What are the similarities and differences between the Judgment Seat of Christ and the Great White Throne Judgment? You be the judge with this comparison chart.

After the Rapture, the Bible says each believer will stand before Jesus and give an account for his works on earth. Although we will be judged for both the good and the bad, we will not be condemned for our sins because we have been forgiven and saved by Jesus. This judgment of believers is an award ceremony. We will be rewarded according to the good things we have done in the name of Jesus.

Those who do not trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior will also be judged. But there will be no awards on that day, only condemnation. This event, the Great White Throne Judgment, will be discussed later in the Living in the Age of Signs campaign.

Here are 20 verses from the Bible that provide details about the coming judgment and what it means for our lives today.

Judgment Is Inevitable

It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27

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. 2 Corinthians 5:10

God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. Ecclesiastes 12:14

Nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Luke 8:17

God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. Romans 2:16

There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:13

Jesus Is the Judge

The Father . . . has committed all judgment to the Son . . . and has given Him authority to execute judgment. John 5:22, 27

He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead. Acts 17:31

I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom. 2 Timothy 4:1

They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 1 Peter 4:5

[Christ] was ordained by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead. Acts 10:42

Ultimate Judgment and Justice Is Reserved for Jesus

Why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. . . . Each of us shall give account of himself to God. Romans 14:10–12

For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 1 Corinthians 3:11–15

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God. 1 Corinthians 4:5

Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! James 5:9

The Good Deeds of Believers Will Be Rewarded

Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. Revelation 22:12

Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from our Father in heaven. Matthew 6:1

When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. Matthew 6:5

To you, O Lord, belongs mercy. For You render to each one according to his work. Psalm 62:12

Lord, we're living in perilous times.

The kingdoms are in an uproar.

The nation of Israel sits
at the hub of history,
and the predictions of Your Word
are unfolding like a scroll.

Evil has never been stronger
and the end has never been closer.

Our world is in the grip
of the birth pangs of tribulation,
the likes of which have never
been seen before and will
never be seen again.

Lord, rejecting the spirit of fear, we claim the
Spirit of power, love, and a sound mind.

Help us preach the Gospel in these
last days.

Give us a sense of urgency, anticipation, and
evangelism as we await the upward call.

May we persevere as we listen for the shout,
for the voice of the archangel,
and for the trumpet call of God.

Dear Lord, give us patience and give
us power.
Give us strength and sound minds, as we
pray: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"

Amen!

Oh, the unbelievable horror of putting off Christ! The eternal sadness of waiting one day too long is like the terror of those who missed the ark in the days of Noah, or those who failed to escape Sodom and Gomorrah when they had the opportunity. Think of the scoffing thief who died Christless within inches of the Savior—at the very moment Jesus sacrificed Himself on an adjacent cross. Think of the multitudes at the Great White Throne Judgment who will frantically insist their names "must surely" be written somewhere in the Lamb's Book of Life. But they will have waited too long.

When We Don't Have the Promise of Tomorrow…

The Bible warns that every human being is subject to sudden death. No one has the promise of another day or hour. We never know when we'll be swept into eternity by a car wreck, a heart attack, an act of violence, a natural disaster, or freak accident. There is a story of two Canadians who were killed by an airborne black bear that smashed through the windshield of their SUV. The bear had been struck by a car in the oncoming lane, catapulting it like a 440–pound missile into their vehicle.

Thousands of people will die today, and many don't see it coming. They woke up this morning, showered, dressed, grabbed a cup of coffee, and dashed out the door never dreaming they were leaving their doorstep for the final time.

The Bible teaches that our days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle (Job 7:6), like flowers that quickly fade (Job 14:2), and like a mist that appears for a little time then vanishes (James 4:14).

Jesus told the story of a rich man who lived in affluence while a beggar named Lazarus lived nearby in squalor (Luke 16:19–31). The beggar was ready for eternity. When he died he was carried away to be with Abraham and the saints of all the ages. But when the rich man died, he found himself in Hades. Jesus said, "Being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and … cried and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue" (Luke 16:23–24).

But it wasn't possible, and that man is still there, today, without a whisper of hope. One of the worst things about hell is that one's memory doesn't die. The inhabitants of hell will remember all the opportunities they spurned. They'll remember church services they attended, tracts they did not read, invitations they shrugged off, and Bibles they disregarded.

