It is the "things done in his body" that are at issue. It is according to the actions of the body that we are judged, and it is in the body that we shall be rewarded or punished. The physical body is an important part of our redemption and our destiny. How we behave in the body is of the utmost significance.

If the current Christian understanding were correct, the final part of the verse would read, "so he may be rewarded for the works he has accomplished for Christ."

Thus the passage would read:

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, so that he may be rewarded for the works he hath accomplished for Christ."

The next verse would state:

"But he who hath done nothing for Christ, or who hath spent his days in fornication and drunkenness, hath no need to fear; because all who believe in Jesus shall enter with exceedingly great joy into the Presence of Christ."

This is how the passage is being interpreted by many Christian teachers and preachers of today. They have added to and taken away from God's Word without regard for the consequences to their hearers or to themselves.

The teachers and preachers claim they are giving "assurance" to some who have trouble placing their trust in Christ. The truth is, they are giving an assurance that is unfounded. It would be better to tell of the severity of God and then teach the believers how to stand in Christ.

The final part of II Corinthians 5:10 provides little comfort for the careless believer:

"According to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."

Again, works are the issue.

Each of us shall receive the good he has practiced in his body.

Each of us shall receive the bad he has practiced in his body.

Every Christian shall receive the good he has practiced in his body.

Every Christian shall receive the bad he has practiced in his body.

But Satan whispers, "You shall not surely die!"

The next verse does not teach us that no Christian need have any fear of the Judgment Seat of Christ. Instead, it commences: "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; . . . ." The term "terror" is currently being translated reverence. There is a very great difference between terror and reverence.

Well, which is it? One cannot speak with authority from the Greek term, for it could be translated terror or reverence—or so it is claimed. We must search out what the Lord Jesus and His apostles said concerning the believer who has practiced evil in his body. Using the passage concerning the man who buried his talent being forced into outer darkness, as one example of many such warnings, we conclude that the word "terror" is a much more accurate translation than "reverence."

Our conclusion is that in order for the fear of God to be returned to the churches, with an accompanying repentance and return to righteous, holy behavior, we must understand we all shall be revealed at the Judgment Seat of Christ that we may receive the good and the evil we have practiced in the world. Other passages inform us that if we already have repented of the evil and, with Christ's help, have turned away from the evil, it will not be mentioned to us at the Judgment Seat.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (I John 1:7) (from The Judgment Seat of Christ; from It Is Time for a Reformation of Christian Thinking)