The Crown of Life
A compilation
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There are five crowns mentioned in Scripture. They are the Everlasting Crown,1 the Crown for the One who Wins Souls,2 the Crown of Righteousness,3 the Crown of Glory,4 and the Crown of Life.5
Part of the difficulty with these crowns is that most cultures today do not use crowns, and those that do reserve the crowns for royalty. But the Greek word used for “crown” is stephanos, which can also refer to a “reward” or “laurel wreath.” In the original Greek Olympics, the winner of the sporting contests was awarded the stephanos, a laurel crown.
So each of the crowns mentioned above represents a reward for some particular special act of service or perseverance within the Kingdom of God. By all appearances, the crowns will be some sort of actual reward handed out to believers when Jesus returns again in the future. This will be at the Bema—the Judgment Seat of Christ.—Jeremy Myers6
Salvation and rewards
We who are resurrected and raised and raptured to be with the Lord at the end of the Tribulation in the first resurrection will get our rewards after the Rapture. “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Every one of us shall give account of himself to God. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”7
But remember, rewards have nothing to do with your salvation. The rewards are something you work for and you earn by your faithfulness and your diligence and your hard work and your witness. Some Christians confuse the Bible verses on rewards and crowns and apply them to salvation. But you can’t work for your salvation; it is a free gift of God.8
We don’t earn salvation. We can’t work for salvation—it’s a gift. But we can earn special praise and commendation from the Lord, His “Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”9 He says that some He’ll make rulers over one city, some over a few cities, and some over many cities. “For he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.”10 Although your works in this life aren’t going to help to get you into heaven, they’ll have a great deal to do with your reward and the way you shine.
Speaking of the resurrection of the saved at the end of the Tribulation, His Word says, “Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”11
Everybody who believes in and receives Jesus receives salvation, eternal life, and is going to heaven. But the starry crown, like the old song they used to sing, “Will there be any stars in my crown?”—that’s something you work for. Jesus said, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”12 At the end of the apostle Paul’s ministry, shortly before he went to be with the Lord, he said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.”13
The crown and future rewards are not your salvation. You already have eternal life through His Son, which is the gift of God, and you cannot lose it, for He will keep you.14 This crown is your reward, given only to winners, only to those who run and win the race—to fighters for the faith who are faithful to the Lord.
The people who serve Him, like those in that hall of fame in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, all those great men and women of faith, God as good as says that He’s proud of them. He’s not ashamed to be called their God, because they’re pilgrims and strangers here and they seek a heavenly city, whose builder and maker is God. They’re not satisfied with this world; they want something better. “They desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city.”15—David Brandt Berg
At the Judgment Seat of Christ
Romans 14:10–12 says, “For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat ... So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.”16 Second Corinthians 5:10 tells us, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” In context, it is clear that both passages refer to Christians, not unbelievers. The judgment seat of Christ, therefore, involves believers giving an account of their lives to Christ.
The judgment seat of Christ does not determine salvation; that was determined by Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf17 and our faith in Him.18 All of our sins are forgiven, and we will never be condemned for them.19 We should not look at the judgment seat of Christ as God judging our sins, but rather as God rewarding us for our lives. Yes, as the Bible says, we will have to give an account of ourselves. Part of this is surely answering for the sins we committed. However, that is not going to be the primary focus of the judgment seat of Christ.
At the judgment seat of Christ, believers are rewarded based on how faithfully they served Christ. Some of the things we might be judged on are how well we obeyed the Great Commission,20 how victorious we were over sin,21 and how well we controlled our tongues.22 The Bible speaks of believers receiving crowns for different things based on how faithfully they served Christ.23 ...
James 1:12 is a good summary of how we should think about the judgment seat of Christ: “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”—From gotquestions.org24
Published on Anchor February 2019. Read by Gabriel Garcia Valdivieso.
Music by Michael Dooley.
1 1 Corinthians 9:25.
2 Philippians 4:1 and 1 Thessalonians 2:19.
3 2 Timothy 4:8.
4 1 Peter 5:4.
5 James 1:12 and Revelation 2:10.
7 Romans 14:10,12; 2 Corinthians 5:10.
8 See Ephesians 2:8–9; Titus 3:5; Matthew 16:27; Revelation 22:12.
9 Matthew 25:21.
10 Luke 19:17; 16:10.
11 Daniel 12:2–3.
12 Revelation 2:10.
13 2 Timothy 4:7–8.
14 See John 6:37; 10:28–29; 17:3.
15 Hebrews 11:16.
16 NIV.
17 1 John 2:2.
18 John 3:16.
19 Romans 8:1.
20 Matthew 28:19–20.
21 Romans 6:1–4.
22 James 3:1–9.
23 1 Corinthians 9:27; 2 Timothy 2:5.
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