February 8, 2026
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Last time we discussed the Judgment Seat of Christ and described it as the day we will stand before Jesus and review our lives.
2nd Corinthians 5:
10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
We explored the scriptures to explain the timing of this event, what it means for us, and perhaps more importantly, what it does not mean. The Judgment Seat of Christ is expected to occur immediately after the Rapture and is therefore for believers only. The issue of this judgment is not whether we are saved, but rather a review of our deeds.
Some teachers describe the event as a rewards ceremony, where Jesus commends us for the works we did for the Gospel. We looked at several passages, such as Hebrews 6: 9-10 which describes “things that accompany salvation” and Psalms 62:12 which talks about the Lord will “recompense a man according to his work. The Hebrew word for “recompense” means to repay, prosper, or reward.
Last week I made the point that while the Judgment Seat of Christ should motivate us to do good work for the Gospel, it is not something we should fear or worry about it. I said there will be no competition with others, no embarrassment, and no disappointment. After all, we will have just been raptured and spared from the wrath to come, and our next focus should be on deep worship of our Lord and Savior, and not ourselves.
Today I want to look at more scripture that addresses what to expect at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Some teachers warn Christians to make sure they do sufficient works to not be embarrassed or disappointed at Jesus’ coming. These teachings are based at least partly on the following two passages of scripture.
Judgment of Our Works
1st John 2:
28 ¶ And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.
Clearly John is saying we could be in shame at His coming, but I believe this passage is more about our salvation because He is saying if we do not abide in Him (Jesus), we will shrink away in shame. Abiding in Jesus means living in Him, and living in His word. Jesus said this in John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
So, I think 1st John 2:28 is addressing salvation at the Second Coming (Great White Throne Judgment) more than it is describing the Judgment Seat of Christ. On the other hand, I believe the Apostle Paul is specifically addressing the Judgment Seat of Christ with the following passage from 1st Corinthians 3.
1st Corinthians 3:
11 ¶ For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
13 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.
14 If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.
Clearly, Paul is describing a man’s work for the Kingdom of God, the foundation of which is Jesus Christ. The test of our work is by fire, so if we build on the foundation with gold, silver, and precious stones, our works will survive the test, but if wood, hay, and straw, our works will burn, and therefore no reward will be given us. Note Paul reaffirms in verse 15 that we will nevertheless be saved.
What You Wear Matters
With all that being said about desiring that our works are judged well by Jesus, there is plenty more said in the scriptures warning us against an attitude of self-righteousness.
In Matthew 22, Jesus uses a parable to teach about salvation and self-righteousness.
Matthew 22:
2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king, who gave a wedding feast for his son.
3 “And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.
4 “Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are [all] butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”‘
5 “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business,
6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.
7 “But the king was enraged and sent his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and set their city on fire.
8 “Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
9 ‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find [there,] invite to the wedding feast.’
10 “And those slaves went out into the streets, and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.
11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes,
12 and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And he was speechless.
13 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are called, but few [are] chosen.”
The king referred to here is symbolic of Father God, who will give a wedding feast for His Son, Jesus. The invitation was sent first to the Jews, but they refused the invitation to accept Jesus as Savior. Then the call went out to Gentiles, opening the door for us to be saved via the righteousness of our Lord and Savior. What’s interesting is in verse 11, the King noticed a man who was not dressed properly, as he was not in the wedding garments normally provided by the king preparing the feast. The king was offended that the man would come in his own clothes, and had his servants cast the man into outer darkness.
The message for us is that we are invited to a wedding feast but the clothes we are given to wear represent the righteousness of Jesus. He is the only reason we are allowed to attend. Wearing our own clothes insults the Father because it means we believe our own righteousness made us worthy to attend.
This is why the prophet Isaiah said this:
Isaiah 64:
6 ¶ For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
We said last time that the Judgment Seat of Christ takes place right after the Rapture but before the Tribulation, during which time we would be in the Throne Room praising Jesus. Notice in Revelation 4, where the Throne Room activity is described, that white garments are provided and worn to represent the purity of Jesus, and the crowns received at the Judgment Seat of Christ will be cast down.
Revelation 4:
4 And around the throne [were] twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones [I saw] twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.
Revelation 4:
10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 “Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created.”
The twenty-four elders are thought to represent the Church age saints (Christians who were judged well at the Judgment Seat of Christ). Yet verses 10 and 11 tell us the crowns received by them were cast down at the feet of Jesus and the focus becomes worshipping the Lamb who was found worthy to open the seals and begin the wrath of the Tribulation.
No Competition, No Disappointment
While some teachers imply an embarrassing “skin of the teeth” salvation in 1st Corinthians 3:15, it is not explicitly stated in that passage. Further, other passages indicate there will be no disappointment at the Judgment Seat of Christ. We will be so blessed to be in the presence of our Lord, to have been found worthy of Him, that our focus will be solely on Him. The thief on the cross at the crucifixion, whom Jesus forgave and granted eternal life, did not have an opportunity to change his life and do good works for the Kingdom. I cannot imagine that he will be disappointed, knowing the mercy and grace he received that day on the cross, and realizing the glory and honor due Jesus on the throne.
In Matthew 20, Jesus taught the Parable of the Vineyard Workers, where those who were hired last and did the least work were financially blessed as though they worked the whole day.
Matthew 20:
10 “And when those [hired] first came, they thought that they would receive more; and they also received each one a denarius.
11 “And when they received it, they grumbled at the landowner,
12 saying, ‘These last men have worked [only] one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered and said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?
14 ‘Take what is yours and go your way, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.
15 ‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’
16 “Thus the last shall be first, and the first last.”
The landowner represented Jesus, and He admonished the disappointment and the competitive spirit brought by the early workers. Jesus will be gracious when He judges our works as well.
In Revelation 21, in John’s vision of the new Jerusalem, we again see the graciousness of God in judging the works of the saints.
Revelation 21:
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.
12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names [were] written on them, which are [those] of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
13 [There were] three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west.
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them [were] the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Notice the great symbolism of the twelve gates named after the twelve sons of Israel (Jacob), and the twelve foundation stones which were named after Jesus’ apostles. This represents the merging of the Old Testament saints and New Testament saints in the new City of Jerusalem. What’s awesome is that the twelve sons of Jacob did not do the greatest works ever. Afterall, they sold Joseph into slavery, certainly a work that would not survive the fire described by Paul in 1st Corinthians 3:13. Yet Father God honored them by naming the gates of New Jerusalem after them. He is a gracious and merciful God, worthy to be praised.
Closing
In closing, while it is important to focus on doing things that have eternal value, we must not lose sight of Isaiah’s admonishment that “…all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment…” We must remain on guard against wearing our own wedding clothes of self-righteousness, which will disqualify us from the Marriage Feast of the Lamb, and will cast us into the outer darkness.
Jesus said this about works:
John 6:
27 “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you, for on Him the Father, [even] God, has set His seal.”
28 ¶ They said therefore to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
Let us also remember what Hebrews 4 teaches about our High Priest, Jesus, who understands our weaknesses.
Hebrews 4:
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as [we are, yet] without sin.
16 Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.
Acknowledging the graciousness of Jesus allows us to draw near to His throne with confidence that we may humbly receive His mercy, grace, and eternal rewards.
Let us pray.
Father God, thank You for grace, mercy, forgiveness, and eternal rewards. Quicken our spirits, Lord, to do the works of the Father by believing in the Son. We draw near with confidence to the throne, trusting in the grace to be extended to us there. We give all glory and honor and praise to Jesus, the Righteous Judge. Amen.
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