The judgment seat of Christ is before us

One of my most favorite topics in all of the Bible is the doctrine of the Judgment Seat of Christ. Though we live in a day of liberalism such that it is politically incorrect to judge the deeds and actions of others, not only does the Bible teach about the judgment of sin for those who are without Christ, but it also teaches that those who call themselves Christians will one day stand before Christ to give account for their own deeds. The difference between these two judgments, other than being separated by little more than 1,000 years, is that the lost will be judged for their sins while believers will be judged for reward, or loss thereof, in Christ’ millennial kingdom.

Interestingly, while the Apostle Paul mentions this judgment seat briefly in Romans 14 and Hebrews 13, and the Apostle John gives it an honorable mention in Revelation 3, the two epistles that give it the most attention are those of the Corinthians. What makes this so interesting is that the Corinthians, as a group, were not known for their Christianity, but for their carnality. In writing his epistles to them, Paul was writing to correct their many and varied errors. That Paul goes into such detail regarding this judgment to a carnal church but not to the others tells us that they had a deficit in their knowledge of God’s judgment.

Another interesting tidbit is a certain number associated with this judgment seat. Anyone familiar with the number 9-1-1? Are not these the numbers we push when we find ourselves in some sort of major emergency and we need help fast? No doubt some will just chalk this up to coincidence, but that II Corinthians 5:9-11 speaks of the “terror of the Lord” ought to indicate to us that when we stand before the Lord, there will be no man capable, let alone available, to intervene on our behalf.

As for the judgment itself, the very most important aspect is Paul’s purpose for describing it in the first place. In both passages, Paul makes it very clear that he wants us to stand before Christ in good stead. In II Cor. 5:9 he says, “Wherefore we labour, that, whether present (here on earth) or absent (up in heaven), we may be accepted of him.” This word “accepted” carries with it the Old Testament connotation of an acceptable sacrifice, so bear in mind that God mandated them to be without spot or blemish. What he is saying here is that he was pouring great effort into his Christian life so as to be pleasing to God rather than himself. This stands in stark contrast to the general attitude of our day where most professing believers seem to be “menpleasers”.

And in I Cor. 3:10b he says, “But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.” Here he likens the Christian life unto a house built upon the foundation (salvation) of Jesus Christ, and each of us gets to build our own. Thus, in saying “take heed how he buildeth,” he is saying that in building our Christian life, we must take great care in the selection of the materials we use because the day will come when a building inspection will be performed and you want your house to survive the test. And, coincidentally, the test will be by fire, so choose those materials that are fireproof.

Let’s stop for a moment and consider what Paul is saying. We are not talking about purgatory here, as some will falsely surmise. Neither are we talking about the loss of salvation, for verse 15 makes it clear that salvation remains intact. No, we are talking about the potential loss of reward. In Revelation 3, John tells the Philadelphian believers “hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown,” implying that rewards can be earned and then lost.

What Paul is saying is that the Christian life is full of choices — good and bad — and bad choices are those building materials which are not fireproof. What we have got to get a hold of here is that while the choices are ours to make, whether they are good or bad is not the issue — this is God’s domain. The Bible makes it very clear what these materials are; it is not open for discussion. And to this, Paul commends us to “study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Christian, nothing has been left to chance; God has spelled it all out in his word. All that remains is the discovery of it. The only question that remains is if you will rise to the challenge.

Ron Hamman is pastor of Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. Contact him at 357-4229 or rghamman@mtaonline.net.