The Fear of God and the Judgment of Saints

“The Fear of YHWH is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all those who do His commandments…” (Ps 111:10)

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat [‘Bema’] of Christ, that each one may be recompensed [rewarded] for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men…” (2 Cor 5:10-11a)

We’ve all heard a thousand sermons on God’s love and mercy and grace, and for good reason. God is love, and it is only by His mercy and grace that we are saved from our sins and from the wrath to come. But when was the last time you heard a sermon on the fear of God and the judgment of saints? Never? Me neither. And for good reason. Nobody wants to hear it.

But why? It’s right there in Scripture, in the verses I quoted above and dozens more. Here is another: “…for we [Christians too] shall all stand before the judgment seat [‘Bema’] of God. For it is written, ‘As I live,’ says YHWH, ‘Every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.’ So then, each one of us [believers too] shall give account of himself to God.” (Rom 14:10b-12)

Here is the reason, in a nutshell. Nearly everyone, including church pastors, has accepted the “pre-tribulation rapture” heresy, which teaches that Christians won’t have to go through the tribulation before Christ returns to take His Bride.

This is a very popular doctrine. Nobody wants to be told that they are going to face persecution or tribulation! After all, salvation is totally by grace through faith, not of works lest any man should boast. (Eph 2:8-9) So why should Christians ever worry about discipline or judgment? All our sins are “cleansed by the blood of Christ” (1 Jn 1:7), to be remembered against us no more. (Heb 8:12)

Yes, the pre-trib rapture doctrine is very popular, but it is a dangerous heresy. It has encouraged millions of true Christians to sit around fat, dumb, and happy, awaiting the rapture to zap them into instant holiness and make them ready for their wedding with Jesus at His return for His Bride.

The Feasts of Israel tell the story of redemption, from beginning to end. It’s a beautiful story, weaving together much of the Bible into one grand and glorious theme describing why we are in the pickle we’re in, and how God gets us out of it. Most Christians don’t know this story, which is why I wrote a book on it. A big part of the story involves the Feast of Tabernacles, God dwelling with His people, which everyone agrees is prophetic of “heaven.”

But what many people miss is that Tabernacles is actually a three part feast, together known as the “Fall Feasts.” The first two parts are the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, separated by the ten Days of Awe. These symbolize the trumpet call to “purify ourselves as He is pure” (1 Jn 3:3) and then (on the Day of Atonement) stand before the judgment (“Bema”) seat of Christ and be judged/rewarded according to our deeds in the flesh, whether good or evil. (2 Cor 5:10) Only after we have gone through these first two do we get to “Tabernacle” (dwell) with a holy God. The powerful implication here is that we really must “…cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Cor 7:1) in order to be a member of the Bride of Christ at the rapture. “…His Bride has made herself ready… the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” (Rev 19:7-8)

Of course preachers don’t want to preach on that! That smacks of a “works salvation!” Don’t touch that with a ten foot pole! Thus their ignorance of the Feasts of Israel is evident. Salvation is portrayed in the first feast: Passover. It comes at the very beginning of our Christian life, opening the door for us to walk with God. Later comes Pentecost, portraying our filling by the Holy Spirit, actually enabling us to walk with God. Finally, at the end of the year (symbolizing the end of the Christian life), come the Fall Feasts, which are intended to bring us right into the eternal Father’s holy presence, “holy as He is holy.” (1 Pet 1:15) (You may recognize these three phase in life when you read my essay, Completing the Reformation.)

So how do you get there? Is it a “rapture” that zaps you into instant holiness and snatches you up to heaven? Nope. You get there through a process called “sanctification.” “Pursue after peace with all men, and after the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” (Heb 12:14) The word “sanctify” means to make holy, to purify. Yes I know. We are judged as righteous the instant we are first saved, as Jesus takes our sins on Himself and gives us His righteousness. But that is not sanctification. Sanctification is the process, guided by the Holy Spirit, in which the new believer goes through his or her life and “cleans out the junk” which is offensive to a holy God, replacing it with things that are pleasing to God.

This not only involves changing our deepest heart motivations and desires, it also involves “good works,” deeds of service to the King and to His precious ones. (Matt 25:37-40) And here is where it gets a bit sticky. Scripture makes it quite clear that we Believers will be judged or rewarded based on those “good works” or lack thereof. Nobody wants to hear that, which is why I wrote a whole chapter on it in my book. Let me give you a sneak preview of what’s in that chapter.

 The means God uses to “encourage” us toward sanctification is – you guessed it – discipline, persecution, tribulation. The whole twelfth chapter of Hebrews is on the subject: “…whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and scourges every son whom He receives… He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness… to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness… the removing of those things which can be shaken in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain… for our God is a consuming fire.”

The result is a holy fear of God, which is a fear to do evil, a fear to offend His holiness, resulting in good works to be rewarded at the “Bema Seat” judgment rather than evil works to be punished. This fear is not freight. We are not to be afraid of Him. He loves us, and such perfect love casts out fear! (1 Jn 4:18) But we certainly should fear to do those things He hates! This whole sanctification process is learning to love what He loves and hate what He hates, thus becoming like Him in our deepest motivations and desires. That enables us to actually do the things that Jesus did, and even greater things. (Jn 14:12) And that demonstrates our love for Him, as He said, “If you love Me, you will keep [do, obey, guard, treasure] My commandments.” (Jn 14:15) That is what the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement portray. And you cannot get to the Feast of Tabernacles without them.

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man’s work [yes, according to our deeds], conduct yourselves in fear [this is the correct fear of God] during the time of your stay on earth.” (1 Pet 1:14-16)

So for all you dear saints who insist on a pre-tribulation rapture and who teach that the saints don’t need to fear God – they’ll only be judged according to their faith in Jesus Christ – it’s only the wicked who need to fear God, for they will be judged according to their evil deeds and sent to hell – try this one on for size.

“Now if any man builds upon the foundation [Jesus Christ] with gold, silver, precious jewels, wood, hay, or straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day [of Christ] will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built upon it [the foundation] remains, he shall receive a reward [according to his deeds]. But if any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire. [Note that this is all talking about Believers!] Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him [ie, destroy his flesh nature in hell] for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.” (1 Cor 3:12-17)

Of course this whole passage can only be understood if we have a correct view of the nature of hell and its purpose: God’s punishment for evil deeds. But that is another story. See the chapter in Volume One of my book on the nature of life & death, heaven & hell, destruction, judgment, righteousness & sin, salvation, and time & eternity.