Who Stands Before The Judgment Seat of Christ?
Because You Asked Series | Sermon 30
The First Answer May Not Be the Right Answer
If you ask the average church-goer about the judgment seat of Christ, you will receive a little variety about when and where“standard evangelical answer" that every person who has ever lived (at least beyond an “age of accountability") will someday stand before Jesus Christ the judge and receive judgment for every act they ever did and every word they ever spoke.
If you ask them for Biblical proof, they can overload you with plenty. In fact, there are likely dozens of verses that “the Biblical basis for judgment." Wouldn't Ecclesiastes 12:14 be sufficient? Or what about Matthew 12:36? On top of that, wouldn't Acts 17:31 be enough to convince you? And this doesn't even begin to touch passages like Romans 2:16 or 14:10, 1 Corinthians 4:5, or 2 Corinthians 5:10?
“explain away," but this is a flood of verses, all speaking of a future judgment. What choice is there but to accept it?
The First Answer Does Have Its Challenges
“not so fast!" For there are a host of challenges with the standard view. These challenges cause the good student to question their assumptions (and that standard evangelical answer).
2 Corinthians 5:17 says that be in Christ, he is a new creature. Are you in Christ? If so, Romans 8:1 says that There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Since there is no condemnation, how can we apply the verses of the previous section to those of us described in Romans 8?
And Colossians 2:10 speaks of the believer as being complete in Christ. And verse 14 says that that which was against us Jesus took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.
Let's add to this the amazing truth of 2 Corinthians 5:19, which is the most phenomenal blessing of all the Bible as far as I'm concerned. If that isn't grand enough, move down to verse 21 we can be made the righteousness of God in him.
What do we do with these verses? They are simply incompatible with a future judgment in which those of us in Christ must report upon and be judged for every idle word (Matt. 12:36) and ultimately be judged for everything we have done, whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10)?
Since the author of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33), what do we do when we discover such strong Biblical support for judgment and such strong Biblical statements regarding freedom from our sin?
Our Bad Habit
Sadly, people are comfortable with the problems they are accustomed to. They do not want to change their mind, despite evidence. This is true in almost all areas of life, even when remedies introduce themselves.
World famous Baptist pastor John Piper says this about judgment-
*…—namely, to trust him and love him and obey him and display his excellence in the world. You will give an individual account to God.***
“the enemy you know is better than the enemy you do not know."Let's Let the Age Of Grace Be Filled With Grace!
When analyzed closely (as we should do with all Scripture), I am convinced that there is a judgment, but that the Body of Christ is already fully judged in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. When we are raptured, we will meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4:17).
I am convinced, therefore, that the judgment seat of Christ is not for the Body of Christ. And I am convinced that this is the only responsible conclusion we can make when we take the whole of Scripture (compare Col. 1:25).
As a matter of fact, we can create a Biblically responsible doctrine of judgment without compromising either the passages we previously looked at or our need for righteous living.
When we scrutinize the judgment passages, almost all of them are easily recognized as not part of our dispensation, thus not part of the Body of Christ. Add to this the works that are either inherent in the passages or explicit, and one has a real problem associating them with those who are complete in Christ. For example, we considered Matthew 12:36, but simply by including verse 37 we see that we create an impossible scenario if we introduce verse 36 as our doctrine.
“but our judgment is for rewards, not salvation." This solution is short-sighted, for it still has confrontation with “total grace" passages like Ephesians 2:8-9 and “completeness in Christ" passages like Colossians 2:10“rewards" judgment at all. Consider, for example, 2 Corinthians 5:10. “rewards only."
The only way to solve this problem is to be rightly dividing the word of truth, as we are instructed in 2 Timothy 2:15. When we separate the Body of Christ (that which pertains to mystery) from the remainder of the world (that which pertains to prophecy), then the Word harmonizes.
