In a previous post, I dealt with a question about the final judgment. One aspect of the question had to do with why there is a judgment if it is a simple matter of unbelievers being condemned and believers being pardoned and entering paradise with the Lord.

In that post, I covered some background on the final judgment. Now I would like to expand on the question of why believers stand in judgment if Christ has already been judged in our place. This is something that was cloudy for me before I examined it more closely and now brings a lot of things together. Much of this comes from the message What Happens When You Die? All Appear Before the Judgment Seat of Christ by John Piper.

There are a series of premises I’d like to establish from the Scriptures, then I’ll wrap it up with what I am persuaded it all means.

Christ has already been judged in our place…

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (Romans 5:8–9)

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone…

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, (Ephesians 2:8)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

All will be judged…

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)

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? 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 confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. (Romans 14:10–12)

Unbelievers will be judged for their deeds…

…envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:21)

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9–10)

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. (James 2:26)

Believers will be judged for their deeds…

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)

5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; (Romans 2:5–7)

… for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. (John 5:28-29)

We started with Paul saying “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” and concluded with Jesus saying “all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”

This appears to be contradiction until we unpack a few more things…

Only acts of faith please God…

But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. (Romans 14:23)

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Our acts of faith will be revealed…

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. (1 Corinthians 3:10-14)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 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. (1 Peter 1:3-7)

Faith is proven by works…

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. (James 2:14-26)

Hebrews 11 (notice how faith is displayed by actions)

With that, we have what we need to put all this together. Unbelievers stand before God in their own righteousness and are condemned for their deeds. Because of their faith, believers stand in Christ’s righteousness. That faith is proven and displayed to all of creation by the fruit of the faith. On that day, everything we’ve done that was not done in faith will be burned away, revealing our acts of faithfulness to Christ. Some will enter glory with a wealth of fruit that survived the refining fire; others will enter with very little.

Our acts of faithfulness are not something to boast of because the faith that enables them is a gift. At the same time, we should take heed of Jesus’ words to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven where they will last for eternity.