In which our regular writers toss around
subjects a little more volatile than usual.
Tom: As we discussed last week, Immanuel Can,
the Bible teaches there is both a general judgment of sinners and a separate,
distinct judgment of Christians. That division was not clearly traced in our
Old Testaments, and most Jews know next to nothing of it.
But it’s there in our New Testaments, and getting rid of it involves ripping out whole
pages of Paul’s epistles.
Immanuel Can: Lay it out for us, Tom: what’s the difference?
The Judgment of the World
Tom: The judgment of the world is a truth we find traces of throughout all of scripture, but not in
great detail until the New Testament. Still, even Old Testament saints were conscious
that God would hold men accountable beyond this life in some way.
IC: What are you thinking of?
Tom: The first example that comes to mind is the Lord telling Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.” Moses, a believer, had volunteered to have his name blotted out on behalf of his people, and God rejected the offer. That may be our first hint
that believers have no place in that particular judgment.
IC: And later?
Tom: After Moses, we
have a mention of judgment in Daniel 12, but it’s more like a quickie synopsis than anything explicit. It’s really
Revelation 20:12-15 that describes the judgment of the dead at the Great
White Throne, a judgment which results in those whose names are not written in
the book of life being thrown in the lake of fire. It’s the tropes related
to this first judgment that most people are familiar with.
IC: So these OT passages speak of a judgment of the wicked and something different for the righteous,
but do not actually tell us what that “something” is?
Tom: Correct.
Technically what God’s nature precludes, per Abraham, is the judgment of
righteous and wicked together, as if
they were all the same. We get the message that both will be judged, but not in
the same way, and not together.
The Judgment of the Church
The actual nature of that judgment of believers is only revealed in detail in four places
in the New Testament: Romans 14:10-12; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15;
1 Corinthians 4:1-5; and 2 Corinthians 5:9-10. All four come
from the pen of the apostle Paul, and all are new revelation. Because details
about the Church are not explicitly laid out in the Old Testament, that
shouldn’t come as a surprise.
IC: No, because there
was no Church. The Church began at Pentecost. So noted.
Tom: A quick read of
those four NT passages shows this particular judgment: (a) applies
exclusively to believers, not the unsaved; (b) is a judgment of
stewardship while serving Christ in the body; and (c) is intended to
display the character and work of the God’s servants for the purpose of reward.
Ideally, believers will “receive commendation” for the things done in the body.
At worst they will be “saved as if by fire”. Heaven and hell are not in view at all in this second judgment.
Thronos and Bema
IC: So the judgment
to which Christians go is about how much reward we will get, not about whether
or not God loves us or will accept us. The scriptures call this the “Judgment
Seat of Christ” and the “Judgment Seat of God”, in contrast to the Great White
Throne of Revelation 20.
Tom: Right, and two
different Greek words are used. Both can mean “throne”,
but the word for judgment seat in Romans and Corinthians is bema, a word which bears the additional
meaning of a rostrum from which games may be viewed and awards given. Now
doctrines don’t generally turn on a single word, but it’s interesting that the
meanings of the two words used are consistent with the stated intention of the
two judgments.
IC: Okay. Now, if we
can’t lose our salvation, and if the judgment for Christians is all about
deciding what our lives have been worth to God, what’s the value of knowing
that judgment’s coming? Some people might think it’s a case of que
sera sera.
Tom: Some may, true. But if we are truly disciples of Jesus Christ and not
merely church attendees, it is going to matter to us that the world will
be judged. For Abraham, it wasn’t enough that he would escape the judgment of
Sodom and Gomorrah, he wanted Lot out too. That’s the spirit of genuine faith.
It thinks like God does about these things. And I suspect (though I can’t
prove) that God shared with Abraham the revelation that he was about to destroy
Sodom precisely in order to draw out of Abraham his sympathies for those
condemned in the judgment, sympathies which were akin to God’s own.
The Judgment Seat and Your Life
IC: Well put. That describes our attitude to the lost. But how should
the recognition of the Judgment Seat impinge on our own lives as Christians?
Tom: Well, the apostle Paul seemed to take the prospect of the Judgment
Seat very seriously indeed. In Romans, he says we should avoid passing judgment
on our brothers in Christ because “each will give an account of himself to
God”. In 1 Corinthians, he says both “reward” and “loss”
are at stake at the Judgment Seat. Does any real Christians want to appear
before his Lord and Savior with nothing to show for his life? Later he adds
that the Judgment will “disclose the purposes of the heart”. I can’t tell you whether that means “disclose to you and God” or “disclose to
all believers present”, but either way, it is clear there will be no secrets
when the Lord judges his own. Finally, in 2 Corinthians, he says each one will receive “what is due for what he
has done in the body, whether good or evil”.
I can’t tell you what that means either,
other than that I do not want to deal with God flippantly or in a rebellious
way. That seems an exceedingly dangerous mode of thinking to entertain.
IC: Perhaps not
“dangerous” to one’s salvation, provided you have the faith … but that’s
awfully hard to show, as James says, if you don’t do the works. I remember
hearing a preacher talking about the Judgment Seat, and he made the best
comment I’ve heard on it. He asked, “Is someone who has done nothing for Christ
actually saved?”
There
was a moment’s pause and silence.
He said, “Here’s the answer: I don’t know — and neither does he.”
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