Hope – Page 2 – See you in Heaven

God has given me absolute security in Him

“Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” Romans 8:33

Yesterday my wife and I found toilet paper stocked on a shelf in a store for the first time in three weeks. All other stores we have gone to in recent weeks have had bare shelves in the paper products section. Why? Because there is a lack of security in our world today due to the coronavirus. People are stockpiling toilet paper simply because of fear and insecurity.

But I believe there is a much greater lack of security that is commonly found among Christians. We have been taught from the Bible that God loves and accepts all believers in Jesus unconditionally (Romans 5:8; Ephesians 1:6). Yet we struggle with this teaching. Perhaps we have not experienced total love and acceptance in our dealings with people. Rejection has been a common experience in our lives, so it is difficult for us to believe that Someone such as God could love and accept us as we are. We have become skeptical and cynical of this notion of unconditional love and acceptance because we have been hurt so many times.

Some of you may be feeling very beat up by the circumstances of life. You may be feeling hopeless. There may be others of you who are discouraged and depressed by events that have happened just in the last week or two. There may be some of you who have been in the pit of despair and you have even considered taking your life because of the pain.

If this describes you, please know that God wants you to have absolute security in Him. The apostle Paul asks, “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?” (8:33a). Who can successfully accuse a Christian of wrongdoing in God’s courtroom? Who? Can the devil? Can your ex-spouse? Your competitive neighbor? Your unforgiving boss? Who?

Look at the answer. Paul writes, “It is God who justifies” (8:33b). God is saying, “No one can successfully press charges against you because I have declared you totally righteous on the basis of your faith in My Son.” If God pronounced that you are not guilty, then no one can reverse His verdict. No one can successfully accuse any Christian because God does not even accuse us. He justifies us the moment we believe in Jesus alone (Romans 3:28, 30; 4:5; 5:1).

To be justified means God declares us to be the opposite of what we were before we were saved. So if you were an impatient person before you were saved, He declares you to be patient at the moment of faith. If you tended to be hateful, He declares you to be helpful. If you were promiscuous, He declares you to be pure the instant you believe in Jesus.

Hence, all believers in Jesus Christ are secure forever because Christ paid for every sin they have or will ever commit (cf. Colossians 2:13-14). Before Jesus died on the cross, He said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). This word translated “finished” (tetelestai), means “paid in full.” Christ did not make a down payment for our sin when He died on the cross so that we must pay the remainder of our sin debt to God. God does not accept us on the basis of our good life, our keeping of His commandments, our water baptism, or the sacraments we have taken. We are accepted by God on the basis of the full payment for our sin debt to God when Jesus Christ died and rose again on our behalf. God was completely and forever satisfied with Jesus’ full payment for our sin. The verb tetelestai is in the perfect tense. This means Christ made the full payment for our sin debt when He died on the cross and it remains paid in full to the present.

Satan’s (or anyone else’s) accusations against us will be thrown out of God’s courtroom because God has declared us not guilty on the basis of our faith in Christ alone. No one can bring an accusation against us that will stand because no one is greater than God. If we could be charged of wrongdoing in God’s courtroom, then the accuser would have to be greater than God. And that is not going to happen!!! No one can reverse the verdict of God. Not even you!!!

But how difficult it is at times to realize God’s total acceptance of us! It’s like the sun – every day – it shines. No one could ever say – the sun isn’t shining! We may say, “I can’t feel it or see it”…but fly high enough and there it is!

Someone may ask, “If no one can accuse me of wrongdoing in God’s courtroom after I come to faith in Christ, then why not live like the devil the rest of my life?” I commend those who ask this question because they do understand the eternal security of the believer in Jesus. Let me answer this question first with an illustration.

In 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA, was completed. It cost over $35 million to build and was completed in two phases: the first slowly and the second quickly. In the first stage, no safety devices were used. As a result, twenty-three men fell to their deaths. Imagine how this must have effected the other workers? They were more cautious and afraid, slowing down the work progress. But for the final part of the project, $100,000 was spent to buy a large safety net to place under the workers. Once the net was installed production increased by 25%. Why? Because the men were assured of their security and they were free to wholeheartedly finish the project.

