What crowns will believers receive?

Question 10111.

Scripture names five heavenly crowns promised to believers: the imperishable crown, the crown of rejoicing, the crown of righteousness, the crown of life and the crown of glory. They are given at the judgement seat of Christ, they are rewards for service rather than payment for salvation, and they end up back at the feet of Jesus.

I want to look at each of them, because they are specific rather than generic, and the specificity tells us something about what God values. But I also want to deal with the awkward question underneath, which is whether it is right for a Christian to want a reward at all.

The word behind the crowns

The Greek is stephanos, the victor’s wreath given at the games, not diadema, the royal crown of a monarch. That distinction matters. These are not badges of rank conferred on us; they are the winner’s garland placed on the head of someone who finished the race.

The wreath at the Isthmian games was made of withered celery, of all things, and Paul makes the contrast at 1 Corinthians 9:25. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

So heavenly crowns belong to the world of the finishing line rather than the throne room, at least in their imagery. They are given by the judge at the platform, which is why they belong with the doctrine of the Bema seat.

The imperishable crown

This is the crown of 1 Corinthians 9, and its context is self-discipline. Paul describes the athlete exercising self-control in all things, and then applies it to himself: he disciplines his body and keeps it under control, lest after preaching to others he should be disqualified.

So the imperishable crown is associated with mastery of appetite and the refusal to let the flesh set the agenda. It is not about talent. It is about the unglamorous business of saying no to yourself, repeatedly, when nobody is watching.

Of all the heavenly crowns this is the one our culture understands least, because self-denial is now widely regarded as a disorder rather than a virtue.

The crown of rejoicing

Paul asks the Thessalonians what his hope or joy or crown of boasting is before the Lord Jesus at his coming, and answers his own question: is it not you? He calls them his glory and joy.

This is the soul-winner’s crown, and it is not restricted to preachers. Anyone who has had a hand in another person’s coming to Christ, by witness, by prayer, by patient friendship, has a share in it.

It is a lovely thought that among the heavenly crowns there is one made of people. The reward for evangelism is the evangelised, standing there.

The crown of righteousness

Paul mentions this one at the very end of his life, at 2 Timothy 4:8. Having fought the good fight and finished the race, he says the crown of righteousness is laid up for him, which the Lord will award on that Day, and then adds the phrase that widens it: not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. He is writing from a cell, with the executioner’s schedule already fixed, and he is entirely unbothered.

So this crown attaches to a settled longing for the return of Jesus. It is given to those who lived facing forward. That is a searching test, because it is possible to hold pretribulational doctrine precisely and not love his appearing at all.

Do I actually want him to come? Would his arrival today be an interruption of my plans or the answer to them? That question sorts a good deal out.

The crown of life

James says blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life. Jesus says to the church in Smyrna, the persecuted church, be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life.

This is the martyr’s crown, and more broadly the crown for endurance under suffering. It is promised to people who had every earthly reason to give up and did not.

It is worth noticing which churches in Revelation are offered this. Not the impressive ones. Smyrna was poor and afflicted, and Jesus told them they were rich.

There is a comfort here for believers whose suffering is not dramatic. Steadfastness under trial covers the long illness, the difficult marriage, the years of caring for a parent who no longer knows you. Heavenly crowns are not reserved for those who died in an arena. James says the man who remains steadfast, and remaining is mostly what ordinary faithfulness looks like.

The crown of glory

Peter addresses the elders, urging them to shepherd the flock of God among them willingly rather than for shameful gain, not domineering but being examples. When the chief Shepherd appears, he says, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

This is the pastor’s crown, and the conditions attached to it are uncomfortable reading for anyone in ministry. Willingly, not grudgingly. Eagerly, not for money. As an example, not as a boss.

I take that personally, and I would encourage every church member to pray for their leaders in the light of it rather than to use it as a stick.

What we do with heavenly crowns

Revelation 4 answers the question that has been forming as you read. The twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne, and they cast their crowns before the throne, saying worthy are you, our Lord and God.

That is the destination of every reward. Heavenly crowns are not trophies for a shelf. They are given so that we may have something worth laying at his feet, and the joy of the moment is in the laying down rather than the receiving.

Which quietly answers the objection about greed. A reward that exists to be given back is not an incentive to selfishness. It is an enlargement of our capacity to worship.

Is it wrong to want a reward?

It cannot be, because God offers them. Jesus told us to lay up treasure in heaven, and Hebrews says he rewards those who seek him. A God who dangles rewards in front of us and then disapproves of our wanting them would be playing a strange game.

The New Testament never presents reward as an alternative to love. It presents it as love’s confirmation. What we want most is not the wreath but the voice that says well done, good and faithful servant, and the wreath is the token of that sentence.

There is also a warning in Revelation 3: hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. It is possible to forfeit reward. Not salvation, but reward, and the New Testament treats that as a real and sobering possibility.

Are these five a closed list?

I would not insist on it. The five are the ones explicitly named, and it is a useful framework, but Scripture speaks of reward in other terms too: treasure, praise from God, authority over cities in the kingdom.

What matters is not the taxonomy but the principle. God notices, God remembers and God repays, and he does it generously. I have written on degrees of reward if you want to press further.

The five heavenly crowns are best used as a mirror rather than a checklist. Discipline, evangelism, longing for his return, endurance, faithful shepherding. Where am I thin?

I would add one caution about how we teach them. It is easy to turn the heavenly crowns into a sort of spiritual points system, and that instinct is deeply embedded in us because every other arena of life works that way. The Bible resists it. Jesus tells a story in which the labourers hired at the eleventh hour receive the same as those who bore the heat of the day, and the point of the story is that God is generous rather than mathematical. Hold the crowns as promises from a good Father, not as entries in a ledger you are keeping on his behalf.

So, now what?

Pick one of the five this week and pray about it honestly. Most of us know instinctively which one exposes us, and the one we would rather skip is usually the one to start with.

If you serve in a way nobody sees, take heart. Three of the five heavenly crowns are for things the church rarely applauds: private self-denial, quiet endurance, and unglamorous shepherding.

And if the whole idea of reward makes you uneasy, look again at what the elders do with theirs. Would you not like to have something worth casting at his feet? That, in the end, is what the heavenly crowns are for, and it is a far better ambition than a comfortable retirement.

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

1 Corinthians 9:25, ESV