Colossians 3.25a-The Unfaithful Slave Will Lose the Reward of the Inheritance
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday January 15, 2017
Colossians: Colossians 3:25a-The Unfaithful Slave Will Lose the Reward of the Inheritance
Lesson # 101
Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. 25 For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality. (NASB95)
Colossians 3:25 presents the reason for the previous command at the end of Colossians 3:24 which required that each of the slaves in the Colossian Christian community continue making it their habit of serving the Lord Christ.
“He who does wrong” refers to a slave in the Colossian Christian community wronging their slave masters and ultimately the Lord Jesus Christ by acting unjustly by not working hard for their human slave masters because they don’t have the attitude that this servitude is on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Will receive” is the verb komizomai (κομίζομαι), which refers to these slaves causing themselves to receive back whatever wrong they have done or in other words, they will experience suffering the loss of the reward of their inheritance because they did not perform their duties as a slave for the Lord Jesus Christ.
The future tense of the verb komizomai is a predictive future which is asserting that these slaves will as a certainty in the future cause themselves to experience the loss of their reward of their inheritance as a result of not obeying Paul’s command in Colossians 3:24.
The middle voice of this verb is a causative middle which indicates that the disobedience of one of these slaves is the source and the result of their experiencing the loss of rewards at the Bema Seat.
“Which” is the relative pronoun hos (ὅς), which is referring to the consequences of a slave in the Colossian Christian community not obeying Paul’s command in Colossians 3:24 to serve the Lord Christ.
Colossians 3:23 Whenever any of you, at any time, should do something, each of you from your entire being, for your own benefit, must continue making it your habit of working hard as for your one and only true Lord, indeed, never for people 24 The reason for this command is that each of you know without a doubt that each of you will certainly receive for your own benefit your reward, which is your inheritance. Each of you continue making it your habit of serving the Lord, who is the Christ 25 because the one who is characterized by habitually doing wrong will certainly cause themselves to receive back that for which they have done wrong. Indeed, the Lord is as an eternal spiritual truth absolutely never partial. (My translation)
The apostle Paul in Colossians 3:25 presents to the slaves in the Colossian Christian community the reason for his previous command at the end of Colossians 3:24 which required that each of them continue making it their habit of serving the Lord Christ.
This causal clause asserts that the person who is characterized by habitually doing wrong will certainly cause themselves to receive that for which they have done wrong.
Then, he emphatically asserts that the Lord is as an eternal spiritual truth absolutely never partial.
When he speaks of wrongdoing he is referring to not obeying the command in Colossians 3:24.
Thus, this disobedience would refer to these slaves not faithfully performing their duties as slaves and thus not working hard for their slave masters with the attitude that their servitude is in reality for the benefit of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The consequences which are implied from the causal clause in Colossians 3:24 is the loss of rewards at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church.
This is indicated by the fact that the causal clause in Colossians 3:24 asserts that these slaves will receive the reward of their inheritance if they obey his command in Colossians 3:23.
This command required that these slaves from their entire being continue making it their habit of working hard for their one and only Lord and never for people.
Therefore, in Colossians 3:25 Paul is teaching the slaves in the Colossian Christian community that they must continue serving the Lord Christ because if they don’t they will lose the reward of the inheritance.
The Lord Jesus Christ will evaluate the service of each and every church age believer to determine if they merit rewards or not (Rom. 14:10-12; 1 Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 John 2:28).
Both Romans 14:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:10 speak of the “judgment seat.” “Judgment Seat” which is the noun bema.
While Bema is used in the gospels and Acts of the raised platform where a Roman magistrate or ruler sat to make decisions and pass sentence, its use in the epistles of Paul is more in keeping with its original use among the Greeks because of his many allusions to the Greek athletic contests.
Romans 14:10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. (NASB95)
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. (NASB95)
This word was taken from Isthmian games where the contestants would compete for the prize under the careful scrutiny of judges who would make sure that every rule of the contest was obeyed.
The victor of a given event who participated according to the rules was led by the judge to the platform called the Bema.
There the laurel wreath was placed on his head as a symbol of victory (cf. 2 Tim. 2:5; 1 Cor. 9:24-25).
2 Timothy 2:5 And also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. (NASB95)
1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25 And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. (NASB95)
In all of these passages … Paul was picturing the believer as a competitor in a spiritual contest.
As the victorious Grecian athlete appeared before the Bema to receive his perishable award, so the Christian will appear before Christ’s Bema to receive his imperishable award.
The judge at the Bema bestowed rewards to the victors and he did not whip the losers.
In other words, it is a reward seat and portrays a time of rewards or loss of rewards following examination but it is not a time of punishment where believers are judged for their sins.
Such would be inconsistent with the finished work of Christ on the cross because He totally paid the penalty for our sins.
Each and every church age believer, regardless if they were faithful or not, will receive their resurrection bodies at the rapture and all will thus stand before the Bema Seat of Christ to have their works evaluated by the Lord.
The New Testament writers make clear that Jesus Christ Himself will be the judge of the church (Revelation 1-2; 1 Corinthians 4:5f; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 John 2:28).
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself declared to the Jews that the Father had given Him authority to judge the living and the dead (John 5:22-29).
The bema seat of Christ is an evaluation of the Christian’s works to determine if they merit rewards or not.
Eternal salvation is not the issue at this judgment since this was determined the moment the Christian was declared justified through faith alone in Christ alone.
At the Bema Seat, each and every church age believer will have to give an account to the Lord Jesus or in other words, they will be held responsible by the Lord for their service, which involves a four-fold stewardship: (1) Time: Were they profitable in how they used their time on earth that the Lord gave them? (2) Talent: Were they profitable in how they used their spiritual gift the Lord gave them? (3) Truth: Were they profitable in how they used the truth the Lord gave them? (4) Treasure: Were they profitable in how they used their finances that the Lord gave them?
They are to be good stewards with their time (they are to use their time wisely for the Lord), talent (they are to operate in their spiritual gifts) and treasure (they are to financially support each other when necessary) and truth (they are to apply the Word of God in their relationships with each other).
Time: Galatians 6:9-10, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”
Talent: 1 Peter 4:10, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
Treasure: Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure -- pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
Truth: Colossians 4:5-6, “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”
At the Bema Seat, the believer’s service, as expressed through their stewardship in these four areas, will be evaluated by the Lord Jesus Christ to determine if they were a faithful and profitable steward in these four areas or not.
If they were a faithful and profitable servant and steward with their time, spiritual gift, truth and finances that were given to them by the Lord as trusts, they will receive a reward from the Lord and if they were not, they will not receive a reward.
