![]() The “us” in Romans, contextually is referring to the Church, likewise, Paul states to the Church of Corinth that we all must appear before the judgement (Bema) seat of Christ to be judged according to what we did “while in the body.” The Judgment Seat of Christ involves believers giving an account of their regenerated lives to Christ.Īt the Judgment Seat of Christ, believers will be rewarded based on how faithfully we served Christ. It is clear that each of the passages above are referring to Christians, not unbelievers. “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” “For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. ![]() However, the judgement seat of Christ is a specific judgement for New Testament Saints that have been washed clean by the precious blood of Christ and have been placed on mission to advance the gospel and live according to God’s law which is written on our hearts.Īgain, just to be clear, the judgement seat of Christ is not to assess whether or not we are saved, but how we will be rewarded for our commitment to gospel-centered living. Under the new popular (not new historically) approach to the general judgement theory the final judgement would simply be the last assessment as to whether or not one is redeemed and will enter into the eternal state with God or be cast into the lake of fire. The answer is: to assess how we lived under the justifying grace of God. With this biblical reality stated the question truly becomes: what is the purpose of a Christian judgement? As Christians our sins have already been punished and dealt with in Christ. However, it is not a pass or fail judgement by which we simply move along into glory due to the unmerited favor of God. So the question before us is not simply will Christians be judged? The unequivocal answer to that is yes. The purpose is to live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. The goal of this short blog is not to give a thorough study of the Judgment seat of Christ, but to demonstrate quickly that there is such a judgement solely for Christ-followers and that it ought to motivate us to live out our salvation with fear and trembling. In other words, rather than see the Judgement Seat of Christ (the Bema seat) and the Great White Throne Judgments as separate events (one for believers and one for nonbelievers), most collapse them together into one final judgment for both the righteous and the wicked. This is exactly why I have chosen to write this month’s blog post on, “ The Judgement Seat of Christ: What No One Seems to be Discussing.”Īs a means of adhering to a more universal understanding of the eschatological judgements mentioned in Scripture, most churches (based on website doctrinal statements) seem to affirm the general judgement theory. God demands that we live Holy lives and while it is true that our sins are completely washed away it is important for believers to know that we will still be judged for how we lived under the grace that God has extended to us. Too many Christians have been stunted in their growth as a result of a lackadaisical approach to Christian living. In other words, many have inappropriately made it seem as if our responsibility to obey Christ is not nearly as important as our ability to rest in the fact that God has done all the work of regenerating and justifying us. Biblical truths that seem to rally Christians together are ones like: “I am saved by grace through faith” and “I am eternally secure in Christ.” While these are both accurate and wonderful realities for the genuine Christ-follower, these same biblically derived statements also have been misused in a way that seems to justify one’s lack of spiritual growth.
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