Who Will Be the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?

[JTC]

I know Jesus was asked this question in Matthew ch 18. Over there He said:

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

² He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. ³ And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

But this topic came up at other times too. One of them is in Mark 10:

³⁵ Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

³⁶ “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

³⁷ They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

Jesus told them this wasn't possible, as those 2 seats had already been given out. But then we read, still Mark 10:

⁴¹ When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. ⁴² Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ⁴³ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

And there are still other places this topic is broached. So what I'm seeing here is that not everyone who gets to be in Heaven will be of equal standing. This is what I want us to discuss. I know many of us would rather sweep the streets in Heaven rather than rule in hell, and that's a good thing.

But I keep thinking about all the various comments Jesus made that indicate there will be a status in the kingdom of God. It may also be touched on in the Epistles, but I only remember when Jesus spoke of it. However, as Jesus was fond of doing, He didn't give us a very clear answer as to how a person gains or loses status in Heaven. So this is what I am wondering about.

This isn't about getting into Heaven, this is about how you get your position in Heaven. And I think Jesus made it clear that everyone in Heaven will not be equal, in some way that He doesn't explain well.

So I will give you all my opinion on this and see where it goes. I think this will be determined on possibly a number of factors, but I think one will be what we did while on Earth. I think our status in Heaven will have a lot to do with the sins we committed after being saved. And we all commit sins even after we're saved. I think the less sins we have after salvation, the better will our position in Heaven.

Your thoughts please?

[Enoc]

Interesting…I think there will be positions that will differ in heaven, based on illumination, which in turn ties to purpose.

Edited April 17, 2013 by Enoc

[OneLight]

Interesting…I think there will be positions that will differ in heaven, based on illumination, which in turn ties to purpose.

For those of us who have no idea what you are referring to, can you explain what you mean? What do you mean by "illumination"?

[Elhanan]

in response to your question, this link is a little lengthy to read but contains some interesting insights and good points: http://bible.org/ser...30-luke-1912-28

[Elhanan]

So I will give you all my opinion on this and see where it goes. I think this will be determined on possibly a number of factors, but I think one will be what we did while on Earth. I think our status in Heaven will have a lot to do with the sins we committed after being saved. And we all commit sins even after we're saved. I think the less sins we have after salvation, the better will our position in Heaven.

Your thoughts please?

I never thought of it quite in those terms. But it stands to reason that the less sin we commit after we're saved = more obedience on our part. It also stands to reason that as we become more obedient, we also correspondingly become more faithful and bear more fruit. More fruit = more reward based on the parables of the good soil, talents and minas.

[OneLight]

What do children and servants have in common? They both have high levels of humility.

[back2thebible]

the bible refers to those who led many to Christ will shine like the stars..........It made me think of someone who lost the most of any human I know, the man who led Billy Graham to the Lord, he could of had every soul that Billy led to the Lord under his own belt, but he fell away from the Lord and became an atheist

the bible teaches that we should reproduce 30, 60, and some 100 fold, our family has made a goal of trying to reach at least the lowest number of 30 souls in our lifetime, hopefully I can lead another Billy Graham to the Lord......that would be nice!

[nebula]

So I will give you all my opinion on this and see where it goes. I think this will be determined on possibly a number of factors, but I think one will be what we did while on Earth. I think our status in Heaven will have a lot to do with the sins we committed after being saved. And we all commit sins even after we're saved. I think the less sins we have after salvation, the better will our position in Heaven.

Your thoughts please?

1 Cor. 3

11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 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. 14 If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss ; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

I disagree that position is merited by sin. Rather, it seems to me that position is merited by your life producing works of righteousness.

We need to stop focusing on what we do wrong and start focusing on doing the work of Christ - dying to flesh (pride, selfishness, greed, vanity, arrogance, self-righteousness, self-exaltation, envy, unforgiveness, jealousy, idolatry, etc.), loving God, loving our neighbor, walking out forgiveness, choosing godly attitudes and godly behavior, do justly, love mercy, walking humbly with God, etc.

[Elhanan]

So I will give you all my opinion on this and see where it goes. I think this will be determined on possibly a number of factors, but I think one will be what we did while on Earth. I think our status in Heaven will have a lot to do with the sins we committed after being saved. And we all commit sins even after we're saved. I think the less sins we have after salvation, the better will our position in Heaven.

Your thoughts please?

1 Cor. 3

11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 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. 14 If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss ; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

I disagree that position is merited by sin. Rather, it seems to me that position is merited by your life producing works of righteousness.

We need to stop focusing on what we do wrong and start focusing on doing the work of Christ - dying to flesh (pride, selfishness, greed, vanity, arrogance, self-righteousness, self-exaltation, envy, unforgiveness, jealousy, idolatry, etc.), loving God, loving our neighbor, walking out forgiveness, choosing godly attitudes and godly behavior, do justly, love mercy, walking humbly with God, etc.

Is this not the case of two sides of the same coin? Less sin in one's life by default results in more righteousness. When we stop harboring unforgiveness, we learn to forgive. When we deal with pride, we learn to be more humble.

[nebula]

So I will give you all my opinion on this and see where it goes. I think this will be determined on possibly a number of factors, but I think one will be what we did while on Earth. I think our status in Heaven will have a lot to do with the sins we committed after being saved. And we all commit sins even after we're saved. I think the less sins we have after salvation, the better will our position in Heaven.

Your thoughts please?

1 Cor. 3

11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 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. 14 If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss ; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

I disagree that position is merited by sin. Rather, it seems to me that position is merited by your life producing works of righteousness.

We need to stop focusing on what we do wrong and start focusing on doing the work of Christ - dying to flesh (pride, selfishness, greed, vanity, arrogance, self-righteousness, self-exaltation, envy, unforgiveness, jealousy, idolatry, etc.), loving God, loving our neighbor, walking out forgiveness, choosing godly attitudes and godly behavior, do justly, love mercy, walking humbly with God, etc.

Is this not the case of two sides of the same coin? Less sin in one's life by default results in more righteousness. When we stop harboring unforgiveness, we learn to forgive. When we deal with pride, we learn to be more humble.

One does not move forward by looking behind.

If all you focus on is what you do or do not wrong, you are forever going to be bound to the wrong.

But if you focus on "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise" your life will be defined by such things.