At the judgment seat of Christ the believers will be examined by the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 4:4-5 Paul says, “He who examines me is the Lord. So then do not judge anything before the time, 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.” Before the time means before the day of the Lord (3:13). We often hide the things of darkness and the counsels of our heart. But these will be brought to light and made manifest at the Lord’s coming back. One day, at the judgment seat of Christ, the things in our heart will be made manifest. If our heart is right, good, pure, and for God, then at the judgment seat of Christ we will be rewarded with praise from God.
At the judgment seat of Christ, the Lord will reward each one of His believers according to his work. In Revelation 22:12 the Lord Jesus says, “Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me to render to each one as his work is.” The phrase I come quickly is the Lord’s repeated warning (vv. 7, 20) so that we may consider His reward at His coming back. This reward is the wages rendered to each one according to all the things that he has done.
This reward will be rendered to the believers at the Lord’s coming, after their rapture, at the judgment seat of Christ. While some will receive a reward, some will suffer loss. The defeated believers will be punished and thus lose their reward, but they will not lose their salvation. The punishment that the Lord will measure to them is related to a certain dispensational punishment, not to eternal perdition. In other words, the defeated believers will be saved, yet so as through fire (1 Cor. 3:15).
The believers who overcome—by building the Body of Christ with gold, silver, and precious stones in their Christian life (v. 12), willingly serving the saints for the building (14:26), preaching the gospel (9:16-17), denying their self and taking up their cross to follow the Lord (Matt. 16:24-27), pursuing toward the goal (Phil. 3:14), not casting away their boldness (Heb. 10:35), serving as the faithful and prudent slaves whom the master has set over his household to give them food at the proper time (Matt. 24:45-47), and being faithful to use their gifts (25:14-30)—will receive a reward at the judgment seat of Christ.
In the completing stage of God’s full salvation, the stage of glorification, the believers’ glorification, redemption, resurrection, and rapture is a process that brings them to the judgment seat of Christ for them to be judged.
According to the New Testament, God’s judgment on man is not only to decide whether he will perish or be saved; there are at least five judgments. The first judgment revealed in the New Testament was 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. The New Testament reveals that in the church age God is judging His house. God judges us so that we may be disciplined, purified, and sanctified from the unbelievers. Furthermore, before the millennium, immediately after Christ’s coming back, the believers will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ in order to determine whether they will receive a reward or a dispensational punishment. This judgment is after all the dead saints have been resurrected and raptured and all the living ones have been raptured. There will also be the judgment of the living unsaved ones at the throne of Christ’s glory. At His coming back, Christ will sit on the throne of His glory where all the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Those who are regarded as sheep will be transferred into the millennium, and those who are considered as goats will enter into the eternal fire. Finally, the dead unbelievers will be judged by Christ after the millennium. All the dead will be judged at the great white throne. They will be condemned by the Lord for their evil deeds, and then they will perish because of their unbelief, not having their names written in the book of life.
Three of the five judgments are concerned with the believers. As believers, we were judged in Christ on the cross. Now we are under God’s family judgment, which is for our correction and transformation. Finally, we will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ in the air so that we may be recompensed for the things we have done, according to what we have practiced, whether good or bad. At that time we will give an account of ourselves to God concerning how we lived before the Lord and what kind of work we did for the Lord after we were saved. The Lord will then settle accounts with us. When we are examined by the Lord, He will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of our heart so that we may receive praise from God. He will also render to each of us according to our work. Some believers will receive a reward, but some will receive a punishment.