THE DOINGS OF THE CHRISTIAN
THE EXPECTATION OF THE OBEDIENT CHRISTIAN
Col. 3:23-25 “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.”
The expectation is seen in the words, “Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” The word “knowing” translates “eido” meaning, “to see, to perceive with the eyes, to perceive by any of the senses, to discern.” When this word “knowing” is used it is more like knowing as an eye witness. It is a perfect passive participle. The perfect tense means that Paul is not introducing a new thought to them, He is telling them something that they already know. They came to know this for sure in the past and this knowledge remained with them as Paul reminded them. The passive voice means that this learning did not come from their own rational thinking. The passive voice means that God had given them this information by revelation. This is how they knew.
The words “of the Lord” speak of the source of the blessing that he is about to state. We do not work for men while we are working for men. We do what we do for Him and His glory and when the time comes, He will be the one who will give out the reward. And no one will be able to stand and say, “Lord, you can’t do it like that. That is not how I taught it.” Now while we are looking at it hypothetically, I think He might answer, “I know, you wouldn’t listen to me. That is the reason you taught it incorrectly.” The Lord is not bound by our interpretation of what He says. We need to get what He says right. You say, “Preacher, do you think that all you say is right?” No, but I think it is when I say it!!! That is the reason that your relationship is to be with the Lord through His Word. The Holy Spirit is the One who guides into all truth (John 16:13).
Paul says, “ye shall receive.” This translates one word, “apolambano” and means, “what is promised.” The word “reward” translates “antapodosis” and means, “to recompense, to reward or repay someone.” The words “of the inheritance” translate “kleronomia” and means, “an inheritance, property received (or to be received) by inheritance, the eternal blessedness of the consummated kingdom of God which is to be expected after the visible return of Christ.” This is not talking about eternity or heaven being earned by our obedience. It does mean that what we will have there makes it worth any price that obedience to Him costs. I can imagine a wife who in obedience to her Lord submits to an uncaring unsaved husband who makes her life miserable on this earth. That is a big price to pay for her to serve the Lord faithfully. But when she stands before the Lord and He says to her “well done thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of the Lord,” do you think she will remember what it cost her? I’ll tell you what she will do. She’ll join that godly black woman in the cotton patch and they’ll have a simultaneous camp meeting spell! Christians do not need to be standing around having pity parties over what serving Him costs them. It is nothing in comparison to “the reward of the inheritance.”
