A Crown of Life

[Guido]

What is your opinion of James 1, which says,“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him”. I want to know what you think is meant by “the crown of life”, which, according to faithalone.org, is a reward given by God either in this life or in the life to come, to those to whom this passage applies, and whether it is acceptable to tell someone that their life will improve if they obey God’s commandments, based on this passage, provided of course they have believed on Christ for eternal life, if they have, or if and when they do.

I want to hear an answer mostly from the perspective of Free Grace Theology, which I believe. I probably should have read the article on faithalone.org more carefully, and I probably should read it again.

 

[Van]

When we study an ambiguous phrase, such as "crown of life" we might be tempted to speculate or guess at an answer, rather than conclude we cannot determine an answer with certainty.

The phrase appears in James 1:12 and Revelation 2:10. Both verses suggest it is received when or after we die, somewhere in our future. A similar phrase, in 1 Peter 5:4 suggests the crown may be our glorified physical bodies that we will receive when Christ returns. In 2 Timothy 4:8, the crown of righteousness is mentioned, to be awarded to all that loved His appearing, i.e. those born anew who have nothing to fear from the appearance of the Judge.

So my best "guess" is that the crown of life is our glorified physical bodies which we will receive when Christ returns. Thin, I know.