In this message we shall see that, in the completing stage of God’s full salvation, the believers will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ, which is the judgment seat of God.
We have seen that in the completing stage of God’s full salvation, the stage of glorification, the believers will be glorified, redeemed in their body, and raptured. To be glorified, redeemed, and raptured will be a procedure that will bring the believers into the stage of glorification. After all the believers have been raptured, they will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ.
We may think that in the New Testament God’s judgment of people is only of one kind-to decide whether they will perish or be saved. However, the truth revealed in the Bible concerning God’s judgment is much more detailed. In the New Testament there are at least five kinds of judgment.
The first judgment is that exercised by God when the Lord Jesus was on the cross. The crucifixion of the Lord was a judgment, for the righteous God judged the Lord Jesus as our Substitute. Hence, the Lord Jesus was judged by God on our behalf.
Second, in the church age God exercises another kind of judgment, and this is God’s judgment over His house. First Peter 4:17 says, “It is time for the judgment to begin from the house of God.” God’s house, or household, is the church composed of the believers (1 Pet. 2:5; 1 Tim. 3:15). God judges His people so that they may be disciplined, purified, and separated from the unbelievers and not have the same destiny as they. Such disciplinary judgment begins from God’s own household. Therefore, if we are careless in doing things, we shall be judged. Instead of judgment, we may speak of being disciplined, chastised, or corrected. However, discipline, chastisement, and correction are actually God’s judgment. God is always right and righteous, and He will not allow anything under His rule to be wrong. For this reason, He sometimes judges us.
The third kind of judgment in the New Testament will be the judgment of the believers at the judgment seat of Christ. After all the dead saints have been resurrected and raptured and all the living ones have been raptured, a judgment seat will be set up for Christ to judge all His genuine believers. This judgment will determine whether a believer receives a reward or some kind of dispensational punishment. Paul says, “We must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for the things done through the body, according to what he has practiced, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). This judgment seat is where Christ will judge His believers at His coming back, not concerning eternal salvation but concerning their dispensational reward (1 Cor. 4:4-5; 3:13-15).
Another verse that speaks of the believers being judged is Romans 14:10, where Paul tells us, “We shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.” This judgment is different from the eternal judgment of God mentioned in Romans 2:2, 3, 5, 16 and 3:8, which will be mainly carried out at the white throne revealed in Revelation 20:11-15. The eternal judgment at the white throne will be after the millennium, it will be to judge all the dead unbelievers, and it will be for eternal punishment in the lake of fire. However, the judgment at the judgment seat of God, or the judgment seat of Christ, will be before the millennium, immediately after Christ’s coming back, it will be to judge all the resurrected and raptured believers, and it will be for reward in the millennial kingdom.
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