The Life That Leads To Confidence At Jesus’ Judgment Seat (Conclusion)

From the heart of Dr. R. L. Taylor, Th.D. What is the judgment seat of Christ? The judgment seat of Christ involves a time in the future when believers will give an account of themselves to Christ (see Romans 14:12). This is the plain teaching of Scripture: “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. 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” (2 Corinthians 5:9-10). Paul is motivated by the awareness of this coming judgment, and he wants every believer to be motivated by it, as well. God's grace to us in forgiving sin does not mean He’s careless about how Christians live our earthly lives. In other words, while God readily forgives our sins through His amazing grace, it does not give believers license to live recklessly or disregard moral principles! We are still expected to strive to live righteously and responsibly in our daily lives, as God’s forgiveness is not meant to be an excuse for continued sinful behavior. We will stand before Him and be held to account for our choices. That accountability does not affect our eternal destiny. It declares our time as spent well or unwisely, in faith or in selfishness. The consequences of reward or reprimand in that moment will be genuinely pleasurable and/or painful, based on the choices we have made in our bodies on this side of eternity. Paul boils his “ambition,” or his intention—down to one single thing. He wants to please Christ “whether at home or absent.” He simply believes the gospel and understands how much better heavenly life (absent) will be than this temporary one in these temporary bodies (at home). Until he gets there, though, he will keep going with the mission God has given him for this life. That includes how he lives, what he says, and in every other way. That is Paul’s ambition. The constant aim of every believer one who intimately knows the Lord should be to be well-pleasing to Him. Paul said it’s to be “our ambition.” Could anyone, anywhere, have a greater ambition than this? Is it your ambition to please Him? From God’s perspective here, surely, is the secret of successful living! Be encouraged!