Crowns are given to a special few,
Who sacrifice above the call along the way,
Rewards are earned by the faithful
Who teach, and preach and pray.
Now crowns and rewards are not salvation;
They can be earned today and gone tomorrow.
Not so with man's salvation gift;
It will last through many days of sin and sorrow.
You may earn a special reward or merit
And loose it in the judgement flame;
But the gift God gave simply for the asking;
Eternal life my friend is not the same.
Works are in a sense a gift to God
And when He comes He'll make restitution
He'll gather all His Father's children
From this earth cursed with sins pollution.
Now the Bible says if any man's works are burned
He'll suffer loss in the judgement fire,
So you may go to Heaven without reward
But salvation will never, no never expire.
Rest assured, salvation's given to those
Who seeing their need come and ask,
If eternal life's not forever and forever
Pray tell, how long does 'forever' last ?
There's a bit of confusion caused by false religion
That says 'saved today, lost tomorrow',
That's why so many's decided to live in fear
With doubt, trembling and sorrow.
Let me plead with you to believe in Jesus
For it was He who was bruised upon the cross,
If Satan could get one of God's children;
He could get all of them and we'd all be lost.
Crowns and rewards we may not have, my friend,
But salvation assures us of Heaven's glory,
But if you die in unbelief, forever lost;
Well, my friend, that's another story.
So, let's concentrate on securing salvation
So we'll be sure that Heaven we'll get in,
Then we'll be free without fear to earn a crown
While we let our soul rest secure with Him.
Yes, every man shall be judged by his works
And perhaps he'll suffer loss in the judgement flame,
But, my friend, you'll not bear injury to that soul;
That was redeemed by faith in Jesus' name.
 
 

                                              Carl L. Hempen, 1979