I wrote recently about “Hell Lite.” I discussed how God isn’t a sadist, arbitrarily assigning everyone to the same fate in hell. (This is a favorite atheistic straw man argument against the existence of a personal, holy God.) Instead, there are degrees of hell, with some being more tolerable than others. I showed that scripture teaches that God is just and measured in his judgment, judging people on the basis of their works, and that he will be praised by all creation for the way he dispenses judgment. I also showed that, on the basis of our own works, no one can escape the judgment of hell, for “There is none righteous, not even one” and “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Now I want to turn our attention to the subject of heaven. Hopefully by now we all know that the only way sinners like us can go to heaven is through faith in God’s provision for our sin, Jesus Christ. “It is by grace?you have been saved,?through faith?and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God?not by works,?so that no one can boast.”
But having said that, I want to remind us that we Christians will also be judged for our works. Only it is a judgment, not to punish sin that has already been forgiven, but to reward our good works. We can compare this judgment to judges at an ice skating competition: they’re looking to reward the best skaters with gold, silver and bronze, not punish the ones who lose. Paul discusses this kind of judgment in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.
By the grace God has given me,?I laid a foundation?as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.?For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.?If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,?their work will be shown for what it is,?because the Day?will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person?s work.?If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.?If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved?even though only as one escaping through the flames.
Notice that last sentence: “If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved?even though only as one escaping through the flames.” Just as there is a “hell lite,” Paul is saying that there is also a “heaven lite.” On the one hand, the presence of good works results in a lighter punishment for sinners (hell lite). But on the other hand, the absence of good works results in the absence of reward for believers (heaven lite). Heaven lite is sort of like being given a BMW with roll down windows and no power steering, or living in a mansion with no furniture in it. What a pity.
In other words, everything that everyone does in this life directly affects how they experience eternity in both hell and in heaven. I’m not saying that hell in any form is ever desirable. It is not. And I’m definitely not saying that we can work our way to heaven. We cannot. We can only enter heaven through faith in Christ. But I am saying that good works matter. What we do in this life really matters. The problem isn’t that life has no meaning. That is wishful thinking. The real problem is that life is dripping with meaning.
And it’s up to us as believers to wring every bit of meaning out of it that we can.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
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