One thought that tormented the rich man was the idea of his brothers joining him. He longed for Lazarus to go to his father's house to warn them "lest they also come to this place of torment" (verse 28).

When I worked on the freight docks during seminary years, I met some of the hardest men I've ever known. I tried to witness to them. Sometimes I'd ask them what they thought would happen to them when they died. Often the response was something like this: "Well, I'm going to hell. All my friends will be in hell, and that's where I want to be. We're going to have a great time."

Don't you let your mind trick you like that. The rich man in Luke 16 didn't want his relatives with him. He didn't want his brothers there. Hell is not a place of fellowship. Hell is the most lonely place you could imagine. It's foolish to think so flippantly of one's eternal destiny. It's foolish to wait too long to be saved, to wait until the day after.

In his book, One Minute After You Die, Erwin Lutzer writes of those who, a minute after death, "will be shrouded in darkness, a region of deprivation and unending regret. There, with their memories and feelings fully intact, images of their life on earth will return to haunt them. They will think back to their friends, family and relatives; they will brood over opportunities they squandered and intuitively know that their future is both hopeless and unending."

Writing vividly, Lutzer said, "While relatives and friends plan your funeral—deciding on a casket, a burial plot, and who the pallbearers shall be—you will be more alive than you have ever been. You will either see God on His throne surrounded by angels and redeemed humanity, or you will feel an indescribable weight of guilt and abandonment."¹

Are you ready to meet Christ? Or are you in danger of waiting a day too long?

We Need to Prepare Today!

A prominent judge was raised in a Christian home by godly parents, but he never professed his personal faith in Christ. He married a woman who became a radiant believer. At the time of their marriage, he gave her the promise that he would get saved. She frequently reminded her husband of his promise, only to be put off with the words, "Sometime I will get saved, not now."

This continued until the wife contracted a serious illness and died shortly afterward. Her final pleadings were for his salvation, but he continued to put off a decision.

One night the judge had a vivid dream, and his whole life appeared before him as a panorama, scene after scene. He saw himself as an infant in the arms of a godly mother. He saw himself as a child listening to his mother's prayers. He saw himself as a young man, drifting into dark company and bad habits as his mother knelt earnestly in her home, interceding for him. Then he saw his wife and heard her voice pleading with him to be saved. In his dream, he could hear himself saying, "Sometime, not now … Sometime, not now …"

Then came a vivid scene of his own death, and he saw himself in the lake of fire. He could hear the shrieks and moaning of lost souls, and he heard the jeering ridicule of demons around him who were snickering, "Sometime I'll get saved. Not now." They roared with laughter and cried: "It is too late now!"

The judge awoke in terror …

But I don't know the end of the story. This is a true account of a judge who corresponded with evangelist E. E. Byrum. In his 1903 book, What Shall I Do to Be Saved? Byrum recounted the story, but for some reason he doesn't tell us whether or not this judge ever yielded his life to Christ. It's left for us to wonder.²

What about you? Have you yielded your life to Christ or is your attitude the same as that of the procrastinating judge: "Someday I'll get saved—not now"?

The Bible uses the word NOW to express the urgency of salvation.

Acts 17:30 says, "God … NOW commands all men everywhere to repent."

The apostle Paul said, "Behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2).

The Book of Isaiah says, " 'Come NOW, and let us reason together,' says the LORD. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…' " (Isaiah 1:18).

Evangelist John R. Rice once preached a sermon in which he said that over half of all Christians are saved before the age of fifteen. That statement was carried in a local newspaper in Dubuque, Iowa. Later when Rice went to Dubuque for a revival campaign, a high school student came forward during the invitation. He had read Rice's sermon in the paper, and through tears he said, "I read where over half of the people who ever get saved are saved before they are fifteen. I am just fifteen years old! Oh, I hope I haven't waited too long to be saved!"

He was wise, said Rice. He trusted Christ that night.³

I hope you aren't waiting too long to be saved. If you'd like to trust Christ as your Savior NOW, let me suggest a simple prayer you can sincerely offer to the Lord before you close this article: Dear God, right now I confess my sins. I don't want to delay another moment. I invite Jesus into my heart to be my Savior. Today I confess Him as my Lord. I claim His promise of eternal life. In Jesus' Name. Amen.