All people, including believers, will “stand before the judgment seat of God” (Rom. 14:10), and every person will “receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:10).

Paul’s claims about judgment have unsettled many people. Some verses, when read in isolation, have led believers to question whether they’re safe in God’s grace or whether they’ll need a certain number of good works to withstand God’s judgment. Our theological imaginations are easily arrested by assumptions that any prospect of divine judgment amounts to a threat or that the purpose of the divine court is merely to scrutinize our behavior and reveal our secrets.

The prospect of judgment is sobering. But if we reform our perspective according to the whole Bible, then instead of being stirred to self-doubt, we can bolster our hope for the future. For Christians, the last judgment will be nothing less than a parade of God’s glory and grace.

Standing Justified at the Judgment

Resurrection precedes judgment. When all people appear before the throne, we’ll stand there with resurrected bodies, destined for either glory or destruction (Dan. 12:1–4; John 5:29; Rev. 20:13). Believers will be present in our new, gifted, “spiritual” bodies marked with glory and power (1 Cor. 15:42–44), conformed to Christ’s image (Rom. 8:29; Phil. 3:21).

At Christ’s resurrection, God announced his Son’s righteousness (1 Tim. 3:16). But Christ’s resurrection also grounds our justification (Rom. 4:25) so that the divine verdict is presently true for those united to Christ (5:1, 18–21). This reality will become visible when we come to share Christ’s physical resurrection (6:5; 1 Cor. 15:20–23). We’ll stand there plainly justified, clothed in Christ’s grace (Rev. 6:17–7:17), even as we await the formal, public announcement of what’s already true.

We’ll stand there plainly justified, clothed in Christ’s grace, even as we await the formal, public announcement of what’s already true.

The New Testament doesn’t teach that our works will justify us at the final judgment. Passages about judgment don’t contradict texts like Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The great disclosure and evaluation of works will not put the Christian at risk of condemnation. But as sin is shown to be sin and righteous deeds are shown to be righteous, the court and its worldwide audience will see the good works of believers as the necessary evidence of our real faith in Christ and union with him.

Believers are justified because of Christ’s righteousness (Rom. 5:18–19; 1 John 2:1–2). So also, only those in Christ can truly perform righteousness (Rom. 8:4). Our deeds will be “fine linen, bright and pure” (Rev. 19:8), publicizing that we’re the workmanship of God’s new creation (Eph. 2:10).

According to Works for Christ’s Glory

The goal of judgment day is “that all may honor the Son” (John 5:23). The Old Testament teaches that on the day of the Lord, he “alone will be exalted” (Isa. 2:11) and will set “his glory among the nations” (Ezek. 39:21). On the world stage, God will honor his Son (Ps. 2:7–12), the anointed Messiah (Ps. 110; Dan. 7:13–14).

At the judgment, all Christ’s enemies will be condemned and destroyed (Rev. 20:10, 13–14). On the other hand, when the world sees how believers have been conformed to the Son’s image, Christ will receive the glory as “the firstborn among many brothers” (Rom. 8:29).

Believers are so insolubly tied in union with the exalted Christ that Paul says we’re presently “hidden with Christ” and that when he appears, we “will appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:3–4). What we are presently by faith—partakers of Christ’s glory—will on that day be known by sight (2 Cor. 4:16–5:10).

Paul speaks at length about the judgment in 2 Thessalonians 1:5–12. He emphasizes that it’ll bring an answer to suffering (vv. 6–7) and “vengeance on those who do not know God” (v. 8). He also tells the Thessalonians that by their good works “the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 12). The judgment will publicly bestow the gift of glory in Christ for the sake of Christ’s own glory (see Eph. 2:7).

Being judged “according to [our] works” (Rom. 2:6) doesn’t mean that God rescinds his grace if we don’t have enough righteous deeds—that would undo Christ’s accomplishment. Rather, when we’re “openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment,” our works will be the public evidence that God’s grace has transformed us (Rom. 2:25–29), to the glory of the Son. In this sense, God glorifies us “according to [our] works” to glorify the Son.

Judgment as Hope and Warning

The Old Testament authors unanimously anticipated the day of God’s victory and the final judgment as a day of hope for his people as well as a warning against unrighteousness (e.g., Dan. 12:1–3; Mal. 3:17–4:3). Through sobering prophecies of judgment, God continually called the nations to acknowledge his lordship and summoned Israel to repentance. When the Old Testament saints faced persecution and suffering, they trusted that God would ultimately prove his “covenant love” on the day when he renders “to a man according to his work” (Ps. 62:12).

The New Testament authors straightforwardly adopt and reiterate this perspective on the judgment (e.g., Matt. 16:27; John 5:27–29; Acts 17:30–31; Rom. 2:5–16; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Thess. 1:5–10; Rev. 22:12). But they do so with a hope enriched by God’s definitive victory in Christ’s resurrection and exaltation (e.g., Rom. 8:31–39; Phil. 3:20–21; 1 Thess. 1:10).

God promises to meet evil with real wrath. This beckons unbelievers to heart transformation and teaches believers about the seriousness of our sin and the depth of Christ’s love as our substitute sacrifice (Rom. 3:24–25). But we can also march toward God’s promises to unleash the floodgates of heaven’s gifts and to deliver us from this disordered existence into a world that orbits his glory.

News Source : https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/grace-glorifies-christ/