2 Corinthians 5:10 contains the second direct New Testament mention of
the judgment seat of Christ.
10 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.
Here’s what we have in the
verse:
1. We MUST all appear before the judgment seat
of Christ (cr. Hebrews 9:27).
2. The reason – to be rewarded for our deeds
(cr. Ezekiel 12:14; Jeremiah 17:10).
3. The first word of the verse – and this is
what we’d like to focus on – is For… What that means is that the statements of
verse 10 are made to explain or give the reason for something else that is
stated in the chapter.
Let’s start all the way back in verse
1 to find out what that is.
What is our earthly house of this tabernacle? Reading on, we understand this to be our
temporal, earthly body. So what then is
this house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens? Well, that would
have reference to our eternal, heavenly body (cr. 1 Corinthians 15:42-54).
So the verse is an
expression of this confidence: as believers, we KNOW that when we die and move
out of this earth-suit, we have a new body waiting for us in heaven. This confidence is repeated throughout the
chapter. We are not hoping to get to
heaven. If we have trusted Jesus Christ,
there is no doubt about it.
2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be
clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3 If so be that being clothed
we shall not be found naked. 4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan,
being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that
mortality might be swallowed up of life.
In this… In this what?
In this earthly house of this
tabernacle – in this body. In this we groan… Why?
Because we’re burdened. Burdened by pain and disease. Burdened by affliction and fatigue. Burdened by sin and weakness. And it’s not that we’re just looking for an
escape; it’s that we’re looking forward to something better (cr. Philippians
3:20-21) – earnestly desiring to be
clothed upon with our house which is from heaven…not for that we would be unclothed,
but clothed upon…
(As
a side note: Based on this passage and other arguments, I have heard some speculate that the new body is the believer’s “mansion,”
spoken of by Jesus in John 14:1-3. The concept definitely fits the context here.)
5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame
thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 6
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the
body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 We
are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be
present with the Lord.
Notice again: we know (v. 1); we are always confident (v. 6); we
are confident (v. 8). The basis for
this confidence is found in verse 5 – the
earnest of the Spirit.
The cross reference is Ephesians 1:12-14. According to that passage, here is every
believer’s testimony:
1. You heard the gospel – Christ died for your
sins, was buried, and rose again the third day, according to the
scriptures.
2. You believed the gospel. You placed your faith and trust in the finished
work of Jesus Christ.
3. At that moment, God cleansed your sin and
gave you His righteousness. And in that
perfect, sin-cleansed, righteous condition, God sealed you with the Holy
Spirit. And that holy Spirit is the
earnest (down payment) of our inheritance (2 Corinthians 5) UNTIL THE
REDEMPTION OF THE PURCHASED POSSESSION.
That sealing of the Holy
Spirit does two things:
1. Because God saved you, you’re going to
heaven. But if God saved you for the
sole purpose of taking you to heaven, He would have taken you the moment you
trusted Christ. What the Bible teaches
is that God did not save us to keep us out of hell or to take us to heaven, He
saved us to live a holy life that glorifies Him. This sealing and indwelling of the Holy Spirit
enables us to life a live that…should be
to the praise of His glory (vv. 12, 14).
The down payment is holiness (notice the small “h” in Ephesians 1:14).
2. This Holy Spirit sealing does keep you
saved until the day that you move out of the earthly house of this tabernacle and upgrade to a house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens (cr. 1 Peter 1:5; 2 Timothy 1:12; et. al.). The until the redemption of the purchased possession of Ephesians 1:14
matches the waiting for…the redemption of
the body in Romans 8:23. (Notice
also how the groaning of Romans 8:22 lines up with 2 Corinthians 5:2-4).
Again, these truths not
only result in the confident assurance (v. 6 w/ 1 John 5:13) but in a certain
desire and longing to depart, and to be
with Christ; which is far better (v. 8 w/ Philippians 1:23).
9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or
absent, we may be accepted of him.
Here is where we’re
going. All that build up to make this
point. Based on the confidence we have –
we KNOW we’re going to heaven; we’re looking forward to enjoying our new bodies
– we are laboring for God. We’re not
working to get saved and go to heaven; we’re serving the Lord who has saved us
and sealed us and promised to take us there.
This is the order of
Ephesians 2:8-10. We are NOT saved BY
good works; we ARE saved TO good works.
Now, there is an obvious
difference between the accepted of him here
and the accepted in him of Ephesians
1:6. Accepted
in him speaks of my standing – my eternal position before God. It is based entirely on the finished work of
Jesus Christ. This secures my
salvation. Accepted of him speaks of my state – my temporal condition before
men. It is based entirely on my own
labors. It has no bearing upon my
eternal destiny.
10 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.
The statement of verse 9
is that we are laboring for God so that we may be accepted OF Him. According to verse 10, the purpose of the
judgment seat of Christ is to determine whether or not the life I lived after I
got saved was acceptable to the one who saved me.
Got created me to please
Him (Revelation 4:11). He saved me to
glorify Him (Ephesians 1:12-14). Have I
fulfilled my purpose? The judgment seat
of Christ will tell.
If I have fulfilled my
purpose; if my life is found acceptable to God – then He will reward me for
it. If not, then I will suffer loss (of
reward). More on all that later.
In closing, we should all
be compelled to give more time and attention to whether or not our words and
our thoughts (Psalm 19:14); our attitudes and our motives; our desires and our decisions;
our priorities and our activities are acceptable to the Lord (2 Timothy 2:15). Because His is the only approval that will
matter when we enter into eternity (Galatians 1:10).
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