The Judgment Seat Of Christ

Luke 4:17-21
" And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, 18 Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”
Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them,“Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

(Jesus reading the scroll of Isaiah in His hometown of Nazareth)

What does this scripture have to do with the Judgment seat of Christ?  EVERYTHING.  As you read this article, you'll see that God isn't into judgment; He's into Grace.  We will deal with what has heretofore been called "Judgment Seat of Christ" a bit later.  

You see, if you don't understand that God, though He is a Just and Holy God, is not about judgment but grace, it colors how you think of Him.  How you see Him affects how and what you receive from Him. If He is only a distant, stern disciplinarian, you'll never feel worthy enough to receive much of anything from Him because you'll always feel like He is angry with when in fact, He is not.  

Well, guess what?  Translators are people, too.  They face the same dilemma.  Their perception of God colors how they portray Him when they translate the Bible from the original languages.  It doesn't change what The Holy Spirit wants to convey, you understand.  But what often happens is the one translating will add words in English to make the text flow better that are not in the original text.  But Hebrew, and Greek to a lesser extent, can be taken in either a positive or negative tone, depending again on your perception.  Remember, translations are not the inspired languages.  Only the original ones are, so it's best to always refer to them whenever you study the bible.  (Try this link if you don't read Greek and Hebrew:  http://biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/1.htm)

Jesus Came To Save, Not To Judge.

Now, when Jesus told them that this scripture from Isaiah 61 was fulfilled in their hearing, the people knew exactly what He meant.  He was calling Himself the Messiah, which of course He is!  But He didn't read the entire passage.  He left off the last part and closed the book before the last line.  Here's what He omitted:
Isaiah 61:2....AND THE DAY OF VENGEANCE OF OUR GOD;"
He closed the book and did not read this part because Jesus came as The LAMB of God in His first coming.  He did not come to bring judgment but to save the world from sin and to proclaim the ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD. It would be a really good idea to follow His lead and learn to close the book where He did.  

God is not judging the sins of the world.....not yet, anyway.  We, as His representatives, do need not be going around judging people either.  Our job is to "RECONCILE" the world to God, not condemn people.

It's been 2,000 years of "the acceptable year of the LORD!" The vengeance of our God--the righteous, holy vengeance against all lawlessness, iniquity, sin and ungodliness--was unleashed upon Jesus at the cross.  That day, God righteously and judiciously punished His own beloved Son for EVERY sin from the beginning to the end of time FOR ALL HUMANITY because God SO LOVED the whole world.  Every type, every story, every picture from one end of the Bible to the other tells the incomprehensible story of Jesus' selfless sacrifice on our behalf.  

That doesn't mean that salvation is universal or automatic.  Of course not.  Salvation is a gift which implies the offering of it on the giver's side with no strings attached and acceptance--or rejection--on the receiving end.

(Three Hours of Darkness during Jesus' Crucifixion.)

When it comes to judgment the Bible calls it "A DAY" but it's the ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD." That's because God is into Love and compassion not judgment; and a year is longer than a day!  He wants to bless people, not curse them.

The word in Hebrew for acceptable is "radzon," which means "delight, favor, acceptance."  This same word is used in chapter 1 of Leviticus where it instructs you how to bring your lamb to the priest as a burnt offering.  

When you brought your lamb to him, you placed your hands on it's head for your "radzon: acceptance."  The priest didn't look at you, of course. He knew why you were there.  He looked at your lamb to make sure it had no blemish.  When your lamb was thoroughly examined and found acceptable, it was then sacrificed in your place and you went away, made right with God by the death of the innocent--the lamb--for the guilty--YOU.

The old system of sacrifice was a shadow representation of the covenent we have.  Our deal is WAY BETTER!  Just like the priest in the Old Testament, under the New, God isn't looking at you to evaluate you either.  HE'S LOOKING AT YOUR LAMB, JESUS.  If He us acceptable, then SO ARE YOU.

Thankfully, UNlike the Old Testament where sacrifices were offered again and again but sins were only COVERED, under the New Covenant, our perfect sacrifice, Jesus, was offered ONCE.....for all time!  Our sins are not covered:  THEY ARE CLEANSED, HALLELUJAH!  Our forgiveness is not good only for the next 12 months; IT'S FOREVER.  

We only ask God to forgive our sins ONE TIME.  As far as sin is concerned, between us and God, IT'S A DONE DEAL.  That doesn't mean there won't be human consequences for your deeds or actions, but there is no more condemnation or consequences from God.  Asking forgiveness is horizontal--between people--not vertical ever again.

