2 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 5
Paul’s Longing for the Future Glory. 2 Cor. 5, 1–10.
Confident of Christ’s acceptance: V.9. Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him. V.10. For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
But with such a goal before him, the apostle keeps his heart and mind fixed upon the true home: Wherefore also we make it our aim that, whether at home or absent from home, we may be well pleasing to Him.
This state of mind is necessary if we wish to realize our hopes and ambitions; it means the working out of our own salvation with fear and trembling, with a singleness of heart which cannot be diverted from its purpose.
For whether the Lord, at His coming, finds us in the body, still living in the tent of this mortal flesh, or out of the body, death having severed the soul from its frail habitation, one thing is certain, namely, that we at the present time strive to live in such a way as to please Him.
And herein we are urged onward by the thought of the final Judgment: For we all must be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ, in order that every one may receive the things done by the body, according to what he did, whether good or bad.
Christ is coming to judge all, the living and the dead: they will all have to appear before Him. Their characters, even their secret thoughts, will be laid bare to the world, to all men, as well as to themselves, just as they have always been known to the Judge. And when the sentence is passed, each one will receive the wages of his works which he did in the body, while he was in this world.
Note that the power of judgment, although usually ascribed to the Father, against whom all sins are directed, Ps. 61, 13; Jer. 17, 10, is here, as in John 5, 22; Matt. 25, 31-46, and elsewhere, ascribed to the Son, a fact which places His deity beyond question. The judgment is inevitable, and it will be eminently just in every respect. Those that gave evidence of their unbelief by bad and wicked deeds will be recompensed in kind, by a punishment in proportion to their evil deeds. And those that have done good, thus giving evidence of the faith of their hearts, will receive a reward of grace at the hands of the Judge, which will make them partakers of the heavenly glory.
Thus the thought of the future judgment is one of the reasons which incite and spur a Christian to a life of sanctification.