Of the many errors in current Christian theology, one of the gravest, the most displeasing to the Lord, may be the doctrine that no Christian will be punished at the Judgment Seat of Christ. How upsetting and frustrating it must be to God to see His Word being mutilated in this manner! How grievous an error it is that leaves multitudes of believers unprepared for what they will be facing in the Day of the Lord!

Because of this error concerning the Judgment Seat, the fear of the Lord has been removed from the believers. The truth is, appearing before the Judgment Seat of Christ will prove to be a terrifying experience for all except those believers who are totally consecrated and obedient to God (and a sobering experience even for them although they have gained some degree of boldness).

The Spirit of God intends that the terror of the Judgment Seat be one of the motivations that cause the believers to serve Christ with diligence.

After the Apostle Paul spoke of the Judgment Seat of Christ he said, "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men."

Men, including the Apostle Paul, are to be persuaded by the "terror of the Lord."

But the fear of God has been removed from Christ's churches. The fear of the Judgment Seat has gone and in its place has been installed the false assurance that no matter how we neglect or abuse the things of Christ we shall be given a crown of glory ("by grace") at the Judgment Seat of Christ. We have nothing to fear.

The altering of the doctrine to mean Christians will receive only blessing at the Judgment Seat of Christ is a serious perversion of Divine truth.

The current doctrine invites an unfounded assurance that our present-day self-centeredness, spiritual laziness, and neglect of our great salvation will not result in any pain on our part; our lack of obedience to the Word of Christ will not receive its due consequences; we shall not reap what we are sowing.

Of the many misunderstandings that attend the "lawless grace" and "rapture" doctrines of our day, the idea that the Judgment Seat of Christ will be similar to a sports award banquet may be the most deadly as far as the destiny of the believer is concerned.

It is understood generally that the term beema, the Greek word for judgment seat, is used in the New Testament to indicate a platform of some sort where contestants in a contest receive their laurels.

To the contrary, the term beema, which is used twelve times in the New Testament according to our concordance, never refers to a place where trophies are awarded. A beema was an elevated seat where a person accused of a crime was brought for judgment.

To be continued.