Inheritance vs. Rewards: Understanding Heaven’s Economy
One of the biggest sources of fear, confusion, and condemnation in the Christian walk comes from mixing up salvation with rewards.
I meet so many women who genuinely love Jesus, but they feel crushed under the weight of “I’m not doing enough.” Others live in quiet fear, worried that one mistake will make God take their salvation away.
Then they read verses like:
- “The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God…” (1 Corinthians 6:9–10)
- “…those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19–21)
- “Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral…” (Revelation 22:15)
And their hearts sink, because they’re trying so hard, yet still struggling. They love God, but these verses make them feel like one failure disqualifies them forever.
But Scripture actually gives us a clearer, more freeing picture:
Heaven is inherited by grace through the Father — and rewards are given by Jesus, the Son, who honors your obedience.
Reward doesn’t determine salvation. Salvation doesn’t guarantee reward.
Two different things. Two different purposes. Two different kinds of verses.
Understanding this brought so much peace into my own life, and it’s something I see God using in personal ministry all the time. Women who were living under fear suddenly breathe again. Women stuck in condemnation suddenly realize God is still their Father, and they are still His daughters.
And I pray this brings that same freedom to you.
The Prodigal Son: Two Sons, Two Different Outcomes
In Luke 15, Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son. The younger son takes his inheritance, wastes it, and comes home broken. The father runs to him, throws his arms around him, and restores him to sonship.
But there’s another son in this story—the older brother.
When the older brother complains about the celebration for his wayward brother, the father says this in Luke 15:31-32: “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'”
“Everything I have is yours.”
Both sons are part of the family. Both sons receive provision—food, clothing, shelter. But one son hears, “Everything I have is yours.” The inheritance. The authority. The responsibility.
The other son? He’s still loved. Still fed. Still cared for. But he’s not running the estate.
That’s the difference between inheritance and rewards.
You’re saved by grace. You’re part of the family. You inherit eternal life.
But whether you’re entrusted with responsibility, authority, and rewards in eternity? That depends on what you did with your life on earth.
Saved by Grace, Not by Works
Paul makes this crystal clear throughout his letters. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
You cannot earn your way into Heaven.
And if you try to live by the law, you’ll be judged by the whole law. Galatians 3:10 says, “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.'”
Think about that. If you’re trying to earn salvation through obedience to the law, you have to keep the whole law—perfectly, every single day, for your entire life. One slip, and you’ve failed.
That’s why Galatians 2:21 says, “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
If we could earn our way to Heaven, there would be no need for Jesus.
His death would be meaningless. His sacrifice would be unnecessary. The cross would be a tragic waste.
But it’s not. Because we can’t earn it. We can only receive it.
The Work God Requires
So what does God require of us?
Jesus answered this question directly in John 6:28-29: “Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'”
The work that the Father requires is believing in the Son.
That’s it. That’s the work. Believing. Trusting. Receiving.
And that’s what determines whether you get into Heaven.
Two Different Judgment Seats
Here’s where it gets interesting. There are two different judgment seats in Scripture, and they serve two different purposes.
1. The Great White Throne – Thronos (θρόνος)
Revelation 20:11-15 describes the thronos (θρόνος)—the Great White Throne. This is the seat of ultimate authority and judgment, where God judges whether you get into Heaven. This is the judgment seat of the Father.
The Greek word thronos means a seat of royal authority, a throne of sovereign power. This is where the question is asked: Do you believe in Jesus?
If your name is written in the Book of Life—if you’ve placed your faith in Jesus Christ—you are saved. You inherit eternal life.
If not, you face eternal separation from God.
This judgment is about salvation. It’s pass or fail. There’s no middle ground.
2. The Judgment Seat of Christ – Bema (βῆμα)
This is where Jesus gives out rewards. This is not about whether you’re saved—that’s already settled. This is about what you did with your salvation.
2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat [bema – βῆμα] 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.”
The Greek word bema (βῆμα) refers to a raised platform or tribunal where athletic competitions were judged in ancient Greece. Winners would stand before the bema to receive their awards—crowns, prizes, honor.
The bema seat is not about condemnation. It’s about evaluation and reward.
At the Bema Seat, Jesus evaluates how you lived as a believer. Did you serve Him? Did you use your gifts? Did you obey Him? Did you bear fruit?
And based on that, you receive rewards.
But here’s the key: there will be people in Heaven who have no rewards.
1 Corinthians 3:12-15 says, “If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”
Read that last part again: “will suffer loss but yet will be saved.”
You can be saved and have nothing to show for it.
You inherit Heaven by faith. But you earn rewards through obedience.
Think of It Like a CEO with Two Sons
Let me give you another way to think about this.
Imagine a CEO who runs a successful company. He has two sons. One is responsible, faithful, hardworking, and trustworthy. The other is wasteful, reckless, and unreliable.
Now, when the CEO retires, who is he going to leave the company to?
The responsible son.
But does that mean he stops providing for the wayward son? Does he kick him out of the family? Does he cut him off completely?
No. He’s still his son. He still loves him. He still provides for him.
But he’s not going to put him in charge of the business.
That’s how Heaven works.
