Foundations In Grace – The Judgment Seat of Christ

The eternal destiny of all mankind (individuals) is set while on earth – those who believe in Christ receive eternal life with the Father, those who reject Christ remain eternally separated from the Father. However, Scripture is clear that the works of all individuals, saved and unsaved, will be judged. Heb. 9:27 says “…man is appointed unto death once, and after that the judgment.”

It is critical that we understand the judgments are for works and not for eternal life. The issue of eternal life is decided while people are still on earth based on their belief or non-belief in Jesus Christ.

Two Judgments for Works in Scripture:

1 – The Judgment Seat of Christ

2 – The Great White Throne Judgment These two judgments are separated by 1,000 years (Revelation 19:8- 9, 20:7,11).

The Judgment Seat of Christ.

The works of the believer will be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ, often referred to as the Bema Seat after the Greek word βῆμα. Bema is defined as, “A raised platform, the official seat of a judge.” The bema seat of Christ will be that place from which Christ judges the works of believers.

The Great White Throne Judgment.

This judgment is described in Revelation 20:11-15 and is specifically for all individuals who have not believed. They are at this judgment because their names are not found written in the book of life (verse 15). However they are judged based on their deeds which are written in other books (verses 12-13).

Neither this judgment or the Bema Seat are judgments about sin in a judicial sense. Judicially, sin was paid for completely and perfectly by Christ’s death on the cross. A person will find themselves at the Great White Throne Judgment because they did not accept God’s perfect provision for their sin, that is, they did not believe in Jesus.

Three Major Passages on the Judgment Seat:

1 – Romans 14:10-14. The context is judging others

2 – 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. The context is faithful service with proper motives.

3 – 2 Corinthians 5:9-11. The context is being pleasing to God.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15

Believers’ works will be tested by fire. The analogy is clear. When the fiery test comes (and it will), only those things done in the power of the Holy Spirit will remain. The issue at the Judgment Seat is Reward or loss of Reward. The loss is reward, not salvation, for verse 15 is clear that “… he himself will be saved …” Notice that there are two classes of works in this passage. One group that will burn up when tested by fire and another group that will stand the test of the flames.

Wood, hay, and straw – Material that burns up immediately when put into fire.

Gold, silver, and precious stones – Material that is not damaged by fire, but is purified.

Gold, silver, and precious stones are materials that match the foundation, Jesus Christ! The ‘what’ of the testing is Christlikeness, Christ like Character & Conduct.

The “quality” (verse 13) speaks of the believer’s motives.

Attitudes (motives) that God will reward:

Matthew 6:6 – Private prayer.

Luke 6:37 – Not judging and forgiving others.

Matthew 10:42 – Faithful service.

Attitudes (motives) that God will not reward:

Matthew 6:1 – Hypocritical deeds.

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”

Galatians 6:7 – The principle of reaping and sowing.

1 Peter 4:13 – Suffering with Christ will produce rejoicing now and at His appearing.

Suffering and Reward.

1 Peter 5:10 – Suffering produces maturity.

After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

Is serving Christ for rewards a wrong motive?

-Scripture is clear that God rewards His children for faithful service.

-We are exhorted to serve carefully so that we can receive a full reward (2 John 8).

Our love and service for Christ is always motivated by His great love and service for us. The more we focus on the Grace of God the more our hearts will be stirred to faithfully serve Him. Just a glimpse of eternity and the realization that all we do during this short span of mortal life has eternal consequences should move us to lay aside the things that are temporal and perishing and focus on the things that will remain (2 Cor. 4:16-18).