I'm looking for some resources that specifically pay attention to vv 1-10 and in particular v 10 and its subject of the judgment/bema seat of Christ.
mm.
I'm looking for some resources that specifically pay attention to vv 1-10 and in particular v 10 and its subject of the judgment/bema seat of Christ. mm.
I found two interesting journal articles a section of one which I reproduce below the other I provide a link to the pdf found online, this one is also found among the JETS volumes available in Logos.
C. Bēma
A third exegetical objection relates to texts dealing with the Judgment Seat of Christ (1 Cor 3:10–15; 2 Cor 5:10). Blomberg is adamant that “nothing in the text says anything about these distinctions among believers’ experiences [at the Judgment Seat] persisting for all time.” However, one may equally inquire: “Where in the text does it state that these differences will be only momentary?” In fact, Blomberg’s understanding of Paul’s teaching fails to do justice to the importance and gravity of this judgment. That is, Paul’s detailed teaching on this subject would appear to be beside the point if both the rewards enjoyed and the consequences experienced have merely momentary ramifications. In addition, as already noted, the Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14–30) provides a genuine precedent for the granting of personal responsibilities in the future kingdom in addition to praise received. Thus, this objection is also at serious odds with the exegetical data.
In continuation of his discussion of the Scriptural data, Blomberg states that the twenty-four elders of Revelation 4–5 are likely angelic and therefore irrelevant to the issue of rewards for believers. And even if they do represent the church, Blomburg asserts that the casting of their crowns proves there are no eternal differences. However, as can be cogently argued,26 the casting of crowns is an act of worship that continually acknowledges the One to whom all glory belongs. Therefore, it does not by itself negate the very real possibility that some will enjoy a greater capacity to worship God or other privileges in eternity.
Bozung, D. C. (2011). Degrees of Rewards in Eternity: Sanctification by Works? Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 24, 24(47), 32–33.
Here is the pdf https://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/35/35-2/JETS_35-2_159-172_Blomberg.pdf
So is this a Lord-ship Salvation issue/debate?
Perhaps it's many debates? Isn't this passage popular for the Monism-Dualism debate as well?
mm,
I claim no knowledge in this area of scripture. I will be studying this for the first time as a believer. Thanks for your question.
Here is another view.
C. Judgment Seat of Christ
Of course, there is an element of conditionality (though, not the Mosaic Law) found in Scripture primarily addressed to Christians (see, for example: John 15:1–6; Rom 8:17; 1 Cor 3:11–15; Phil 2:12; 2 Pet 1:5–11). This conditionality is not, however, associated with justification or with a so-called “final salvation.” It is related first to experiencing fellowship with God (John 14:21; 1 John 1:7). Secondly, we find it in connection with the Judgment Seat of Christ where believers will be rewarded according to their works. The Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10) as distinct from the Great White Throne Judgment of Rev 20:11–15 is a concept that is unique to Dispensationalism.
When the Judgment Seat of Christ became a primary doctrine early in the development of Dispensationalism through British Dispensationalist Robert Govett, and was carried on by those he influenced, it did not come into the forefront in American Free Grace theology until Zane Hodges.
Following the publication of The Hungry Inherit, the Judgment Seat of Christ became a staple in Free Grace literature—and rightly so. While the Judgment Seat of Christ maintains its prominent place, a Free Grace interpretation of Scripture is almost inevitable. In addition, the apparent (though not actual) tension in Scripture between faith and works disappears. Faith alone has its proper place and works have theirs. The calls to persevere in order to inherit the kingdom (which are prevalent in the New Testament) are also easily explained without compromising the freeness of everlasting life, compromising the security of the believer, or manipulating statements which are clearly conditional into expressing inevitabilities.
Lastly, the doctrine also powerfully answers the charge of Antinomianism that is often leveled at Free Grace. Far from being unimportant, perseverance in faith and good works is tangibly related to the believer’s enjoyment of eternity because believers are rewarded on the basis of that perseverance (1 Cor 3:9–15; 2 Cor 5:10; Rev 22:12).
Hawley, G. (2012). Dispensationalism and Free Grace: Intimately Linked, Part 3. Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, 25(48), 34.
One last offer
E. Bema Refers to a “Judgment Seat”
The fifth proof is the meaning of the word bema. It occurs elsewhere in Scripture besides the two uses of the term for the future judgment of believers (in Rom 14:10 and 2 Cor 5:10). The first NT reference concerns Jesus’ appearance before Pilate at his bema.
Pilate’s judgment seat was certainly not a place exclusively reserved for the giving out of rewards. It was a place of judgment. Criminals were judged and sentenced by Pilate at this place. The Lord Jesus Himself was judged and sentenced to death by Pilate at his judgment seat.
Similarly, Paul appeared before Gallio’s bema (Acts 18:12). Paul had been accused by Jews of preaching a religion contrary to the Jewish law (Acts 18:13). Gallio judged Paul and found him not guilty. He decided that Paul was preaching a form of Judaism, not something antithetical to it.
Some have argued that the Judgment Seat of Christ will be like a rewards platform at the Olympics. Well, there will be rewards given out; that is true. However, it is misleading to think of it only in that light. Jesus’ Bema won’t merely be a time of rejoicing. There will be shame, disapproval, and rebuke too. Believers will be judged and recompensed according to their deeds, “whether good or bad.”
