This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.
One day, every person is resurrected and summoned before Christ in final judgment. While salvation is a gift of God, received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, our lifestyles reflect our beliefs. That is, our words and deeds reveal our citizenship, either in the kingdom of God or in the domain of the evil one.
Put another way, our works count for something. Heaven is not the same for every believer, nor do all those who reject Christ experience hell identically. Our final, personal, individual judgment before Christ is his way, as the righteous judge, of setting things right for eternity.
Our short stay on earth is a dress rehearsal for life beyond the grave. One day, we all stand before Jesus to give an account of what we did with the gospel, as well as our time, talents, opportunities, and other gifts God has entrusted to us. This results in varying degrees of reward for believers, and varying degrees of punishment for unbelievers.
Followers of Jesus stand in a different judgment than those who reject Christ. Paul tells us that Christians are summoned to the judgment seat of Christ (Rom. 14:10-12; 2 Cor. 5:10). At the same time, John is given a glimpse of the great white throne, upon which Jesus sits to judge those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev. 20:11-15).
The judgment seat of Christ
The judgment seat of Christ is where Christians, and perhaps believers of all eras, stand before Jesus to receive his evaluation of our lives. The result is everlasting reward, in greater or lesser degrees, based on our faithfulness to walk the path of good works God set for us in eternity past (Eph. 2:10). Paul writes about this judgment in several places, including 2 Corinthians 5:10 – “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
The Greek word translated “judgment seat” is bema, a bench or platform from which public or judicial pronouncements are made. Pilate sits on the bema (Matt. 27:19; John 19:13), as do Herod (Acts 12:21 – “throne”) and Gallio (Acts 18:12-17 – “tribunal”). Paul does not specify the exact time of this judgment. However, it’s reasonable to conclude that it’s tied to our resurrection, rather than to our death, so that the full impact of our earthly lives – an impact that continues after our departure from earth – may be fully evaluated and rewarded.
This judgment does not determine a believer’s eternal destiny, for that is fixed on this side of death with his or her decision to trust in Christ. Rather, the bema judgment is where Christ rewards his followers based on how faithfully they manage the time, talents, spiritual gifts, and other good things they are given. All Christians are winners. Jesus has secured our eternal lives through his finished work on the cross. But not every Christian is rewarded equally.
Jesus urges his followers to lay up treasure in heaven, where it is kept safe and endures (Matt. 6:20). Paul informs us that our works of faithfulness – which he likens to gold, silver, and precious stones – are refined in the fires of judgment and emerge purified (1 Cor. 3:11-15). And in the Book of Revelation, Jesus reminds us that our faithfulness is rewarded (Rev. 2:23; 22:12).
The great white throne
The great white throne, described in Revelation 20:11-15, is unique among the thrones of God in Scripture. It stands alone. It offers no hope, grace, or mercy. It calls no one to repentance. It prompts no one to sing. It fulfills no covenant promises. It surrounds itself with no rainbows, flaming torches, seas of glass, or heavenly creatures.
It is perhaps the most solemn image of God’s throne in the Bible, for it depicts the time and place where Christ – the creator, redeemer, and judge – meets face-to-face with the wicked, who must now give an account of their lives. It is the last stop on the road to hell.
As unbelievers stand before this throne – alone, without a defense, and with no escape – John notes that “books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books” (Rev. 20:12).
God keeps a record of our lives and holds us accountable for how we manage the time, talents, relationships, and other gifts he has entrusted to us. He knows our thoughts, which form the action plans for good and evil deeds (Matt. 5:27-28). He hears our words, which reveal the true nature of our hearts and for which we must give an account (Matt. 12:33-37).
In various places, the Bible depicts God’s record of our lives as contained in heavenly books. No person escapes the creator’s interest or avoids a day of reckoning with him, as Joseph Seiss comments:
Myriads of human beings have lived and died of whom the world knows nothing; but the lives they lived, the deeds they wrought, the thoughts and tempers they indulged, still stand written where the memory of them cannot perish. Not a human being has ever breathed earth’s atmosphere whose career is not traced at full length in the books of eternity.
The books that record the unbelievers’ deeds are opened to show them at least two truths: the full extent of their lifelong wickedness, and the failure of their good deeds to earn God’s favor.
Next: Glorification of the saints