“Why do the wicked get away with despising God? They think, “God will never call us to account.” Psalm 10:13

Likewise, in the New Testament, we read, “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

For the Christian, this isn’t to determine whether or not we will go to heaven, because Jesus has already paid our debt and achieved salvation for us. For the Christian, the judgement seat is about determining rewards. The Amplified Bible adds the following to the previous verse, “that is, each will be held responsible for his actions, purposes, goals, motives—the use or misuse of his time, opportunities and abilities.”

Constable in his commentary on this verse writes, “The idea is not that God will reward us for the good things we did and punish us for the bad things we did. He will rather reward us for the worthwhile things we did and not reward us for the worthless things we did.”

We find the idea of rewards in Jesus’ parables where the master leaves entrusting his servants with bags or coins of silver and expects they will use the money wisely and well (Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 19:12-26). Both Paul and James write about the receiving of crowns as rewards (1 Corinthians 9:24-25 NIV, James 1:12). Rewards are a prominent thought for the New Testament authors. Many were being persecuted for their faith so they looked forward to future blessings.

Samuel Hoyt, pastor and professor of theology, compares the judgement seat of Christ to a graduation ceremony.* There may be some disappointment that you didn’t do better or work harder, but the overall emotion will be joy that you graduated.

*S. Hoyt, The Judgment Seat of Christ in Theological Perspective.

Let’s pray …

Lord, I acknowledge I will be called to account for how well I have stewarded the gifts and abilities you entrusted to me. However, regardless of rewards, I thank you that I will graduate to heaven because you secured my salvation on the cross.

In Jesus’ name
Amen