art azurdia on the judgment seat of christ

In fact, reward is commonly given as a motivation to be faithful in Scripture. In Luke 19:17-19, Christ describes his rewarding of those who are faithful.Īnd the king said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, you will have authority over ten cities.’ Then the second one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has made five minas.’ So the king said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’īecause of the sobering reality of being judged, we should be encouraged, even more so, to be faithful to God. The parable of the minas in Luke 19 demonstrates this. For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.įor those who follow Christ but live disobedient lives and teach others to do so, they will be called “least in the kingdom.” But for those who obey God’s Word and teach others to do so, they will be called “great in God’s kingdom.” This clearly demonstrates that in heaven, there will be degrees of reward. So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. They will receive no rewards because their life was not lived to glorify Christ and serve others it was lived primarily for themselves and the world. Consequently, some believers will go before the judgment seat of Christ and it will be like escaping the flames. But for the low-quality works-primarily done out of selfishness and pride-there will be a loss of reward. The high-quality works-no doubt meant to glorify Christ and edify others-will be rewarded. Christ’s testing is compared to fire-the fire will destroy anything that is not of high quality. Some works will be proven to be of low quality, like wood, hay, or straw, while others will be proven to be high quality, like gold, silver, and precious stones. He himself will be saved, but only as through fire.Īt the judgment seat of Christ, our works will be surveyed. If someone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss. If what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward. And the fire will test what kind of work each has done.

If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, each builder’s work will be plainly seen, for the Day will make it clear, because it will be revealed by fire. For no one can lay any foundation other than what is being laid, which is Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 3:12-15, Paul said this about how we build upon Christ’s church:Īnd each one must be careful how he builds. Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” At the judgment seat of Christ, there will only be reward or loss of reward. All our sins were paid for on the cross by Christ. Likewise, for believers, we will not be condemned for our sins at the judgment seat of Christ. It was not a seat where people were condemned it was only a place where people were rewarded. After the contest, the winners would assemble before the judge and receive their rewards or crowns.

Judgment seat comes from the Greek word “bema.” It referred to an elevated seat where the judge of a contest sat. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God.” Therefore, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Second Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.” Also, Romans 14:10-11 says,īut you who eat vegetables only-why do you judge your brother or sister? And you who eat everything-why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. What is the judgment seat of Christ? The judgment seat of Christ is the place where Christ rewards believers for their faithfulness on earth.

Art azurdia on the judgment seat of christ