ON TRIAL

Christ's courtroom can be a scary place for Christians. We are safe by the blood of Christ but culpable for our personal actions. Our lives are an open book before His eyes. We will be judged for what we do with what He gives. Paul wrote: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).

We will stand before the dais of justice some day. The word translated "judgment seat" (βήματος) referred to a raised platform where civil authorities sat to hear legal cases (NIDNTT, 2:369). The purpose (ἵνα) of Christ's tribunal for Christians is not to determine entry into heaven but to evaluate our lives on earth. Each one of us individually (ἕκαστος) will be recompensed (κομίσηται) for what we have done. The verb in the middle voice means to "get back" or "recover." In Jesus' parable of the talents, the master wanted to get back what was his with interest (Mt. 25:27). Abraham received his son back after offering him to God (Heb. 11:19). We will get back from Christ what we spend in life (BAGD, p.443).

We will get back the things (τὰ) according to what (πρὸς ἃ) we did. The preposition "according to" (πρὸς) is used in a comparative sense meaning in proportion to our deeds (Moule, Idiom Book, p.53). The word translated "deeds" (ἔπραξεν) is a verb, not a noun. It means to accomplish or do something. The word is never used of divine action in the New Testament and primarily emphasizes negative or neutral human activity (NIDNTT, 3:1157). Paul uses it with a neutral sense in this context since he goes on to say "whether good or bad."

Paul is very clear that he is talking about the things we do "in the body." The prepositional clause is bracketed by the article τὰ and the relative pronoun "what" (ἃ) indicating that our reward is for our bodily actions. The prepositional clause (διὰ τοῦ σώματος) expresses the means or the instrument by which something is done. The preposition (διὰ) identifies the agent that comes between the actor and the result of the action (Robertson, Grammar, p.582). What we do we do by means of the body. We are judged by what we accomplish through our bodies as the instruments of our intentions.

The Christian life is all about investment. We use our bodies to make eternal investments. Some investments are good, but some are bad. We will present to Jesus our investment portfolio when we stand before His dais of justice. Our portfolio will contain good investments and wasted opportunities, and Jesus will evaluate it all on that day. The return we receive is proportional to the amount we invested that has eternal value.

We get back in heaven what we put in on earth!