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Receiving What Is Due (Endnotes)

1. Rick C. Howard, The Judgment Seat of Christ (Naioth Sound and Publishing, Woodside, CA, 94062, 1990), pp. 5, 12, 13. Howard makes the statement that Christians will already be in heaven when they stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ. However, as this book has previously documented, Christians will not stay in heaven, but will return to earth with the Lord. Close

2. The Greek word translated “judgment seat” is bema. There are some Christian groups that teach that a bema is a place where only rewards are given out. This is incorrect. The bema of Christ will be a “judgment seat” in the common sense of the word. Because of the confusion about the bema, a quick study of the word is merited. Vine’s Greek Lexicon is very helpful in understanding bema: “Primarily, a step, a pace (akin to baino, to go), as in Acts 7:5, translated ‘to set (his foot) on,’ lit., ‘foot room,’ was used to denote a raised place or platform, reached by steps, originally that at Athens in the Pnyx Hill, where was the place of assembly; from the platform, orations were made. The word became used for a tribune, two of which were provided in the law courts of Greece, one for the accuser and one for the defendant; it was applied to the tribunal of a Roman magistrate or ruler.” W. E. Vine, The Expanded Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, MN, 1984), p. 612.

The uses of bema in the New Testament make its meaning clear: it is used of a place for the foot (Acts 7:5), it is used as a place from which to speak to people (Acts 12:21) and it is used of a judgment seat (Matt. 27:19; John 19:13; Acts 18:12, 16, 17; 25:6,10, 17; Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10). The fact that Jesus Christ was sentenced to death from a bema and that the Jews brought Paul to Gallio’s bema for trial (Acts 18:12, 16, 17) is proof positive that it was not just a place for oration and rewards. Close

3. It is sometimes taught that verses that mention punishment or wrath such as this are referring to God’s punishment now, not in the future. This is not the case. God is not punishing Christians now. He does “prune,” but that is totally different from inflicting loss or punishment on people. The verses quoted in this article make it clear that loss, shame, or punishment will be consequences that the disobedient will receive from God at the Judgment. For a more detailed exposition and the explanation of some difficult verses see Appendix G. For more on when God will judge, our book op. cit., Don’t Blame God!, Chapter 7, “The Justice and Judgments of God,” pp. 95–106.Close

4. Dillow, op. cit., The Reign of the Servant Kings, pp. 341–44. Close

5. It should not confuse the reader that some of these priests were idolaters in their first life but still end up saved and in the Millennial Kingdom. They may have, like so many, worshipped God and idols at the same time. Many Christians go to church and worship God, but also check the astrological column in the newspaper for daily guidance. Or they rely on objects such as a rabbit’s foot, a “lucky coin” or a “lucky hat” to help them, and when they do, they are preaching idolatry. Physical objects that people look to for “invisible help” are idols. Close

6. E. W. Bullinger, A Critical Lexicon and Concordance of the New Testament (Samuel Bagster and Sons, Ltd., London, 1969), p. 220. The definition is commonly known and can be checked in other lexicons such as Thayer’s Greek Lexicon of the New Testament and Vine, op. cit., Dictionary of New Testament Words, p. 234 (“corrupt”). Close

7. When I quoted the verse, I indicated that the “you” is plural by placing “plural” in brackets after it. It is sometimes taught from these verses that a person’s body is the Temple. Although a person should not mistreat his body, that is not what is being taught in this section of Scripture. Close

8. Matthew 11:11 shows the value of being in the Kingdom. It reads, “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Christ was speaking hypothetically to motivate people to live righteous lives and enter the Kingdom. He said that anyone in the Kingdom would be greater than John. John was a powerful prophet, but he was not a part of the Kingdom yet because the Kingdom had not come. The “least” person inside the future Kingdom is greater than a “great” person not yet in the Kingdom. Close

9. The greater context of 1 Corinthians 10:1–11 indicates that these verses elaborate (by way of an example) on Paul’s statements in 1 Corinthians 9:24–27. In 1 Cor. 9, Paul talks about Christians striving for an incorruptible crown (a reward) and states that he makes his body a slave lest when he has preached to others he himself would be “disqualified for the prize.” Some theologians say that 1 Corinthians 10 is referring to the fact that a Christian who does not stay faithful will lose his salvation, but the greater context indicates that the subject is rewards, not salvation. Close

10. The coin the widow threw into the Temple treasury, which many versions translate as “mite,” was the lepton, which was worth about 1/128 of a denarius, which was a day’s wage for a common laborer. If a laborer makes eight dollars per hour and works an eight-hour day, his wages are sixty four dollars and 1/128 of that would be half a dollar. Since the widow threw in two coins, she gave a dollar—hardly enough to run the Temple. However, God does not look on the task to be accomplished, He looks on the heart of the giver. Bromiley, op. cit., Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 923. Close

11. The reward is actually given out on earth when Christ sets up his Kingdom. See Verses used to support the idea that our everlasting future is in Heaven, the section, “The Reward in Heaven.” Close