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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

JUDGMENT SEAT

Place before which people will one day stand to give an account of their lives to God.

In the Old Testament

The NT concept of divine judgment has its roots in the OT. There God is seen as Judge of the whole world, and especially of his own people.

During his intercession for Sodom, Abraham spoke of God as the Judge of all the earth (Gn 18:25). Moses’ position as judge over the Israelites was based on the belief that God gave judgments through Moses. A similar relationship existed between God and the judges who led Israel after the conquest of the Promised Land. That understanding of God became explicit in Jephthah’s message to the king of Ammon: “Let the Lord, who is judge, decide today which of us is right—Israel or Ammon” (Jgs 11:27, NLT). When God called Samuel, he told Samuel that he (God) would judge Eli’s house.

The concept of God as the Judge of his people is prevalent in the Psalms and Prophets. In Psalm 9:4 David said of God, “For you have judged in my favor; from your throne, you have judged with fairness” (NLT). He added, “But the Lord reigns forever, executing judgment from his throne. He will judge the world with justice and rule the nations with fairness” (9:7-8, NLT). Isaiah described a future day when God shall judge the nations (Is 2:4). Joel also spoke of God as the judge of the nations (Jl 3:12).

In the New Testament

Statements like those above formed part of the background for the NT understanding of the judgment seat of God or Christ. The image of a judgment seat came from the fact that in the Roman world judgment took place on a platform (Gk, bema) or tribunal, from which a judge would hear and decide cases. Thus, most of the NT references to a judgment seat occur when Jesus, or the apostle Paul, was brought before a ruling authority. For example, Pilate sat on his judgment seat when he tried Jesus (Mt 27:19; cf. Jn 19:13; Acts 18:12, 16-17; 25:6, 10, 17).

The two passages in the NT that speak directly of the judgment seat of God or Christ are Romans 14:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:10. In Romans 14:10 Paul addressed the urgent problem of unity within the church—unity based on a loving acceptance of those with different understandings of the effects of faith in a Christian’s daily life. Paul urged the Christians, both Jews and Gentiles, to accept one another in spite of differences concerning eating certain foods and observing certain days. All, he reminded them, must eventually stand before the judgment seat of God to give an account of the way they had lived. Further, since God is the ultimate Judge, Christians should not judge one another. Again, in 2 Corinthians 5 Paul told the Corinthian Christians why Christians strive to please the Lord: all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ to be recompensed for their deeds. The judgment seat of Christ or God, therefore, expresses the ultimate accountability of the Christian.