We Must All Be Judged

Hebrews 9:27 tells us, “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgment.” That thought terrifies us. But, why? What are the reasons we would fear standing before God in judgment? Either we fear God will punish us because of our sin, or we fear our works are inadequate to please God. Yet, as believers, we can have confidence in both those situations.

What about the first situation? Do we need to fear punishment for sin? For a believer, that’s already happened. Romans 6:23 tells us, “The wages of sin is death,” so Christ suffered death for us on the cross. The punishment has already been paid. Hebrews 2:9 says that Christ tasted death for every man. We sinned and deserved death, so Christ died in our place. Isaiah 53:6 says, “And the Lord has laid on Him (on Jesus) the iniquity of us all.” Only those who reject Christ’s substitutionary death still face God’s wrath.

There is nothing to fear for a believer when it comes to punishment over sin. For believers, Romans 8:1 tells us: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” You, as a believer, are in Christ Jesus. There is therefore no condemnation for you.

Also, there’s John 5:24, where Jesus emphasized:
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”

No believer will stand before God to be judged for his sin – no believer - because that has already happened. We do not need to fear.

Only unbelievers stand before the Great White Throne Judgment at the end of the millennium. Only unbelievers will ever hear Jesus say these words of Matthew 25:41, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

No, sin won’t be an issue for a believer. We have God’s promise on that. Isaiah 43:25 says this: “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.” When God forgives, he forgets, unlike us.

But, what about the second reason to fear: The adequacy of our works?
Doesn’t Paul tell us this in 2nd Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ?” Shouldn’t we fear that? I mean, if we mess up now, aren’t we going to have to pay the piper later? Like those times we have a golden opportunity to witness and we chicken out; or the times we know someone is in need, and we look the other way? How often do we let other priorities rob us of our time with God? Or rob us of our time serving Him? So those fears are justified for some. And you know who you are who are letting things come between you and God.

So, yes, the Judgment Seat of Christ is for believers. 2nd Corinthians 5:8-11 says, “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.

In spite of impending judgment, Paul says we should be exhibiting confident anticipation. Once we leave these bodies, we will be in the very presence of the Lord. That thought should bring joy, not fear.
But it should focus us. Knowing we will be with Him should make it our aim to please Him. Isn’t it every child’s desire to please their Father? This isn’t “accepted” as in the KJV says in verse 9. We are “accepted” in Christ, never on our own merit, but only on Christ’s. But we may not all please Him by our actions.

And yes, we will all have to stand and give an account, according to verse 10. This is universal, for all believers, with no escape. We’ll be judged by whether what we’ve done is “good or bad.” But the bad isn’t sinful, not in this case. Our sins have been erased, forgotten. These works judged bad are worthless, inconsequential, not having accomplished anything for eternity. What we do on this earth will be judged. Therefore, terror can be real and justified.

But what happens at the judgment of a believer? 1st Corinthians 3:11-15 explains:
“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Jesus is the foundation of the church, therefore our foundation is perfect. But we are left to build on that foundation. What will we build?

Now, is there anything wrong with wood? Hay? Straw? No, not at all! But they are flammable. They aren’t sin. they aren’t evil. Jesus judged all that on the cross.
They just don’t have much value by comparison. They have no eternal value. They are worthless in heaven. Plus, since they are flammable, they can’t survive testing by fire.

Which ones abide? The gold, silver, and precious stones do. They aren’t flammable, so they can stand the testing by fire. They have eternal value so they are the ones will be rewarded in heaven. If we have nothing of value to show for our life, we will lose the rewards Jesus planned to give us. It’s the rewards of verse 14 that are lost in verse 15, not a loss of salvation.

Putting this into perspective, the whole purpose of a believer’s judgment is to assign rewards. This was called the judgment seat in the translation of 2nd Corinthians 5:10, but that translation almost makes it seem negative. The Greek word is bema, and it’s not at all negative.

Listen to John MacArthur describe it:
“Outside Corinth was a large Olympic stadium where athletes from all over Greece would assemble periodically to compete in the Greek Olympic Games. In the midst of the stadium there was a raised platform – a platform of prominence, honor, and dignity. This platform was called the bema. The winner of the contest would be led to the bema where he would ascend the steps. When the victor reached the platform, an honored leading citizen would take an oak-leaf cluster, a laurel wreath, or a garland, and place it on him as a symbol of his triumph.”

That’s it, that’s the real flavor of this. The Judgment Seat of Christ is not a place to punish sin - Christ already took the punishment on our behalf - but it’s a place where we’re honored and rewarded.