Foundation Lesson 5

What is the Judgment of the Believer?

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one receive the things done
in the body, according to what he has done whether good or bad. - 2 Corinthians 5:10

The Judgment seat of Christ or the Bema seat, is where the Christian will be judged on what works
he has done for Christ since he has been saved whether good or bad, this also is not about
salvation as only the saved are here and had their sins dealt with by Jesus at the cross John 3:16.
And all our sins have been forgiven we won't be condemned Romans 8:1. Also this judgment is not
the Great White Throne Judgment, that is where the unsaved are judged.

When does it take place?

This judgment of the believer takes place after the rapture of the church Luke 21:36, before the 7
year tribulation that comes upon the world.

What Happens at the Judgment seat?

In Romans 14:10-12 tells us that we must hive an account to God. With this passage and 2
Corinthians 5:10, is clear that this judgment is for believers only.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 describes what goes on at this judgment. At this judgment we will be judged
on how we served Christ since we were saved, how faithfully and the motive we served Him with.
Since we have been saved we are all building on the foundation which Jesus laid, the works we
have done will be tested by fire.

Luke 19:11-27, tells of the Parable of the minas, each of the masters servant was given ten minas
which a minaswas about 3 months wages, when the master came back each servant and had to give
an account, those that done well were rewarded, those that never had nothing but they themselves
were saved. It's the same as the judgment seat those that do well in what they are given will be
rewarded those that don't do well have their works burned up but they themselves are saved.

The Works of Wood, Hay & Straw

These are some works tested by fire, these will all be burned up. Let's be clear its not about who
many works you do for Christ but its about the quality of that work. A lot of works many of us will
see in that day will be those of Matthew 6:2, doing works for the Lord but wanting the praise of
man, when we get the praise of man in that reward it gets burned up, it has no value we should only
be seeking to please our Lord not to receive the praise of man.

Also we could be doing things in the wrong motive, we might be doing a work for the Lord and
grumble in doing it not wanting to do it, this will get burned up. We may not be faithfully doing
things for the Lord, we may end up doing them but only after our worldly things are done first or
just being lazy in doing them. Also we may be doing the works but have unrepentant sin in our
lives, if this is the case whilst doing the works we are allowing our Lord's name to be attacked,
these to will be burned up.

Gold, Silver & Precious Stones.

These are the works that will stand against the test of fire and become refined, which means the fire
Foundation Lesson 5

will cause them to shine brighter. These are the works done faithfully, in the right heart with the
right motive seeking only to please the Lord. These are the works which will be rewarded. We know
some good works are being a witness Matthew 5:16, Worship Matthew 26:10, willing to give and
share 1 Timothy 6:18, plus no matter how small a good work is it will be rewarded even giving a
glass of water Matthew 10:42. It boils down to the fact of how much of Jesus is in you, and how
much you want to please Him.

The Rewards

We know from the Scriptures there are 5 crowns to be given as a reward, these are;
1 Corinthians 9:24-27, The victors crown. This is for those who exercise spiritual self control and
have victory over the old man, their old sin nature. Making themselves good use to serve Christ.
1 Thessalonians 2:19, The crown of rejoicing. This is for those that win souls for Jesus and seeing
the fruit of the lost coming to Christ through them.
2 Timothy 4:7-8, The crown of righteousness. This is for those who have kept the faith in their
morals and doctrine in the fight. And are looking for the any moment return of our Lord to come
for His church.
James 1:12, Revelation 2:10, The crown of life. This crown is given to those who suffer trials or
are killed for the faith.
1 Peter 5:2-4, The crown of glory. This crown is for those that feed the flock with the Word of
God, Pastors, elders and others who do this receive this crown.

Questions

1) What type of rewards are you building up, wood, hay, straw? Or gold, silver or precious stones?
Now we are born again, we shouldn't have the thinking of I just want to make it into heaven, that is
not what Jesus wants. He wants you to get there abundantly to give you lots of rewards. If you have
no desire to work for the Lord pray about it and find out why. Go talk to your Pastors and they will
find a way to help you.

2) What motive are you doing the works for the Lord in? Do you want to have the praise of man?
Are you grumbling about it? If so repent and put yourself right and change.

3) Are you working for the Lord with the future in mind? We are not to be just living for today, we
are to look for living for the Lord with the future in mind building upon Christ, just as we are
looking for His return, we are to look to build rewards up for the future. If you are not doing this
pray about it, ask the Lord to change the way you look at things and He will.

Things to do

Memory verse 2 Corinthians 5:10

This week start to work with the future in mind of what Christ has in store for us

Please write any questions below