Toward a Better Understanding of the Judgment and Discipline / 1
Lesson 2: Toward a Better Understanding of The Judgment Seat of Christ
REVIEW
I. FOUNDATIONAL TRUTHS: What does the New Covenant say about our sin?
A. Jesus takes away our sin.
John 1:29[1]
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Hebrews 10:10
By this will we have beensanctified throughthe offering ofthe body of Jesus Christonce for all.
Hebrews 10:12
But He, having offered one sacrificefor sinsfor all time, sat down at the right hand of God
Hebrews 10:14
For by one offering He hasperfectedfor all time those who are sanctified.
B. Our sins are continually cleansed by His blood.
1 John 1:7
If we walk in the Light asHe Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, andthe blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
C. We are forgiven for past present and future sins.
Ephesians 1:7-8
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according tothe riches of His grace8which He lavished onus.
Colossians 1:14
In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
D. God is not imputing our sins to us.
Romans 4:8
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.
E. God has covenanted with us to never again remember our sins.
Hebrews 10:16-17
“Thisisthe covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”17then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
II. What does the New Covenant say about the believer and God’s wrath and judgment?
A. We are free from the wrath of God.
Romans 5:9-10
Much more then, having now been justifiedby His blood, we shall be saved from the wrathof Godthrough Him.10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be savedby His life.
B. We will not come into judgment.
John 5:24
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but haspassed out of death into life.
C. We have everlasting life, will not perish, and are not condemned.
John 3:16-18
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.18“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
D. We can know for a certainty that we have eternal life.
I John 5:10-13
He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.11And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.12He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.13These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life,and that you maycontinue tobelieve in the name of the Son of God.
Verse 13 Wuest Expanded Translation
These things I write to you in order that you may know with an absolute knowledge that life you are having, eternal (life), to you who believe on the name of the Son of God.
Verse 13 Amplified
I write this to you who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) the name of the Son of God [inthe peculiar services and blessings conferred by Him on men], so that you may know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that you [already] have life,yes, eternal life.
III. How we interpret passages must be based on solid principles.
A. We must rightly divide the Word.
2 Corinthians 2:2
But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
2 Timothy 2:15
Studyandbe eageranddo your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzingand accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.
B. We must interpret New Testament passages based on the clear teachings of the New Covenant.
Hebrews 1:1
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,2has in these last days spoken to us byHisSon, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.
IV. The Rapture of the Church
V. Most eschatologists agree that the Judgment Seat of Christ will happen immediately after the Rapture of the Church. So, we will briefly show that all those who believe in Jesus will be raptured, not just a few super-saints.
A. What is the Rapture (Our Blessed Hope)
The Rapture[2] is an event that will happen at any moment in which the Lord will come down from heaven in order to receive His own. The bodies of those now dead who believed in Jesus will come out from where they are and be raised. Immediately thereafter, we who are alive in Christ will be caught up off the earth to meet them and the Lord in the air and will forever be with Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-17
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
B. We, all believers, will be raptured. None will be “left behind”.
1 Corinthians 15:50-57
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
C. We are overcomers through faith in Jesus.
1 John 5:4-5
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.5Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
D. Believers will not face the wrath of God. We are comforted by His coming.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
VI. There are four main judgments revealed in Scripture.
A. Judgment Seat of Christ (discussed in this lesson)
B. Judgment of Israel (This is also known as “Jacob’s Trouble”-during the Great Tribulation. This judgment will be followed by Israel’s repentance toward God through Jesus Christ. See Zec. 12:9 through Zec. 13.)
C. Judgment of angels (There are no details about this judgment, only that we will judge them. See 1 Cor.6:3.)
D. Great White Throne Judgment (of the non-believing dead: Rev. 20:11-15)
VII. Those who do not believe in Jesus are judged before the Great White Throne Judgment.
A. The Great White Throne Judgment will be for those who were not included in the Rapture, those who died during the Tribulation, those who died during the millennium, and those who died in the Last Battle.
Revelation 20:11-15
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
B. Even though Jesus died for the sins of the whole world (1 Jn. 2:2), and even though He extends reconciliation to the whole world (2 Cor. 5:19-20), only those who believe in Him receiving this reconciliation and forgiveness will be saved.
John 3:17-18
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.19And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.21But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
John 6:28-29
Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29Jesus answered and said to them,“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
John 8:24 Amplified
That is why I told you that you will die in (under the curse of) your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He [Whom I claim to be—if you do not adhere to, trust in, and rely on Me], you will die in your sins.
VIII. The Judgment Seat of Christ is for all believers.
Romans 14:10
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.
A. The Bema Seat of Christ
1. The Bema judgment was a place of judgment for wrong-doing.
John 19:13
When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat (bema) in a place that is calledThePavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
2. The Bema judgment was also a place of reward.
The concept of the Bema Seat comes from the ancient Olympics, where a judge would sit on the Bema Seat at the finish line. The judge's purpose was to determine what position the runners came in-first, second, and so on-and then to give out the appropriate rewards. That is the imagery behind what is known as the Bema Seat.-AllAboutGod.com
2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment (bema) seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
MOUNCE
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be repaid according to what he has done[3] while in the body, whether good or bad.
IX. THE BIG QUESTION
We understand and readily accept that there will be rewards given at the Judgment Seat of Christ, but if we are forgiven and He’s not holding our sins against us (and we are and He isn’t), then what are the “good and bad” things for which we will give an account?
First of all, this verse does not negate our understanding that our sins were completely dealt with at the cross and that He remembers them no more.[4] We must also keep in mind that Jesus said that those who believe will not come into judgment (which means that we will not go to hell.)