Completely updated and revised from the first edition, with over 10% new material, plus a Scripture and Subject index. Robert Wilkin calls this new version "the best non-canonical book on eternal rewards ever written."
My Wednesday night church women's Bible study just finished this book. It was hard, with a whole new paradigm of rewards. The book was written in response to John McArthur's book on lordship salvation. The first half of the book very adequately covered salvation by grace and grace alone. The second half was helpful for filling in gaps in my understanding of salvation vs. rewards passages of Scripture. I was eager to embrace this 'free grace' teaching and it's emphasis on rewards and reigning/ruling with Christ in eternity. There has to be a difference between the 'serious' Christian and the carnal Christian and their ability to experience real fellowship with the Lord. This teaching was harder for some of the women to accept. Chapters on the Sermon on the Mount, the Rich Young Ruler, and parables of the mina and the man with no wedding garment introduced new ideas. We've thought when the wedding guest was sent outside the party and wailing, this must mean hell, but Hodges says he just missed the party (greater fellowship with the Lord). "The invitation to attend was freely given, but the one who accepted the call took it upon himself to attain and wear suitable attire...The king thus had companions who enter into His personal joy." I did not feel that I had to totally under 'rewards,' but I now have information on the 'back burner' of my mind as I read more books on this subject, including a new book by two men in our church.
An incredible book on a very neglected doctrine. Hodges is a great writer who does not lack depth but doesn't confuse the reader. The doctrine of rewards is that missing piece in popular evangelicism today that would profoundly help believers in their maturity and biblical understanding. If Joseph Dillow's Reign of the Servant Kings is to thick for you, just read this book and you get the basic ideas.