"When you shall have done all things that are commanded you, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which is our duty to do” (Luke 17:7-10).
Neither justice nor righteousness bestows rewards on the creature. It is our duty to serve God and obey Him. It is what we owe Him. Worship and thanksgiving belong to Him. Nothing we ever do that pleases Him is more than is expected and required of us as creatures who depend on Him to allow and sustain our every breath and heartbeat, and to enable every thought, word, and action.
When God rewards, He rewards in virtue of His goodness and love. When we read in Scripture that He is faithful to reward His children, it is not to our deserving that He is being faithful, but to His promises that He has spoken as expressions of His gracious love and kindness.
There is another reason, as well, why our obedience is not a credit to us or something for which we should be rewarded. We are not able to choose to obey, to love, or even to believe in God.
“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Cor 2:14).
All of our worship, prayer, service, obedience, and love is the work of the Lord Jesus, Who lives in us through the Holy Spirit. He is the One to Whom the reward is due. It is His work for us and in us that God rewards (Strong, 293). The approval and delight the Lord expresses in His gracious words, “Well done, good and faithful servant” and the rewards He bestows on His saints are a matter of grace — the result of Christ’s completed work of redemption, securing His own resurrection life in every believer.
Because He purchased us with His blood, and because He is our Lord and our very life, our total surrender to His will, His character, and His bidding is all the more expected and due — and we will be judged accordingly.
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Cor 5:10).
“Each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work . . . remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Cor 3:13-15).
“Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are” (1 Cor 3:16-17).
“If you address as Father the One Who, without respect to persons, judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth” (1 Peter 1:17).
“Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward” (2 John 8).
“In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Tim 4:8).
God is just. His judgment is thorough, complete, uncompromising, perfect, and right.
(Spotlight 11, Lesson 10 in Doctrine 101: Learning about God)