As believers in Jesus as the Son of the living God and His completed work for us on the cross as the basis of our salvation, we are often required to respond to the challenges of church orthodoxy which seeks to keep believers on a treadmill of working to retain their holiness and righteousness. We also are told that we should be concerned about a future judgment where we are to stand before 'the Judgment Seat of Christ' ...and are left pondering if we will indeed be found safe and saved at the end?
These two 'doctrines' are often used to keep cracking the whip over believers heads to ensure that they attend church, pay their tithes ....and behave at all times appropriately ... or at least good enough to earn their own eternal security.
These two heresies need to be exposed for what they are ... tools to bring insecurity, condemnation and fear into the hearts of God's children.
Abiding in Christ
Brethren we are fully and totally saved and receive ETERNAL Life when we are born again of the Spirit of God .... and God's word guarantees this in numerous places.
There are things that we as believers will know that God has called us to walk away from in order to receive the free gift of salvation. This includes a standard list of things that apply to those not under 'the Law of Moses' (Acts 15:23-29, Rev 21:15)
Those who decide they will not give up these sins will not find Christ and be born again ...(John 3:18-21, 1 Cor 6:9-11, Rev 21:27) ..according to the scriptures.
Those who receive eternal life are forever secure in Christ's hands.
What does abiding mean? ...Simply STAY or REMAIN in Christ
The key to 'abiding in Christ' is to ask yourself ... 'How did you get in Christ in the first place'
Was it by trying to be good and living a better and holier life...i.e. focussing on being religious?
Or was it by looking at Jesus and realising WHO He is...and WHAT He has done for you.
AS you came to Christ, so remain
- in the humility of a child
- with a hunger seeking to know who God is
- in a realisation that the God who made you also loves you
- knowing that He alone can make you a to be a child of God
- aware that it is HIS work for you and in you that cleanses you... not your works for Him
Please note that the Acts of the Apostles and the epistles are full of warnings to ISRAELITES who were failing to abide. The problem for Jews was that many of them moved from simple faith in Christ ...in which they had found salvation ...back to THE LAW. When you are under the Law you live in a sense of condemnation... and are not able to produce FRUIT. This tells us that fruit or salvation will never be found in religion ... but only in direct and personal relationship with God.
The branches not producing fruit were pruned off and drew back under the Law and were burned up with Jerusalem and the temple's destruction in AD70. They were left with nothing after the Old Covenant ended with the destruction of the temple and priesthood and sacrifices.
John 15:1-16 introduces the apostles to 'abiding in Christ' as the only method of producing fruit for the kingdom of God to the Fathers glory. This was not about 'being clean' because Jesus tells them 'you are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you'
There are two incredible promises that I would suggest indicates that NONE of us today as followers are 'abiding' as per these passages.
John 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. NKJV
John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. NKJV
I would humbly suggest that these promises related to the early apostles ministry to set up the church which was the fruit which they were chosen and appointed to bear and which was to remain.
These alone saw every prayer answered for whatever they desired. ...other than perhaps the rare later apostle who was chosen and appointed throughout history to reach nations for Christ.
1 John 2:24-28 addresses the early believers who were looking forward to Christ returning in AD70. Here John emphasises that the believers should continue to hold to the doctrine they were taught... ie abide in what you have heard from the beginning. Many were falling away... generally back into Judaism as indicated in Acts 15 and Galatians ... trying to bring the church 'under the Law of Moses'. These were the ones who would 'be ashamed at His coming'
2 John encourages the church to continue walking the commandments of Christ being that we LOVE one another ...and to hold to the essential belief in 'the doctrine of Christ'. This is explained to mean that Jesus as the Son of God came as a man sent into the world by the Father to die for our sins.
Abiding in Christ today is not about receiving future rewards in heaven but about living on earth in the fullness of what Jesus died for us to have spiritually and to enable us to 'do the good works' which we were called by God to do in our lives in the here and now.
So why is a future judgment a problem?
Jesus makes a ROCK SOLID promise for us as children of God to stand on which blows the idea of a future judgment for believers out of the water....
John 5:24 Most assuredly I say , He who believes in Him who sent Me HAS everlasting life (not 'might get it when he dies' and if he passes the judgment) and SHALL NOT COME INTO JUDGMENT but HAS PASSED FROM DEATH INTO LIFE.
So why is a 'judgment' still being preached to God's children today who have never been 'under the Law of Moses'?
To call it 'the Bema seat of Christ' does not negate the fact that it is a judgment...and gets believers thinking they will be judged for everything they have ever done ... or failed to do. This is baloney and results in believers living in a sense of being failures instead of realising that 'in Christ' they ARE already 'sons of God'. The white thone judgment was of Israelites under the Law and was fulfilled in AD70 because it tells us that 'they were judged each one according to their works'.
Daniel 12:1-3 tells us of this final judgment and in verse 7 that is was to ocurr before Jerusalem was destroyed within 'the 70 week' which were determined for ISRAEL. Jesus refers in Mat 13:39-43 to the passage from Daniel and confirms it was to happen at 'the end of THIS age' (being the age of the Law). Jesus later in Mat 16:27-28 confirms that this same judgment where the Jews were to be 'rewarded according to their works' was to happen in the lifetime of some of the disciples he was speaking to (in AD 33). Jesus tell the pharisees living at this same time in Matthew 23:26-39 that the reward for their works was to happen to THIS (i.e. their) Generation and that it would involve the desolation of Jerusalem. And finally Jesus then tells his apostles and disciples in Mat 24:1-34 that the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple which would be 'the end of the age' ... (again) ...and that this would happen together with His second coming and the resurrection of the elect in verses 27-31 and ... that ALL these things were to take place BEFORE the generation of people who were listening to Him IN AD 33 had ended. Jesus then describes in Matthew 25 the judgment which will happen at that time WHEN HE COMES in glory with the angels ...and how THIS self same GENERATION were to have been judged (i.e. according to their works).
