Trumpet Ministries The Judgment Seat of Christ
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Paul tells us we all must be revealed before the Judgment Seat. The Judgment Seat of Christ began when the Lord rose from the dead, according to Peter, and will conclude when Christ and His saints sit on the great white throne and judge mankind, at the time the earth and the heaven flee from the face of God.
What we have done while on the earth will be examined at the Judgment Seat. The good we have done will be returned to us at that time. Also, the bad we have done will be returned to us. It is not our heart that is at issue here, it is what we have actually done. As humans we like to believe we really are good in our inner nature even though our deeds are wicked. This is a game we play with ourselves. The truth is, an honest individual is a person who behaves honestly, not someone who believes in his heart he is honest.
There is enormous confusion today over the fate of the Christian at the Judgment Seat, most Christian teachers claiming the believer has nothing to worry about because he or she is "saved by grace." This is little more than Satan saying "You shall not surely die."
The reasoning behind the contemporary position is that Christ judged sin on the cross, therefore we cannot be judged for our sins at the Judgment Seat.
While this reasoning is understandable, it is superficial. It is incorrect.
It is true rather that what Christ accomplished for us on the cross made it possible for us to be delivered from sin. The blood atonement is not an eternal amnesty for those who continue to sin. The most casual study of the Epistles will prove my statement to be true.
What, then, is the answer?
The answer is, Christ removed the authority of Satan on the cross. Then Christ set in motion a program of salvation that leads to total deliverance from sin so in the day of resurrection we will reap life instead of death.
First, we cannot release ourselves from the chains of sin. Only the power of God can break the chains of sin. We were born in sin. We did not ask to be born with sinful tendencies. God, who always is equitable, does not condemn us for being born in sin. Even though God does not condemn us for something over which we have no control, it still is true that sin always result in spiritual and physical death.
Second, Christ on the cross made an atonement for the sins of the whole world.
Third, when we receive the blood atonement by faith, our sins are forgiven. However, the sin nature remains.
Fourth, the Holy Spirit begins to lead us to confess our sins and turn away from them.
Fifth, when we diligently confess, denounce, and renounce our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is an eternal judgment. The particular behavior we have confessed and turned away from will never be mentioned at the Judgment Seat.
Sixth, in addition we are to pray each day, read our Bible, gather regularly with fervent believers, give, serve, and otherwise obey the commandments of Christ and His Apostles, receiving help to do this from God as we come boldly (although politely) before His Presence.
We cannot deliver ourselves from sin. We always are to exercise self-control as we are able, but only the Spirit of God can actually remove the elements of the sin nature.
Therefore, at the Judgment Seat of Christ the emphasis is not on the fact that we have a sin nature, because this we do not have the power to remove. Rather the judgment will be on what we were able to do, such as pray, read our Bible, give, serve, use our self-control, obey the Lord when He speaks to us personally, and so forth.
Deliverance from sin is a reward for following the Holy Spirit in confessing and renouncing our sin, and for obeying, with Christ's help, the numerous commands found in the Gospels and the Epistles, as well as the personal word of Christ to us.
Then we are rewarded for being delivered. The reward is eternal life.
When we obey the Holy Spirit we are delivered from sin. As we are delivered from sin we receive more life. Every time we receive more life we have more ability to be delivered from sin, which in turn results in more life. It is a cycle progressing upward to the perfect day of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. In the meanwhile the authority of the blood atonement is forgiving our sin.
If, however, we do not follow the Holy Spirit in confessing and turning away from our sin, if we do not pray each day, read our Bible, gather with fervent believers as possible, give, serve, and otherwise obey the commandments found in the Gospels and the Epistles, if we do not obey Christ when He speaks to us, we will not be delivered from our sin nature. We will continue to walk in sin even though we claim to be a Christian.
In this instance we did not do what we could and so God did not do what only He can do. He did not break the power of our sin nature. Therefore we keep on sinning. We remain unchanged. And (although not always taught) the atoning blood does not keep on forgiving our sin. We have broken our part of the covenant.
At the Judgment Seat of Christ we will be handed the consequences of our behavior while in the world, even though we have professed faith in Christ. Our end will be corruption—the corruption we have practiced.
There may be no greater need in Christian teaching than the clear affirmation of what the Apostle Paul has stated. We all must be revealed at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The good we have practiced will be given to us. The bad we have practiced will be given to us.
God, through Jesus Christ, gives us the opportunity to change what we are sowing so in the day of resurrection we will reap eternal life. If we do not lay hold on this grace of transformation we will be judged as having neglected our great Divine salvation. As a result we will be sorely punished, and may in fact find ourselves in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur.
Satan is telling the believers "You shall not surely die." He told that to Adam and Eve. But they did die and all their descendants after them have been born in slavery to sin.
How about you? Are you going to take the chance that the current Christian teaching is correct even though it goes against the specific teaching of Jesus Christ and His Apostles?
When I first was saved I was told to stick with the written Word of God. This I intend to do, as Christ helps me. What is your response?
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (Romans 6:22)
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (II Corinthians 5:10)
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7,8)
For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (I Peter 4:17)
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