The Differing views of the 3 Judgments

[B-A-C]

Maybe we should start with a defintion.

βῆμα
bēma
bay'-ma
From the base of G939; a step, that is, foot breath; by implication a rostrum, that is, tribunal: - judgment-seat, set [foot] on, throne.

This word appears 12 times the King James New Testament.

The phrase "day of judgment" appears 7 times in the New Testament.

Almost all Christians believe at least non-Christians will be judged.
Some Christians believe non-Christians will be judged by God the Father,
and Jesus will judge those who claim to be Christians (whether they truly are or not).
Some Christians believe that Jesus will only judge for rewards.
There are likely some other perspectives as well, but it seems these are the most common.

I wonder if it's possible to gain any insight here?

I would like to start with something called The Great White Throne Judgment.
Hopefully it will be the easiest.

Some people think that Matthew 25:31-46; is the great white throne judgment.
I personally do not, but more about that later.

But almost everyone agrees about this passage in Revelation.

Rev 20:11; Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.
Rev 20:12; And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
Rev 20:13; And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.
Rev 20:14; Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
Rev 20:15; And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

This is usually also taken as "the day of judgment" mentioned in...
Matt 10:15; Matt 11:22; Matt 11:24; Matt 12:36; 2 Pet 2:9; 2 Pet 3:7; and 1 Jn 4:17;

This day of judgment happens after the final resurrection (some people believe in one resurrection, some people believe in more than one). Most people believe this judgment is only for un-believers, but even that is debated. Many believe this is God the Father at the great White Throne judgment, others do not.

One thing that is interesting about this passage, is that is does not mention what anyone believes or doesn't believe, however it does mention being judged by deeds (works) in both verses 13 and 14.

The big thing here is, whether your name is in the book of life or not. If yours isn't in the book of life, you may want to take a look at verse 15.

 

[B-A-C]

The second judgment that most people generally agree on, is the judgment of works. There doesn't seem to any indication that this judgment has anything to do with salvation, but
only rewards for whatever work you have done for God's kingdom.

1 Cor 3:8; Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
1 Cor 3:9; For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
1 Cor 3:10; According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.
1 Cor 3:11; For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1 Cor 3:12; Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
1 Cor 3:13; each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work.
1 Cor 3:14; If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.
1 Cor 3:15; If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

It seems that even if you have no reward for any work, you yourself will still remain. There is some disagreement here about the word "saved" in verse 15.
Does this mean "saved" as in not burnt up at that moment. Or does this mean saved as in eternal salvation?
Some say if you've made it to the judgment seat of Christ, you are good to go, you are saved. More about that later.

 

[B-A-C]

John 3:17; "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
John 3:18; "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 3:19; "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
John 3:20; "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
John 3:21; "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

Probably the most quoted verse in the Bible is John 3:16; but immediately after that verse it talks about judgment.
It says Jesus didn't come to judge the world. Some believe this means believers, some say this means un-believers.
The argument here is, the un-believers will be judged by God (in fact are judged already - verse 18). Again it appears that deeds are part of the equation
whether they are deeds of darkness, or deeds of light.
This is similar to John 12.

John 12:46; "I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.
John 12:47; "If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
John 12:48; "He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.

So it seems that the world that Jesus doesn't judge, is the unbeliever (those who hear His sayings, but do not keep them). However this person who reject Jesus
(and His teachings) has someone who will judge them. This is similar to John 3:18; above.
This could mean that Jesus doesn't judge the world (un-believers), but it still leaves the possibility open that he could judge those who call themselves Christians.
(more about that later).

In verses 47 and 48 above, it talks about "not keeping Jesus's sayings (teachings). It also talks about
rejecting Jesus's sayings (teachings). Many take this to mean that you not only have to believe in Jesus, but you have to believe in His teachings also.

This is similar to the way Jesus ends the sermon of the mount.
Matt 7:24; "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Matt 7:25; "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
Matt 7:26; "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
Matt 7:27; "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall."

Does this mean we need to accept the teachings of the sermon of the mount in order not to be judged?

 

[B-A-C]

In the OP, I mentions 3 judgments. So far we have only talked about two (The Great White Throne, and the Rewards for works)
So what is this third judgment?

Many people are surprised to learn that Jesus will judge everyone who calls themselves a Christian (whether they really are saved or not).
So Jesus didn't come to judge the world (John 3:17; ) who does He judge? In over a dozen passages in the New Testament it talks about Jesus judging "believers".
That's where we will spend most of our time I think. The question is... which judgments are for the un-believers? The passage here from John 5 could also be about
the great white throne judgment. But if it is, it will be Jesus judging.

John 5:22; "For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,
John 5:23; so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
John 5:24; "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
John 5:25; "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
John 5:26; "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;
John 5:27; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
John 5:28; "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
John 5:29; and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
John 5:30; "I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

Again, these people are judged by their deeds.

Some people have a picture in their mind of a court room. God the Father is the Judge, Jesus is the the defense, and Satan is the prosecutor.
However this is going on right now while we are on the earth. This doesn't happen after our death.

1 Jn 2:1; My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

We won't be doing any sinning after we get to heaven, we won't need an advocate then. In fact there is no passage I know of that says believers will stand before the Father in judgment at all.
Unless believers are judged twice?

Rom 14:10; But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
2 Cor 5:10; For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Once again it mentions being being judged by our deeds.
(coming up, the sheep and the goats, the parable of the talents, and the wheat and the tares).

Once we die, our fate is already decided.

Heb 9:27; And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,

 

[B-A-C]

It seems to surprise some people that Jesus does most of the judging here. These are some of the verses that speak about Jesus judging.

John 5:22; For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,
John 5:27; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
John 5:28; Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
John 5:29; and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
John 5:30; “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

John 8:16; "But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.
Acts 17:31; because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

I think we would have to say the "Man whom he has appointed" would be Jesus.

Romans 2:16; on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
2 Tim 4:1; I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:

John 9:39; Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

2 Cor 5:10; For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the flesh, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Jude 1:14; It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones,
Jude 1:15; to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Even in the story of the sheep and the goats, Jesus executes judgement.

Matt 25:34; “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Matt 25:41; “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
Matt 25:46; These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The sheep and the goats are much like the wheat and the tares.

Matt 13:24; Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
Matt 13:25; "But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.
Matt 13:26; "But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.
Matt 13:27; "The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'
Matt 13:28; "And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' The slaves *said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?'
Matt 13:29; "But he *said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.
Matt 13:30; 'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

Notice Jesus says the kingdom has both wheat and tares in it. They are together for a while, but are separated at the end.

Rom 8:33; Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;
Rom 8:34; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

No is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, but not everyone who thinks they are "in Christ" actually are.
This is why there have been so many debates about what it takes to be saved.

 

[norapture]

BAC the parable of the wheat and tares. I have a question is this before, or after the rapture ? Cause at the rapture , wouldn't this be separating the wheat , from the tares ? So maybe this at the time of the rapture. Just asking maybe you can shed some light on this.
Thanks.

 

[B-A-C]

BAC the parable of the wheat and tares. I have a question is this before, or after the rapture ? Cause at the rapture , wouldn't this be separating the wheat , from the tares ? So maybe this at the time of the rapture. Just asking maybe you can shed some light on this.
Thanks.

That's actually a good point, and a good question. You have me thinking.