개혁주의 관점에서 본 천국상급에 대한 연구 = (A) Study of the Rewards of the Kingdom

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Nowadays the church’s denial of orthodox doctrine casts a pall over the world because the Church in the West has accepted biblical criticism based on anti-supernaturalistic presuppositions. Thus Christ's implied prediction in Luke 18:8 is fulfilled: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
Today the Gospel is preached in the entire world, but churches faithful to the Bible are rare. But because Christians have abandoned the absolutes of Christianity, they have lost interest in the Heaven of the next world but have a keen interest in the present world.
We must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (Hebrews 11:6). Therefore true Christian faith will be rewarded for believing the promises of God.
The liberals deny heaven altogether, while many Protestant theologians deny the rewards of heaven. The reason some Protestants object to rewards based on a person's good deeds is due to the fact that believers are saved entirely by faith, that is 'solely faith,' 'solely grace,' not by works. Thus they think that asserting that one can earn rewards by doing good works is the same as the merit earning thinking of Judaism and Roman Catholicism.
Judaism and Roman Catholicism insist that the behavior of man can earn righteousness which confers God's forgiveness because God has given man a free will to do good works. Thus man's works can gain God's grace and salvation. This claim is the so-called meritorious thinking.
But the Reformers who had taken a stand against the meritorious thinking of Roman Catholicism emphasized God's sovereignty and grace even in rewarding the believer. They held that we are able to be reconciled to God entirely by faith (sola fide) and entirely by grace (sola gratia) and that even the believer's reward was due to God's grace. Their arguments are partly right because they are opposite to the incorrect meritorious thinking of Roman Catholicism but they are mistaken because they thought that rewards based on good deeds are synonymous to the meritorious thinking of Roman Catholicism.
The Reformer's mistaken thinking had a negative effect on post-Reformation Protestant theologians. Thus many Protestant theologians are ignorant of the Bible's teaching about rewards. Another reason why Protestant theologians are ignorant of the Bible's teaching on this subject is the influence of Immanuel Kant's idealistic ethics. Kant asserted that we ought to do our duty because of the duty itself without regard to result or recompence. This view gave birth to the slogan that virtue is for virtue's sake; so it was thought that the Bible's teaching about rewards has serious negative ethical effects. But the Bible stresses constantly the fact of believers rewards and encourages believers thereby to do good works (Mt. 16:27; 1 Co. 3:8; 2 Co 5:10, etc.).
Another reason why Protestant theologians have neglected the Bible's teaching about rewards is that they confuse rewards and salvation. Salvation is achieved by the sovereignty of God independent of human efforts, but rewards accompany deeds of faith. Saved believers live holy lives according to the Word of God, and the fruit of holy living is good deeds; thus God gives rewards to believers because of their good deeds.
The crux of the issue concerning rewards is the emphasis point, that is, a correct balance of emphasis between the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. An extreme emphasis on man's deeds leads to meritorious thinking, while an extreme emphasis on the sovereignty of God leads to neglect of the believer's rewards.
The relationship between the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man is a very important key to understanding the entire Bible and biblical theology. This relationship is a classical problem in Christian theological thinking. The Bible says that God is completely sovereign while at the same time man bears complete responsibility for this actions. It says also that God and man work in tandem. Thus God is 100 percent sovereign and man is 100 percent responsible.
The purpose, therefore, of this study is to understand the doctrine of rewards as taught in the Bible, a doctrine which seems like a contradiction between God's grace in giving rewards and the good deeds of man in earning rewards. When we achieve this correct understanding, we can reject both the meritorious thinking and the neglect of reward thinking due to the two extremes. By understanding the doctrine of rewards rightly, we can live as God's heavenly citizens in this world.
In summary the following conclusions can be drawn from this study. First, the actor who confers rewards on the believer is God, the Trinity, and the purpose of rewards is to exalt Jesus Christ especially. The recipient of rewards is the church, the body of Christ. The principles of rewards are the principles of correspondence, grace, and piety.
Second, rewards are different from salvation. Rewards are given by God to the saved believers based on their good deeds. Salvation is not associated with man's deeds but is the sovereign action of God in history. But rewards are God's gracious gifts to believers who perform good deeds.
Third, rewards involve the offices of the Mediator, that is, the roles of Christ. Believers will exercise the three offices of Christ, that is, they will govern Heaven with the authority of Christ. The three offices of Christ are the roles of prophet, priest, and king. The ability to fulfill these offices is the believer's reward in Heaven.
