God Will Repay You For What You Do

One thing missing from Sunday’s message was a complete explanation of how you should understand the psalmist’s striking words: 

These words seem shocking to the evangelical mind. “I am saved by grace, not my works!” “If God repays me on the basis of my work, I will be condemned as a sinner. I can’t do enough good works!”

So how should we, people of grace, understand those words about God repaying us for our works?

POSSIBLE EXPLANATION #1 — This teaching was for people under God’s Law.

Of course, we could say that this command needs to be read first through the eyes of an Israelite, a person who had made a covenant commitment to obey God’s Law. It certainly sounds a lot like what you would read in the Old Testament law.

“You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 18:5)

Thus, we could conclude, “These words are not for me. They were for the covenant people of Israel.”

But, this explanation will not suffice. Why? Both Jesus and his apostles teach the same concept of being repaid by God for the works we do!

NEW TESTAMENT EXAMPLES:

Jesus said: 

“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6 (see also Matthew 6:17-18)

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.” (Matthew 16:26–27).

“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (Revelation 22:12-13)

And the apostles said: 

“He [God] will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.” (Romans 2:6-8)

“Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.” (2 Timothy 4:14).

So, why won’t it work to explain Psalm 62:12 away as being for people under God’s Law? Even Christians, who are not under the law* but under grace (Romans 6:14), will be repaid by God for their works. 

How then should we understand Psalm 62:12 as people who boast in Jesus and not in our own works to save us? Here are two answers.

ANSWER #1 — We understand that our work was/is/will be accomplished, not by us but by God.

“...I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:10)

“​​…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12–13).

In response to Psalm 62:12, we declare that, yes, we will be repaid according to our works, works that have been and will be accomplished by Jesus. Jesus has carried your sins on His own body, if you trust in Him (1 Peter 2:24). If you are in Jesus, you have received God’s wisdom, His righteousness, his power to make you holy, and His power to redeem you (1 Corinthians 1:30). But there is more.

ANSWER #2 — We understand that we will work, we will produce fruit that God will repay.

As evangelicals, we can sometimes be so fixated on the grace we have received freely that we forget the reason we have been graced by God. We lift high the grace of Ephesians 2:8-9, and yet neglect the work of Ephesians 2:10. 

Yes, we are saved by grace, a grace that cannot be attributed to our works.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9).

AND, we are saved to do good works.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10).

Psalm 62:12 affirms, with Jesus and the apostles, that God will repay us for works we do, works that Jesus has done for us, works that come from our own lives, and works that God in us will enable and complete.

So, get to work, Christian.

*If you question this, please review our Galatians series where Paul over and over rejects the idea that we are saved by the Law.