Many Christians lack joy and peace because they think going to heaven is based on their works or feelings instead of the finished work of Christ on the cross. They live in constant fear of losing their salvation or conclude that they were never saved to begin with because someone accuses them of some unforgivable sin. So instead of focusing on the Lord and the work He has for them to do, they are stuck in the past, unable to move forward. If you are one of these people, please listen again to what God is saying in this one verse.

“Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies” (8:33). Does anyone dare to bring a charge against God’s people!?! If they do, they must answer to God because He has already pronounced that His children are totally righteous and acceptable before Him on the basis of their faith alone in Jesus alone. This truth is worth celebrating and living for!

Prayer: Father God, I praise You that no one can successfully accuse me of wrongdoing in Your courtroom because You have declared me to be totally righteous on the basis of my faith in Your Son, Jesus Christ. Although Satan has relentlessly accused me throughout my Christian life along with his teachers, I can still rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ Who paid my sin debt in full. Therefore, I do not have to worry about what others say or think, because I am forever secure in Christ. Please lead me to the people who need to hear and believe in Your absolute security through Christ. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Transformed from a tree of shame to a tree of splendor

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” Luke 4:18

After Jesus had been tempted in the wilderness by Satan and ministered in Galilee (Luke 4:1-15), “He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read” (4:16). Christ then read verses taken from Isaiah 61:1-2 which describe the promised Messiah’s ministry on earth hundreds of years prior. His gospel is for everyone, including “the poor” (4:18a). His gospel heals, not hurts “the brokenhearted” and “proclaims liberty,” not labor to those who are “captives” or in bondage (4:18b). When Jesus said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (4:21), He was saying that He was the promised Messiah Whose gospel would bring blessing to those who are broken.

There is a progression in Isaiah’s description of the Messiah’s gospel preaching ministry that is relevant to those who are struggling with shame and the bondage it creates. All people have hidden wounds in their lives. They may be in the form of hurtful memories such as a mean word on the playground or abuse in the home. We try to medicate these wounds with behaviors, substances, or emotions. But Jesus came to “heal the brokenhearted,” resulting in “liberty” from that which we could not break free (4:18a). Shame imprisons us, but the Savior liberates us. His gospel grants spiritual “sight” to us so we can begin to see ourselves through His eyes and no longer be “oppressed” by shame-based lies (4:18b).

The biblical text does not tell us if Jesus read verse 3 of Isaiah 61, but this verse is a continuation of the Messiah’s ministry on earth. His healing grace will “console [not condemn] those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty [not a beating] for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise [not punishment] for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified” (Isaiah 61:3). Our brokenness brought great sadness to us, but Christ’s grace will “console” us, changing our sadness and the “heaviness” of shame into “joy” and “praise.” This inward transformation will make us a blessing to others, like oak “trees” flourishing in “righteousness” because of the outrageous love and grace of God.

The word translated “trees” is the Hebrew word אַיִל (ayil) which refers to a terebinth tree – a prominent, lofty tree much like an oak tree (Isaiah 1:29; 57:5). We may not think much of Isaiah’s reference to an oak tree, but in ancient times, people sacrificed to and worshipped their pagan gods in groves of oak trees. The use of the word “trees” (ayil) in Isaiah 1:29 and 57:5 is revealing.

“²⁹ For they shall be ashamed of the terebinth trees (ayil) which you have desired; and you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens which you have chosen. ³⁰ For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades, and as a garden that has no water. ³¹ The strong shall be as tinder, and the work of it as a spark; both will burn together, and no one shall quench them” (Isaiah 1:29-31). God would judge those who had forsaken Him to meet secretly among “the terebinth [oak] trees” to worship the false gods of the people around them. The reason they would be “ashamed” is because those who worshipped these pagan gods were required to participate in a wide variety of sexual practices, including orgies, adultery, prostitution, and the bloody sacrifices of children.

