This is not about receiving forgiveness of sins or about receiving eternal life. Much like the parable of the minas that Jesus taught in Luke 19, Paul reveals to us that Christ will judge the works of His servants. What exactly should we expect at this judgment? This question is answered for us in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15. As Church Age believers, we will appear before the Lord Jesus Christ at His place of judgment. One of its functions was to be a place of judgment. Acts 18:12 instructs us that at the judgment seat government officials would rule over matters. It refers to a, “platform that required steps to ascend” (Arndt 175). Why is it referred to as the Judgment Seat of Christ? The words judgment seat actually come from one Greek word, which is the word βῆμα (bema). It is not for the Old Testament believers, for Tribulation saints, or for those believers living in the Millennial Reign of Christ. The Judgment Seat of Christ is only for believers living in the Church Age. Putting these pieces together we can safely determine that the Judgment Seat of Christ will take place after the Rapture of the Church and before the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the Tribulation. “When the bride returns with Christ at His second coming, she is clothed with the righteous deeds that have survived the examination of this judgment” (Ryrie 597). At the Marriage Supper of the Lamb the church will, “be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Rev. Revelation 19:8 also gives us another piece of the puzzle. Based on this, we can safely conclude that the Judgment Seat of Christ will take place after the Rapture of the Church. This is why the Lord testified, “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work” (Rev. We know from 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 that the Lord must come for His church before we can stand before Him. When does the Judgment Seat of Christ take place? We do not have a direct statement in the New Testament on the timing of the event. It is precisely for this reason that we must take a closer look at the specific details of this event. What did Paul mean that we each must give an account to the Lord? Not understanding the Judgment Seat of Christ can lead to needless confusion for Christians. This does, however, raise a significant question. This should motivate each Christian to examine their walk with Jesus Christ. Again we have this teaching that each believer in Christ will have to give an account to the Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ. For it is written: ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. The coming reality of the Judgment Seat of Christ caused Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to proclaim, “For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 5:10).Īs Paul wrote to the church at Rome he again found himself addressing this issue.

It is absolutely essential to remember, “This is not a judgment to determine whether we will enter heaven but one to determine to what extent He will reward us who enter heaven” (Constable 2 Cor. Paul is clear that part of our motivation to please the Lord is the very truth that we will all one day stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and give an account of our service 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” (2 Cor. “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. The next two verses shed some light on the Judgment Seat of Christ. In this dramatic section of teaching the Apostle Paul had just put forth the important lesson, in verses 6-8, that right now while we are home in our bodies we are not present with the Lord. I turn your attention to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. A very real part of the reason I continue to serve the Lord Jesus Christ is because I know that one day I will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. I draw great comfort and strength from knowing what is ahead in my future. This condition, in turn, has directed my attention towards my citizenship in the Kingdom of God. Most of my adult life I have been battling a rare genetic condition.

The bema judgment seat of christ