Lesson 12: Rewards of Faithfulness (Matthew 25, Hebrews 11, Romans 8)

Whenever I have my vision tested, they check to see how far to each side I can see when I'm looking straight ahead. Some people have injuries or a disease that cause them to have only a narrow field of vision. My thought is that many Christians have very narrow vision when it comes to the "Rewards of Faithfulness." They see a reward only after they go to heaven, and that tends to create confusion about the relationship between works and salvation. While it is true that some will only see their reward in heaven (see Hebrews 11), for most Christians this narrow vision is akin to a disease. It causes them to miss the most obvious rewards for faithfulness, which come here and now as a result of obeying God. Let's jump into our study of the Bible and you can decide whether I'm looking at this correctly!

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The Current Quarter’s Bible Studies on Money: Managing for the Master.

Lesson 11
Managing in Tough Times
(2 Chronicles 20, Revelation 13)
About sixteen years ago when I started teaching in law school, I had my Labor Law students read an article about a strike in France. The point was to compare the nature of strikes in France and the...
Lesson 10
Giving Back
(Luke 12)
Our study this week is about what we should do "in our last years." If the "giving back" in the title is directed towards the parents rather than the children, doesn't that make the title very odd?...
Lesson 9
Beware of Covetousness
(Matthew 26 & 27, Acts 5)
Most topics that we study involve goals on which the population generally agrees. Who thinks killing, stealing, lying, or adultery are good things? People get involved in these sins, but generally ...
Lesson 8
Planning for Success
(Proverbs 3, Matthew 6:33)
One of the great blessings of my life is that I have the opportunity to help law students plot their future. Recently, a student told me that his goal was to have money. He considered the example o...
Lesson 7
Unto the Least of These
(1 Timothy 5, Leviticus 19, Luke 19)
When I first started driving I rarely picked up hitchhikers I did not know. One summer morning I was riding with my brother to a construction job when his fancy, but unreliable, car broke down. Sud...
Lesson 6
Laying Up Treasure in Heaven
(Matthew 6, 13 & 19, Genesis 6 & 7)
Do you need to have someone keep an eye on you? I know I do. Each week I teach the lesson that I write. Turns out that this is an invaluable check on my thinking. When Malachi 3 (and the other vers...
Lesson 5
Dealing With Debt
(Deuteronomy 15 & 28, 1 John 2, Matthew 18)
Over half of Americans say that debt negatively impacts their life. I imagine the same is true for any society which allows easy credit. If there was anything in life that created problems for more...
Lesson 4
Offerings for Jesus
(2 Corinthians 9, Mark 12)
Many years ago I was volunteering my time to do some physical labor for the church. I was young and one of the older members discussed family finances with me. When he learned that my wife and I ha...
Lesson 3
The Tithing Contract
(Genesis 14, Hebrews 7, 1 Corinthians 9)
Last week we discussed that salvation is free, but God presents challenges for us to receive special blessings. We began a discussion about the tithing blessing. This week we do a deep dive into th...
Lesson 2
God’s Covenants With Us
(Matthew 6, Malachi 3, 2 Corinthians 9)
Romans chapter 5 repeatedly refers to our righteousness before God as a gift. In case we were confused about what "gift" means, it is repeatedly referred to as a "free gift." See, e.g. Rom...
Lesson 1
Part of God’s Family
(1 Chronicles 17, Matthew 6 & 25, 1 John 5)
Daniel Pink authored a very popular book named Drive. In it he explored what motivates us. You may be surprised to learn that the answer is not money. Money is important up to the point wh...

Emotional Intelligence

Can the Bible help you get promoted at work? Can the Bible increase your pay? Can the Bible help you keep your job? Improve your marriage? The answer is “Yes!” The Bible teaches principles of “emotional intelligence” that can actually help you to be smarter and get along better. Bruce Cameron, the writer of these Bible studies and a law professor, has published a paper written for lawyers which presents 17 Bible-based rules of emotional intelligence which God gave us to improve our lives. Best of all, Professor Cameron’s paper is free and you do not have to be a lawyer to understand it. To get your free copy, first click on this link. Second, when you see the title of the paper (EI, EI, Oh What an Employee), click on the “One-Click Download” and the paper will download to your computer as a PDF. If you have friends who want to read the paper, have them go to the website and download it as well.