“May the Lord grant mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my imprisonment. But when he arrived in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me. May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day! And you know very well all the ways he served me in Ephesus” (2 Timothy 1:16-18 NET).
Tucked away within this heartfelt expression of praise and appreciation for Onesiphorus is an important statement: “May the Lord grant that Onesiphorus finds mercy when that day comes” (GW). “That day” is a reference to the day when Onesiphorus stands before Christ to give an account for his service. (1) The Biblical book of 2 Corinthians offers some further insight into this reference…
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV).
This passage tells us that there will be a day when God will call His people to account for how they made use of the skills, talents, abilities, gifts, and opportunities He provided. That evaluation will take place before the judgment seat of Christ where our choices and decisions in life will be assessed. 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 uses the analogy of a building contractor to illustrate two potential outcomes from that judgment…
“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.
If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
Therefore, a person who humbly invests his or her life for Christ with the right motivation now can look forward to that day as a time of rejoicing and reward. One author closes with an important observation on this subject…
“The Bible indicates that all believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of their lives (Romans 14:10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10). It’s critical to understand that this judgment is a judgment of works, not of faith (1 Corinthians 3:13-14). Our works do not affect our salvation, but they do affect our reward. Rewards are about our work for God, empowered by his Spirit. Rewards arc conditional, dependent on our faithfulness (2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 2:26-28; 3:21)” (2)
(1) See NET Bible Notes [2 Timothy 1:18] http://netbible.org/bible/2+Timothy+1
(2) Randy Alcorn, Heaven, Copyright © 2004 by Eternal Perspective Ministries. All rights reserved. [pg .47]