Judgment Seat of Christ

Q. Will Christians be judged in the great white throne judgment for their deeds?

A. Christians will be judged for their deeds, but not before the great white throne. The Bible is clear about the judgment of Christians:

• Rom 14:10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
• 2 Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
• Rev 2:23 And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

Paul was addressing the church in Rome and Corinth, and the Lord was talking to the church in Thyatira. In all these cases, they were speaking to Christians, not all people in general.

But notice Paul said we will all stand before the judgment seat of God/Christ, NOT the great white throne (Rev 20:11). Those who stand before the throne are the ones who will be raised in the second resurrection after the millennium and Satan’s revote (Rev 20:7-8). These do not have their names written in the book of life and shall be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 20:15). They are non-Christians.

We have looked at “Who” will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Let’s examine the “What, How, When, Where, and Why”. First, what will be judged before Christ’s judgment seat, and how? Although the term “judgment seat of God/Christ” does not appear in 1 Co 3, many scholars believe it to be Paul’s description of this judgment:

• 1 Co 3:10-15 ¹⁰ According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. ¹¹ For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ¹³ each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. ¹⁴ If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Note the following:

• What’s being judged is the quality, not quantity, of each man’s work, how he builds on the foundation of Jesus Christ, or how he has invested his life serving God and man.
• How? By fire, which could be literal or figurative of judgment (e.g., Heb 10:27; 2 Pet 3:7), or both.
• The work is divided into two categories based on the materials used: (1) that which will remain; and (2) that which will burn up. In other words, what’s important is whether it will endure under trial by fire.
• For the former, the worker will receive a reward. For the latter, the worker will suffer loss (of the reward), though he is still saved.

Second, when and where will this happen? There is no direct statement in either of the two direct passages. Some people believe it to be immediately after a person’s death:

• Heb 9:27 And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment.

Others deduce that it must be after the rapture because the dead in Christ won’t be raised until then. It must also be before the Millennium, as the martyrs will reign with Christ during that period.

• 1 Thes 4:15-17 For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 
• Rev 20:4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their foreheads and on their hands; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Third, why? Didn’t Christ pay the penalty for our sins already? He most certainly did:

• 1 Pet 3:18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.

However, the purpose of the judgment seat is not punishment for sins, but recompense for deeds in the body (2 Co 5:10). The question of whether a believer is saved is settled already:

• Rom 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus.

But Jesus Himself promised in:

• Mt 16:27For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every person according to his deeds.

This issue will be settled during the judgment seat of Christ. The fearful part is not a loss of salvation, but seeing one’s life work burn up because it is worthless and losing his/her reward:

• Rev 3:11 I am coming quickly; hold firmly to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

Make sure that does not happen to you:

• 1 Co 9:27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.