Skip to main content

The Judgment Seat of Christ

Law and Justice

Q: If our sins are forgiven, what are we going to stand judgment for?


A: Part of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that "...there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). This is great news indeed! How amazing that the Holy and Righteous Judge and Creator of the world has made a way for rebellious and wicked sinners to be reconciled to Him.

Jesus the Christ, the one who became accursed by God so that all who believe in Him could be justly forgiven, and who rose from the dead and who is exalted at the right hand of God, has secured a victory over sin, death and the devil both now and forever. On the foundation of this completed work of Christ, believers can have assurance that they will be able to stand on the Day of Judgment. This is why it is good and right to sing the praises of Him who has overcome!

Because of what Jesus has done, the Bible teaches very clearly that our salvation is not on the basis of deeds, but on the basis of God's grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5). However, it is a huge mistake to then believe that the deeds of a follower of Christ no longer matter.

What a tragic and blasphemous mistake to think of Jesus simply as a "Get out of Hell Free" card! Jesus is not just a Savior (although He is certainly that). He is also Lord.

Our risen Lord commands (not suggests) that we obey His commandments while we live this life that He has given us. The Bible actually teaches us that our love for our great God and Savior is defined -- not by how much we say it, not by how loud we sing in our worship services, not by how many Christian-themed pieces of artwork we have on display in our homes -- by our obedience (John 14:21, 23; 1 John 5:3).

While believers will not be judged according to their works in relation to salvation, believers will be judged according to their works in relation to their reward (or loss of reward) in heaven.

If we don't understand this distinction in the Scriptures, we may very easily misunderstand (or even ignore!) such plain statements in Scripture like the following:

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done (Matthew 16:27, NIV).

But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked (Luke 12:48, NIV).

You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written: " 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.' " So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God (Rom 14:10-12, NIV, emphasis added).

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10, NIV, emphasis added).

There are many other passages that describe this same reality; see Matthew 6:20-21, 25:31-46; Romans 2:6-11; 1 Corinthians 3:8; Galatians 6:9-10; Ephesians 6:7-8; Colossians 3:23-24; 1 Timothy 6:18-19; 2 John 8; Revelation 11:18; 20:12, 15.

Salvation is from the Lamb and Him alone. We will be recompensed for our deeds as stewards of the grace of God. It would do Christians well to take heed the admonition of the Apostle Paul who says: So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31, NIV).


Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God!


Paul Washer gave an excellent message on 2 Corinthians 5:6-15. You can access his message, entitled "3 Great Motivations to Love the Lord" here. Although focusing more on the Fear of the Lord (that was the theme of the conference), he speaks extensively on the judgment seat of Christ and how that should motivate the believer.

Related Videos



Comments

P. Scott said…
If more "believers" understood this...the persuit of holiness would be a much more crowded marathon! Thanks P. Joe
Amanda Koppana said…
Thank you for this! The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Joe K. said…
@Amanda Koppana

Amen! It is unfortunate how many in our own day think the wisest thing is to attempt to dissuade people from fearing the Lord.

Popular Posts

Prayer vs. Petition

Q: What's the difference between prayer and petition? Phil 4:6 for example. A: An excellent word study question! When attempting to study words from the text it is necessary to analyze the word being studied in the original language (in this case Greek) as attempting to look up the words in English will often produce erroneous results. For example, in English the word petition has within its range of meanings things that are certainly not within the scope of meanings for the Greek word (i.e. “a sheet that is signed to demonstrate agreement with some principle or desire for some social action to be taken” is part of the range of “petition” but not of the Greek deesis from which “petition” is translated). The word most commonly translated as “prayer” in our English Bibles is proseuche , which appears 36 times in the New Testament (NT) in one form or another (for the purposes of this study, we are only examining the usage of these words as nouns – the verbal forms will not be

Smoking Hookah

Q: This week a young Christian talked with me about the practice of smoking Hookah. They attend a church [which] is reaching out to the many Indian and Muslims in the surrounding areas. Their church also have several ministries that support missions in India and Arab countries. As they spoke with me they said that many of their Christian friends are smoking the Hookah. They said that they have been told that certain types of Hookah smoking involve no tobacco but are simply flavored water, other types of Hookah smoking do include tobacco but in a ‘more pure’ form than that of cigarettes that have additives. The Christians that they know of who partake in smoking Hookah do not feel that there is anything sinful in this practice and believe that it is just a part of certain cultures as a way to relax and socialize. Apparently during certain celebrations some of these culture groups get together as a family and include smoking the Hookah together as part of the festivities. These Chris

The Church Isn't A Business

I used to be a salesman. I sold a lot of different stuff. I worked retail. I did door-to-door. In all my various jobs my function was essentially the same. I was the link between company and customer. Successful companies know their customer demographics. Many sales meetings revolve around numbers. Persons are treated as statistics. The customer becomes a set of numbers, preferences, and habits. Really successful companies cater their goods and services to a target demographic. It's all about the consumer experience. I remember when I began in pastoral ministry. People assured me that my experience as a salesman would be beneficial. They said there was a lot of overlap between pastors and salespeople. That may be true in our experience. But is it true of what we read in Scripture? When I open my Bible and read about Christ's church I see a beautiful design that is very different from a business. Night and day different. When Jesus walked the earth He rebuked those who

The "Jesus Loves You" Problem

Q: I've encountered a lot of teaching and Christians who believe that saying, "Jesus loves you!" is a valid form of evangelism. Do you disagree with this? If so, why? It seems like a loving way to reach out and to encourage those who are not believers. A: What a great question! There are certainly a lot of materials and teachings that encourage Christians to use the phrase, "Jesus loves you" as an outreach and evangelistic tool. Much of this teaching that I've encountered emphasizes following the lead of the Holy Spirit. It claims that the Holy Spirit will often lead Christians to say this to non-believers to encourage them and try and lead them to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Fourth Year Ministries does not teach or endorse this as a valid evangelism strategy. That's not because we don't want it to be valid! Truth be told, we would love for this to be a good practice for Christians. It would certainly open some more doors for us. I

10 Things An Evangelist Is Not

You've probably heard the term Evangelist before. Most people have. The term most likely brings something to mind. Sometimes positive. Often negative. Does your idea match what other people think of when they hear the term evangelist? More importantly, do any of these ideas match what the Bible tells us an evangelist is ? The truth is that most of the popular ideas about what an evangelist is and does are based on the culture, not the Bible. This is a problem. The cultural idea of an evangelist is so popular that it is beginning to be used by companies. If you go to popular job sites and put the term evangelist into the search bar you will find many non-church jobs looking for evangelists. Many of these positions include the duties of spreading knowledge about a particular company, product, service, or idea. The Bible tells us that Jesus gave some Evangelists for His church. And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as