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For we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…
(2Cor.5:10)
(Revised)
Before the
judgment seat of Christ
As I was reading the Word
of God, my soul was seized by a deep and reverent fear when I read the verse:
“For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in
the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
(2Cor.5:10). I, I, I “…must appear before the judgment seat of
Christ” to give account of myself, of what I have done in life, whether good
or bad, whether secretly or openly! Give an account, even for an idle word
(Mt.12:36)! Is there a man righteous in His sight? How careful, then, should I
be to shun sin and act uprightly! Yes, I will be judged according to my
works, by the things which were written in the books… What books? The
books of my omniscient God – who is greater than my conscience – where my acts,
good and bad, even my discussions, are written (Mal.3:16). Yes, on the basis of
His spiritual law – the Scriptures – the touchstone by which the hearts and
lives of men will be tried! And I asked my Lord reverently: Which are, my Lord
and Savior, my works that are written in Your books? (Dan.7:10). The only
answer I got in my spirit was: Do your duty according to my Word! Do not
be afraid; there is no injustice in Me! You will see that ‘I will be found just
when I speak and blameless when I judge’! (Ps.51:4 and Job 34:10-12)
Was it the first
time that I had read that verse or was it for the very first time that I knew
that all, that is none would be able to avoid the
jurisdiction of this court! All, each and every one of us will have to give an
account of the way he has led his life, of one’s own actions, and not of
another’s actions. We must note, however, that priests and pastors will have to
give an account for their flock (Heb.13:17), whether or not they behaved
properly to those under their care. This does not relieve any one from his own
responsibility. We will not be able to excuse ourselves by saying: “It was
the priest’s or the pastor’s fault that I was not saved, that I did not repent
and that I did not put my trust in Christ…” It is then that we will
understand many things that we now cannot understand such as God’s mercy, His
wisdom, His protection and His guidance as well as the way we have lived our
lives.
It was, however, for the
very first time, that the image or, better still, the scene or “vision” that I
was trying to imagine of myself standing before the judgment seat of Christ made
my soul so reverently fearful! If I were not redeemed with the precious blood
of Jesus Christ who forgives and forgets all true believers’ sins and cleanses
them from all unrighteousness (Mic.7:19; Heb.8:12; 10:17; 1Jo.1:9), if it were
not for His steady loving-kindness and if I had not been offered eternal life
gratuitously, my heart would become desperately desperate! Then my heart
exclaimed: “But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude
of Your mercy; in fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.”
(Ps.5:7). Since that day, my heart has not stopped thinking about and
meditating on what the Word of God says about the day when each and every one of
us will appear before Christ’s judgment seat. Since that day, I have been
praying my Lord for greater spiritual insight… Since that day, two things
prevail in my spirit, which I would like to share with you:
First,
a question: Who am I before the Lord or how does God see me? And,
Second,
gratitude: Gratitude for prolonging my life day by day and for
giving me the possibility of being transformed into what He wants me to be
before I appear before His judgment seat!
Dear friends, since that
day, I do not hold that word but that word holds me!!!
In particular:
I. Who
am I or how does God see me?
When Job received a kind
of “vision” of Who God is, God’s wisdom and sovereignty; when he understood that
he had uttered things too wonderful for him, which he did not know and
understand, the first thing he did was to humble himself before God and to
repent in ‘dust and ashes’ (Job 42:5-6). The fact that I, also, speak about
things I do not clearly understand, which are too lofty for me and the fact
that, “If He goes by me, I do not see Him; if He moves past, I do not
perceive Him” (Job 9:11) has
pushed my soul, since that day, to repeat very often what Job asked the Lord:
“Teach me what I do not see; if I have done iniquity, I will do no
more” (Job 34:32).
Let there be no
misunderstanding: God has given us His Word and on the basis of that Word, as in
a mirror, we must examine and compare ourselves with God’s exigencies, because
on the basis of His Word we will be judged by His unerring justice! This is the
best way to be taught what we do not see and stop sinning, if we have committed
or have been committing iniquity. There is, however, a great difference between
knowing a certain word of God – whether a commandment or a promise – and seeing
that same word gripping our soul and seeing that word – activated by the Holy
Spirit – awaken man’s conscience and feelings. Although I knew very well that
“…we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may
receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done,
whether good or bad”, that verse had never affected so strongly my life in
the past. I did know that:
Ø
“…God
will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing,
whether good or evil.”
(Ec.12:14 and Lu.8:17; Lu.12:3);
Ø
“...will
render to each one according to his deeds”
(Rom.2:6);
Ø
“...each
of us shall give account of himself to God.”
(Rom.14:12);
Ø
“And
there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and
open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
(Heb.4:13);
Ø
“… And
another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were
judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the
books.”
(Rev.20:12; 22:12).
