Unraveling The Bema Seat Versus The Great White Throne Of Judgment

This teaching says that at the Bema Seat, the Born-Again Christian will be judged with rewards according to their works/stewardship, and the Great White Throne judgment is where those who rejected Jesus as Lord and Savior will be judicially judged and given an eternal sentence of torment. This has caused considerable confusion and debate within the church regarding the final judgment of God because it is contrary to 1,800+ years of historical orthodox Church teaching/doctrine.

"So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil." (2 Corinthians 5:9-10 ESV)

The expression "the judgment seat of Christ" in the English Bible has tended to cause some to draw the wrong conclusion about the nature and purpose of this evaluation. It is believed that God will hand out a just meritorious retribution for sins in the life of the Born-Again Christian, along with some measure of retributive punishment.

The English word translated as "judgment seat" is from the Greek word 'bema.' The root of the word means 'base' or the foot, or a step to a raised platform. It is a term used for a raised seating area where judgment is made by a magistrate, judge, or a king, such as the modern 'bench' found in a courtroom for a Judge where a final judgment of either 'guilty' or 'not guilty' is declared on a person. It is not a place where awards are handed out.

The proponents of this teaching call this the Bema Seat judgment to distinguish it from the "Great White Throne" judgment which they believe is what God reserves for a judicial verdict against those who have rejected Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

"Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them." (Revelation 21:11 ESV)

Jesus stood before the bema seat of Pilate who ordered that He be whipped, beaten, and condemned to die (Matthew 27:19; John 19:13). The Apostle Paul stood before Gallio’s bema seat and was judged to be "not guilty" (Acts 18:12-17). He also stood before the bema seat of Festus, who chose to send him to stand before the bema seat of Caesar where he was ultimately condemned to die by the Emperor Nero.

The purpose of the Bema seat is punitive for everyone and a single verdict of 'guilty' or 'not guilty' will be rendered. The Bible teaches that all sins, both confessed and unconfessed, have been forgiven and taken care of by the work of Christ on the Cross, therefore the Born-Again Christian, who is clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, will never face judgment for those sins again (John 3:18, 5:24; Hebrews 8:12; 10:14, 17-18; Romans 5:5,19,8:1; Colossians 2:10,13-14). When the Born-Again Christian sins they have "an advocate with the Father - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One" (1 John 2:1 ESV). Jesus is the defense attorney who died in their place.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." (John 5:24 ESV)

Three promises are made here using three verb tenses. The Born-Again Christian has eternal life (present tense). They have passed from spiritual death into everlasting life (past tense), and they will not come into judgment concerning their eternal destiny (future tense). All three of these promises concern the security of the Born-Again Christian.

It is believed that the Judgment Seat is a place of either a joyous awards ceremony or one filled with intense terror, sorrow, and shame as all of a person's thoughts, words, and deeds are projected on some sort of ginormous video screen for the billions of people standing there to watch while they are commanded to explain them all.

This teaching makes Jesus identical to "Santa Claus" who is "coming to town" and "sees you when you're sleeping … knows when you're awake"… "if you've been bad or good'" so he makes a "list" then checks it "twice" to "find out who's naughty or nice."

Jesus is omniscient and knows all things, including every thought, word spoken, and deed ever done. Nothing is secret before Him (Luke 8:16-18). There is no need to run a movie of one's life before the omniscient God, who knows everything about a person and still loves them anyway, in spite of themselves.

The Bible teaches that both the Born-Again Christian (the righteous), those who received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and those who rejected Jesus (the unrighteous) shall appear before the judgment throne of Jesus after the resurrection and be judged according to their work (John 5:28-29; Romans 8:13,14:10; 2 Cor 5:10; 2 Peter 2:13; Revelation 20:11-15, 22:12-13). Those who lived in the Spirit by becoming Born-Again will receive the reward of having lived in the Spirit (Romans 8:13).