<\/p>\n
\u201cFinally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing\u201d (2 Timothy 4:8).<\/p>\n
IF PAUL WAS CONFIDENT OF ANYTHING, HE WAS CONFIDENT OF GOD\u2019S RIGHTEOUSNESS. God is \u201cthe righteous Judge.\u201d He can be counted on to do what is right. And part of God\u2019s righteousness is the fact that He will reward those who have been faithful to Him. Having kept the faith, Paul was confident his earthly life would be crowned with victory when he stood before the Lord.<\/p>\n
When Paul spoke of the \u201ccrown\u201d of righteousness to be given, he used the Greek word stephanos.<\/em> This was not a reference to the royal crown of a king but rather the victory crown of an athlete. Paul had \u201cfought the good fight . . . finished the race . . . [and] kept the faith\u201d (v.7) \u2014 and he was in no doubt as to the result. His decision to keep on running, when he might have given up and quit, would be recognized by God as a victorious decision. A righteous God will not fail to reward those who have persevered.<\/p>\n The possibility of apostasy shouldn\u2019t diminish our hope of receiving the crown of righteousness. Yes, we need to be humbled, sobered, and urged to be careful (1 Corinthians 10:12), but we don\u2019t need to be doubtful about our salvation if we choose to remain faithful as Paul did. Nor should our emphasis upon God\u2019s grace mean we don\u2019t look for Him to reward us. He is, after all, \u201ca rewarder of those who diligently seek Him\u201d (Hebrews 11:6).<\/p>\n But notice that Paul speaks of the crown being given to those \u201cwho have loved [the Lord\u2019s] appearing.\u201d Today, we can have Paul\u2019s same confidence concerning the crown of righteousness, but only if we have his same passion for the Lord\u2019s return. God forbid that we should be so in love with this world that we wouldn\u2019t be overjoyed to hear it was all coming to an end this very day. Paul\u2019s attitude was, \u201cO Lord, come!\u201d (1 Corinthians 16:22).<\/p>\n Our fondest hopes should be set on the \u201cnot yet\u201d part of the faith more than on the \u201calready.\u201d Christianity is about receiving the crown of righteousness \u2014 so we ought not to dread the day of our death (or that of the Lord\u2019s coming) any more than a runner dreads to cross the finish line. To get to the finish is why we run!<\/p>\n \u201cLife bears love\u2019s cross, death brings love\u2019s crown\u201d (Dinah Maria Mulock Craik).<\/p>\n Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n