2 Corinthians 5 (WK) - Bible Truth Library

• Rom. 14:12; 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Cor. 4:4-5; Rom. 2:16; Matt. 10:26; Mark 4:22; Luke 8:16-17; Luke 12:1-2; JND in article on judgment seat. (“Reasons for This Session: 2 Corinthians 5:9-10” by B. Anstey)

• If we have really understood grace, if we are standing in grace, if we know what God is, all love for us, all light for us, we shall like to be in the full light. (“2 Corinthians 5” by J.N. Darby)

• We are in the light by faith when the conscience is in the presence of God. We shall be according to the perfection of that light when we appear before the tribunal of Christ. (“2 Corinthians 5” by J.N. Darby)

• I am the righteousness of God in Christ, but what a sense of love and patience, and goodness and grace! How much more perfect then, when all is before me! (“2 Corinthians 5” by J.N. Darby)

• The good deserves nothing: they received that by which they have wrought what is good—grace produced it in them; nevertheless they shall receive its reward. What they have done is counted as their own act. (“2 Corinthians 5” by J.N. Darby)

• It will judge, according to the judgment of God, all that was good and evil in itself, with a solemn reverence for that which God is, and a fervent adoration on account of what He has been for us. The perfect light will be appreciated; the ways of God known and understood in all their perfection, by the application of the perfect light to the whole course of our life and of His dealings with us, in which we shall thoroughly recognize that love—perfect, sovereign above all things—has reigned, with ineffable grace. (“2 Corinthians 5” by J.N. Darby)

• The context would seem to show that the statement of the Apostle is general, in as far as it includes believers and unbelievers. Seeing, however, that believers will be there, he does not say, "We must all be judged", but, "We must all be manifested." For the same reason, it may be, he does not speak of the judgment of persons, but of "the things done in the body." (“2 Corinthians 5” by H. Smith)

• When we stand at the judgment seat of Christ, we shall have a body of glory like Christ; we shall be as the Judge. (“2 Corinthians 5” by H. Smith)

• Will not the effect be to deepen the appreciation of the love and grace that, on the one hand, has already dealt with all our evil and brought us safely home in spite of our many failures, and, on the other hand, rewards the smallest act that had Christ for its motive? Were all the past not recalled, we should, as one has said, "lose materials for the song of praise which will be ours forever." The manifestation at the judgment seat of Christ is not to fit us for the glory, but to enable us to enjoy the glory to the full. (“2 Corinthians 5” by H. Smith)

• “The judgment seat of Christ.” The term is inclusive of all judgment, as the next verse indicates. To Christ is committed all “judgment” (John 5:22,27). “Samuel...went from year to year in circuit...and judged Israel in all those places” (1 Sam. 7:15-16). Christians in their glorified bodies will witness a review of all their past (1 Cor. 3:8-15; 4:5; 2 Tim. 4:8). (“Help on Hard Verses” by A.C. Brown)

• Never is it written that we must all be judged. Indeed this would contradict the clear declaration of our Lord in John 5 that the believer has eternal life and does not come into judgment. (“Notes on 2 Corinthians 5:10-11” by W. Kelly)

• But if no believers shall be judged, all must be manifested, saint no less than sinner, that each may receive the things [done] by the body. (“Notes on 2 Corinthians 5:10-11” by W. Kelly)

• Nothing will blind the eye then, no unsuspected motive warp the heart or mind before the judgment-seat of Christ. (“Notes on 2 Corinthians 5:10-11” by W. Kelly)

• What is thus verified in a high degree by the way will be complete and perfect at that day, when already caught up and glorified in the body we shall be manifested before the judgment-seat without a trace of the shame that either hides or confesses with pain. It is great gain to have such times on earth, though the process be but imperfect, greater still the more it approaches an habitual state. How full the blessing when all is absolutely out in love and light with Christ. (“Notes on 2 Corinthians 5:10-11” by W. Kelly)

• But as God is not unrighteous to forget the work of faith and labor of love, so failure and wrong entail loss; and the soul itself will in full intelligence and unmurmuring adoration bow and bless Him who orders the place of each in the kingdom (“Notes on 2 Corinthians 5:10-11” by W. Kelly)

• But the manifestation of the wicked, as it will be at a considerably later time, so it will have a wholly different character and effect. The judgment-seat in this case will be the judgment of the great white throne after the reign of the thousand years, as for the righteous it will be before it, when the dead small and great are (not manifested only but) judged each according to their works. (Rev. 20). (“Notes on 2 Corinthians 5:10-11” by W. Kelly)

• It is significant that each time the judgment seat of Christ is mentioned in the New Testament it is viewed from a different standpoint. When we put them all together, we learn that the Lord will examine every aspect of our lives. The various areas of review are: Our ways in general (2 Cor. 5:9-10). Our words (Matt. 12:36). Our works of service (1 Cor. 3:12-15). Our thoughts and motives (1 Cor. 4:3-5). Our personal exercises as to matters of conscience (Rom. 14:10-12). (“The Motives of the Christian Minister in Devoting Himself to the Service of the Lord: 2 Corinthians 5” by B. Anstey)

J. N. Darby Translation

For we must all be manifested before the judgment-seat of the Christ, that each may receive the things done ink the body, according to those he has done, whether it be good or evil.

JND Translation Notes

"The things which in their accomplishment have their seat there."

W. Kelly Translation

For we must alla be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ, that each may receive the things [done] inb the body according to what he did, whether good or evil.

WK Translation Notes

The Greek article is inserted here which gives all possible breadth, "the whole of us"; whereas in {vi 128843}{/vi} it is simply "we all." Verse 11 Confirms this, and shows that the apostle had more in his mind than believers and their portion.

Lit., "by."