Christians who experience moral failures or mental decline late in life will not forfeit rewards stored up from earlier acts of faithful service, theologian and author John Piper said in a May 5 episode of his “Ask Pastor John” podcast.
Responding to a listener’s question rooted in 2 Corinthians 5:10 — which declares, “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” — Piper, chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota, challenged the misconception that Heaven can be lost due to future sin or diminished capacity.
“My answer, and I’ll try to show that it’s biblical, is no,” Piper said. “The good works of a true Christian will never be canceled out, not by anything. The good deeds will always have their reward that God considered fitting when we did them.”
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The question came from a listener named Caroline, who asked whether the rewards a believer accumulates through joyful service could be erased by subsequent grievous sin, such as sexual sin, or by aging-related incapacities that limit one’s ability to serve.
She referenced Roman Catholic teaching, which she said views sin as nullifying merit, and echoed a concern she’s heard from elderly Christians fearing that their life’s work may diminish with time.
The Don’t Waste Your Life author believes such fears misunderstand the nature of true saving faith and God’s reward system.
“True Christians are born again. They’re elect before the foundation of the world. They are persevering in faith to the end of their lives,” he said.
Perseverance, he clarified, does not mean equal zeal or strength of faith at every stage. Rather, it involves continuing in genuine belief. Citing Romans 8:30, Piper said, “Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” He concluded, “Nobody falls out. Everybody perseveres to the end, according to God’s promise.”
In contrast, Piper said that those who permanently fall away from the faith were never truly saved.
“That person was never born of God,” he said, referencing 1 John 2:19. He added that the outward deeds of such individuals, even if they seemed religious, are not rewarded by God because “they were not works of faith” and “everything else is sin, according to Romans 14:23. God doesn’t reward sin.”
For true believers, however, every genuinely good deed remains secure in God’s memory and judgment regardless of when it was done. Piper emphasized God’s omniscience in discerning the motives behind each act: “God sees a good deed, he sees it exactly for what it is, and he deems it appropriate to reward.”
Quoting 1 Corinthians 4:5, he said, “Do not pronounce judgment … before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”
Piper presented three main arguments to support his view that heavenly rewards are not canceled out by later failures in life. First, he cited God’s promises in Matthew 10:42 and Ephesians 6:8: “Whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord.”
“These are unqualified promises,” he said. “We’d better be careful lest we cancel God’s promises by some kind of theology of reward-loss.”
Piper also stressed that God doesn’t forget, referencing Hebrews 6:10. He emphasized God’s faithfulness and justice in remembering the works He has deemed worthy of reward: “God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints.”
Even if believers themselves forget past deeds of faithfulness, God remembers them perfectly, Piper said. “The life you lived 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago is as real and present before the face of God as though you were living it today.”
Finally, the pastor offered the reminder that good deeds are God’s gift. “Christians never earn anything good from God. Everything good that they do is a gift of grace from God,” he said, quoting 1 Corinthians 4:7: “What do you have that you did not receive?”
He continued, “God rewards his own gifts in us.”
“Let’s get the idea of merit for these good deeds totally out of our minds,” Piper said. “If we do, then we will be able to see more easily that the weaknesses of our present life do not diminish God’s gracious promise not to forget the good of the first 60 years. … No sin that you commit today, if you are a true Christian, changes God’s assessment of what he regarded as a good deed to be rewarded 50 years ago.”
In a previous episode of “Ask Pastor John,” Piper said that every good act, no matter how small or unseen, will be acknowledged and rewarded, while sinful actions will result in the loss of potential reward, not punishment.
Despite this, Piper stressed that all believers will be fully happy in Heaven, with some receiving greater capacities for joy, and no one begrudging God’s justice or grace.
“[E]very single large or tiny good thing you have ever done as a Christian, whether any other human knows about it or not, will come back to you for good at the last day,” said Piper.
“What a great incentive not to worry about who sees us in what we do or what rewards we get in this life. Everything’s written down, and God will make sure that any good deed we’ve ever done, seen or unseen, will be properly rewarded.”
Piper’s comments come on the heels of a recent study conducted by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, which found that a majority of people who describe themselves as Christian (52%) accept a “works-oriented” means to God’s acceptance.
In contrast, a minority of adults (46%) who describe themselves as “Christian” expect to experience eternal salvation because of their confession of sin and acceptance of Christ as their savior. The study also found that “huge proportions of people” associated with churches whose official doctrine says eternal salvation comes only from embracing Jesus Christ as Savior, “believe that a person can qualify for Heaven by being or doing good.”
Len Munsil, president of Arizona Christian University, said the “lack of understanding of basic Christian theology is stunning,” with “potentially devastating consequences for individual souls and really for all aspects of American life and culture.”
“It’s a wakeup call for the church, and for leaders in all areas of influence, to speak, teach and work to restore biblical truth,” Munsil said. “Many souls will be lost if people are misled by the false notion that we can earn our way to heaven, rather than recognizing the truth that Christ alone and His righteousness are the basis for our salvation.”