In Isaiah 57, Israel’s rebellion against God among the groves of oak trees included adultery and idolatry. “³But come here, you sons of the sorceress, you offspring of the adulterer and the harlot! ⁴ Whom do you ridicule? Against whom do you make a wide mouth and stick out the tongue? Are you not children of the transgression, offspring of falsehood, ⁵ inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree (ayil), slaying the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? ⁶ Among the smooth stones of the stream is your portion; they, they are your lot! Even to them you have poured a drink offering, you have offered a grain offering. Should I receive comfort in these? ⁷ On a lofty and high mountain you have set your bed; even there you went up to offer sacrifices” (Isaiah 57:3-7). God summons the idolatrous Israelites who were acting as though their father was an “adulterer” and their mother a “sorceress” and a prostitute (57:3). They were mocking the righteous minority among them (57:4) and they burned (“inflamed”) in their lust for the “gods under every green tree” (57:5). Pagan gods were strewn among these oak trees. God’s people worshipped “the smooth stones” in the stream beds and offered sacrifices to the gods “on a high and lofty mountain” (57:6-7).

Then Isaiah says, “Also behind the doors and their posts you have set up your remembrance; for you have uncovered yourself to those other than Me, and have gone up to them; you have enlarged your bed and made a covenant with them; you have loved their bed where you saw their nudity” (Isaiah 57:8). The Israelites deliberately turned their back on the Lord and placed symbols of these pagan gods “behind the doors and their posts” to remind them of the gods they worshipped.

You may wonder what these symbols looked like? They were often highly sexual. For example, the goddess Asherah was the goddess of fertility. The symbol identifying her was a phallus. When God’s people are described in the Old Testament as meeting at the Asherah “poles,” it is talking about them gathering around a tall tower or temple built in the shape of a man’s genitalia.

What God is telling us in the book of Isaiah is that the “oak trees” were common places of unrighteousness – especially sexual sin and immorality. So when Jesus offers to heal broken hearts, free those in bondage, and transform them into “trees of righteousness” who will display His glory (Luke 4:18-19; cf. Isaiah 61:1-3), we come to a new and profound understanding. In the very place where the Israelites engaged in sinful, shameful, and degrading practices, He promises to make them oak trees of righteousness. And He promises to do the same with us.

God wants to meet us in the hidden places of our greatest shame and struggle to help us heal. He is not uptight about our sin and shame. His grace is far greater than either (cf. Romans 5:20). But most men and women who are struggling with shameful and degrading practices want to hide themselves from God and have lost hope. They have settled for the ongoing cycles of defeat and shame. But Jesus wants to transform them from a tree of shame to a tree of splendor. And He does this through His love. His perfect love casts out fear and shame (I John 4:18).

“The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). After defeating all His enemies at the end of the Tribulation (3:15), King Jesus will be in Israel’s “midst” like a “Mighty” Warrior to “save” them from harm (3:17a). Like a Bridegroom, King Jesus “will rejoice over” His people, Israel, “with gladness” and “He will quiet” them in the security of “His love” for them as His bride (3:17b). King Jesus “will rejoice over” His bride “with singing.”

God wants to celebrate who we are! “He will rejoice over you with singing,” not condemn us or shame us. He wants to heal and quiet us with His love. He wants to transform our tree of shame into a tree of splendor so He is glorified. Will you place yourself in a position for Him to do that?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, even though I am afraid and ashamed, I invite You to do what You were sent to do. Please heal my brokenness deep inside of my heart, liberate me from bondage, open the door where others have locked me up and thrown away the key, comfort and console me in my grief, grant me beauty instead of the ashes of humiliation, the oil of joy in place of mourning, the garment of praise instead of punishment for my spirit of heaviness, that I may be called a flourishing oak tree of righteousness that is a blessing to others and magnifies Your name. In Your name. Amen.

