the future. Any pause to think about it fills my heart with strong desire to see Your face.
I’m struck too by the context of this verse. It speaks of loving Your appearance, then verse 10 tells of a man who loved something else. “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. . . .” (2 Timothy 4:10)
This is sad, and yet how easily it happens. This present world offers immediate and visible rewards, and some of them are available for very little effort. Righteousness is harder to come by for it means abandoning self-effort and relying solely and without reservation on Your grace and mercy.
To complicate the difficulty of going for the crown of righteousness, one theologian says that this reward will be based more on our motives than our accomplishments. Whatever I do, it must be for You and not for me. “Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work?” (Proverbs 24:12).
Selfishly motivated good deeds may appear to greatly help other people. You might even use them for Your glory, but they merit no reward for the doer. You want righteousness from the heart, and this means it cannot happen unless Jesus lives there.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6), again giving me assurance that what You have given me, You have also put a desire in my heart for more of it. In the end, on that Day the fullness of this righteousness will be my reward for seeking it . . . a reward that I would not have, nor even want, if it were not for Your amazing grace.
1 comment:
This blessed me. I see it that way, too. I forgot about that phrase...loving His appearing.
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