JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST

My greatest thought is my accountability to God.

Daniel Webster.

The Judgment seat "is meant for us professing Christians, real and imperfect Christians; and it tells us that there are degrees in that future blessedness proportioned to present faithfulness."

Alexander Maclaren, 1826-1910.

It is Christians only who are in view here. All that we have hidden shall be revealed. The things we have done in the body will come back to us, whether good or bad. Every pious thought, and every thought of sin; every secret prayer, and every secret curse; every unknown deed of charity, and every hidden deed of selfishness; we will see them all again, and though we have not remembered them for years, and perhaps have forgotten them altogether, we shall have to acknowledge that they are our own. Is not that a solemn thing to stand at the end of life?

James Denney, 1856-1917.

Commentary and Devotional

Bema (judgment seat) in secular usage had four meanings:

1. One's stride, or manner of walking (which reveals character).
2. A platform for a public official (cf. Acts 25:6, 10, 17).
3. A "rewards platform" in sporting contests. Because of this meaning, some claim, the "bema" is only a place for rewards--not judgment. But in secular legal contexts it also denotes
4. the place where litigants stood for trial. Paul repeatedly stressed this meaning; Acts 25:10, Romans 14:12.

Walk Thru The Bible.