Overcoming incredible odds

“¹⁵ Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s… ¹⁷You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.” 2 Chronicles 2o:15, 17

When King Jehoshaphat and Judah were surrounded by a great multitude of enemies from Ammon and Moab and others with them in what seemed to be certain defeat, Jehoshaphat “set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah” and all the people “came to seek the Lord” (20:3-4). As Jehoshaphat turned to the Lord in prayer, he focused on the supremacy and ability of God to meet them and deliver them in the midst of their national crisis (20:6-12). He confessed his and Judah’s inability to overcome these great odds against them, yet he said to the Lord, “but our eyes are upon You” (20:12b).

The Lord told the king and all of Judah not to “be afraid” because “the battle is not yours, but God’s” (20:15). God assured them that they would “not need to fight in this battle” (20:17a) because it was His. Their responsibility was to “position themselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you” (20:17b). God’s responsibility was to do the fighting in this battle.

Has God ever lost a battle? No, of course not! He never loses. He has a 100% success rate. He bats a 1000. He always wins when He fights against an enemy. The question is, “Will we let Him fight for us?” Will we turn the battle we are facing over to Him?

How did Jehoshaphat position the people to watch God fight for them? Instead of taking up military weapons, he put the choir in front of his army to “sing to the Lord, and … praise the beauty of holiness, …saying: ‘Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever’ ” (20:21). As they sang praises to the Lord, “the LORD set ambushes against the people” who came against them and “they were defeated” (20:22). When God heard their praise in the midst of this crisis, He responded to their circumstances and brought them victory.

What battles are you facing right now that seem hopeless? Is the battle in your marriage or family? Your job or school? Your finances? Your health? Your witness for Christ? A habitual sin? God says it is now His battle in your marriage or family. It is His battle at your job or school. It is His battle with your finances or your witness for Christ. It is His battle with your habitual sin.

The Lord says to lay down your weapons (e.g. your anger, clever words, manipulation, obsessing, running, worrying, etc.) and trust Him to fight this battle for you. Put yourself in a position to see God work. Instead of trying harder, be still and trust Him to work on your behalf. Instead of working harder, watch Him fight for you. He is already at work to bring victory.

Then praise Him for what He will do. You may say,“I will praise God after He answers my prayer.” If you wait to praise God until after He answers, is that faith? No. Anyone can thank God after the fact. Faith is thanking God in advance, praising Him in advance that the odds will be overcome, that the solution will arrive, that the miracle will take place. When we start to thank God in advance for what He is going to do, we are going to see some very amazing things happen.

Prayer: Almighty God, I want to acknowledge that the battles I am facing right now are far beyond my ability to overcome them. Right now I want to tune into You, Lord, and see these battles from Your point of view. I know that nothing is impossible with You. You have helped me so much in the past and now I am trusting You to help me now. I am handing these battles over to You to fight. They are now Yours, not mine. I am laying down my weapons and trusting You to win this battle for me. Much of the battle is within me. I am my biggest problem. Please change me wherever You need to. Lord Jesus, I want to thank You in advance for the victory You are going to win. Thank You that I can trust You to do what I never could. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Is our past a hitching post or a guidepost?

“¹⁴If, however, he begets a son who sees all the sins which his father has done, and considers but does not do likewise; who has not eaten on the mountains, nor lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel , nor defiled his neighbor’s wife…¹⁷ but has executed My judgments and walked in My statutes – he shall not die for the iniquity of his father; He shall surely live!” Ezekiel 18:14, 17

You are probably familiar with L. Thomas Holdcrofts’ quote, “The past is a guidepost, not a hitching post.” A hitching post is a post to which a horse (or other animal) is tied to prevent it from straying. Holdcrofts’ quote seems to imply that our past does not have to keep us from moving forward. Our past can help guide us in to the future by avoiding things we did in the past or repeating them if they help us go in the direction we want to go.