We still confess our sins to God but now it's from the standpoint of knowing that we are already right with Him.  We are already forgiven.  Now, we can talk to Him honestly and openly about those sins or bad habits that are keeping us bound so He can help us overcome them and gain the victory!  

Your sins and shortcomings cannot touch your righteousness.  It is a gift you received, not an action you perform.

At the end of the last sentence Jesus read, there was a comma.  You see, there is a debt for sin that must be paid.  Everyone, when they leave this life, must have a right sacrifice to offer God.  But you and I are blemished. We don't qualify to be our own sacrifice.  Only One qualifies:  JESUS.  Those who don't recognize and accept Him as their substitute, as their Savior, The One Who exhausted all God's divine retribution and holy vengeance against ALL SIN and lawlessness for them, they will have to face "the day of the vengeance of God" for their sins on their own. God has no choice but to reject them since they rejected the only possible payment:  Jesus.  The sentence is eternal darkness where the fire is never quenched, the worm never dies and torment never ends.

But thank God Jesus is qualified!  He was the final sacrifice.  The blood of bulls and goats is NO LONGER accepted. It's Jesus.....OR NOTHING. Much better to accept His sacrifice offered for us than to be forever condemned to that awful place that was never intended for man.

Make no mistake:  There is a day of judgment coming.....but it's not here yet.  

Since that day that is still future, legally and judiciously, based on God's word, it's not right or accurate to say that God is judging America or this nation or those people.  He isn't.  The "day of vengeance" will happen after the "acceptable year" of the Lord has come to an end, and not a nano-second sooner.

Jesus is still proclaiming that ACCEPTABLE YEAR, the year of "RADZON."  The "DOOR" is still wide open.  

The word for "acceptable" is "dektos," in Greek.  Thayer defines it this way: "Denotes the most blessed time when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound." How AWESOME is that?!!!  God is delaying His return because He is willing that no one should perish in hell, but be saved to spend eternity in heaven with Him!

So what about this "JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST" all about?  

Our "paid-in-full receipt" from Jesus will signify to a God on that "Day" that there is nothing in us to be judged; that Jesus paid ALL our debt!!!  AMEN!   

2 Corinthians 5:10 is the verse that has caused all the confusion.  Where it mentions "the judgment seat of Christ," the word, "judgment," doesn't appear in the Greek.  It is the word, "bematos."  The "bema seat" is like in the Olympics.  You compete in an event and if you win, you go to the "bema seat" and you receive your reward or medal.  If you didn't win, you don't receive anything.  That's it!  But you still make it to heaven.

The English translation of 2 Corinthians 5:10 also says in English "deeds both good and bad," which is both frightening and unfortunate.  It is one of the many "translator issues" that we find in scripture.  It would have been more accurate to have said, "for deeds of both great and little consequence;" No consequence in our eyes, anyway. In other words, you may think many things you did while on earth were of no consequence for eternity and for God's kingdom or reaching the lost.  But those things that seemed of little or no consequence to you had far-reaching effects of which you were unaware.

So fear not, church; There is NO JUDGMENT in your future ever.  NONE!  YOUR PAID-IN-FULL receipt, Jesus, says so!

In fact, in the previous chapter, Isaiah 60, God says of The church:  "Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, 2 And deep darkness the people; BUT THE LORD WILL ARISE OVER YOU, And His glory will be seen upon YOU. The Gentiles shall come to your light, 3 And kings to the brightness of your rising."

It is getting very dark out there in the world today but we need FEAR NOT: THE LORD WILL ARISE OVER US and make US shine so brightly in the darkness that kings will come to the brightness of our rising!   You will have such favor and blessings of God on you like never before.  Favors are things you don't deserve, Church!

So, say "AMEN!"   1 Corinthians 1:20 says "For all the promises of God in Him {in Christ} are Yes, and in Him AMEN, to the glory of God through us {you and me}."  In other words, say "YES!" and "AMEN!" to all His promises FOR your life.  If you don't say, "Amen" TO His promises, there'll be no fulfillment IN your life. When you say "yes and Amen," YOU get the benefits and God gets the GLORY!

This word "amen" is a very interesting Hebrew word.  It is the most well-known in every language. It is derived from root word for "believe-aman (אמנ)" which was first spoken by Abram when he "aman" in the LORD and it was credited for him as righteousness.

"Faith" in Hebrew is "imunah (אמנה)," from the root word "amen."  So when you say "amen," you are saying "I believe that message;" in other words "so be it unto me."

"Amen, amen; So be it unto you" all who are reading this article that you catch ALL the blessings that God has for you and are not worried that you will face judgment of any kind.

THANKS BE TO GOD!!!  It is still the Acceptable Year of the LORD!  And that's the truth about the Judgment seat of Christ.