The Great White Throne Judgment Seat of Christ

 

There is a day of judgment coming for all of us. We are told this plainly in Romans 14:10-12 " But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God.” 12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God". 

But not all of us will face the same type of judgment. There are many passages in the Bible that tell us that there is a coming judgment for the inhabitants of the world, but I think that there is some confusion regarding how that judgment will play out and also who will face that judgment. I think that there are sects of Christianity that believe that there is no judgment for those who have placed their faith in Christ. This may explain why there is such a bold defiance of Scripture in regards to the doctrine of once saved, always saved (OSAS), which I spent three articles debunking here, here, and here. If there is no judgment for those who love Christ, then there is also no consequence for how one lives "for Christ", hence OSAS is appealing for those who care not to put in the effort that is required for the Holy Spirit to refine and cleanse us from our unrighteousness.

The truth of the Scriptures, though, is that we will all, in fact, face a judgment of some kind. I am learning along with you as I am researching this for this article, and I am getting the facts figured out as I write this, so I will just dive into this instead of trying to summarize the findings that I haven't finalized in my own mind yet.

In 1 Corinthians 4:5 we are told that the Lord, Jesus, will bring into the light and will make known all the things that we have done along with our motives for doing so; "Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God." These are Paul's words to the church of believers in Corinth. So we see that even believers will be judged and the praise mentioned will only be for those who have done good. Romans 2:5-8 shows us the result of the good and the bad acts that we have done, and this is also written to the members of the church of believers; "But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who will render to each person according to his deeds: 7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; 8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation." If this is the word to believers, what do the unbelievers have to look forward to?

I think everybody who holds to the Word of God recognizes that there is a Great White Throne judgment that is mentioned in Revelation 20:11-15. We read what John tells us that he saw: "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

 This scene takes place after the thousand year, or millennial, reign of Christ. He has already come to earth at the end of the Great Tribulation and He has already conquered those who had rejected Him, accepted the mark of the beast and who had gathered at the Valley of Megiddo. At this point, Jesus has also already reigned on the earth for a thousand years, but this is prior to the new Jerusalem coming down from Heaven, which I understand is the time when God the Father will come to earth to be among His people. So, the "Him" whom John is referring to in verse 11 appears to be Jesus. This is further supported by what we read in John 5:22-24, "For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. 24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." So it appears that God the Father has given all responsibility for the judgment of humanity to Jesus, yet it also seems that those whom are His are not subject to the judgment that results in death.

Next in Revelation 20, we see that the dead, great and small, were standing before Jesus the judge (v.12), even those who had died in the sea and those who have been waiting in death and Hades for this judgment day to arrive. I don't think that I have the time to go into the nature of the phrase "death and Hades" in this article, but I will probably dive into that in a future article. 

Now keep in mind that this happens after the harvesting of the righteous who have lived through the Tribulation period, which we see in Revelation 14:14-16 and which I wrote about in my article warning that there will not be a pre-trib rapture. So those who are standing before the Great White Throne appear to be all people who have died in the history of the earth, except for those who experienced the harvest of believers in Revelation 14. I base this on what we read in Revelation 15:2 where John sees "those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass". Those who Jesus removed from the earth in Revelation 14 seem to have been set aside already, possibly because they have already gone through the trial of the Tribulation and had stayed loyal to God, thereby their judgment is already completed. We also see in verses 4-6 that those who had died and suffered in the Tribulation "came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years", which concludes before John sees the white throne, so it seems that even those who died under the persecution of the Tribulation were harvested by Jesus. Furthermore, we see that "The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years." (v.5-6). So this indicates that the judgment of the Great White Throne has no bearing on those who either die Christ in or survive in Christ for the duration of the Tribulation period, since the result of the judgment of the Great White Throne is the second death.

There is a reason why there is confusion and disagreement around this subject. What I have written so far probably doesn't help to clarify anything yet, but if you stick with me, I will try to lay everything out in a more understandable way once I have placed all the pieces on the board, which I'm not yet done with.

