For we must all be manifested before the judgment-seat of the Christ, that each may receive the things [done] in the body, according to those he has done, whether [it be] good or evil.
Paul turns from how a Christian lives now to where that life ends up: in full view of Christ. Two questions follow. How can people whose sins the cross has settled still stand before a judgment seat? And what do they "receive" there?
"Appear" Means "Be Manifested"
The word translated "appear" means more than turning up. Older translations read "be manifested."
The word "appear" in verse 10 is "manifested." We must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ. Our works and our ways as Christians will then come fully into view. Everything will come into the light. Nothing can be hidden, and the believer receives the things done in the body.
For the believer, that moment brings sight, not sentence.
When the believer appears before the judgment seat of Christ, he won't be judged in the sense of condemned. That matter was settled at Calvary. But he will be revealed. It should be a joy for the believer to think that then, for the first time, he will see his own life exactly as the Lord Jesus sees it. And in our glorified bodies we will completely agree with this judgment.
Who Appears, And In What Condition
How wide is "we all"? One writer reads it broadly, and shows why Paul's wording still guards the believer:
The context seems to show that Paul's statement is general, in that it includes believers and unbelievers. But since believers will be there, he does not say, "We must all be judged." He says, "We must all be manifested." Perhaps for the same reason, he does not speak of judging persons, but of "the things done in the body." Remember too that we reach the judgment seat of Christ by the coming of Christ, and by it we shall be "changed into the image of the heavenly." So when we stand there we shall have a body of glory like Christ; we shall be like the Judge.
Manifestation Is Not Condemnation
If Christ is the one seated there, the outcome for His own is already settled by who He is to them.
The Lord Jesus will sit on the judgement seat. He died for believers' sins and rose again for their justification. He is the believer's righteousness, and He will not judge His own work. God has justified the saint, so the saint cannot be judged. John 5:24 says he does not come into judgement at all. But he will be manifested. The things done in the body will be brought into review. He will then see it all in its true light, whether good or bad, and this will only exalt the grace that has saved him.
We Arrive There Already Like The Judge
Believers reach that seat by way of Christ's coming, changed into His likeness. So the fitness required there is not the fitness of a needy sinner.
Many a sincere person — I mean a sincere Christian — does not see this place of his in Christ. He may say, I am a poor sinner, and the cross just suits me. Blessedly true. But change the phrase: I am a poor sinner, and the judgment-seat just suits me! That will not do. Yet we must all be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ. There we must be fit for the judge.
"The Things Done In The Body"
Paul's phrase reaches beyond service for the Lord.
It will also mean reward or loss, according to what has been done "in the body" — that is, in the whole of our lives of responsibility here. We see the same thing in 1 Corinthians 3:14-15. But there the question is the character of our work as servants of the Lord. Here it is more general and comprehensive, being a question of all our actions and ways.
Everything that comes out has a result, and the outcome is accepted without complaint:
Even in the saints, not all had been good. Everything has its result, though it never endangers the grace that saved them by Christ. God is not unrighteous, so He will not forget the work of faith and labour of love. Failure and wrong bring loss. The soul itself will understand fully, bow in adoration without a murmur, and bless Him who orders the place of each in the kingdom.
What It Should Do To Us Now
This truth is meant to shape life now.
Then, for the first time, we shall judge everything truly. We shall understand the perfection of Christ's grace all through. We shall see how wrong and mistaken we have been in many ways down here. To limit the judgment seat of Christ to a reward for works robs it of much of its practical power.
Christians who dread that day have misjudged it:
Many, when they stand before that judgment seat, will wonder why they ever feared it for themselves. They will see their mistake and adore the grace that has been so much better than all their legal fears.
Summary
- Manifested, not tried. "Appear" means shown. The believer's works come into the light, but the believer never comes into judgment.
- The Judge is the Saviour. He died for those sins and is the believer's righteousness — He will not judge His own work.
- Like the Judge. We reach that seat changed into Christ's likeness, so the light falls on someone already like the One seated there.
- The whole life. "The things done in the body" covers all our actions and ways, not just service — and it brings real reward and real loss.
- Its power is now. Treat it as a prize-giving and it loses its force. Take it seriously and it shapes how you live today.