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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Revealed at the Judgment Seat
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, whether it be good or bad. (II Corinthians 5:10)
Every person born on the earth will be revealed before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
The King James translation reads: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ."
Today we speak of people appearing in court, and so we transfer that thought to II Corinthians 5:10. This is somewhat misleading.
The concept here is that we will be revealed, made manifest, at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
When an individual appears in court today he may or may not be made manifest. He may be successful in hiding what he is and what he has done. He is not necessarily revealed or made manifest.
The translation should read: We all must be made manifest before the Judgment Seat of Christ. This is what will happen.
Notice carefully what is to take place at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
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, whether it be good or bad (II Corinthians 5:10).
We shall receive the things we have done while in our mortal body, whether they were good things or bad things.
The directness of the reward is surprising. We tend to think of the verse as meaning we will be rewarded according to our behavior. This may be the meaning. But what it states is more direct. The statement is, we shall receive what we have done; not we shall be rewarded according to what we have done, but we shall receive the things we have done.
If we were to interpret this in its exact form we would say that if we have practiced love we will receive love itself; not a reward for love but love itself. If we have practiced hate we will receive hate itself.
This well may be the case. It may in fact be true that we will receive a change in our personality according to what we have done, a corresponding change in our appearance and body, and a corresponding destiny.
Some of the translators have added the thought that we shall receive a reward appropriate to our behavior and not the behavior itself. It is possible that this is what Paul meant. However, it usually is wise to follow the Scriptures as closely as possible. Things may be different in the Day of the Lord from what would be the case today.
We may observe that Satan practiced rebellion. As part of Satan's judgment, God has given him a spirit of rebellion from which he cannot escape. Satan no longer is capable of obedience. Therefore his appearance is unimaginably horrible and his destiny frightful beyond words. "He who is filthy, let him remain filthy" (Revelation 22:11).
If such is the meaning of II Corinthians 5:10, the believer who keeps on striving for righteousness will be given a spirit of righteousness, a body of eternal righteousness and life, and a glorious future of nearness to God.
To be continued.