The Daily Word of Righteousness

Passing Through the Waters, #15

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. (II Corinthians 5:10)

How can an individual who has become eternally alive, who has received a body like that of the Lord Jesus—a mountainous vehicle of transcendent light and glory—receive the bad he has practiced? How can an immortal, glorified judge be judged and then have sentence executed on him?

If eternal life is the sentence of the righteous, how can they receive the sentence before they have been judged? For in the current teaching, the trumpet sounds; the professors of belief in Jesus are clothed with immortality; and after that they are judged.

This cannot be the case. One cannot receive the sentence of the judgment of the righteous, which is immortality, and after that be judged. This is illogical as well as unscriptural. There is no scriptural basis for it. The only basis is the perverted understanding of grace that abounds today.

The royal priests attain life while in the world because their works please God to the extent He enables them to achieve victory over the world, over sin, and over self-will. There is no more bad in them to judge. All moral deliverance been taken care of during their lifetime on the earth. They are the overcomers, the conquerors, the pillars of the Temple of God.

Even though they will give an account of themselves to God, as is true of every individual, they already have been assured of the crown of life.

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also love his appearing. (II Timothy 4:8)

This is what it means to attain the first resurrection of the dead (Philippians 3:11).

The rule is, men must die and after this be judged. Since those who are alive and remain to the coming of the Lord never die in the ordinary sense, it seems likely they will have given an account of themselves previously, perhaps while hidden away with the Lord during the tribulation period. It appears highly improbable that God would clothe any person with a body like that of the Lord Jesus and after this review his behavior on the earth.

Those "Enochs" who will be alive on the earth when the Lord returns are a special group of saints in that they will not be required to die like other men. It is possible they will have experiences with the Lord that are not necessary for the other members of the royal priesthood.

The current teaching is that the Judgment Seat of Christ (the bema—the tribunal where accused criminals are brought for the decision of the judge, according to the New Testament usage of the word) is a token judgment. It has no teeth in it. It is held also the judgment at the second resurrection is a farce because all the participants already have been condemned to the Lake of Fire. Current Christian teaching has made a mockery of both judgments, neither one fitting II Corinthians 5:10.

To be continued.