Yes, I knew all these holy
verses very well but they had never gripped my soul as it happened that day.
Since that day, the fear of God and the consciousness of having to give an
account to Him who will judge the living and the dead have deepened in my
heart. The consciousness that the eyes of the Lord are always on me,
and He sees all my steps, all my deeds, plans, purposes, thoughts,
words, desires and all the secrets of my heart and life from the beginning of
the year to the end of the year (De.11:12 and Job 34:21) has been
intensified! All that has been thought, desired or done will come
into review and man must give an account for all. No sin that has been
concealed and/or not confessed and put in order in this life will be revealed
there; no sin that has evaded all human tribunals will escape there. The sole
motives/virtues recognized by God as sound and good will be faith,
repentance and love to God. Very relevant and significant is the verse,
which says, “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes,
who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the
counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.”
(1Cor.4:5).
On that day, all our works
will be tried by the fire of the holy presence of Christ that will reveal the
quality of our works (1Cor.3:10, 13). The more we judge ourselves and our works
now and conform ourselves to what is just and good the less we will be judged
now as well as on that day by the Lord (1Cor.11:28, 31). Our big and important
achievements will not measure if our motives were but for our self-promotion.
And we should never forget what Peter the apostle tells us: “If the
righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
(1Pe.4:18).
It is a great thing to
live all day long in that consciousness. Then, man watches his steps more and
more to lead a holy life and give himself with much diligence and self-denial to
the duties of his calling. This is the reason why all men of God should be
diligent and laborious before they appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
who is the appointed Judge of the whole earth, our Great God Jesus Christ
(Tit.2:13), the only omnipotent and omniscient, righteous, holy, impartial and
true.
When I see the faces of
Christians – whether young or old or new born again Christians – shine from love
for their Savior and how they rejoice in the Lord and in His salvation, in other
words, how they devotedly worship the Lord, certain questions of comparison,
rightly or wrongly, come spontaneously to my mind. For example:
·
Who am I in
your eyes, Lord Jesus?
·
Do I really
love You or simply …in word and in tongue and not in deed and in truth?
(1Jo.3:18);
·
Do I apply
diligently the golden rule, “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you,
do also to them…”? (Mt.7:12);
·
Do I apply
faithfully the Holy Spirit’s instruction that, “Therefore, to him who knows
to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”? (Jas.4:17);
·
Am I
conscious that… teachers…shall receive a stricter judgment? (Jas.3:1);
·
Do I
forgive others from all my heart as I was forgiven by You?
(Mt.6:14-15)
·
Shall I be
surprised and ashamed when the books will be opened and I see the “product” of
my life? Oh, Lord Jesus, let it never be so!
But why such questions
come to my mind? They come because I cannot forget what the Bible says:
Ø
“And if
anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.”
(1Cor.8:2)
Ø
“For if
anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”
(Gal.6:3)
II.
Gratitude
Whenever I remember how
God saved us, me and my whole family from being killed when I went to sleep
while driving at 120 km per hour, when God prevented me, the very last second,
from having another terrible car accident (just another step would have taken
me), how God has overlooked the stupid and dangerous way I have treated my
health, but above all how God saved my soul from Hell, thanks to Jesus
Christ’s sacrifice on the cross at Calvary, my heart gets flooded with
gratitude and praise! Why has He spared my life from death and my soul from
eternal damnation? When these acts of His grace took place I did not know the
reason why I was not consumed but now I know: He loved me with an everlasting
and unconditional love; I am here on earth on trial because I am a responsible
moral agent; I am placed here to form character for eternity as a member of His
household. It is proper and necessary then before I receive my eternal
allotment to have been transformed into His image; yes, before I appear before
His judgment seat!
I thank Him day and night
for prolonging my life day by day through His mercies, which are new every
morning and for His unfailing compassions. Great is His faithfulness
(Lam.3:22-23). I thank Him for He renews my possibilities of being transformed
into what He wants me to be. I thank Him for everything, even for the
afflictions that His love and wisdom permit in my life, being conscious that
He makes all things work together for my good (Rom.8:28); I thank Him, even
if I have to spend years “in the wilderness”, because I know that all His
plans are plans of peace and not of evil in order to give me the expected
blessed end (Jer.29:11).
My life has been very-very
difficult since my youth. Nowadays, it is so difficult that very often I lose
my bearings; I have been passing through moments of severe perplexity, but
thanks to His grace, He has never permitted me to be in despair! He has made me
prisoner of hope (Zec.9:12). So, I often repeat in my mind or with my
tongue two phrases from a song of Ira Stamphill: “He washed my eyes with
tears that I might see” and “He gave me borrowed time before eternity to
do what I must do. I do not know when my borrowed time is through”.