You’re saved by grace. You’re part of the family. You inherit eternal life.
But whether you’re entrusted with responsibility, authority, and rewards in eternity? That depends on what you did with your life on earth.
The Parable of the Talents: Faithfulness Brings Reward
Jesus made this clear in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 (also referenced in Luke 19:11-27).
In the parable, a master gives three servants different amounts of money (talents) before going on a journey. When he returns, he asks what they did with it.
The first two servants invested their talents and doubled them. The master says to each of them, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21, 23).
But the third servant buried his talent out of fear and did nothing with it. The master called him wicked and lazy and took the talent away from him.
Here’s the key: The parable ends with this statement in Luke 19:17: “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'”
Those who do the work on earth will inherit cities.
That’s not just a metaphor. That’s a promise. Faithfulness here leads to authority there.
Revelation 20:6 says, “Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.”
We were meant to reign and rule with Christ.
Dominion: Humanity’s Original Design
This shouldn’t surprise us. Humans were always meant for dominion.
Genesis 1:26-28 says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.'”
The first command God gave Adam and Eve was to rule. To have dominion. To steward creation.
And that calling didn’t disappear after the fall. It’s still our design. It’s still our purpose.
Earth is your training ground for eternity.
How you steward what God has given you here—your time, your gifts, your relationships, your resources, your influence—that’s what determines what you’ll be entrusted with in eternity.
You Will Reap What You Sow
Now, let me get personal for a moment.
Years ago, after I’d come to Christ, I fell back into sexual immorality. I felt terrible about it. The guy I was with and I prayed together, and he said to me, “God has forgiven you.”
I told him, “God forgave me before I prayed, because He knows my heart.”
At that moment, the Holy Spirit fell upon me, and I asked the Lord, “What will I reap for sowing this sin?”
That night, I had a dream. In it, I saw our children on a bed with a demon. The kids looked wasted, beat up. My son had bruises on his back and his left arm.
When I woke up the next morning, my son came to me in pain. Sure enough, there were bruises he hadn’t had the night before.
I thanked the Lord for His forgiveness and for the revelation, and I went on to stay as pure as possible after that.
Now, let me be very clear: God chastens those He loves, but that doesn’t mean God sent the demon to our kids.
Hebrews 12:6 says, “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
But discipline doesn’t mean God is the one causing harm. Here’s what’s really happening:
In Revelation 12:10, Satan is called “the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night.”
Satan is an accuser, and he petitions for access to us every time we sin.
Think about the story of Job. Satan couldn’t touch Job without God’s permission. He had to ask. And when God allowed it, Satan was the one who brought the destruction—not God.
You will reap what you sow.
Galatians 6:7-8 says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
This is the justice system sewn into the fabric of eternity.
And this is also how Jesus’ death on the cross for your sins is legal. He paid the penalty so that we would not have to reap eternal separation from God.
There are consequences to our actions. Sin opens doors. And when we sin, we give the enemy legal access to bring destruction into our lives.
But here’s the good news: God will never leave you nor forsake you.
Faithful Here, Trusted There
So here’s the bottom line: You were meant to reign and rule with Christ.
But He will not put you in charge of anything if you cannot show yourself trustworthy with responsibility here on earth.
Jesus said it plainly in Luke 16:10: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”
What you do with what God has given you here matters.
Not for your salvation—that’s secure in Christ.
But for your rewards. For your authority. For what you’ll be entrusted with in eternity.
Never Forget: You Are Saved by Grace
But listen—never forget that you have been saved by grace.
You didn’t earn it. You can’t lose it. You don’t have to prove your worth.
God truly wants what’s best for you.
He’s not dangling rewards over your head to manipulate you. He’s not withholding love until you perform.
He loves you fully, completely, unconditionally—whether you have a thousand rewards or none.
But He also knows that you were designed for more.
You were designed to rule and reign. To steward. To lead. To bear fruit. To glorify Him with your life.
And He wants to entrust you with that responsibility—not because He needs you, but because it’s what you were made for.
Activation: Speak These Truths Over Yourself
Right now, declare these truths out loud:
“I am saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. My salvation is secure.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
“I inherit Heaven not by works, but by believing in Jesus.” (John 6:29)
“I will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and receive rewards for my faithfulness.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)
“I am called to reign and rule with Christ for eternity.” (Revelation 20:6)
“I was created for dominion, and earth is my training ground.” (Genesis 1:26-28)
“I will be faithful with what God has entrusted to me here, so I can be trusted with more in eternity.” (Luke 16:10)
“I will reap what I sow, so I choose to sow to the Spirit.” (Galatians 6:7-8)
“God disciplines me because He loves me, and He will never leave me nor forsake me.” (Hebrews 12:6, Hebrews 13:5)
“I am saved by grace, and God wants what’s best for me.” (Romans 8:32)
Now say it one more time:
“I am saved by grace. I am called to faithfulness. I will reign with Christ.”
The Truth That Sets You Free
You don’t have to choose between grace and obedience. You don’t have to live in fear of losing your salvation or in carelessness about how you live.
You are saved by grace. And you are called to faithfulness.
Heaven is your inheritance. Rewards are your opportunity.
Live like it.