The New Testament reveals that the living will be judged at Christ’s throne of glory before the millennium (Matt. 25:31-46). When the Lord Jesus, together with His overcomers, defeats Antichrist and his army, many Gentiles will still be living on earth. The Lord will gather these Gentiles to Himself and judge them. “When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him, at that time He will sit on the throne of His glory. And all the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (vv. 31-32). Those who are regarded as sheep will be transferred into the millennium to be the people under the kingly ruling of Christ and His overcoming believers (Rev. 2:26-27; 12:5; 20:4-6) and under the priestly ministry of the saved Jews (Zech. 8:20-23). Those who are regarded as goats will go with their leader, Antichrist, “into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).
Finally, the New Testament reveals that the dead unbelievers will be judged by Christ at the great white throne after the millennium. Christ is the Judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; 2 Tim. 4:1). The living unbelievers will be judged before the millennium, but the dead will be judged afterward at the great white throne, as revealed in Revelation 20:11-15. The dead unbelievers will be condemned by the Lord because of their evil deeds and will perish because of their unbelief, not having their names written in the book of life. Christ will judge the dead unbelievers in order to determine their eternal perdition.
Three of the five judgments in the New Testament are concerned with the believers. We should put ourselves under the judgment that was carried out through the cross of Christ. As believers, we have already been judged eternally, for we were judged in Christ on the cross. Just as Noah and his family were judged by the flood but were inside the ark, so we have been judged by God on the cross in Christ. Furthermore, since we are saved and have become members of God’s family, we are under God’s family judgment. God is judging His own house, and we are members of His family. Every day we need to realize that we are under this judgment, a judgment that is not for perdition or salvation but for correction and transformation. We need this judgment. Finally, we will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ in the air. This judgment will determine our destiny in the millennium; it will decide whether we will be rewarded to enter into the kingdom in order to enjoy the blessing of eternal life, or we will suffer some kind of punishment in the coming age. Therefore, as believers we are involved with three judgments: the judgment on the cross, the judgment in God’s house, and the judgment at the judgment seat of Christ.
In all His judgments the Lord is righteous. He is wise and just, and He will not allow His people to be loose or wrong. Formerly we were sinners, but now we have become God’s children. As God’s children, we are not free to do things in a loose way. God is very strict with His people. He exercises His family judgment in His house according to His will to correct us so that we may grow and experience more transformation. Eventually, at the Lord’s coming back, He will judge us to decide whether we will receive a reward or punishment in the coming age. This judgment will take place after our rapture.
The believers will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ in order to be recompensed for the things that they have done. In 2 Corinthians 5:10 Paul says that every believer will be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ so that “each one may receive the things done through the body according to what he has practiced, whether good or bad.” Dean Alford points out that the word receive is the technical word for receiving wages. While we are still at home in our body, we should do things through our body to please the Lord so that at His coming the Lord may reward us for our deeds.
At the judgment seat of Christ, each believer will give an account of himself to God in order for the Lord to settle accounts with him. Matthew 25:19 speaks of this: “After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.” A long time signifies the entire church age, and came signifies the Lord’s descending to the air (1 Thes. 4:16) in His coming (parousia). Settled accounts signifies the Lord’s judgment at His judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom 14:10) in the air (within His parousia), where the believers’ living, conduct, and work will be judged for reward or punishment (Matt. 16:27; Rev. 22:12; 1 Cor. 3:13-15; 4:5).
When the believers appear before the judgment seat of Christ, they will give an account of how they lived before the Lord and what kind of work they did for the Lord after they were saved. We will have to tell Him what we did and what we gained for Him. This will be very difficult, for we will have to relate to the Lord what we did in our life as believers. This is to give an account of ourselves to God for the Lord to settle accounts with us.