Having said what I said
concerning the feelings I had when I read that verse, I think it is necessary to
add some other thoughts about this verse:
“For we must
ALL appear before the judgment seat of Christ”
Is the verse that we are
examining only for believers? By no means! Believers and unbelievers will have
to give an account of their deeds, of their thoughts, of their desires, of their
purposes and plans (Heb.12:13 and Rom.2:15-16)! Yes, of everything! There is,
nevertheless, a great difference between believers and unbelievers.
Believers have passed from death into life and have everlasting life: “Most
assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me
has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from
death into life.” (Joh.5:24). In addition, there is “… no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the
flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Rom.8:1). Though salvation is purely
of grace, what do the words of the apostle Paul mean “…work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling”?
(Php.2:12); and what is the meaning of the exhortation “… make straight paths
for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed”
(Heb.12:13) etc., etc.? Though salvation is purely of grace, he who is
saved may have a greater or less reward, according to the way he leads
his life and labors for Christ, according to the faithfulness with which he
discharges his stewardship. Unbelievers shall not see life
because the wrath of God abides on them: “He who believes in the Son has
everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but
the wrath of God abides on him.” (Joh.3:36). And the Bible again says:
“Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they
would consider their latter end!” (De.32:29). However, if the fear of God
was in their heart they would be wise enough to depart from evil. If they
departed from evil, they would acquire understanding and they would consider
their latter end with serenity! As regards people who have never heard Christ’s
Good News we do not know which will be God’s criteria before His Judgment Seat.
The only light we have is: “who show the work of
the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and
between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)
in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according
to my gospel.” (Rom.2:15-16). God is
a just Judge!
Different
levels of rewards and of judgment
There are also
different levels of fruitfulness, rewards or crowns according to the
believer’s fruit: “But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear
the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and
some a hundred” (Mrk.4:20) and different levels of condemnation
(Jas.3:1; Mt.23:13; Lu.20:47). We should not also forget that there are
different levels of sin [example: “Jesus answered, "You could have no
power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore
the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin” (Joh.19:11)] as
well as forgivable and unforgivable sins (the blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit). These distinctions are useful but are not decisive of man’s destiny
except the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. One thing is, however, sure and
certain; this is that even those who commit “little sins” (if we are permitted
to say so) or live in indifference will be finally condemned, if they die
without repentance and faith in Christ. “Do not be deceived, God is not
mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” (Gal.6:7). If
their sin is not forgiven by the blood of Christ, their “gentleness” or their
so-called “good works” will not save them! This is the reason why our Lord
Jesus said: “And when He (the Comforter – the Holy Spirit) has come,
He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of
sin, because they do not believe in Me” (Joh.16:8-9).
“According to
what he has done, whether GOOD or BAD”
This phrase means “as he
deserves” or “as he ought to be treated”. The word “deeds” (Rom.2:6) refers, in
reality, not only to our external conduct but also to all acts of the mind and
to their motives. In other words, to our character or conduct (Pr.24:12;
Mt.16:27; Rev.20:12; Jer.32:19). We can be saved only on account of the merits
of the Lord Jesus Christ (Tit.3:5), but God will reward us according to our
works (Mt.16:27 and 1Cor.3:8), or better still, according to the product of
our faith! We should never forget Jesus’ answer, when people asked Him
about God’s works: “Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may
work the works (plural) of God?" Jesus answered and said to them,
"This is the work (singular) of God, that you believe in
Him whom He sent."” (Joh.6:28-29). Faith, true faith, is the work of God!
True faith includes repentance! True faith includes pure motives, good willful
choices (Pr.4:23) and faithful obedience! True faith produces good works! This
is the reason why our Lord was commanding: “…Repent, and believe in the
gospel” (Mrk.1:15). Repentance and faith
are our best “deeds”, or the Alpha and Omega of our spiritual life!
An additional
conclusion: Do not judge!
Given the fact that we
shall be called to give such a fearful account to God, we should abstain from
judging and condemning our brothers. This verse invites us to humility. We are
not to judge one another, usurping the office of judging, that is,
of condemning or offending. In this way, God excludes those malignant censors
who try to find out something faulty in the lives of their fellow men. This is
why the Holy Spirit commands us: “Therefore judge
nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the
hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s
praise will come from God.” (1Cor.4:5)
I would like,
however, at this point, to close by citing something that someone wrote:
“Satan’s great priority today is to silence all reproof, to shut the mouths of
all prophets and watchmen, and to discredit all preaching against sin by saying
it is too judgmental……… To judge after the flesh is to judge vindictively. This
is often mean, arrogant, and self-righteous. This is the kind of judging the
Word forbids. But to judge righteously is to judge redemptively. This is born of
love: first, of love for His precious Word – then, of love for those that you
weep
for
because you see them in
danger. Holy judging comes from a broken heart.”
May God bless us
abundantly!
John BALTATZIS
baltatzis@skynet.be
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