In this lesson we will see in detail how the believers, in the completing stage of God’s full salvation, will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ, which is the judgment seat of God.
In the completing stage of God’s full salvation, the stage of glorification, the believers will be glorified, redeemed in their body, resurrected, and raptured. Being glorified, redeemed, resurrected, and raptured is a procedure that will bring the believers to the judgment seat of Christ for them to be judged.
Some believers think that there is only one kind of judgment in the New Testament—to decide whether people 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 New Testament reveals that the Lord Jesus was judged on the cross by God. 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.
The New Testament reveals that as the house of God, the believers are being judged by God in the church age. 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, which is composed of the believers (2:5; 1 Tim. 3:15). God judges His people so that they may be disciplined, purified, and sanctified from the unbelievers. Such disciplinary judgment begins from God’s own household. Therefore, if we are careless in doing things, we will be judged. Instead of using the word judgment, we may speak of being disciplined, chastised, and 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, when we have unseemly conditions, He sometimes judges us so that we may be disciplined.
The New Testament reveals that the believers will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ at His coming back. 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 the believers will receive 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 receive the things done through the body according to what he has practiced, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). The judgment seat spoken of in this verse is the place where Christ will judge His believers at His coming back. This judgment is not concerning their eternal salvation but concerning their dispensational reward (1 Cor. 4:4-5; 3:13-15).
Romans 14:10 also speaks of the believers being judged: “We will all stand before the judgment seat of God.” The judgment in this verse is different from the eternal judgment of God spoken of in 2:2-3, 5, 16, and 3:8, which will be carried out at the great white throne revealed in Revelation 20:11-15. The eternal judgment at the great 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 or punishment in the millennial kingdom.