Paul Declares the Judgment Seat of Christ for all
Believers
2
Corinthians 5:9-11 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or
absent, to be pleasing to Him. 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. Therefore, knowing the fear
of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that
we are made manifest also in your consciences. NKJV
Paul now then having detailed this blessed assurance
we have “in Christ” knowing that when we are made absent from our bodies we
will instantly be with Him, Paul introduces this most logical conclusion to
this truth by declaring our aim, objective, and ultimate goal should be by
visible action to labor or philotimeomai
meaning to be fond of honor and to love honor and to be ambitious and earnestly
striving and studying to make ourselves and our lives well pleasing to our
Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ. We should have the mind set of
visualizing our Lord Jesus calling us by name as He hangs naked on that filthy
Cross making payment for our sins every time we sin against Him in word,
thought, or deed and this should move us to repentance and turning away from
what caused Him so much pain and suffering which He did not deserve but took on
because of His great love for each one of us. The Apostle Peter reminded those
early saints this very same thing when he wrote these words to them, “But according to His promise we are
looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore,
beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in
peace, spotless and blameless” (2 Peter 3:13-14).
Surely our love for our Lord Jesus should motivate
this labor or philotimeomai but Paul
now declares the number one reason we should be ambitious to please Him is
because each one of us (His children) will appear or present ourselves formally
before Him as one would do now before a human judge in a court of law. However,
our appearance before Christ Judgment Seat will not be to determine whether we
are guilty or innocent, saved or lost but instead it will be a full, piercing,
thorough, and complete review of all we have done in this tent or body since
the day we received Christ as Lord and Savior, the day of our new birth. Most
of us dismiss this judgment seat as merely a time of receiving our rewards for
our service in witness, giving, encouraging, teaching, etc. but it will be a
time of great disappointment for many of us as we are confronted with all of
the missed opportunities, all of our obstinacy, all of our besetting sins, all the
times of our fear rather than faith, and all the times we limited the Spirit’s
work in us and through us. The Apostle Peter put it this way when he wrote to
the scattered believers during his time, “Make
sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a
troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to
be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. For it is time for
judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us
first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of
God? And if it is with difficulty
that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?”
(1 Peter 4:15-18).
This will be the time for accountability of the
ultimate sort because we can be assured that our Lord Jesus knows all and has
seen all and there will be nothing left hidden in our lives that will not be uncovered
by Him, even the things we deemed insignificant or have forgotten will not be
forgotten or overlooked by Him. We have been made acceptable to God the Father
through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ for our sins, but it is our
daily lives that our Lord Jesus examines through His Supernatural Lenses
studying, investigating, and finding out what truly moves and motivates us from
our inner man or woman as He declared through the Prophet Jeremiah with these
words, “I, the LORD, search the heart, I
test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the
results of his deeds” (Jeremiah 17:10). These words of our Lord Jesus
through Jeremiah and what He declares here in 2 Corinthians 5:10 through the Apostle Paul suggest that our
glorified bodies may be limited in accordance with the sins we committed “in
the flesh” after our new birth testifying of differing degrees of rewards and
of honor and glory to the saints in heaven (1
Corinthians 3:15) as the parable our Lord Jesus spoke likewise suggest
differing degrees of suffering for the lost in hell when He said this, “But if that slave
says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to
beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk;
the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him
and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a
place with the unbelievers. And that slave who knew his master’s will and did
not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the
one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will
receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required;
and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more”
(Luke 12:45-48).
Paul concludes by declaring it is his knowledge of
the fear, dread, or terror of our Lord Jesus Christ that he goes about always
seeking or desiring to persuade or peitho
men, and this primary verb means to convince them by argument of the truth of
this appearing before Christ Judgment Seat, that it will not be a sweet and
pleasant role call for even all believers and it will be a day of terror and
dread for the unsaved. The fear of the Lord does not stop nor is it diminished
once one is born again, on the contrary it should be magnified even more so
knowing the closeness to hell one was teetering on before the kindness of God’s
grace came to us as declared by Paul with these words to Titus, “For we also once were foolish ourselves,
disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our
life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of
God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on
the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His
mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He
poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:3-6).
The remembrance of this should actuate and activate our fear of the Lord or
reverence of Him to move us to holy obedience to His Word and should make us
fearful of His Judgment Seat when we are in sinful rebellion and crush us in our
spirit and soul.
“The gate of death may look gloomy on this side, but
on the other it is of burnished gold, and opens directly into the
presence-chamber of Jesus. We long to see Him and to be with Him; and such
desires are the work of the Holy Spirit and the first fruits of heaven. But
remember that just inside the door there is Christ’s judgment seat, where He
will adjudge our life and apportion our reward. Prepare, my soul, to give an
account of thy talents!” F. B. Meyer
“But Paul is not only professing his own faith, he
is speaking in the name of all his brethren. ‘We,’ ought to include every man and
woman who calls himself or herself a Christian. It is this setting of the will
of Jesus Christ high up above all other commandments, and proposing to one’s
self as the aim that swallows up all other aims, that I may please Him-it is
this, and not creeds, forms, opinions, professions, or even a faith that simply
trusts in Him for salvation, that makes a true Christian. You are a Christian
in the precise measure in which Christ’s will is uppermost and exclusive in
your life, and for all your professions and your orthodoxy and your worship and
your faith, not one hair’s-breadth further. Here is the signature and the
common characteristic of all real Christians, ‘We labour that whether present
or absent we may be well-pleasing to Him.’” Alexander MacLaren
“If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
and it is, then the reality of our appearance before Christ Judgment Seat
should strike holy terror within us at all times and especially when we are
living in sin and rebellion against our Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. The man
or women that do not know the Lord Jesus can in no way know of this fear unless
or until they are brought under conviction that they are a sinner before God
and accountable to Him as Paul declares of all unbelievers when he wrote, “There
is no fear of God before their eyes”
(Romans 3:18).” Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
If you do not
know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your
heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus,
I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You
shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead
proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my
sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my
life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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