An Incorruptible Crown

An encouragement to endeavour

"Hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown." (Rev.3:11 RV)

The possibility of losing the crown of life, even though that crown seems to be almost within one’s grasp, is a very real one. Whenever the New Testament speaks of the award that awaits faithful disciples the conditional nature of that award is stressed. It is not the one who enters into a covenant with God, and is accepted by him in the High Calling, who is to receive an abundant entrance into the Kingdom, but the one who wins his Lord’s approval by patient continuance in welldoing. He is the one who eventually receives the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love him. In the meantime, during the span of the lifetime, be it short or long, during which that consecration is being worked out, there is always the possibility of the promised crown being lost. Not that God is ever unfaithful or that He will change his mind or vary the terms of the offer. His unchangeable Plan ever stands and so far as He is concerned the acceptance of a disciple into the race for the prize is as good as saying that the prize is already won. What He has promised He is abundantly able to perform. The decision rests with us. If we continue, He abideth faithful; He cannot deny himself. (2 Tim.2:13) But if we deny him, then He cannot do other than deny us, for He ever respects our free will and if we deliberately take ourselves out of his love and care by repudiating the terms of our covenant with him there is really nothing He can do about it—not in this present Age anyway.

The loss of a crown is rarely so simple a matter as this. The responsibility for the change of mind or loss of faith which involves such disaster is all too often to be laid at the door of others, and in the last analysis, the great Adversary of God and man, Satan himself. That is why the risen Christ in his message to the Church at Philadelphia, and through that message to all Christians everywhere, beseeches us earnestly to take heed that no man take thy crown. There are so many in this world who can, wittingly or unwittingly, become the means of robbing the unwary disciple of his promised crown. It is not that they win it or even desire it for themselves but their influence on that life can be such that they have taken the crown from the one who might otherwise have had it, and destroyed his hopes of joint heirship with Jesus the Lord.

It is a very appropriate symbol of the Christian life, this metaphor used so much by the Apostle Paul. It was taken from his knowledge of the Greek games of his day. All the early Christians were familiar with the games. They occupied as prominent a place in the life of the people as does organised sport in the world’s social life today. In one respect they differed. The competitors were required to go into very strict training long before the day and encouraged to lay aside every other interest in order to be as fit as possible for the event; when then the great day came they were expected to manifest much more than usual physical prowess in order to gain the approval of the judges.

In the great national annual games of the Greeks—the Olympic games, revived in 1896, was one such event—preparations began ten months beforehand, and those chosen to compete in the actual contest were already known to be fit men and measurably prepared for the trials of strength and endurance they would be called upon to undergo. In like manner, we are told, no man can come to Jesus except the Father, who is overseeing the interests of his work in the world of this Age, draw him. Who does the Father draw? Quite obviously those whose hearts are already turned toward him to some extent or who are seen by him to possess those qualities and that disposition which will make them amenable to his leading and his instruction when once they have been brought face to face with Christ and have accepted him. Right at the outset we have to accept the fact that God, who knows every one of his creatures so well, is busy, through the medium of his Holy Spirit, ceaselessly working in the world, selecting those whose hearts are likely to be responsive and bringing them into touch with his truth. That is where the work of his ambassadors, his witnesses, comes in. They are agents of the Holy Spirit, sharing in this search for likely candidates for the great contest.

Now here is a candidate who has heard the call, and answered it, and has progressed through the successive stages of repentance, belief in and acceptance of Jesus and his redemptive death, justification through faith in him, and consecration of life to be dead with him. Not all who are led by the Spirit of Jesus, who are "drawn" of God, progress even to this point. Many are called, but not so many accept the call. Some there are, like the rich young ruler, who come within measurable distance of the High Calling and appreciate something of its glories, but turn away at the last moment, unwilling to pay the price that is asked. But here is a candidate who has done all these things and has been entered for participation in the race. He is accepted by the Father as a member of the Church in the flesh —he has come "into Christ"—he has been buried with him by baptism into his death and has risen to walk with him in newness of life—old things have passed away and all things have become new, for he is now a "new creature in Christ Jesus"—and as he walks on to the course and crosses the starting line he squares his shoulders for the effort and hears the judges’ assuring admonition "Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." (1 Thess.5:24) In his own zealous and hopeful condition of mind the prize is already his, for he fully intends to complete the course and win the crown.

Now there were two kinds of races to which allusion is made in the New Testament and the peculiarities of each should be kept in mind if we are to draw right conclusions. There was first of all the short foot races, in which a number of competitors ran to determine who could reach the finishing line first, and the first one to do so was acclaimed victor and crowned with the laurel or parsley wreath (the "crown" which is referred to in the New Testament). The other was the much longer course, usually of many miles in length, in which the object was to show how many of the competitors could summon sufficient endurance to run the whole distance. In this case each one who "finished the course" received a laurel wreath as victor; those who dropped out by the wayside through inability to finish the course were losers, and received no wreath.

