Avoiding Judgment

Christians are well aware of the impending judgment that all men will be judged.

Romans 14:10 Why do you judge your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

God does not want us to judge one another, that’s His    responsibility. He instructs us to judge ourselves honestly so that we are not judged with the world. The judgment of Christians is not the same as the heathen. The   heathen will be judged for not having accepted Jesus as their Savior. The closest they will ever get to Heaven is the judgment seat of Christ. The believers will be judged for their deeds after their new birth. Our judgment will   determine our rewards. The believers currently in Heaven have not yet been judged for their deeds. We will all be judged together after the rapture of the church.

2 John 8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things we have gained, but that we receive a full reward.

Our Christian conduct determines our reward, but if we are not diligent, we can forfeit some of the things we gained. This reward is not referring  to eternal life, it’s the rewards we have when we are in Heaven. If all God tells you to do is be a faithful member of a certain church and you obey Him, you will get a full reward. I am totally convinced that there will be regret in Heaven. We will wish we would have done more of what the Master commanded us to do. This regret will in no way impede your joy and eternal place in Heaven.

I Timothy 5:22 ...do not be a partaker of other men’s sins: keep yourself pure.

You can partake, share in or connect with other folks who are sinning a sin, you are not sinning. But if you agree with what they are doing, you are guilty of the same offense and you will be judged for it. True believers will avoid even the very appearance of evil. A true believer will not judge the sinner, they will pray for that person.

2 Corinthians 5:17 If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.

If you’re “in” Christ, you will receive Christ’s reward. Why would anyone want to be anywhere else? We are in Christ and Christ is in us, there is no better life than that. I am not reward minded, I am relationship minded. I am very, very grateful to be saved and to have a covenant relationship with Jesus. I’m not concerned with judgment. My focus is on pleasing the one who bought me. I judge myself daily, whether I am pleasing Him or not. God must have a lot of faith in us to allow us to judge ourselves. People who are serious about their Lord will always do the right thing.

I believe the rewards we receive in Heaven are jewels and adornments pinned on our robe of righteousness. All of Heaven will know forever what you did to please the Lord in this life. I do not want to walk around Heaven wearing a plain white robe. I want Heaven to know how much I love my Lord and Savior. He will always be the greatest reward.