
Verses like these should cause you to do one thing… search your heart. Your Response to the Bema Seat/Judgment Seat While those types of people may be able to hide their motives now, when they stand before the judgment seat of Christ there will be no hiding for everything will be uncovered. God will reveal the things that we cannot see, which includes the attitude of your heart in doing what you do for God.Įvery person that sets out to do the work of the Lord does not always do it with the right motives or for the right reasons. Everything will be laid bare and there will be no hiding or escape. This encompasses things like why are you doing it? Whose glory are you concerned about, yours or God’s? Are you building your kingdom or God’s kingdom? On that day not only will what you have done be judged but also the motivation behind it. This is a reminder to you and me that it is not enough just to do work for the Lord, what is equally or probably more important is the foundation of the work. Even though their work may be burned up and they receive no reward for it, they themselves will be saved. Notice again that the quality of the work is being judged, not the salvation of the one doing the work. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved-even though only as one escaping through the flames. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. Consider what Paul also wrote to the Corinthians:īy the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it.

One of the other things that will be judged there is the quality of each person’s work. Will All Christians Experience the Judgment Seat (Bema Seat) of Christ?Īs we just read in 2 Corinthians, all Christians will experience the judgment seat or bema seat of Christ.

This is a sobering thought which should cause you to reflect on how you are living. 2 Corinthians 5:9īecause you will one day stand before the bema seat of Christ your goal should be to please him. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. At that point, Jesus will deliver his judicial decision to all who are believers. If you can picture the imagery as it relates to Christ in this verse, Christ is seated on his elevated throne and one day we will stand before him. In the first century, the bema was an elevated platform from which political speeches or judicial decisions were made. The word bema means judgment seat, judicial court or judicial bench. The word for judgment used in the Greek is the word bema.

The term Bema Seat of Christ is a term that comes from 2 Corinthians 5:10.įor we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. What Is the Bema Seat/Judgment Seat of Christ? For Christians, we will experience the judgment seat or Bema seat of Christ which is a judgment for different reasons and for a different purpose. The unbeliever will experience the Great White Throne judgment mentioned in Revelation. The believer and the unbeliever will be judged but the experience will not be the same. There is a tendency sometimes to lump all judgment into the same category, but there are actually two different types of judgment. One day everyone will stand before God to give an account for their life. One of the topics the Bible speaks about is judgment. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.
