posted in → Articles, Featured, Uncategorized

The Judgment Seat of Christ

Rom 14:10-13
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.

What, exactly, is “the judgment seat of Christ” and when, in the eternal scheme of things, will it take place, and what is it that’s going to be “judged” at this judgment and why ought we to take it very seriously?

The following description from bible.org provides an accurate description of what the TJSOC is:

While salvation is a gift, there are rewards given for faithfulness in the Christian life and loss of rewards for unfaithfulness. Rewards become one of the great motives of the Christian’s life or should. But we need to understand the nature of these rewards to understand the nature of the motivation. Some people are troubled by the doctrine of rewards because this seems to suggest “merit” instead of “grace,” and because, it is pointed out, we should only serve the Lord out of love and for God’s glory.

Of course we should serve the Lord out of love and for God’s glory, and understanding the nature of rewards will help us do that. But the fact still remains that the Bible promises us rewards. God gives us salvation. It is a gift through faith, but He rewards us for good works. God graciously supplies the means by which we may serve Him. Indeed, He works in us both to will and to do as we volitionally appropriate His grace (Phil. 2:12-13), but the decision to serve, and the diligence employed in doing so, are our responsibility and our contribution and God sees this as rewardable.

The judgment seat of Christ, since it is only spoken of in this way in Paul’s epistles (It is referenced one other time by Paul in 2 Cor. 5:10), we must then conclude, as it says in this description, that it is a judgment of the works of individual members of the body of Christ, ((Romans 7:4; 1 Cor. 10:16; 12:27; Eph. 4:12)) the spiritual entity into which all believers in Christ are placed in the present dispensation of grace. (( Eph. 3:2)) Whenever Paul makes reference to “the church” in any of his 13 epistles, it is this spiritual, heavenly organism of which he speaks. ((also see the article on this site titled: “Ekklesia”))

Before we proceed with the answers to the other questions, allow me to address what I consider to be an error in most Protestant theology, that is, that the judgment of Matthew 25:31-46, aka, the “sheep and goats” judgment, is one and the same as Paul’s judgment seat of Christ.

While both judgments are done by the Lord Jesus Christ, they cannot be the same for the following reasons:

1. The Matthew 25 judgment is a judgment of nations, ((“and before him shall be gathered all nations”-vs. 32)) a corporate judgment of Gentile nations in existence during Israel’s “great tribulation” ((Matt. 24:21)) aka “Jacob’s trouble,” ((Jer. 30:7)) rather than the individual judgment of members of the body of Christ.

2. The Matthew 25 judgment pertains solely to whether or not these nations gave aid to “the least of these my brethren.” ((vs. 40)) Within the context of Matthew’s gospel, this must be speaking of “the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” to whom the Lord said he was sent, ((Ref. Matt. 15:24; Rev. 7:14)) and to whom he told his disciples to go. ((Matt. 10:5,6)) It is not about the church Paul referred to as the body of Christ.

3. Finally, the Matthew 25 judgment is a judgment that determines the eternal destination of these nations, based on their behavior towards the lost sheep of the house of Israel during their great tribulation. ((Many Christian Evangelicals believe this applies to the church and the nations in which it has a dominant presence. Therefore, there is a concerted effort among them to support the contemporary state of Israel in her never ending conflicts with her Arab/Muslim adversaries. ((I give my answer to this in two articles on this site: “What Price Israel?” and “Christian Zionism”)) On the contrary, TJSOC is unto eternal rewards, not eternal destination.

What will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ?

As it has already been stated, TJSOC is a judgment of what each and every member of Christ’s body did in the service of Christ while here on this earth. In other words, it is a judgment of the works of the believer in Christ, whether they be good or bad. Paul expounds on this in his first letter to the Corinthians:

According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. ((1 Cor 3:10-15))

Paul’s epistles are the “plan” from which we, as members of the body of Christ, are to build. If we do that, then we will be counted as a “workman that needeth not to be ashamed” ((2 Tim. 2:15)) when we give an accounting of ourselves at the judgment seat of Christ.

The foundation Paul laid down was Jesus Christ and him crucified. ((1 Cor 2:2)) No other foundation can anyone lay than this one. But once we are standing on this solid, immovable foundation, we are charged with erecting a building on it, and this building is the service we enter into for God, which Paul metaphorizes as equivalent to either things that are held in high esteem (gold, silver and precious stones), or things held in low esteem (wood, hay and stubble).

The good works that one does in the service of God, ((Rom. 12:1-3)) works which Paul says we are created unto, ((Eph. 2:10)) will produce the equivalent of gold, silver, and precious stones, earthly things that not only will abide the test of fire, but the fire will actually make them even more brilliant. Most likely, the crown Paul said he looks forward to receiving from the Lord at his appearing ((2 Tim. 4:8)) will be made with gold and silver and studded with precious stones. (( It should be noted here that gold and silver were always symbolic of God’s glory and righteousness, to wit, in excess of $100 million in the current valuation of the two metals was incorporated in the construction of the tabernacle in the wilderness and as well in the future heavenly Jerusalem that John saw descending from heaven. Ref Exd. 36 & 37; Rev. 21)) Conversely, earthly things like wood, hay and stubble, which symbolize vain works, will be burned up by the fire, leaving nothing but ashes behind.

When will TJSOC take place?

The “when” of TJSOC, as it says above will be “at his appearing.” That appearing for the body of Christ will be when the Lord descends from heaven to catch us out of here. ((1 Thess 4:13-18))

Finally, why we should take TJSOC very seriously.

Part of the answer to this was provided in the statement from Bible.org, i.e., out of our love for the Lord who saved us by His grace but in addition to that, Paul adds these warnings in 2 Cor. 5:11 and Col. 3:23-25:

Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences…. therefore….whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

The Lord said in the gospel of Matthew that you can’t serve God and mammon. ((Mat. 6:24)) In a sense, Paul is saying this in this passage from Colossians 3. In other words, if men demand of you to do something that is in violation of the commandments of God and/or your conscience, and you, for expedience sake, go along with them, whatever temporal gain you receive from doing so is going to pale against what it’s going to cost you at the JSOC.

All Scripture quotations are from the King James Bible. Please feel at liberty to freely publish this article as you see fit.

Printer friendly version

Posted by Mike Schroeder in