The first, the short race, is the one mentioned in 1 Cor.9:24 "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain." Now this must not be interpreted to mean that of all who enter the race for the prize of the High Calling only one disciple will eventually win that prize; such a thought is an obvious absurdity. The Apostle’s meaning is that just as in a worldly race each competitor, knowing that the first past the tape will receive the prize, puts forth every possible endeavour to run his best, hoping thus to outdistance his rivals, just so, says Paul, should the Christian run, putting forth every endeavour. As he says in another place "this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things that are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil.3:13‑14) "So run, that ye may obtain." The other type of contest, an example of which was the well‑known Marathon, in which all the contestants sought to stay the course and all who did so received crowns, is a much closer analogy to the life of the Christian and this is the one alluded to by Paul in 2 Tim.4:7‑8 when at the end of his life he looked back and said "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteousness Judge, shall give me at that day." He knew that he was close to death; he knew that he must stand before the judgment‑seat of Christ and that decision would then be pronounced as to his worthiness or unworthiness of the crown of life, he knew that now, so late in his Christian life, so near to its end, the things that now lay in the past must determine the issue, and looking back over the way he had come he exulted in the knowledge that his faith had held firm, his integrity before God was inviolate, he had finished the course and come to the end of the way still trusting in Christ, and therefore without any doubt the wreath of victory was his even although its actual bestowal must wait for the end. Paul had once referred to the possibility of his becoming a castaway (1 Cor.9:27) and that knowledge was always with him through life as it must be with us; but now that he realised within himself the end was at hand, he rejoiced in the knowledge that he had finished the course without falling out by the wayside and so losing his crown, or giving heed to men who might seduce him from the course and so in that way rob him of his crown. Take heed, that no man take thy crown.

We are in the same position as Paul. While we are yet in the running of the race, still on the course, there is always the possibility of our turning aside and failing to finish. It is only when we arrive at its end that we can say as did Paul "I have finished the course and now the crown is mine." We do well to remember that the judgment is given, not on account of the work which we have done or the knowledge which we have gained, but purely on account of our loyalty to our Lord, our faithfulness to our covenant, and our sincerity of purpose. Whilst we retain these things we are still on the course and must eventually reach its end and win the promised crown. But until then the snares and delusions of the world, the flesh and the Devil, the effects of disillusionment and discouragement and unbelief, will always be seeking to destroy our faith and draw us away from God and that means becoming unfit for his purposes, and unworthy of his Kingdom, and in the end involves the loss of the crown. It is only he that endureth to the end who is to be saved. "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation" (or proving) says the beloved James "for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." (Jas.1:12) Note well that the crown is bestowed after the man has been tried (tested, proven worthy) and the plain implication is that if he does not stand the proving and the trying process, then he loses the crown. Exhorting the elders of the Church to faithfulness in the discharge of their duties, Peter says (1 Pet.5:4) "When the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." That is conditional upon faithfulness to their charge. And to seal all these words with his own approval, our Lord says to all his Church and each member thereof "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." (Rev.2:10)

In the clear light of so many Scriptures how plain it is that our whole Christian calling is altogether and completely conditional, and that we have it within our own power to make or mar our future, to win or to lose the crown of life. To be sure, there is room in the "Church of the Firstborn" (Heb.12:23) beyond the Vail for all who may be drawn of the Father, hear the call, accept same, and enter into the Narrow Way that leads to life. It is quite unthinkable and quite out of accord with the fundamental principles of the Divine Plan to consider that the Father would call any who remain faithful and yet could not at the end be awarded the prize for which they had run and which they have merited. Whatever may be the truth regarding any question of a predetermined limit to the number of the "Elect" or of God’s foreknowledge regarding the number who will eventually be faithful, we must hold as an essential article of faith that all who are called, who enter, and are faithful, will receive the promise. There can be no shadow of doubt about that.

On the other hand, we should not interpret the Scriptures to teach that each one who receives the call and is accepted by God as a member of the New Creation must inevitably progress the whole length of the course and receive the crown. That is equally a violation of fundamental Scriptural principle. So far as the Father is concerned, it could well be said that the entry into the race is as good as the end of the race, for having once accepted a human heart in his covenant the Lord guarantees that He, on his part, will abide faithful. His power will bring us through "more than conquerors" (Rom.8:37) if we allow him. But this is an agreement between two parties, both having free‑will. God can guarantee his own part; He cannot guarantee ours. He abideth faithful and bestows upon us the inestimable blessing of his Holy Spirit to be a guide and a counsellor through life, but with that the issue rests with us. It is only if we abide faithful also that the end of the course can be attained. To what end God does or can see that end before we have reached it, and know the result of our race before that result is attained, is not really of consequence so far as we are concerned. What we do know and what the Scriptures constantly warn us against is the possibility of our falling away from the faith we have accepted, by so doing demonstrating our unworthiness for the purpose for which God is calling us, and so, inevitably, losing the crown which otherwise we might have had. "No man" said Jesus "having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62) He knew, only too well, the danger that would confront all his followers in after days, of setting out with high hopes, and then, for one reason or another rejecting the High Calling into which they had entered, and losing everything. The Father requires of us faith, belief, sincerity. These are the essential factors which will carry us safely through all the besetments of life and bring us at last into the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, at that right hand where there are pleasures forevermore.

Bible Study Monthly
September / October 1984