The Believer's Evaluation

On that final day, judgment day. All of mankind shall be summoned unto the judgement seat of Christ. Some to everlasting life and some to everlasting shame and contempt. What will that day look like for you and me?

Our key passage today will be coming from the book of 2 Corinthians the fifth chapter, versus 9 and 10. We are going to wrestle with with a slightly startling statement made by the Apostle Paul in these versus. The statement is in regards to a particular judgment that all believers will face on the great day of the Lord when he is to judge the living and the dead.

The passage reads as follows:

9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

In this passage the Apostle Paul states that “we” the believers must “all” appear before the judgement seat of Christ. Now most of us can go as far as to say we have always been aware that we will be present and included in the judgement on the final day, but here is where it gets a little intimidating. Right at the end of verse 10 it says, “so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” Does Paul mean to say that the Lord will bring up the evil we have done on judgement day? If you have become acquainted with the doctrines of grace then you know your sins have been fully atoned for by the blood of Christ. We know that the bible states in Romans 8:1 that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. How then are we being judged not only according to the good we have done, but also the evil?

To answer this question we must look to scripture for clarity on what the Apostle Paul was referring to by this startling statement. Let us go to 1 Corinthians 3:8-14.

The passage states:

English Standard Version Chapter 3

8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

In this passage Paul also refers to the day of judgement when he says “for the Day will disclose it.”. We see already that this judgement for the believer will not result in a loss of salvation by looking at the middle of verse 15 “though he himself will be saved”. However, there is mention of a loss being suffered by the believer. Paul says that the works done by a believer will be tested on the great judgment day. They will be “disclosed” or in modern terms “exposed” by the Lord through a testing of “fire”. What is this idea of testing by fire?

In 1 Peter 1:7 it says:

English Standard Version Chapter 1

7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

So then what is the Lord testing? The genuineness of each work we have done. It is the Lord who weighs the heart of man. All things are naked and exposed in his sight. Nothing is hidden from him. Those works which we have done in his name will be tested by fire to see if they truly were done in his name, by faith, and according to the right heart attitude. After we go through the fire, all dead works will be burned away and we will only be left with those things that were genuine and pleasing to him. On the basis of those things only shall we be rewarded. This can be seen as a sort of life evaluation from our Lord.

Have you ever been on a job where you had to receive an evaluation from your superior? I have. I remember the nerves that came just from the thought that someone who holds authority over me is going to tell me how good or bad I have done and the possible consequences. The thought of that made me uneasy. Even if I had done nothing wrong, I was dreading the possibility that they found something against me or would express some level of disappointment in how well I had performed my job until that point. If you can relate to my experience, take that and now consider that your Lord and God has scheduled an evaluation for you following the end of your life.

This explains why Paul says in our main text, verse 9, “it is our aim to please him.”. Paul was fully aware of the pending evaluation on how he lived his life and was motivated to live a life pleasing unto the Lord.

Why should you be concerned with this if you are going to get into heaven anyway? Here is why.

Matthew 5:19 states:

English Standard Version Chapter 5

19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Yes, all believers will make it into heaven but there will be a consequence for a lazy Christian life. There will be an eternal rank or status in heaven described by our Lord as “least” and “great”. This means that your experience in heaven will be according to how you lived your life and used your time on earth. Not to mention what was stated earlier in 1 Corinthians 3:15 that the believer will “suffer loss” when passing through the trial of fire on judgement day. Imagine walking through that fire…that consuming fire, only to find out that most of what you thought were pleasing works done unto the Lord were just burned up. Imagine coming out on the other side almost empty handed because you wasted your life on things that did not count towards eternity, things that the Lord had not commanded you to do. Personally, I would be embarrassed and ashamed. That is not an experience I want to have even if I still make it to heaven afterwards. Our aim should be the same as Paul’s and his co-laborers in the gospel, to please the Lord.

The Lord is our great judge. He knows our hearts. We can fool people but not him. Will there be anything left when you pass through the fire?