But in light of Ezekiel 18:14, 17, I would like to look at Holdcrofts’ saying in a slightly different way. Instead of the past referring to our own personal past choices, what if we were to think of it as the past involving our ancestor’s choices? Have you ever thought or felt that the sins of your ancestor’s are unavoidable? That you will repeat the same sinful and shameful things they did and said? You view your past as a hitching post which does not allow you to change or be different than your ancestor’s?

For example, I know of some Christian married couples who refuse to have children because they do not want to repeat the sins of their parents and grandparents. They are viewing their past as a hitching post which will be passed down to their children.

Ezekiel 18:14, 17 reminds us that we can learn from our ancestor’s sins and not repeat them with God’s help. Having wicked grandparents or parents does not guarantee that we and our descendants will be wicked. Through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13), we can still choose to do what is right and teach this to our children and grandchildren. God can break the sin/shame cycle when we trust and obey Him. In other words, our past can be like a guidepost, not a hitching post, when we yield to God’s amazing grace.

What can I do as the world gets worse?

“O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!” Psalm 84:12

With at least 31 people killed in mass shootings in Texas and Ohio last weekend, you may ask yourself, “What can I do as the world gets worse?” I would recommend you turn to Psalm 84 to discover the answer to that question.

In this Psalm, the writer describes the blessedness of those who dwell in “the house” (temple) of God (84:1-4). As those who long to worship the Lord in His temple journey to that place (84:5), they find more and more spiritual “strength” and refreshment even though they may pass through arid regions (“the Valley of Baca”) that others found to be disappointing and draining (85:6-7). During their travels to the house of God, they prayed for their king (“our shield” and “Your anointed”) (84:8-9). Their longing to go to the temple is because “a day” in God’s presence (“Your courts”) “is better than a thousand” days “in the tents of wickedness” (84:10).

Instead of encountering the influence of the wicked in God’s temple, they experienced “the Lord God” Who is like “a sun” that gives warmth and light. God is also like a “shield” Who protects them from harm (84:11a). The Lord gives “grace and glory” to them, withholding “no good thing” from them (84:11b). The wicked, however, are the opposite of the Lord. Instead of providing warmth and light, they are hateful (cold) and full of darkness. Instead of protecting the worshippers from harm, they seek to dish out harm to them. Instead of giving grace and glory to others, they are ungracious and dishonoring toward them. The wicked do not give what is good to those who live uprightly, instead they repay them with evil.

As we live in an increasingly evil world, we will discover renewed strength and refreshment as we draw near to the Lord God of hosts (84:1-7). The benefits of being near to the Lord far outweigh the evil that is growing stronger in the world (84:8-11). When we experience unspeakable joy in God’s presence, we can echo the words of the Psalmist, “O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You” (84:12)!

Psalm 84 is telling us, “When everything is all wrong, Jesus can make everything alright. Draw near to Him because He is more than enough.”

What do I do when I feel overwhelmed?

“When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalm 61:2

When King David felt “overwhelmed” by his circumstances and feelings, he turned to the Lord (“Hear my cry, O God” – v. 1) to “lead” him to “the rock that is higher than” he was (61:2) because God had proven to be “a shelter” and “strong tower” for him in the past (61:3). A rock was a symbol of stability, security, and strength.

When we feel overwhelmed with life we may say to ourselves – “This is more than I can handle. I cannot go on.” What do we do in these situations? Where do we turn for help when we feel overwhelmed? Some of us may turn to a bottle of alcohol, a brief romantic relationship, a shopping spree, a busy schedule, or to a dark space in the corner of our minds to escape the overwhelming circumstances or feelings we are facing.

This is not what King David did. David turned to the One who could lead him above his overwhelming circumstances and feelings and give him stability (“rock”), security (“shelter”), and strength (“strong tower”) instead (61:2-3).

During my 20’s, God enabled me to climb several 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado. Often times when I reached the 12,000-foot range, my head would be throbbing from altitude sickness and I would be overwhelmed with fatigue. The temptation for me at that point was to turn around and go back down the mountain. What helped me to keep going upward was focusing on the Lord and the next rock above me, remembering God’s faithfulness on past climbs to help me reach those summits.

