![]() At issue will be, was what we did good, or good for nothing? Our Materials It will be a personal review, one-on-one with Christ. Every one of us will appear, as though turned inside out and seen as they truly are, with all veneer stripped away. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that every one may receive (back) the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2Cor 5:9-10). “Everyone will have praise of God,” for what is for Him has eternal reward. Full account will be given of those secrets and hidden motives. The Lord knows the things hidden in darkness He knows the inner motives of our hearts. There is an obvious conflict of interest. Paul states earlier that he is not competent to properly judge his own motives. “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God”(1Cor 4:5). He sits and we stand, humbly and helpless to change anything, as He examines how we dared to eagerly intrude into His jurisdiction and trampled over His prerogative to be the Judge. “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living” (Rom 14:9). We dare not usurp the Christ of God’s own role as judge that is not our territory. ![]() ![]() “We shall give account to God,” not me to you, or you to me. Applying labels of being “unprincipled” on one hand or “narrow minded” on the other, are not helpful. It is not our prerogative to criticize or hold in contempt those that view inconsequential matters differently from us. We will be examined as to how we thought of others and how we treated them. These matters were inconsequential but were causing difficulties among the saints. The context shows Paul is dealing with issues that were sensitive to some, relating to eating certain foods and keeping certain days. “Why do you judge your brother or despise your brother, for we shall all stand before the Judgment seat of Christ/God” (Rom 14:10). At the bema, I will be judged for the degree of faithfulness as a servant of the Lord. In daily discipline I am judged as a son in God’s family. He is deeply interested in my personal testimony which will be examined for what it really is in His sight.Īt Calvary, I was judged as a sinner in Adam. At the bema, it will be the Lord Jesus Christ who scrutinizes my service. In every day experience, it is a loving Father dealing with me in discipline. At Calvary it was a Holy God who dealt with my sin. Who is present at the bema?Įvery judgment has its judge. But the Judgment Seat of Christ is future and is in relation to our life of service, “the things done in the body” (2Cor 5:10). Discipline may also be preventative, to preserve us from further failure or falling. This is not necessarily punitive, but may be formative so we may be “partakers of His Holiness” (Heb12:10). Presently, we may be subject to a judgment of discipline from our heavenly Father. What is the nature of judgment at the bema?Īs a believer my sins were judged in the past at Calvary and will never again be brought into account (John 5:24 Rom 8:1). The judgment seat of Christ is mentioned twice in the epistles – to the saints at Rome (Rom 14:10 ) and to Corinthians (2Cor 5:10), who were well acquainted with it. Paul was brought before Gallio who was sitting on a bema, the official judgment seat (Acts 18:12). Originally a step or a raised place mounted by steps, it was the official seat of a judge. The judgment seat or bema was a well known concept in ancient Rome. We will then, as well, be called to account. His shout “come up my love my fair one and come away,” brings “the up-calling of God in Christ Jesus” to its fullness and we are raptured home. As Christians we have been “called out of darkness into His marvelous light.” The world grows darker, and at any moment the Lord may come to the air.
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