This is probably where I need to bring up the separation of the sheep and the goats that Jesus tells us about in Matthew 25:31-34 & 41 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels". In this passage we see that Jesus is sitting on "His glorious throne", which I think we can infer is the Great White Throne, as He is about to enter into judgment as to whether those who are before Him are sheep or goats. We see that the sheep are those who are His as they are blessed and are placed to His right; they will inherit the kingdom. We also see that the goats are those who have rejected Him, they are cursed and are placed to His left; they will be cast into the eternal fire. This is synonymous with the outcome of the Great White Throne judgment, where the outcome is either eternal life or eternal damnation. This separation is likely accomplished through the use of the Book of Life mentioned in Revelation 20:15, where we read that "if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

We know that there are different types of rewards in Heaven; perhaps we can assume that there are different levels of punishment in hell. This seems to be a belief of the Jewish people. If so, this initial separation of the people may not be the final judgment that the unbelievers face; I will yet show you that it is not the final judgment that the believers will face. So maybe we could look at this scene as the judge separating his docket, dealing with the hardened criminals in one way and the repentant criminals in a different way and at a different time.

So we have read of the separating of those who love God and those who reject Him according to the names that are found written in the Book of Life. I think it is at this time that the deeds of those who rejected God are examined and dealt with, this being the goats that were placed on Jesus left side. If there are different levels of punishment for unbelievers, this must be where it is determined where each unbeliever will go for eternity, according to their deeds, though they will all end up in the lake of fire.

After the goats have all been dealt with, we are still left with the sheep on Jesus' right side; those who were His at the time of their deaths. But I posit that this is a second judgment for them, though the first judgment had no power over them. They passed through the first judgment easily due to their relationship with Jesus, according to Romans 8:1-2  "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." There is no condemnation, meaning that they are not subject to the judgment that leads to death as the goats were, but there is still a reckoning for all of our deeds as a means to ascertain what our rewards are to be in Paradise, "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" (2 Corinthians 5:10). Jesus says in Revelation 22:12  “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done." Even those who have placed their hope in Him with face a judgment of his own actions, and these actions will lead to the gaining, retention and potential loss of our Heavenly rewards.

In a recent article, I referenced 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, which says that, "According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 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 on 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 on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." This is Paul stating that the foundation that he laid among those in the church is that of the salvation available through Christ, but that it is up to each individual to build a suitable structure on top of that foundation of salvation in order to receive a reward. It is through the refining fire of Jesus' scrutiny that these structures will be determined as to whether they are built of straw, wood, precious stones or precious metals. From that list you should be able to tell which will stand the test of fire and which won't.

So what is this reward based on? It is based on our actions and our words as they are influenced by what is in our heart. Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:35-37, "The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. 36 But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Luke 6:45 tells us the same thing, but adds that the good and evil come out of the treasure of the heart. Our very words will be used to judge the condition of our heart towards God and towards man, and the conclusion that is reached by this examination will determine the extent of our rewards. 

This is not a judgment regarding our entry into Heaven; that was already determined at the separation of the sheep and the goats. This determines the size of our mansion, so to speak, the extent of our Heavenly riches, and this is often referred to as the Bema Seat of Christ. Those who invested little in the things of God while they lived on the earth will receive few rewards while those who invested much will receive more rewards, "each person according to his deeds" (Romans 2:6). In the same way, if your deeds were done based on human reasoning and effort, they will be burned up as wood and straw, but if your deeds were done under the influence and leading of God, they will survive the fire as stones and metals do.

So, trying to wrap this up so it makes sense, I believe that the Bible is telling us that when we die, we do not go directly to Heaven, but we are sent to a place of waiting until the day of judgment which comes at the end of the Millennial Reign of Christ. In the meantime, during the Great Tribulation, the saints of that time are tried and tested, some of whom will die in Christ and others will survive in Christ. These saints will be harvested by Jesus Himself as we see in Revelation 14, both the living and the dead, just prior to the wrath of God being poured out on the earth, which is itself just prior to the return of Jesus, at which time the saints of the Tribulation period will reign with Him for a thousand years. At the end of this thousand year reign comes the resurrection of the dead from throughout history and the assembly of everybody except the Tribulation saints for the separation of the sheep and the goats. This is the determination of who receives eternal salvation (the sheep) and who receives eternal punishment (the goats). The goats will be judged according to their works and will be sent to the different levels of hell; then the sheep, who have already attained eternal salvation, will be judged according to their works in order to determine their rewards. Then comes the new Jerusalem, God the Father among us and all of eternity.

Thank you for reading this. I know that it hops around a little bit, but I sure hope I was able to make sense of all of that for you. As I mentioned earlier, there is a lot of disagreement about the nature of judgment and rewards in regards to the end of the age, but I think that what I have laid out here is pretty much in line with what the Bible tells us as a whole. If you have other thoughts on this, please feel free to express that in the comments section, but please do not expect that I will immediately agree with you; I base my theology on what the Bible says, not what any man says. If I can't see it in the Bible, I will not change my theology, as should be the case for everybody.