The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his101/answer9.arj/ANSWER9.TXT

Text File | 1990-03-03 | 4KB | 74 lines

Question #9


"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 #9

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 Corinth, the ruins of Corinth, and they took me to the "Bema" that
was there.  And whenever they had the Corinthian games, which was the major
athletic event, they would take the winners up on the "Bema."  And what it
was, was a place of rewards, not a place of punishment, only the winners went
there.  So he is saying here, "We will all appear before the "Bema" of
Christ, so that each one may be rewarded, for his deeds in the body.  The
only evaluation for us future, will be the level of reward that we should
receive.

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.  Its 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.