10 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.
For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
The “we” includes Paul and all Christians. This judgment does not involve non-Christians.
PRINCIPLE:
The judgment seat of God is for believers only.
APPLICATION:
One day Christians will stand before their Lord to give account of the stewardship of their entire lives. We take nothing to the judgment seat except what we have done in the filling of the Spirit. We stand or fall on what we have done with our lifetime.
This judgment is for believers only. It will not be a time of intense sorrow where Christ will display all of the sins we committed throughout our entire lives. If this were true, then fundamental to this belief is that Christians will pay for their sins at this judgment. However, the Bible never says that Christians will pay for their sins. The reason is that Jesus paid for all of our sins—past, present, and future. Because He paid for our sins, we will not pay for our sins at this judgment. There will be no shame or regret at this inquest. The believer was declared righteous before God at salvation. Jesus bore all God’s wrath toward the sinner in Christ, so there is no need for any further punishment of his sins.
Having said that, each Christian must give account of his life before God. Everything done in the energy of the flesh will constitute loss of reward. Everything done under the control of the Spirit will receive reward.
It is important to recognize that the judgment seat of Christ is not for unbelievers. This is a place strictly for reward. God will appraise the Christian to reward him like the judge in ancient games meted out reward for success.
If God were to require believers to suffer for their sins at the judgment seat, then He by inference would require two sufferings for the same sin. Christ would suffer for our sins and then we would suffer for our sins. That is an unjust double jeopardy requiring two sufferings for the same sin. Such an idea disparages the finished and all-sufficient work of Jesus on the cross for our sins.
Jn 5:24, “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.
Ro 8:1, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,
The judgment seat of God is not a judgment for non-believers but strictly for believers, and so the issue is not our eternal salvation but what we have done for Him in time. There is no retribution in this judgment but simply an evaluation of what is rewardable in our lives.
The Christian will never be penalized for his sin, because Jesus paid for all sin of all time. The judgment seat of God is strictly for reward, not punishment or eternal death. It is an accounting for what we did with our life on earth.
1 Co 3:13-15, 13 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. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
