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Today's Pathway: II Corinthians 5:9-10 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 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.

Paul wrote in verse 9 that he labored in this life because he wanted to be acceptable to the Lord. Notice that he wants to be acceptable "whether present or absent". In other words, his desire is that the Lord will be pleased with him while he is serving on earth, but he also wants the Lord to be pleased with him when he stands before Him after his life on earth is over. Up until now Paul has been writing about how wonderful it will be to be in Heaven and have a glorified body. He has stated that this fact encourages him to be a faithful servant of the Lord in spite of the problems he encounters. But now, he changes to a more sobering reality. In verse 10 he reminds the Corinthians that all believers are going to have to appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ. The Greek word translated "judgment seat" is the word "bema", which is why you sometimes hear a preacher talk about the "bema seat". It is interesting to note that Christ Himself once stood at the bema seat. John 19:13 reads,

"When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement...and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified."

"Pilate sat on the judgment seat in order to judge the Judge of all men, condemning Him to an undeserved, painful, shameful death! Because He stood fearlessly in our place at the Bema to be condemned by men, we can stand at His Bema without fear of condemnation by God (John 5:24)"

There are several terms that should be noted in the beginning of verse 10. All believers will appear there. No one that will be exempted for any reason. We must appear. This word refers to that which is not optional but is "binding out of intrinsic necessity or inevitability". It is a term that is regularly used for actions decreed by God. The word "appear" itself means "to bring to light" and primarily means "to make visible, to be made known, to be clearly revealed". No one will be able to hide anything from the Lord. He will examine not only what we did in public, but what we did, said, and thought in private. He will judge our motivations. Anything that we tried to hide from our fellow believers under a facade of external "spirituality" will be revealed. The end of the verse states that these things will be revealed regardless of whether they were good or bad. Solomon wrote something similar in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14,

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."

Paul writes in the middle of the verse,

"every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done".

"With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord".