The Judgment Seat

Saturday, 15th December 2007

Down through the years as a Christian, I have often times heard teachings where the judgment seat was spoken about. As a result, the picture that was painted in my head was that after departing this earth, I would have to appear before God. He was like this judge in a court of hearing sitting on a big throne, and I was like the criminal being tried, with my head hung low.

A videotape of my entire life from the time I was conceived in my mother's womb to the time I breathed my last breath would then be broadcasted. Every single sin I had ever committed would be stored in that videotape. There was no need to watch the entire video, because halfway through, the judge would have seen enough, bang the gavel on the sounding block and by doing so, effectively sentence me to death eternal.

Praise be to God that I now know beyond the shadow of any doubt that He is definitely not like that at all. He has already exhausted all His holy and righteous judgment on the body of His beloved Son on that Calvary cross 2,000 years ago, and He cannot justly and righteously punish the same sin twice -- once on the body of Jesus, and then again upon me.

Not only that, what appears on that "videotape" would only be events that God credits to me as righteousness because I exercise my faith in His Word and have a good opinion of Him, just like what happened to Noah, Abraham, Moses, David et al in Hebrews 11.

But doesn't Paul talk about the judgment seat of Christ in Rom 14:10 and 2 Cor 5:10, some of you may be saying.

Yes he does, but if we look at the Greek origin, we realise the word there is bema.

The concept of the Bema Seat comes from the ancient Olympics, where a judge would sit on the Bema Seat placed at the finishing line of a race.

In those days, sensors and timers were not invented yet. So in order to determine the sequence as to who had crossed the finishing line first, second or third, etc, the judge himself had to sit right there next to finishing line. His job was to give out the appropriate rewards and throphies after doing so, and not to "find fault" with the participants.

The Bema Seat judgment is also different from the Great White Throne (in Greek: megas leukos thronos) judgment as mentioned in Revelation 20:11-15.

Believers will appear before the former to receive their reward, whereas unbelievers will appear before the latter to receive their judgment.