Standing Before God’s Judgment Seat
When you die, will you stand before God’s judgment seat to give an account of your life? Yes. Paul says we’ll all stand before our Lord to give an account of what we did (Romans 14:10-12).
God’s Judgment Seat
Does this idea of appearing before our Creator fill you with trepidation? Those who follow Jesus can look forward to spending eternity with him, but they don’t likely look forward to standing before God’s judgment seat.
But this heavenly hearing isn’t to determine whether we gain access to heaven or not—that has already been decided. Instead it’s to review our lives. This inquiry will look at the life we led.
Give an Account
Jesus says that on the day of judgment, each person will give an account of ourselves to God, down to every careless word (Matthew 12:36).
In this divine examination, even the best of us will have ample reason to hang our heads in sorrow over all the wrong things we have done, over all the sins we have committed throughout our life.
We’ll also feel shame over all the good things we could have done but didn’t.
Imagine hearing all our mistakes reviewed item by item, starting with the first sin we ever committed when we were young and going day by day until our death. Will we need to respond to each one?
We could attempt to justify our actions or our inactions. But the best response may simply be to say, “I’m sorry, Lord.” We’ll need to do this over and over. Surely, we’ll get tired of saying it.
If this is what we can expect as believers in Jesus, how much worse for those who don’t? For them, giving an account before the judgment seat of God will be a truly horrendous experience.
Remember Our Sins No More
Yet for Christians there’s another way to view us giving an account to God.
The book of Hebrews looks at one of Jeremiah’s prophecies about God’s new covenant (Hebrews 8:7-13). For those who accept this new promise through Jesus, God will forgive their wickedness—their sins; he will remember their faults no more (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
Though we may remember our failures, even grieve over them, God has forgotten them. Each one. As far as he’s concerned, we have a clean record.
Given that God has forgotten our sins and dismissed them, what will it look like to stand before his judgment seat to give him an account? There will be only good things to talk about!
Imagine being in God’s presence. He opens the book of our lives. There is not a single sin listed. Not one error.
All that’s there are those moments when we did what was right, the instances we obeyed him, and the times we honored him, advanced his kingdom, and praised him.
God’s record of our life is a list of celebratory moments—and nothing else.
For those who believe in Jesus, giving an account of our lives will emerge as a grand celebration of a life lived well for our Lord, with all the other parts blotted out.
In this way, we will be ready to join our Savior in heaven for eternity.
But for those who didn’t say yes to Jesus and his gift of salvation, standing before God at his judgment seat will be a truly dreadful experience. They will give an account of all the wrong things they did.
Their outcome is unmistakable. They will go to hell, for eternity.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.
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