Judgment Seat of Christ

The Church Age believer’s evaluation by Jesus Christ of their production while on earth will take place at the Judgment Seat of Christ immediately following the Rapture of the Church. The Judgment Seat of Christ is often called the βῆμα (bēma) from the Greek, which means the official seat of a judge. The Judgment Seat of Christ is only for Church Age believers. Rom. 14:10.

"But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God." (Romans 14:10, NASB)

In context, this refers to a brother, which is a believer in the Church Age. The Judgment Seat of Christ is not the same as the Great White Throne Judgment also called the Last Judgment, which is only for unbelievers from all of human history and will take place 1,000 literal years later at the end of the Millennium. Rev. 20:11-15.

"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:11-15, NASB)

The Judgment Seat of Christ is for all Church Age believers carnal or spiritual. Therefore, all believers meet the Lord in the air at the Rapture whether or not they are in fellowship. 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Cor. 3:12-15.

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:10, NASB)

"Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." (1 Corinthians 3:12-15, NASB)

The Judgment Seat of Christ takes place in heaven immediately after the Rapture while the literal 7-year Tribulation is occurring on earth. The bride must be prepared for the groom. As indicated in the diagram below, the Judgment Seat of Christ has to be between the Rapture and the Second Advent because the Church returns with Christ as the “Bride of Christ” cleansed of the sin nature and human good.

Armies of elect angels and Church Age believers will return with our Lord at His Second Advent. Col. 3:4; Jude 1:14; 1 Thess. 3:13; Zech. 14:5; Rev. 19:14.

"And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses." (Revelation 19:14, NASB)

"When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory." (Colossians 3:4, NASB)

"It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones," (Jude 1:14, NASB)

"so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints." (1 Thessalonians 3:13, NASB)

"You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!" (Zechariah 14:5, NASB)

“And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.” (Revelation 19:14, NASB)

Preparation of the Bride

On earth, the Church is called the Body of Christ. In heaven, the Church will be called the Bride of Christ. 1 Cor. 12:12.

"For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ." (1 Corinthians 12:12, NASB)

The Body of Christ is growing and being completed during the Church Age. Eph. 1:21-22; 1 Cor. 3:9; Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:47.

"far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church," (Ephesians 1:21-22, NASB)

"For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building." (1 Corinthians 3:9, NASB)

""I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it." (Matthew 16:18, NASB)

"praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved." (Acts 2:47, NASB)

Members of the Body of Christ have different responsibilities because of their spiritual gifts conveyed by the Holy Spirit to every believer at the moment of salvation. Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:11-12.

"For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function," (Romans 12:4, NASB)

"But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ." (1 Corinthians 12:11-12, NASB)

The Church will be called the Bride of Christ in heaven and undergoes preparation during the seven years of the Tribulation on earth. Emphasis while in heaven is on preparation and display. This preparation is three-fold. At the Rapture, all Church Age believers will receive a resurrection body minus the old sin nature. 1 Cor. 15:51-57; 1 John 3:1-2; Phil. 3:21; 1 Thess. 4:16-18.

“Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-57, NASB)

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” (1 John 3:1-2, NASB)

“who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” (Philippians 3:21, NASB)

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, NASB)

Just as the Lord Jesus Christ did not have an old sin nature, the believer in resurrection body will no longer have an old sin nature. 2 Cor. 5:21.

"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21, NASB)

All human good is removed from the Bride. Believers are cleansed or liberated from human good so they won’t be embarrassed. 1 Cor. 3:12-15.

When the Bride of Christ returns with Christ, no Church Age believer in resurrection body will have an old sin nature. They will never again perform human good or be able to sin. They will come back to reign with Jesus Christ.

It will take seven years to burn away the human good. God deals with individuals, not with the masses. Couple this with the fact that He bore individual sins on the Cross and one concludes that He probably deals individually with rewards.

The Church Age Believer’s Evaluation

The Judgment Seat of Christ is one of seven evaluations or judgments. The Judgment Seat of Christ is the place of evaluation of the believer’s production. 2 Cor. 5:10.

The only acceptable foundation of divine good on which the believer can build is the Lord Jesus Christ, our position in Christ. 1 Cor. 3:10-11.

"According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 3:10-11, NASB)

Divine good can only be done via filling of the Holy Spirit and is called gold, silver, and precious stones in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15. These building materials have to be divine viewpoint building materials.

Gold speaks of deity. Anything in your life that is glorifying to God including the faith-rest life, functioning in the spiritual life, the erection of the edification complex of the soul, and application of epignosis Bible doctrine to life’s situations and challenges is considered by Jesus Christ to be divine good. Silver speaks of redemption and witnessing in the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Precious stones are used to adorn and represent the fruit of the Spirit or manifestation of the Spirit-filled life of love, joy, peace, etc. Gal. 5:22-23.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23, NASB)

Human good is produced while controlled by the old sin nature and is called wood, hay, and straw. Building materials made of human good production will be burned away as completely unacceptable to God. Wood can be beautiful, but will not stand up under fire. This represents any activity in the energy of the flesh where the soul is controlled by the old sin nature and glorifies self. Hay is used to feed animals, so it is good, but burnable.

Any activity done in the energy of the flesh (out of fellowship) is human good and unacceptable to God. For example, if you witness for Christ in the energy of the flesh, it is human good even if the person becomes saved. Only work done while your soul is controlled by the Holy Spirit is acceptable as divine good. Straw represents good things that people do out of spite, envy, or hostility. People try to get even with people by doing good little things, as well as bad things.

Fire will be the tester. Only divine good production will stand. All carnal good works will be burned. Thus everything done in the power of the Holy Spirit will be rewarded. Our evaluation will be based on divine norms and standards. False motivation destroys any possibility of rewards. When you really understand grace, you will not be thinking of rewards, but will receive them nonetheless.

Rewards & Crowns

Anything we know about rewards is provided in generalities in Scripture, such as crowns and accolades. Rewards can be likened to a Thanksgiving dinner. Each eats a different amount, but each is satisfied. There will be no old sin natures in heaven with their lust patterns.

There will be differences in heaven, but they will be a matter of responsibility comparable to our spiritual gifts in the Church Age. The Church has a universal priesthood will have a heavenly kingdom.

Church Age believers are placed into union with Jesus Christ at salvation. Their eternal abode will be the New Heavens - in charge of galaxies, celestial bodies, heavens etc. The New Jerusalem will be the administrative center and since the Bride is one with the Lord Jesus Christ, much time will be spent there. This place is being prepared. John 14:1-3.

" "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. " (John 14:1-3, NASB)

Israel will have an earthly kingdom and a specialized priesthood. Their eternal abode will be the New Earth. See category on Rewards. See category on Crowns.