Romans 2:6-11 : Who will render to every man accord-ing to his works: to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eter-nal life: but unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek; but glory and honor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek: For there is no respect of persons with God. God "will render to every man according to his works." God will judge without favoritism and will render to each man according to his works. It is not that God will sum up all you have done, whether good or bad, and pay you wages in proportion to the amount you have done. He will not count the hours you have worked and measure out your wages on the basis of so much pay for so many hours. But the kind of works you do shows what sort of person you are; they are the index to character. God rewards according to the nature, and not the amount, of our works. Some peo-ple whose heart is as far from God as it can well be never commit as many crimes as some others who are no worse. Some lack the energy and the courage to be great criminals, and others lack physical ability or are hindered by their environments. Some people whose heart is as true to God as the heart of any are lacking in ability or are hindered by physical defects. Such people do what good they can. God will render, or give back to you, according to the nature of your works. A Caution.--We must not put a construction on the teaching of salvation by works that will contradict the doctrine of salvation by grace. Ponder this: On God's side our salvation is wholly a matter of grace, for he receives no pay for saving us; on our side our salvation is wholly a matter of works, for we can furnish no grace. Eternal life is to be rendered "to them that by pa-tience in well doing seek for glory and honor and in-corruption." Romans 2:7 connects closely with Romans 2:6. "Eternal life" is the object of "render"--God will render eternal life to those who "by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption." Of course, the glory and honor that we are to seek is the glory and honor that we shall have with God in the world to come. We are forbidden to seek the glory and honor that comes from men in this life. We shall attain to glory and honor and incorruption in the world to come by patience in well-doing. But what is eternal life? The materialist holds to the idea that eternal life is mere eternal existence. He might not avow that in so many words, but he does say it in other words just as plain and emphatic. If you have ever heard one in a discussion on eternal punishment, you have heard him try to make the doc-trine absurd by referring to eternal punishment as eternal life in hell! But Paul's language, as well as other scriptures, shows eternal life to be much more than eternal existence. God renders eternal life to those who seek glory and honor and incorruption. Does Paul mean to say that- if we will seek one thing, God will give us another? Will he not give us what we seek? Can you not see that Paul here really defines eternal life? Hence, so far as this text shows, eter-nal life consists of glory, honor, and incorruption--a happy existence in the heavenly kingdom. If you are still in doubt, consider the matter recorded in the following parallel passages: Matthew 19:16-29; Mark 10:17-30; Luke 18:18-30. A rich young ruler asked Jesus: "What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" Jesus told him certain things to do, and added, "And thou shalt have treasure in heaven." As Jesus was giving him the information he sought, we know that having eternal life and enjoying treasure in heaven are the same. When the young man refused the offer, Jesus said: "It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven." Here we have another term describing the same thing. To have eternal life, to enjoy treasure in heaven, and to be in the heavenly kingdom are the same. But this statement about the rich man startled the disciples, and they asked: "Who then can be saved?" Certain-ly they were asking a question about the matter under discussion--namely, eternal life. They referred to salvation in the world to come, or everlasting salvation. To have eternal life, to be enjoying treasure in heaven, to be in the heavenly kingdom, and to have eternal salvation are the same. Arid to show that eternal life was still the matter under consideration, Jesus tells his disciples that those who had left all worldly things for his sake and the gospel's would have a hundredfold in this life, "and in the world to come eternal life." So, then, mere eternal existence and eternal life are as wide apart as hell and heaven. Eternal life is conditional for eternal life must be sought by patience in well-doing. In the eighth and ninth verses Paul affirms that tribulation and anguish will be visited upon those who do evil. Any person who can think at all should be able to see that, if dam-nation is conditional, salvation must also be condition-al. One cannot be conditional and the other unconditional. If doing wrong causes a person to be lost, then, to be saved he must leave off the wrong and do right. If being lost is conditional, so is being saved. There is no way to escape that conclusion. When the rich young ruler asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus said: "If thou wouldest enter into life, keep the commandments." Of Jesus Paul said "Having been made perfect, he became unto all them that obey him the author of eternal salvation" (Hebrews 5:9). And we have already seen that God will render eternal life to those who by patience in well-doing seek it. "Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" (John 5:28-29). If eternal life is not conditional, no one can give a reason why one person is saved and another lost, "for there is no respect of persons with God." "Of a truth I per-ceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteous-ness, is acceptable to him." It would be well if all preachers could come to see as clearly as did Peter.