2 Corinthians 5:6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Rev 2:23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.
1Co 3:12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
The New Testament is explicit that the “judgment seat of Christ” is exclusively for believers. Thus, the issue at the judgment seat of Christ is not the eternal destiny of those being “judged.” The individual’s “works” are the basis of judgment. Salvation is not related to any works done by the individual (Eph 2:8,9; Titus 3:5); (he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,) it is a matter of personal faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ, and it results in a standing of perfect righteousness before God.
The criteria of judgment are most specifically defined in 2 Cor 5:10, where Paul states 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.” The verse affirms that the purpose of the bēma seat is that the real heart of each believer might be revealed (the verb “appear” means “to be made manifest, laid open for all to see”). The term translated “bad” in this verse is unusual; it denotes not moral corruption or intrinsic evil, but that which is useless, vile, hopelessly good-for-nothing. In his earlier epistle to the Corinthians, Paul characterized such valueless works as “wood, hay and stubble” which would be certainly consumed by the fire of divine scrutiny (1 Cor 3:11-15), and he contrasted such works to “gold, silver and precious stones” which would be refined by such a fire. The point is that some works, though superficially noble and selfless, will be demonstrated at the judgment seat of Christ to have been born of wicked motives, animated by the desire for self-aggrandizement, and/or empowered by fleshly devices (1 Cor 4:5). These will be discarded as worthless and ignoble. In this regard, there is some confusion as to whether the believer’s unconfessed sin will be displayed at the judgment seat. Might a mammoth movie screen be stretched across the heavenlies so that an astonished world can sit and watch as all the wicked thoughts and deeds done in the secret of a man’s heart and life are replayed as a means of judgment? Absolutely not! God has declared that the sins of a believer have been forgiven and forgotten (Ps 103:12) and that He will remember those sins no more (Heb 10:17). But let there be no pernicious solace in this for the careless Christian. Such wickedness in the mortal life of a believer will produce shame (1 John 2:28), but not because the deeds will be rehearsed before a leering multitude. Rather, there will be shame because of the lost opportunity to serve and honor the Redeemer, an opportunity which once squandered can never fully be regained (Luke 19:20-26). (Shepards Theological Seminary,Dr. Doug Bookman)
