The Judgment Seat of Christ: 2 Corinthians 5

2CO 5While it is perfectly true that the believer will never have to be judged for his sins, yet it is equally true that he will have to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. The word "appear" in 2 Cor. 5:10¹⁰For 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. (2 Corinthians 5:10) is the same as made "manifest" in the next, and so we may read it thus, "We must all be made manifest," &c.

It is important to observe that the Spirit of God carefully avoids saying, "We must all be judged." Had it been said in 2 Cor. 5:10¹⁰For 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. (2 Corinthians 5:10), "We must all be judged," it would have been a direct contradiction of John 5:24²⁴Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24), which says, we "shall not come into judgment," and we may rest assured that one verse of the Word of God could never contradict another. But it says, "We must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ"; that is, everything that we have done here will be brought to light there, and we shall receive reward or suffer loss, according to what we have done, whether it be good or bad.