Who Will Be the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?

[*Zion*]

I truly believe it's as simply as pure servant-heartedness. Just be a great servant, and you'll be great! Joseph was taken from a pit and sold into slavery out of jealsouy, only to to become head-slave i his master's household. Out of jealousy again, he was thrown into prison, but God exalted him and made him the Pharoah's greatest servant. Egypt then was a, if not THE prominent world power. Just be a servant. A good one.

Blessings!

[Elhanan]

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.

Your conclusion is overly broad and restrictive as what works for you may not work for another person. To focus only on the positive overlooks the fact that the Bible contains both positive and negative imperatives. The 10 Commandments are largely negative and Col 3:9 says we should not lie to each other. If someone stops sinning out of obedience to a negative command - great! If you stop sinning out of obedience to a positive command - great! The bottom line is whatever works, do it; to each his own.

[nebula]

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.

Your conclusion is overly broad and restrictive as what works for you may not work for another person. To focus only on the positive overlooks the fact that the Bible contains both positive and negative imperatives. The 10 Commandments are largely negative and Col 3:9 says we should not lie to each other. If someone stops sinning out of obedience to a negative command - great! If you stop sinning out of obedience to a positive command - great! The bottom line is whatever works, do it; to each his own.

When someone gives to the poor and needy, do you credit them for what they did not do, or do you credit them for what they did?

When someone forgives, do you credit them for what they did not do, or do you credit them for what they did?

The rich young ruler followed the "do not"s of the 10 Commandments very well. So why did he lose?

[JTC]

I think these are all good answers. At least these are the kinds of answers i was hoping for. I think that as we die to the flesh, and be reborn of the spirit, we should sin a decrease of sin in our lives, and an increase in what is pure, noble, holy etc.

[Enoc]

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"?

Illumination / Revelation I tend to use interchangeably . With that said revelation in this context means how much has Yahweh revealed of himself to the disciple. Based on how much revelation of himself he gives you ties into how close of a relationship you have with him.

For example, Jesus revealed himself to many people during his ministry, however he chose twelve to be close disciples. Of the twelve, there were three, which were closer to him than the others were Peter, James, and John.

Another example would be a husband and a wife, married individuals find out more about one another as time together passes. The husband /wife allows the other to know more about themselves as the relationship progresses or as the trust builds. Base on the relation there are some things that maybe revealed in time and then there are some things, which will not be revealed on this side of eternity.

As you trust God more, he trust you more.

[Tinky]

I believe our place in heaven will be determined by our faithfulness, by the way we lived our Christian lives, by how we used the gifts we have been given, and by how hard we worked spreading the gospel.

[Fez]

As you trust God more, he trust you more.

Nope, it has nothing to do with trust at all. It has to do with Love.

God Loves you unconditionally, you don't have to do anything to earn that Love, it has already been given.

[Elhanan]

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.

Your conclusion is overly broad and restrictive as what works for you may not work for another person. To focus only on the positive overlooks the fact that the Bible contains both positive and negative imperatives. The 10 Commandments are largely negative and Col 3:9 says we should not lie to each other. If someone stops sinning out of obedience to a negative command - great! If you stop sinning out of obedience to a positive command - great! The bottom line is whatever works, do it; to each his own.

When someone gives to the poor and needy, do you credit them for what they did not do, or do you credit them for what they did?

When someone forgives, do you credit them for what they did not do, or do you credit them for what they did?

The rich young ruler followed the "do not"s of the 10 Commandments very well. So why did he lose?

I can see by your answers that if it were up to you, you would erase all the negative imperatives in Scripture. But I will indulge your game of semantics and answer your questions. I would credit them for NOT being selfish. I would credit them for NOT harboring unforgiveness. I would encourage the rich young ruler to NOT hold on to his riches.

[Enoc]

As you trust God more, he trust you more.

Nope, it has nothing to do with trust at all. It has to do with Love.

God Loves you unconditionally, you don't have to do anything to earn that Love, it has already been given.

I agree with you statement "God loves us unconditionally".

Also, I believe God chooses to entrust some disciples with more revelation of himself than others, and trust is not the same as love.

I believe Jesus loved all the disciples, but at the same time, his father trusted Peter more than he trusted the others. The scripture supporting this premise that revelation is based on trust and relationship follows.

Matthew 16:15-19

15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed[d] in heaven (KJV).

My understanding of this passage is that Peter had been lifted up by means of the father revealing something about Jesus which was not revealed to any other man at that time. Jesus was surprised to know that Peter had been given this revaluation and after Jesus confirmed what his father revealed to Peter by blessing Peter with the purpose of establishing the first church.

To tie this back to the original thread, position in heaven will be based on relationship which will be confirmed by revaluation and the revelation will be tied to purpose.

[Fez]

As you trust God more, he trust you more.

Nope, it has nothing to do with trust at all. It has to do with Love.

God Loves you unconditionally, you don't have to do anything to earn that Love, it has already been given.

I agree with you statement "God loves us unconditionally".

Also, I believe God chooses to entrust some disciples with more revelation of himself than others, and trust is not the same as love.

I believe Jesus loved all the disciples, but at the same time, his father trusted Peter more than he trusted the others. The scripture supporting this premise that revelation is based on trust and relationship follows.

Matthew 16:15-19

15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed[d] in heaven (KJV).

My understanding of this passage is that Peter had been lifted up by means of the father revealing something about Jesus which was not revealed to any other man at that time. Jesus was surprised to know that Peter had been given this revaluation and after Jesus confirmed what his father revealed to Peter by blessing Peter with the purpose of establishing the first church.

To tie this back to the original thread, position in heaven will be based on relationship which will be confirmed by revaluation and the revelation will be tied to purpose.

But again it is not about Jesus loving Peter more than anyone else. As a matter of fact John was the one disciple that simply knew that Jesus loved him. He understood what that Love was. God does not have to "trust" us to gift us. He looks at hearts, and He knew what Peter would say, and do, before Peter said it. We have no need to gain God's trust, He knows us better than that. What we have to do is to learn to let go and trust in God for everything.

As to position in heaven? There are no concise scriptures telling us what our "position" will be, (if there be "positions"). Our center, our present position should be Jesus and nothing else. The rest will take care of itself. We can't "work" ourselves up the ladder to heaven (not that I am saying you have said that, but it is what many people believe)