As saved people, we need to be aware of our present responsibility to the Lord and of our future accountability to the Lord Jesus Christ. Unlike the past judgment of our sin as it was borne by our Sin-Bearer, this judgment does not have to do with condemnation for sin. The Judgment Seat of Christ will be a place of commendation for service. A determination of reward or loss will be made for each believer as to his service for Christ (vv. 14-15). This judgment is future, and it will take place at the rapture, in the air before the “Bema” (Greek term) – Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10). As suggested by the place of judgment, the Judge will be the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 14:10), and believers are the persons judged. It will not be a judgment in the sense of a trial to see whether the judged are innocent (saved) or guilty (lost), for it is a judgment of the saved only. Christ bore “our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24), and God has entered into covenant with us to “remember them no more” (Heb. 10:17). Yet every work must come into judgment; that is why we labor to be well-pleasing to Him (2 Cor. 5:9).
In the final analysis, we will receive either reward or loss of reward. The basis of judgment appears to be threefold – motive (1 Cor. 4:5), quality (3:12-13), and quantity (3:10b). Everyone’s work will be “revealed by fire” – perhaps the “flame of fire” of His eyes (Rev. 1:14). The result of this judgment is reward or loss at the Bema of Christ. The foundation of our lives is laid (vs. 11); let us be careful how we build and with what materials we build. “Look to yourselves…that [you] receive a full reward” (2 Jn. 8).
In the final analysis, we will receive either reward or loss of reward. The basis of judgment appears to be threefold – motive (1 Cor. 4:5), quality (3:12-13), and quantity (3:10b). Everyone’s work will be “revealed by fire” – perhaps the “flame of fire” of His eyes (Rev. 1:14). The result of this judgment is reward or loss at the Bema of Christ. The foundation of our lives is laid (vs. 11); let us be careful how we build and with what materials we build. “Look to yourselves…that [you] receive a full reward” (2 Jn. 8).