The Bible describes three judgments that happen at the end of time. Two of them are the judgment of Satan and the demons, which ends with them being thrown into the lack of fire, and the judgment of unbelievers, called The Great White Throne Judgment, which also ends with them being thrown into the lake of fire. I don't want to concern myself with these two judgments in this post because I am focusing on the judgment that Christians face at the end of time. The judgment that Christians face is one of rewards.
The judgment of Christians is called the Bema Judgment or the Judgment Seat of Christ. At this judgment, the works of believers are judged, determining the actions they took for Christ will on earth. God rewards Christians for those actions. This is not a judgment determining if we get into heaven or not. God already knows who gets in, i.e. he doesn't need to sit and think about that at a judgment. Remember that there is a separate judgment for unbelievers, so God has already dealt with who gets in and who doesn't.
The main teaching on the Judgment Seat of Christ is found in 1 Corinthians 3. Paul says this:
"According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire" (v.10-15).
At the Judgment Seat of Christ, what a Christian has built on the foundation of Christ is revealed. Those actions that did not appropriately build on the foundation of Christ will be burned away. The actions that remain are those that shined for Christ, that built up his church, and because of these, Christians are rewarded. In other words, this judgment results in praise to God for all the actions we accomplished on his behalf. This is not dealing with sin; the wood, hay and straw are not representative of sin. This is clear from the context of the passage because Paul is discussing work for Christ as a man builds on the foundation of Christ. He says to be careful how you build because we want our actions to count at the end of time, to be actions that built up the church. Those actions I have taken that have been of godly quality will stand and I will receive a reward for them.
Thus, we see that at the judgment of Christians, there is no revealing of sin in front of everyone. The Bible never says this. So why do some Christians hold to this idea? I want to tackle three passages that Christians quote who believe our sin will be exposed and show how these verses are misunderstood.
First, let's go back to the Romans passage above. The end of the passage says, "If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." It is interesting what Christians put into this passage that isn't there. Breaking down the verse, the man in this verse apparently has no works to show for Christ. He did nothing on earth for his Lord. So although he will be saved, he will receive no rewards. The verse says he will "suffer loss." What is this loss? It is the loss of rewards as the context makes clear. When I discuss this verse with believers, they often project onto this man the feeling of grief. They are confused because they thought heaven was a place without grief. Nowhere in the verse does it say that this man is ashamed or grieving. "Suffer loss" does not refer to the man's emotions, but to the lack of rewards. If anything, this man must be grateful--He made it into heaven even though he did nothing for Christ. Thus, this man is not crying over his sins. This judgment has nothing to do with sin.
The next verse that is sometimes quoted to support our sins exposed to all is found in Romans 14:12: "So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God." On the surface, it sounds like we'll have to stand before God and give an account for our sin, right? It may sound that way, but context reveals this is inaccurate. The context of this passage is the discussion Paul has regarding weak and strong believers where he charges them not to pass judgment on one another over "disputable matters." These matters are what we call "gray areas." These are not areas of sin, but areas of conviction. Looking at the context, Paul writes this:
"Who are you to judge the servant of another ? To his own master he stands or falls ; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand...But you, why do you judge your brother ? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt ? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, 'As I live, says the LORD, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.' So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this -not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way" (Ro. 14:4, 10-13).
In the context, Paul is saying, "Who are you to judge another Christian's conviction? God is his master. It is God that he has to give an account to, not you. So leave the judging to God." Since the context of the passage is not sin, but conviction, what does Paul mean that God will judge believers for their convictions? We've already seen that the judgment on Christians is one of rewards. At the Judgment Seat of Christ, God will look at the motives of our hearts in taking actions. If we made decisions in gray areas in response to God's conviction, those will stand. If we made decisions with a lack of faith, those will be burned up. Once again, the context reveals that this has nothing to do with sin at all. Paul makes this point all the clearer in another portion of scripture: "Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God" (1 Cor. 4:5). Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4 that he is not concerned with being judged by men because God is the judge of if he has been "found trustworthy." God knows the motives of his heart, not any man, and God will expose those motives at the end of time. God isn't exposing sin, but the motives of a heart that worked for him. Notice that at the end of 1 Corinthians 4:5, it only mentions praise from God, not exposure of sin.
The third passage I want to discuss is a touchy one. It's the passage where Christ talks with the sheep and the goats. The reason this passage is controversial is denominations differ as to when this passage takes place. Some place it squarely at the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ; others place it at the end of time with the judgments discussed earlier. Wherever this judgment falls, it is clear by the context that the sheep are being judged for works they did for God: "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me'" (Matt. 25:30). The actions these sheep have taken reveal their dedication to God. This is once again not a judgment on sin for the sheep.
So in scripture, there is no support for the idea that God will stand believers up in front of everyone and display their sin for all to see. Beyond no scriptural support for this idea, there is no logical support for this idea. Psalm 103:12 says, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." 1 John 1:9 states, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." If God has removed our transgression, if he has forgiven us and cleansed us from all sin, then why would he show everyone our sin at the end of time? And even more compelling, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 declares, "Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation." Because of Christ's sacrifice, our sins are not counted against us. It makes no sense for God to come to the end of time and say, "I know I said your sins were forgiven, that I'd removed them, that Christ paid for them, but I need to get in one more dig at you and show everyone your sin."
Dear Christian, your sin is forgiven! There is no need to fear judgment at the end of time. You will not stand ashamed in front of everyone. You will stand with your deeds rewarded bringing glory to God through your acts on earth. That is the truth!
It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean;
for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints."
for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints."
Revelation 19:6-8
Thank you for posting this! Very encouraging to me today :)
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