2 Timothy 1:18
18 The Lord [kurios] grant [didomi] unto him [autos] that he may find [heurisko] mercy [eleos] of [para] the Lord [kurios] in [en] that [ekeinos] day: [hemera] and [kai] in how many things [hosos] he ministered unto me [diakoneo] at [en] Ephesus, [Ephesos] thou [su] knowest [ginosko] very well. [beltion] KJV-Interlinear
18 the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day — and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus. NASB
There are two resurrections that will occur in history.
The first resurrection will come in four parts. This is for all believers from throughout history.
The second resurrection will be made up of unbelievers only and will not occur until history is concluded and all unbelievers will be brought before the Great White Throne for their final judgment to the Lake of Fire.
As for believers, there will be a series of four resurrections. The first was Jesus Christ, called the first of the first fruits. The second resurrection will occur at the Rapture, and will include all believers from our current dispensation, typically called the Age of the Royal Family, or the Age of the Bride of Christ, or the Church Age. All three names are synonymous terms for our dispensation. Ours is the age of the completed canon of scripture.
The third resurrection, in the series of four, is for all Old Testament believers, and will occur at the Second Advent.
The fourth and final resurrection for believers will occur at the end of the Millennium.
Immediately after each respective resurrection of believers, there is the Judgment Seat of Christ, which is our evaluation judgment. That is when all rewards are handed out from God to believers for their spiritual production. All sin and human good (symbolized by wood, hay, and stubble) are cleaned away, leaving only the pure good (symbolized by gold, silver, and precious stones), which is accomplished through the spiritual life.
This is that, ‘on that day,’ being referred to by Paul.’
On that day, the ‘Judgment Seat of Christ,’ we will all be evaluated and rewarded in accordance with the content of our spiritual lives.
Mercy is Gods grace in action. Grace is favor, and mercy is the application of that favor in the form of things of substance - reward.
And then Paul reminds Timothy of the deeds of Onesiphorus during his life and during their acquaintance.
And from this, we know that Onesiphorus must have been a very legitimate and functioning believer, back in their day.
The spiritual life functions only, repeat, only when you are in fellowship. That is when your spiritual production (everything that you think or do while in fellowship) occurs.
When you are out of fellowship, then your spiritual life does not function. Out of fellowship means that your production (whatever it is that you think or do while out of fellowship), is totally worthless.
At the Judgment Seat of Christ, all spiritual production is rewarded. All reward then received, is eternal and amounts to blessings beyond ones imagination. It makes this reward phenomenally valuable, beyond calculation.
Everyone who believes in Christ goes to heaven, but not everyone will receive rewards. Only those who advance to spiritual maturity and as such maintain and possess spiritual production, will be the recipients of reward at the Judgment of Christ.
This is one of the reasons why living your life in fellowship is so very important. It is extremely valuable.
Other reasons are of course, spiritual growth makes you grow up, makes you be a valuable member of society, makes you be responsible and accountable, and mature, and so forth.
Your spiritual life is the mechanism of the completion of your life. It aids in your discernment between good and evil, and right and wrong, charity and greed, honesty and dishonesty and so forth. Spiritual growth provides and sustains a stable life for you in this world, especially when this world, your world, falls apart for whatever reason.
There is a spiritual checklist study in the special studies section of the online library. We put this together many years ago. Call it up and review it from time to time and measure yourself against the standards that God places before you.
And while Onesiphorus was not a writer nor even a central character in the scriptures, his life was remembered and full as described by Paul.
So too, your life can be valuable with a commitment in consistent daily study, and application of the principles that you learn and make the core of your life.
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