The Judgments

There are several judgments to be considered and we must be careful not to confuse them, as they occur at different times, involve different people, and have differing purposes.

The judgment of the Church

The Church’s judgment (1 Cor. 3:10-17; 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:10-12) is sometimes referred to as the “bema seat” [Gr. bema = the place at which a tribunal is held]. Since this judgment cannot take place prior to the rapture of the Church and would certainly seem to precede the marriage of the Church to Christ, it would appear that it must occur in Heaven shortly after the rapture. This is not a judgment to determine one’s eternal destiny, but rather an examination of one’s stewardship of the gifts, abilities, and opportunities given each church-age believer by God (1 Cor. 3:14). Paul issues this general, yet sober warning:

[Rom. 14:10-12] …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.

The outcome of this judgment will be rewards or the lack thereof. Paul says in 1 Corinthians,

[3:10-15] By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

Because of the emphasis usually placed on forgiveness in the New Testament, Christians sometimes fail to consider that the saved will be judged. Even though the issue will be faithfulness, rather than eternal salvation, nevertheless to the one who considers this it ought to be a sobering thought. Many believers refuse to think about this because they naively assume that in Heaven everyone will be equal and that rewards are simply going to be returned to God anyway, so it makes little difference how much reward one receives. Such thinking is grossly unbiblical. Paul is very clear that those who have no reward will be saved, but “so as by fire.” The picture is that of a person who escapes from a burning building with nothing but his life. Paul says, “he will suffer loss.” As to the notion that rewards will be returned to Christ, that too is unbiblical. This notion is based upon an erroneous interpretation of Revelation 4:10. (That the twelve elders pictured there represent the Church is highly conjectural; and besides, it does not say they “give up” their rewards, only that as often as the living creatures described in vv.8-9 give glory to God, these elders will place their crowns before the throne of God.) To be sure, everyone who receives a reward in Heaven will be fully aware that they could have done nothing apart from divine enabling; nevertheless, these are eternal rewards, and to suggest that somehow they will not matter in Heaven is to disparage the way in which God has chosen to deal with His people. As to everyone being of equal status in Heaven, that too is unbiblical. In Matthew 20:20‑23 we read where the mother of James and John came with her sons and asked Jesus to issue a command that in His kingdom one of these two men would sit on Jesus’ right, and the other on His left. Notice that Jesus did not respond by telling her that in the kingdom there are no such places of honor, He simply said, those positions are for “those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

Other judgments of believers

While no other judgments of believers are specifically referred to within the framework of future prophecy, it would seem to be consistent with the general principles of Scripture that every redeemed person will at some time give an account of himself before God. After all, if each believer is to be rewarded, each believer’s life must be examined. We may suppose some sort of judgment for the Old Testament and tribulation saints, as well as those saved during the millennium, though when these judgments take place is not stated in Scripture.

The judgment of the nations

The judgment of the nations occurs during the interlude between the tribulation and the millennium (Matt. 25:31-46 cf. Lk. 13:22-28). The purpose of this judgment is to determine who is qualified, by way of redemption, to enter into the millennial kingdom. Since the redeemed and the unredeemed will be gathered into their respective groups by the angels at the second coming (Matt. 13:29,40,47-49; 24:31), it will not be necessary to examine each individual to see into which category they fall. Only the redeemed will be allowed to enter the kingdom; the unredeemed will be banished to Hades (Sheol) to await their final judgment and ultimate consignment to the Lake of Fire (Hell).

The final judgment of the unredeemed

The final judgment of the unrighteous will take place in eternity, after the present heavens and earth have been dissolved, but before the new heavens and earth are created. At this judgment the unredeemed people from all human history will stand before God to be judged. This is sometimes referred to as “the great white throne judgment” (cf. Rev. 20:11‑15). The proceedings are geared toward demonstrating two facts: 1) that the subject is a sinner deserving of eternal damnation, and 2) that the sinner is not redeemed and is therefore liable for his own punishment. In order to make these determinations two sets of books will be consulted. In one set of books are recorded the deeds of each person. In the other book—the Book of Life— are recorded the names of all the redeemed. This judgment is somewhat of a formality, since every person present is both a sinner and unsaved. Nevertheless, the evidence presented at this judgment will demonstrate the righteousness of God’s sentence upon the unredeemed, and the degree of their eternal punishment.

Published at: http://prophecy.biblicalreader.com

Adapted from What the Bible Says About the Future

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