When we feel overwhelmed and we are tempted to give up, let’s do what David did, and look to the Lord to lead us to a secure place that we could never reach on our own. Recalling God’s faithfulness to be our “rock,” “shelter” and “strong tower” in the past, can increase our confidence in Him to be our stability, security and strength in the present.

How can God restore my hope?

“Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle.” Psalm 43:3

The Psalmist had become discouraged (“cast down”) and restless (“disquieted”) within (43:5a) because the people of his “ungodly nation” had turned against him (43:1). He felt that God, Whom he relied on for strength in the past, had abandoned him (“Why do you cast me off?”) so that his “enemy” could oppress him (43:2). He prayed for God to “send out” His “light and … truth” to “lead” him back to Mt. Zion (“holy hill”) in Jerusalem to “praise” God there (43:3-4). He doesn’t ask God to lead him out of trouble but to lead him closer to the Lord. Instead of letting his feelings lead him into greater depths of despair, he chose to “hope in God” Who was “the help of” his “countenance” (43:5b).

As I hear and read news report in the USA, it can be very discouraging to see our nation continue to turn against God and His values. When we face uncertain times as Christians, we may feel that God has abandoned us and our nation. We need to hear from God during these times because only the “light” (hope) of His “truth” (Word) can lead us closer to Him. Only God can give us a confident expectation of good in the future (“hope”) so that we can once again “praise Him.” God is “the help,” not the hurt, of our “countenance.” God lifts us up when we are discouraged, He does not put us down (cf. Matthew 12:20).

When you know the truth (God says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” – Hebrews 13:5) intellectually, but you do not experience it emotionally (“Why do you cast me off?” – Psalm 43:2), be honest with God in prayer about how you feel. Then listen to His voice of truth more than your feelings so He can be “the help of” your “countenance” and restore your “hope in Him.”

Reasons why Christians are not to Lose Heart

The apostle Paul gives Christians several reasons in 2 Corinthians 3-5 why they are not to lose heart in the ministry:

1. Because God has made them sufficient to be “ministers of the new covenant” ministry through His Spirit which “gives life” in contrast to “the letter” of the Law which “kills” (3:5-6).

2. Because God has given them a ministry in which God’s Spirit transforms peoples’ lives from the inside out through His written word (3:15-18) and removes Satanic barriers that keep people from believing the gospel (4:1-6).

3. Because God has placed “this treasure” of the gospel “in earthen vessels” (frail bodies of believers) in order to show the “power” of His “grace” working in and through their sufferings and service (4:7-12).

4. Because God has given them the hope of sharing in Jesus’ resurrection (“He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus”) in the future (4:13-15).

5. Because even though their physical bodies are deteriorating through the aging process and sufferings (“our outward man is perishing”), their inward spiritual lives are still developing (“the inward man is being renewed day by day”) by God’s grace (4:16).

6. Because their sufferings (“our light affliction, which is but for a moment”) for Christ’s sake, result in “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (eternal rewards) in the future (4:17).

7. Because their sufferings teach them to focus on what is “eternal” and “not seen,” rather than on what is “temporary” and “seen” (4:18).

8. Because all Christians who die will receive an immortal body (“we have a building from God…eternal in the heavens”) from the Lord (5:1).

9. Because all Christians possess “the Spirit as a guarantee” of their future immortal body in heaven (4:2-5).

10. Because death (“absent from the body”) begins a new existence for Christians in the presence of the Lord Jesus in heaven (“present with the Lord”) that is far superior to their present existence on earth (5:6-8).

11. Because ministry is about being “well pleasing” to the Lord who is realistic in His expectations of His children, not people who tend to be unrealistic in their expectations of others (5:9).

12. Because “all” Christians will “appear before the judgment seat of Christ” to receive rewards from Christ on the basis of their works (“according to what he has done”) for Him in the ministry (5:10).