Romans 14:10-12, 2 Cor 5:10
10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
ESV Study Notes:
The strong should not despise the weak, and the weak should not judge the strong, for everyone will stand before God, who will judge all on the last day. The future day of judgment is prophesied in Isa. 45:23. Every person will give an account of his life to God at the judgment. Though justification is by faith alone, what Christians do will affect God’s evaluation of their service to him and the rewards they will receive (cf. 1 Cor. 3:10–17; 2 Cor. 5:10).
2 Cor. 5:10:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
ESV Study notes:
the judgment seat of Christ.
- The “judgment seat” (Gk. be-ma) was the tribunal bench in the Roman courtroom, where the governor sat while rendering judicial verdicts.
- Remains of such a be-ma exist in the Corinthian forum today (see Acts 18:12–17 and Introduction to 1 Corinthians: The Ancient City of Corinth).
- In the coming age, Christ will judge as God the Father’s representative, ruling the kingdom the Father has given him (see Rom. 14:10–12; etc.).
- so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done . . . whether good or evil.
- This underscores the principle that present-day actions have eternal consequences.
- All Christians will appear before the eternal judgment seat of Christ, to receive “what is due” to them for the deeds that they have done in their earthly life.
- It is debated, however,
(1) whether the aim of this judgment is to determine the measure of reward that the Christian will receive in the age to come; or
(2) whether the aim is to provide demonstrative evidence regarding who is lost and who is saved.
- Because the context of Paul’s statement refers back to both the believer’s hope for the resurrection (see 2 Cor. 5:1, 4) and to the reward of “glory beyond all comparison” (see 4:16–18), it would seem that both aims are in view.
- Thus, with regard to the first case, many interpreters hold that the believer’s deeds will provide public evidence to indicate the measure of rewards that the believer will receive, corresponding to the believer’s “obedience of faith” (acts of service, love, and righteousness; cf. Rom. 1:5; 16:26).
- In the second case, some interpreters hold that the believer’s deeds will also provide public evidence brought forth before the judgment seat of Christ to demonstrate that one’s faith is real—that is, public evidence, not as the basis for salvation, but as a demonstration of the genuineness of one’s faith.
- Paul therefore makes it his aim to “please” Christ (2 Cor. 5:5–9), because the extent to which one does this corresponds to the measure of rewards that one will receive (see Matt. 6:20; Luke 19:17, 19; 1 Cor. 3:12–15; 1 Tim. 6:19; Rev. 22:12), likewise giving evidence for the genuineness of one’s faith.
- Paul is confident that genuine believers will pass Christ’s judgment, since the new covenant ministry of reconciliation has brought them under the life-transforming power of the Spirit—based on the forgiveness of their sins through faith in Christ alone, all of which is the result of God’s grace alone (see 2 Cor. 1:12, 22; 3:6, 8–9, 18; 4:4–6, 15; 5:5, 14–15, 16–21; 8:19; 9:8, 14; etc.).