Fourth, rewards are fulfilled through faith just as salvation is fulfilled through faith. The meaning of 'solely by faith' in rewards is to rely 'solely on Christ.'
Fifth, the merits of rewards are by not the good deeds of believers but by the justification of Jesus Christ. Justified believers receive rewards by obeying the Word of God.
Sixth, rewards are not a payment for the believer's merits but are given by God purely because of God's grace. No one has the right to demand a reward from God. We must realize that God rewards by His grace; thus we must have the attitude of an unworthy servant because God is the only one who will weigh and judge men.
Seventh, the expectation of reward is motivated by faith in God's sovereignty and love, so we must distinguish the biblical motive from the secular motive. The purpose of God giving rewards is to show God's good will, to encourage believers to good deeds, and to help the weak.
Eighth, the grades for the rewards are in the Heaven.
Ninth, the nature of the rewards is not secular but spiritual, that is, God's praise and acceptance, a treasure in heaven, and an inheritance in heaven. Furthermore, the nature of the rewards is the degree of pleasure the believer experiences in the victory celebration in Heaven, the degree of the believer's authority and glory in Heaven, and his ability to serve God and men in eternity.
Lastly, the differences in rewards are similar to the differences in serving the church. Believers are the limbs and the body of the church, which is the Lord's body. Just as believers serve the church in this world using the gifts they have received from Jesus Christ so they will serve God and other believers in Heaven.
Thus the rewards in Heaven do not mean exalting oneself and dominating others by force but rather they mean the ability to serve God and others. There are no conflicts among believers in Heaven. Heaven is a joyful and pleasant world because the people in Heaven serve each other. Therefore believers must do good deeds earnestly and look forward to their heavenly rewards.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 목차
• 서론 = 8
• 제1절 문제의 제기와 연구의 목적 = 8
• 제2절 논문의 구성 및 연구의 방법 = 14
• 제1장 상급에 관한 성경적 고찰 = 18
• 제1절 구약에 나타난 상급 = 19
• 제2절 신약에 나타난 상급 = 29
• 제2장 종교개혁 시대까지의 상급관 = 46
• 제1절 유대교의 공로사상 = 46
• 제2절 헬라와 로마세계에 있어서의 상급개념 = 49
• 제3절 로마 카톨릭의 공로사상(功勞 思想) = 52
• 제4절 종교개혁자들의 상급관 = 58
• 제3장 최근 개혁주의자들의 상급관 = 72
• 제1절 상급무시 견해 = 72
• 제2절 상급중시(賞給 重視) 견해 = 94
• 제4장 천국상급에 대한 신앙고백서의 견해 = 129
• 제1절 웨스터민스터 신앙고백서의 역사 = 129
• 제2절 웨스터민스터 신앙고백서의 구조 = 130
• 제3절 웨스터민스터 신앙고백서에 나타난 상급사상 = 131
• 제5장 천국상급에 대한 신학적 고찰 (1) = 143
• 제1절 천국상급에 대한 기독론적 고찰 = 143
• 제2절 천국상급에 대한 구원론적 고찰 = 154
• 제6장 천국상급에 대한 신학적 고찰 (2) = 191
• 제1절 천국상급에 대한 교회론적 고찰 = 191
• 제2절 천국상급에 대한 종말론적 고찰 = 199
• 제7장 천국상급에 대한 윤리적 고찰 = 219
• 제1절 기독교 윤리(ethic)의 기초 = 220
• 제2절 기독교 윤리의 목적 = 226
• 제3절 기독교 윤리와 선행 = 227
• 제4절 기독교 윤리의 내용 = 228
• 제8장 천국상급에 대한 바른 이해 = 265
• 제1절 상급의 수여자와 수혜자 = 266
• 제2절 상급의 원리 = 271
• 제3절 상급의 동기와 목적 = 284
• 제9장 천국상급의 등급과 그 내용 = 296
• 제1절 천국상급의 등급 = 296
• 제2절 천국 상급의 내용 = 300
• 결론 = 343
• 제1절 상급을 바라보는 신앙 = 344
• 제2절 상급을 위한 준비 = 346
• 제3절 논문의 의의와 과제 = 354
• Bibliography = 358
• Abstract = 366