NOW brethren please look at the 'White Throne Judgment' which Jesus prophetically warned the churches of AD 65-67 in many places that it was ABOUT TO HAPPEN (or was SOON to occur) in Revelations 20 :11-13. This is also described as happening just after Jerusalem was destroyed (Chapt 18) and we see that it is referring to these same people being judged 'each one judged according to his works'.
Brethren their is NO future judgment awaiting us as New Covenant believers (i.e. the Church) for our works in the scripture beyond the judgment which occurred in AD 70 on Israel. Jesus assures us there is NO judgment in our future (John 5:24) and tells us we already have Eternal Life as soon as we believe.
Brethren read the history... Jerusalem was destroyed in AD70 by the Romans in God's judgment on them .... just as Jesus and the scriptures promised!
So how are we judged in the New Covenant of grace?
John 8:24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."NKJV
John 16:8 And when He (the Holy Spirit) has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. NKJV
We are judged only on whether we have believed in Jesus as the Son of God who came into this world to save us from our sins.
The judgment for our works was laid on Jesus back on the cross
Isa 53:4 Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. NKJV
So what about the scriptures supposedly referring a judgment for New Covenant believers.
In an attempt to understand the 'Bema judgment seat of Christ we should consider what this refers to according to in the Old Testament source text..and the other scriptures along with Pauls own explanation.... and you will no longer be left wondering what this is all about.
Paul did not suddenly come up with the doctrine of the Judgment seat of Christ in Rom 14.. he is quoting from Isaiah 45
Rom 14:10 For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written: (in Isaiah 45:23-25)
"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 shall give account of himself to God.
NKJV
How do we each give account of ourselves to God? Read it.... it is about getting saved...
Isa 45:22
22 "Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every knee shall bow,
Every tongue shall take an oath.
24 He shall say,
'Surely in the LORD I have righteousness and strength.
To Him men shall come,
And all shall be ashamed
Who are incensed against Him.
25 In the LORD all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and shall glory.'" NKJV
Brethren you bowed the knee to Jesus AT YOUR SALVATION ... you believed in God for your righteousness and strength and justification. This is when we as believers under the New Covenant stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Paul also adresses this issue in Phil 2:5-13 ... and encourages believers to not only get saved but to 'live' the gospel.
We certainly did not say ... 'God I am good enough to get to heaven without you sending Jesus to be the sacrifice for me'.
But, some will say 'If EVERY knee bows to Jesus...then ALL must be saved'. The doctine of 'universal salvaltion' however clearly contradicts numerous other passages. (refer separate article) The clear teaching of the scripture is that ALL THOSE who are saved are those who have bowed the knee to Jesus ... and that the fate of ALL who have not bowed the knee to Jesus is that they PERISH ... i.e. they are no more. Only those who have bowed the knee to Jesus have eternal life.... and those who have not bowed the knee in the duration of their time on earth PERISH. They 'are no more'....but have or will return to DUST!
As believers our old life is NOW over...
Col 3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. NKJV
Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus .. NKJV
2 Cor 5:18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. NKJV
Because of Jesus death your sins are not imputed to you...Jesus has borne them on the cross. You now are already reconciled to God!
What about death being appointed ...and the judgment to come after that?
Heb 9:26-28 .. but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. NKJV
Brethren the appearance of Christ and his death took place at the end of the ages (specifically the age known as 'this age' or 'this present age' to those under the Law of Moses). Jesus death 'put away the sins of many'... being the Old Testament saints who were waiting in the grave (sheol) to be resurrected and rewarded (Daniel 12:1-3) with eternal LIFE. The law (of sin and death) also promised judgment for those who had not found faith in God who would then be destroyed.
Look at the context brethren. There were those ALIVE who were EAGERLY waiting for Christ's return ...as per His own promises that this would occur WITHIN THEIR LIFETIME! This is what Jesus promised to his disciples in AD 33 that it would ocurr in THEIR lifetimes (not in ours some 2000 years later)
This scripture is in no way relevant to us in the New covenant as the book of Hebrews was written to the Jews who were still living 'under the Law'! (Acts 21:20-21). The Jews themselves knew the Old Covenant was about to pass away (Heb 8:13, Heb 10:25-31).
We today as believers are 'grafted in' and became (in Christ) the Israel of God ... after Messiah was sacrificed ...and AFTER THE JUDGMENT of apostate national Israel .... to live in a relationship with God where sin has been destroyed... and we enjoy salvation.
What about being rewarded with crowns?
1 Cor 9:25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown , but we for an imperishable crown. NKJV
2 Tim 4:8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. NKJV
James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. NKJV
1 Peter 5:4 ... when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. NKJV
1 John 2:25 And this is the promise that He has promised us — eternal life. NKJV
Brethren this reward is something ALL believers receive....and we all get the same....
Matt 20:1-16
"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?' 7 They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.'
8 "So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.' 9 And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius . 10 But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius . 11 And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, 12 saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.' 13 But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius ? 14 Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?' 16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen." NKJV
Rom 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs —heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. NKJV
Gal 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. NKJV
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. NKJV