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for the parallel nature of Hebrews and Philippians will be found in our book "The
Testimony of the Lord's Prisoner", page 194, and in the Volume XX, page 231.
As it is found in the epistle we are now considering, we have not attempted to give an
exposition of the matter, but we believe we have demonstrated beyond the possibility of
contradiction that when the Apostle speaks of Prize and Crown he has the same thing in
mind, and that this Prize or Crown is in the nature of a reward and not to be confused
with the gift of grace. Under the mistaken idea that reward cannot exist together with
grace, there are some who would rule out from the dispensation of the mystery all
thought of reward, but we have only to turn to the epistle to the Colossians to discover
that there is no such antipathy.
Perhaps the full and unimpeachable acceptance of the believer in Christ, quite apart
from the slightest merit on his side, is expressed in richest language in Col. 1: Among
these passages of full assurance we find the following:
"Giving thanks unto the Father which hath MADE US MEET to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light" (Col. 1: 12).
In the third chapter of this same epistle we read, in the exhortation of the Apostle to
slaves:--
"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 respects of persons" (Col. 3: 23-25).
There can be no mistaking the fact that "service", not "salvation", is the background
of this passage in Col. 3: The reward is given "for ye serve the Lord Christ". Not only
so, but the fact is also revealed, that he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong that
he hath done, and, lest we should raise the objection and say, "But Lord, this cannot be
true of us; we are exceptions, being members of the one Body", the Lord adds the words,
"and there is no respect of persons". Again, if the context of the other occurrences of this
rebuke are considered, namely, Eph. 6: 9 and Rom. 2: 11, all idea of privilege in this
connection will die.
The word "reward" in Col. 3: 24 is antapodosis and occurs in a slightly modified
form (apodidomi) in II Tim. 4: 8, where the Apostle says:
"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous Judge, shall give me (give me as a recompense) at that day."
To remove this element from the N.T. would be to mutilate practically every book and
epistle. The opposition to the doctrine of rewards is but a species of Modernism, for
Modernism rejects what it does not want to believe.
This article does not by any means exhaust the subject. There is much more than we
have touched upon to the same effect in I Corinthians, Hebrews, Philippians and the