The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation
at
Question
"Although
a Christian's sins have been forgiven," that's true, 1John 2, "My
little children, He has forgiven you all your trespasses." "Will Christians still have to give an
account for their bad deeds at Judgment?"
Answer
You know I
remember when I was a little kid, hearing some guy say, "You know, you may
be a Christian, but someday all your sins will be flashed on a big
screen." Did you ever hear anybody
say that? Boy, that scared the life out
of me. I thought to myself, "Well,
what's the sense of forgiveness if all that stuff going to happen
then?" And I have heard people say
that, but that is not what the Bible teaches.
Your sins
are forgiven and even God Himself says, "Your sins and iniquities I will
remember no more." They are removed
as far as what? As far as the East is
from the West. How far is that? That's far!
The East is from the West; they are buried in the depths of the sea;
they are forgotten by God, because of the Blood of Jesus Christ.
You say,
"Well, wait a minute, doesn't it say that we have to give an
account?" Yes, but listen to
2Corinthians, this is very important, Chapter 5, it says, verse 10, "We
must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ." Now the word here is not "krino"
verb or "krima" which means condemnation, or even "katakrima"
which is even a stronger word. It is not
damnation, condemnation, judgment, or punishment. But, the word is "bema." And it is the "bema" that was
speaking of a reward.
I was in
And then he
says this, "According to what he has done, whether it is good or
bad," and would you please note that word bad. That is the word in the Greek
"phaulos," it really means useless, worthless. It is not "kakia," evil,
wicked. It’s useless. And what is left then to evaluate there, our
sins are forgiven, our sins are covered?
The only thing to evaluate is what, out of our life, was spiritually
valuable and thus worthy of reward, and what was just worthless, useless,
inconsequential, like mowing the lawn, or whatever. Not evil, you just don't reward it
spiritually.
So I believe
that our reward in the future is going to be a reward related to what we have
done and that the dross will be burned away.
The useless things burned away, and what is left, will be the gold, silver,
and precious stones. The other things
are not bad, remember 1Corinthians 3, "Wood, hay, and stubble?" Wood isn't bad, you build things out of it. Hay isn't bad, horses eat it. Even stubble is used to make bricks. But it just doesn't have any spiritual value,
and when fire gets to it, it burns it up.
So there
will be a reward for us, but it will be the gold, silver, and precious stone,
that is left after the rest is set aside, by which we will be rewarded. And the Apostle Paul looked forward to that,
with all of his heart. He said, you
remember that as he looked to the future, "There would come a time when
God would reveal the hidden things of the heart," 1Corinthians 4:5. And then he said, "Then shall every man
have," what? "Praise from God!"
The only
thing that will be at the coming "Bema" will be praise and reward,
sin will be already done away with. It
is already been exposed, and it has already been covered at the cross of Jesus
Christ.
Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:
Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
Websites: www.biblebb.com and www.gospelgems.com
Email: tony@biblebb.com
Online since 1986