1. “Until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then there will be praise to each from God” (1 Cor. 4:5).
The believers’ actions and work will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ when Christ returns at the end of the church age. The Lord will bring to light the hidden things of darkness in us and make manifest the counsels of our hearts. He will judge us according to our motives and actions so that we will receive praise from God according to our true condition.
2. “The Lord, the righteous Judge, will recompense me in that day” (2 Tim. 4:8; see also 1 Cor. 3:13).
This verse shows that the Lord will judge us in order to reward us in that day, the day of His return. He will judge our actions and work according to His righteousness after we are saved, and He will reward us according to what we have done.
3. “The master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them” (Matt. 25:19).
In this parable the Lord indicated that His judgment of our actions and work will be a settling of accounts. When we were saved, we received the Lord’s grace; His gift is likened to a sum of money that has been given to us for doing business. The Lord will settle accounts with us according to how much we have earned for Him, that is, how we have lived and served Him since our salvation. He will settle accounts with us when He returns. He will require us to give an account of all that we have done since our salvation in order for there to be a full settlement.
4. “It will be repaid to you in the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:14).
The Lord will judge us in order to determine if we will be repaid with a reward at the resurrection of the righteous. The resurrection of the righteous will take place at the time of the Lord’s return. Luke 14:14 proves that the Lord will judge us at the time of His return. Whatever we do for the Lord today will be repaid by the Lord.
1. “The Lord Himself...will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are living, who are left remaining, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thes. 4:16-17).
When the Lord returns, He will descend from heaven to the air. At that time the believers who are dead will rise first, and then the living believers will be changed (1 Cor. 15:51-52). All believers will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then the Lord will judge our actions and work that occur after our salvation. The judgment at the judgment seat of Christ will occur at the Lord’s return, and it will take place in the air to which the Lord will descend and the believers will ascend.
1. “He who examines me is the Lord” (1 Cor. 4:4).
The Judge at the judgment seat of Christ is the Lord. He will examine us. He will be the Judge who examines and judges our actions and work after we were saved.
2. “The Lord, the righteous Judge” (2 Tim. 4:8).
The Lord will be a righteous judge at His judgment seat. He will righteously judge our actions and work after we were saved.
3. “The judgment seat of Christ”; “The judgment seat of God” (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:10).
These two verses show that the judgment seat of Christ is also called the judgment seat of God. When Christ judges us in the future, God’s judgment will be carried out by Christ. All matters of judgment have been given over to Christ (John 5:22, 27). At the judgment seat Christ will judge from His position of God, as God who is our Judge, just as He will later be the Judge at the throne of His glory and at the great white throne.
Roman emperors often sent high-ranking officials throughout the empire to judge important cases. Whenever these officials came to a city, they established a judgment seat and began to judge. When the apostle Paul spoke of Christ judging the believer’s conduct and work, he used this practice as an analogy. Christ will be the “highest ranking official” sent to carry out God’s judgment upon His children and to clear up any problems with their actions and work.
1. “We must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Cor. 5:10).
It is the believers who will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ. We and all refer to all the believers. All believers will be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ to be judged. The judgment seat of Christ will be established in the air, so the ones who are manifested are those who have been raptured into the air. Since only believers are raptured to the air, only believers are judged before the judgment seat of Christ.
2. “Why do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God...So then each one of us will give an account concerning himself to God” (Rom. 14:10-12).
These verses refer to the ones who are judged before the judgment seat of God, which is the judgment seat of Christ, as brothers. Therefore, it is believers who will give an account to the Lord. We will have to explain our treatment of our brothers. Therefore, we should not judge the brothers or speak against them. When we speak against our brothers, we should remember that one day we will stand before the Lord to give an account concerning ourselves. This will not be easy—it will be very difficult! When we criticize our brothers today, we should remember that we will stand before the Lord one day to give an account concerning ourselves. If we truly saw this matter, we would stop judging the brothers and deal severely with ourselves, correcting ourselves and behaving carefully lest we receive judgment from the Lord.