JUDGMENT
Background
The biblical doctrine of a future day of judgment is one of the most misunderstood subjects among Christians. The idea of one general judgment, when all the people of all ages will stand before God, has always been erroneously prevalent.
All people who have ever lived—both saints and sinners—will be judged, but not at the same time. The judgments differ as to subjects, time, place, and results. This discussion will deal only with the aspects of the future judgments which the helper will most likely need to address.
There are three judgments for the believer in Christ:
1. The believer has already been judged for his or her sins, by the death of Christ at Calvary:
"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
". . . who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed" (1 Peter 2:24).
When He died on the cross, Jesus bore the full thrust of God's righteous judgment against sin. The believer receives Christ as his or her sin-bearer, meaning that he or she trusts fully in the redemption accomplished at Calvary and is freed from sin and guilt. Believers will never again be judged for their sins.
2. The believer will someday stand before the judgment seat of Christ to be judged for how he or she lived as a Christian:
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10).
This judgment will bring rewards to some and loss to others. Some will have no profitable works to lay at the Master's feet, while others will be called "good and profitable servants" and will be asked to enter into the joy of their Lord. This judgment will immediately follow the "rapture" of believers, both alive and dead, as recorded in 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 (see "Scripture" on the following pages).
3. There is also the daily self-judgment of the believer: