Heaven
Most of us hear the word “judgment” and instinctively become uneasy. We picture a courtroom, an accusation, perhaps even punishment. Yet when the New Testament speaks of the believer standing before the judgment seat of Christ, the picture is different. This is not a second trial to determine whether a Christian belongs to Christ. Salvation rests upon what Christ has already accomplished. The judgment seat—what Paul calls the bēma (βῆμα)—is where our lives as God’s redeemed children are brought into the light and evaluated by the One who saved us.
Alexander Maclaren described it well: “The Judgment seat is meant for us professing Christians, real and imperfect Christians,” and he connected that judgment with differing measures of future blessedness corresponding to present faithfulness. Joe Wall approaches the same truth from the practical side: Scripture teaches the judgment seat of Christ to influence how believers think and live now. It turns our eyes toward Christ’s return and asks a very ordinary question: Am I living today in a way that pleases Him?
That makes the old story about basketball coach Cotton Fitzsimmons strangely appropriate. His struggling team was told to pretend they were in first place, pretend they were winning, and pretend the ordinary game before them was a playoff game. Unfortunately, pretending did not alter reality. After they lost badly, one player jokingly told the disappointed coach, “Pretend we won!”
Erwin Lutzer used that story to make a spiritual point. Some people may appear to be winning the race of life when much of it is only pretend. Eventually Christ will reveal the difference between outward appearance and actual faithfulness. What seemed important may prove temporary, while acts that went unnoticed by everyone except God may prove eternally significant.
Paul writes, “For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.… So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:10, 12). He repeats the truth in 2 Corinthians 5:10: “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.”
The word bēma originally referred to a raised platform. In civic life, officials rendered decisions from such a platform. Paul himself stood before the bēma of Gallio at Corinth. But the word also carried another picture familiar to Paul’s world. At athletic contests, successful competitors approached the raised platform to receive recognition for their performance. Military commanders likewise used elevated platforms when honoring soldiers for courageous service.
Those images help us understand why the believer’s judgment should produce anticipation as well as sobriety.
Scripture repeatedly presents God as a Father who delights in recognizing the faithfulness of His children. Rather than examining every individual passage separately, we can see several broad streams of biblical teaching pointing in the same direction.
Jesus frequently spoke about His Father seeing what other people never see. In Matthew 6, the Father sees secret generosity, secret prayer, and secret fasting and promises reward. Matthew 10:42 says that even something as small as giving a cup of cold water in Christ’s name will not lose its reward. Luke 19 and Matthew 25 portray servants being entrusted with responsibilities and later receiving their master’s commendation according to their faithfulness.
Paul uses similar imagery. First Corinthians 3:8–15 describes each person receiving reward according to his labor, while 1 Corinthians 9:24–25 compares Christian service to athletes running for a prize. Philippians 3:14 pictures Paul pressing toward the goal for the heavenly prize. Second Timothy 4:7–8 finds the aging apostle looking toward the “crown of righteousness” awaiting him.
Peter and James add their voices. James 1:12 speaks of the “crown of life” promised to those who faithfully endure trials. First Peter 5:4 promises faithful shepherds an unfading “crown of glory.” Revelation repeatedly speaks of Christ coming with recompense and of His servants sharing in His kingdom.
Taken together, these passages reveal something beautiful about the character of God. Our Father loves to reward His children.
We should be careful here. Heavenly reward is never wages earned toward salvation. Eternal life is God’s gift through Christ. We do not stand before the bēma hoping we performed well enough to enter heaven. Those who belong to Christ stand there because Jesus has already secured their salvation.
The issue is faithfulness.
Perhaps that changes how we think about today. The unnoticed prayer matters. The temptation resisted matters. The quiet generosity matters. Caring for someone when no applause follows matters. Teaching a child Scripture matters. Forgiving when resentment would be easier matters. Remaining faithful when ministry becomes tiring matters.
People may never know.
Christ does.
And there is something wonderfully parental in that truth. A good father does not merely notice his child’s failures. He delights in seeing growth, obedience, courage, perseverance, and love. Jesus even taught that our imperfect earthly understanding of parental goodness points toward the much greater goodness of our heavenly Father.
The judgment seat of Christ therefore tells us that nothing faithfully done for Jesus disappears.
We may sometimes feel as though our Christian lives consist of ordinary acts that barely register in the world around us. Heaven measures differently. Christ knows the motives hidden behind the action, the cost behind the sacrifice, and the perseverance behind the obedience.
One day there will be no pretending.
There will also be no misunderstanding.
The One who knows us perfectly will evaluate us perfectly. And for those whose lives belong to Him, that should not merely create fear. It should awaken holy anticipation. We are preparing to meet the Savior who loved us, redeemed us, walked with us, strengthened us, and noticed every faithful step along the way.
So live today with eternity in sight. Not anxiously trying to earn God’s affection, but gratefully responding because you already possess it.
May the Lord help you live faithfully in the ordinary moments today, knowing that nothing offered sincerely to Christ is ever forgotten. And may you someday hear from the Savior whose approval matters most, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Blessings,
Pastor Hogg
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