The Bema Seat Evaluation of the Church: Introduction

A prominent doctrine of the New Testament concerns the Judgment Seat of Christ.

It is a doctrine often ignored or, when taught, it is misrepresented because of the term “judgment” that is used in translating the Greek text.

As I will demonstrate, though it is tremendously serious with eternal ramifications, the Judgment Seat of Christ is not a place and time when the Lord will mete out punishment for sins committed by the child of God.

Rather, it is a place where rewards will be given or lost depending on how a believer has lived his life for the Lord.

In 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, the Apostle Paul drew courage and was motivated by the fact of rewards at the return of the Lord for the church which he mentions in every chapter in this epistle and which becomes the primary subject of 2 Thessalonians.

The Lord’s return and what this means, not only to the world but also to us individually, is a very prominent subject of the New Testament.

1 Thessalonians 2:19 For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? 20 For you are our glory and joy. (NASB95)

It is significant that among the final words of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, we find these words of the Lord: “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done” (Rev. 22:12).

While salvation is a gift, there are rewards given for faithfulness in the Christian life as well as the loss of rewards for unfaithfulness.

Rewards become one of the great motivations of the Christian’s life or should.

But we need to understand the nature of these rewards in order to understand the nature of the motivation.

Some people are troubled by the doctrine of rewards because this seems to suggest “merit” instead of “grace,” and because, it is pointed out, we should only serve the Lord out of love and for God’s glory.

Of course we should serve the Lord out of love and for God’s glory, and understanding the nature of rewards will help us do that.

But the fact still remains that the Bible promises us rewards.

God gives us salvation.

It is a gift through faith, but He rewards us for good works.

God graciously supplies the means by which we may serve Him.

Indeed, He works in us both to will and to do as we volitionally appropriate His grace, but the decision to serve and the diligence employed in doing so, are our responsibility and contribution, and this is what God will reward.

He will reward how we used His grace.

Both Romans 14:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:10 speak of the “judgment seat” which is the noun bema.

While Bema is used in the gospels and Acts of the raised platform where a Roman magistrate or ruler sat to make decisions and pass sentence, its use in the epistles of Paul is more in keeping with its original use among the Greeks because of his many allusions to the Greek athletic contests.

Romans 14:10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. (NASB95)

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. (NASB95)

This word was taken from Isthmian games where the contestants would compete for the prize under the careful scrutiny of judges who would make sure that every rule of the contest was obeyed.

The victor of a given event who participated according to the rules was led by the judge to the platform called the Bema.

There the laurel wreath was placed on his head as a symbol of victory.

2 Timothy 2:5 And also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. (NASB95)

1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25 And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. (NASB95)

In all of these passages … Paul was picturing the believer as a competitor in a spiritual contest.

As the victorious Grecian athlete appeared before the Bema to receive his perishable award, so the Christian will appear before Christ’s Bema to receive his imperishable award.

The judge at the Bema bestowed rewards to the victors.

He did not whip the losers.

In other words, it is a reward seat and portrays a time of rewards or loss of rewards following examination.

But it is not a time of punishment where believers are judged for their sins.

Such would be inconsistent with the finished work of Christ on the cross because He totally paid the penalty for our sins.

Chafer and Walvoord have an excellent word on this view: “With reference to sin, Scripture teaches that the child of God under grace shall not come into judgment (John 3:18; 5:24; 6:37; Rom. 5:1; 8:1; 1 Cor. 11:32); in his standing before God, and on the ground that the penalty for all sin—past, present, and future (Col. 2:13)—has been borne by Christ as the perfect Substitute, the believer is not only placed beyond condemnation, but being in Christ is accepted in the perfection of Christ (1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 1:6; Col. 2:10; Heb. 10:14) and loved of God as Christ is loved (John 17:23).”

Again, Chafer writes concerning the Bema, “It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the judgment is unrelated to the problem of sin, that it is more for the bestowing of rewards than the rejection of failure.”

Romans 14:10 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. (NASB95)

“The judgment seat of God” is compose of the noun bema(βῆμα), “the judgment seat” and the noun theos(θεός), “of God.”

The NET Bible makes the following comment, “The judgment seat (βῆμα, bēma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a familiar item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city.”

The noun appears in Romans 14:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:10 for the judgment seat of Christ and this event will take place immediately after the rapture of the church.

This is indicated by the fact that Luke 14:12-14 teaches that rewarding a believer is associated with resurrection and the rapture is when the church is resurrected.

Also, Revelation 19:8 reveals that when the Lord returns to earth at His Second Advent to bring an end to Daniel’s Seventieth Week, the church is portrayed as already rewarded since she is described as dressed in fine linen, which refers to the righteous acts of the saints, a reference to rewards.

Furthermore, 2 Timothy 4:8, 1 Corinthians 4:5 teach that rewards are associated with “that day” and with the Lord’s coming, which refers to the event described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 that refers to the rapture.

1 Thessalonians 4:17, Revelation 4:2 and 19:8 make clear that the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church will take place somewhere either in the earth’s atmosphere or the stellar universe.

Every passage in the Greek New Testament that is either addressing rewards or the Bema Seat are addressed to believers or church age believers specifically (Romans 14:10-12; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:9-10; 1 John 2:28; 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20; 1 Timothy 6:18-19; Titus 2:12-14).

Old Testament saints are resurrected and rewarded after the church age believers are resurrected and rewarded (Revelation 19:8; Daniel 12:1-2; Matthew 24).

Each and every church age believer, regardless if they were faithful or not, will receive their resurrection bodies at the rapture and all will thus stand before the Bema Seat of Christ to have their works evaluated by the Lord.