Run to Win

2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

As a young boy I can remember seeing a movie at my grandparent’s church. In the movie a man had died and stood before a tribunal in Heaven. The man was asked several questions about the way that he lived his life. During the interrogation a huge movie screen lowered in front of him and all the bad things that he had ever done were shown back to him revealing his sinful past. This movie not only confused me, but also scared me to death. About two months ago I read a gospel tract that pretty much described the same thing. It seems that people are confused when it comes to the Judgment Seat of Christ, especially if they read the tracts or watch the movie that I watched.

What we have to understand first of all is that the Judgment Seat of Christ and the Great White Throne Judgment are two separate events. The Judgment Seat of Christ is solely for believers and the Great White Throne is solely for unbelievers. The Judgment Seat of Christ takes place after the rapture of the Church and the Great White Throne will take place at the end of the Millennium.

In 2 Corinthians 5:10, Paul states that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…” The “we” that Paul is referring is everyone who has believed in the Person and work of Jesus Christ for salvation. (John 3:36) All believers must stand before the judgment seat of Christ, but according to John 3:18 if we believe in Jesus Christ then we will not be judged. John 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” So why would we appear before the judgment seat if not for judgment? In order to answer this question we must examine the meaning of the phrase “judgment seat” in the Greek.

The word translated “judgment seat” in the English is the word BEMA in the Greek. In the world of the New Testament, the bema was a raised platform, usually mounted by steps, and used to make public pronouncements and to award prizes. In the Grecian games, the umpire or referee sat on a bema seat and from that seat he would watch a race between competitors. At the completion of the race, the first, second, and third place contestants would stand before the “bema seat” in order to be rewarded for running well. The reward for winning the race was a crown of woven olive branches called a stephanos. (1 Corinthians 9:24 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.) The seat usually was not a judicial bench. In other words, this was not a seat where the losers of the race were chastised and criticized for their lackluster performance. The bema seat was a place from which rewards were gained or withheld; gained for running well or withheld for running poorly. Because so many people attach negativity to the phrase Judgment Seat, I prefer to call it the Reward Seat of Christ.

So now we understand that all believers must appear before the reward seat of Christ and will either gain or lose reward “according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Again, this statement can be confusing unless we look to the original language in which it was written. Remember that reward is gained or lost because of our performance. Our performance is either good (agathos) or bad (faulon). Agathos means ultimate good. The only time that our performance in the Christian Way of Life can be classified as agathos (ultimate good) is when it is done iby God. Agathos deeds are considered valuable, profitable, and worthwhile.

The antithesis of the agathos deed is any deed that is classified as faulon (bad). I don’t really like the translation “bad” here, because faulon actually means worthless. Faulon can mean any deed (whether classified good or bad by human standards) that is performed without God involved. Faulon deeds will not be rewarded at Bema (Reward) Seat of Christ because they are utterly worthless.

It seems to be pretty cut and dry. Rewards are received if God is working in and through you and lost if you are doing all the work. I leave you with a challenge from Paul: (1 Corinthians 9:24 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.) Are you running to receive or lose reward at the Bema? Run to Win!! Run with God!!