F. Bad Deeds Will Be Recompensed at the Bema (2 Cor 5:10)
The sixth proof is the most direct. In 2 Cor 5:10 Paul specifically said, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” Notice the words whether good or bad” (emphasis added). Tasker comments:
Some commentators stress the seeming inconsistency between the doctrine of justification by faith alone and the doctrine of verse 10 that Christians, no less than non-Christians, will be finally judged by their actions. This stressing of seemingly opposite emphases is, however, of special value to the Christian and prevents him from underestimating his moral obligations.
Kruse, in the most recent Tyndale commentary on 2 Corinthians, similarly says:
What then does Paul have in mind here when he speaks of receiving good or evil according to what a person has done in the body? It is a recognition that God will evaluate the lives and ministries of his children and reward those who have acted faithfully, while those who have not will suffer the loss of any reward.
A paragraph later Kruse adds, “All this means that what believers do in this life has serious implications.”
The word bad (or evil) here is seemingly insurmountable problem for those who believe we will not be accountable for our bad deeds. They must somehow eliminate the connotation that the deeds are bad.
The suggestion is sometimes made that the Greek word used here, phaulon, does not mean bad, but instead worthless. For example, P. E. Hughes says that worthless is “the proper meaning of phaulon.”
Similarly David K. Lowery says, “Their good deeds will evoke one response (cf. 1 Cor. 4:5; Eph. 6:8) and the bad (phaulon, ‘worthless’) will evoke another (1 Cor. 3:15; Col. 3:25).” In this understanding of phaulon the contrast is not between good and bad deeds, but between good and worthless deeds.
In this view bad deeds will not be considered. Worthless deeds are not bad deeds. They are simply deeds that lack enduring value. For example, while our recreational activities may have limited eternal value, too much time spent golfing, hunting, skiing, fishing, watching television, and so forth can be rightly seen as worthless, but not bad.
There are two major problems with this view.
First, the Greek word here is probably not phaulon, but kakos. The Majority Text reads kakon. Not only do the majority of manuscripts read kakon, but so do leading Critical Text manuscripts B and p46. Kakos always means bad or evil in the NT. If God has preserved His Word in the majority of manuscripts, which is a reasonable assumption in my estimation, then there is no question but that the meaning of the word here is bad.
Second, even if the correct reading is phaulon, it still means bad in this context (indeed, as we shall see, in every NT use). The word phaulos in the NT always means bad, especially when it is contrasted with agathos or kalos. Outside of this passage, phaulos is used four times in the NT.
“Everyone practicing evil [ho phaula] hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:20; compare v 19, “because their deeds were evil [ponera]”).
“And [they will] come forth—those who have done good [ta agatha], to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil [ta phaula], to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:29).
In all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works [kalōn ergōn] … [showing] sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil [phaulon] to say of you (Titus 2:7–8).
“For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil [phaulon] thing are there” (Jas 3:16).
It can easily be seen that none of the other uses of phaulos in the NT is translated worthless. I found no translation that translates phaulos as worthless in these passages. The NASB, NIV, RSV, NKJV, KJV all have evil or bad in all four places, with the exception of the RSV which reads vile (which is hardly a softer translation) in Jas 3:16.
In fact, even though in 2 Cor 5:10 the NASB, NIV, and RSV are all translating the Critical Text, which has the word phaulon, they read either bad (NASB, NIV) or evil (RSV) here as well. If phaulon means worthless in 2 Cor 5:10, why is it that none of the major English translations have that translation in that passage, or in any of the passages where phaulos is used in contrast to agathos?
All of our deeds, good and bad, will be considered by Christ at the Bema. And this is completely consistent with the Biblical principle that “whatever a man sows, that he will also reap,” which we will now consider.
Wilkin, R. N. (2015). Will the Bad Deeds of Believers Be Considered at the Judgment Seat of Christ? Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, 28(54), 29–32.
I've done some more reading and found some important sources. E.P. Sanders Paul and Palestinian Judaism, also by the same author, Paul, the Law, and Jewish People, and on the opposing side Mark Seifrid, et al. Justification and Variegated Nomism 2 volumes, also by this author Christ, Our Righteousness: Paul's Theology of Justification, his Pillar commentary on 2Corinthians, and lastly, not in Logos Kent Yinger, Paul, Judaism and Judgement According to Deeds.
Paul also mentions "judgment seat of God" in Romans 14:10. The good news there is that Christians will all stand (not fall--Romans 14:4). I'm not certain what Paul means by the different word "appear" in 2 Corinthians 5:10.
The Believer’s Payday by Paul Benware
Going for the Gold: Reward or Loss at the Judgment Seat of Christ Bible Study Edition by Joe Wall
One Minute After You Die by Erwin Lutzer
Your Eternal Reward by Erwin Lutzer
Final Destiny: The Future Reign of the Servant Kings, 4th Edition by Joseph Dillow
The Road to Reward: Living Today in the Light of Tomorrow by Robert Wilkin
in particular v 10 and its subject of the judgment/bema seat of Christ
This seems to be an example of why the "Lemma in Passage" guide was created.
