Giving Account To The Lord

Q

The Bible states that on Judgment Day, everyone (those who’ve accepted Jesus as well as those who haven’t) will give an account for every thought, word, and deed either good, bad or indifferent. My question is: WHY? When I go before God to give my account, to what end does it serve? Even if He gives me total recall of everything, I know none of my answers are good enough to satisfy Him, and I know what a wretched mess I am. What’s the point?

A

I’m not sure what verse you’re referring to, but 2 Cor. 5:10 says that as believers “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

This is a reference to the Bema Seat judgment that happens after the rapture. Paul also spoke about it in 1 Cor. 3:10-15 where he said that our works that meet the test will earn us rewards while those that don’t will be burned up. He said that regardless of the outcome of the judgment we’ll still be saved.

In 1 Cor. 4:5 he said that the test for these works will be the motive of our heart as we performed them, and since we usually can’t discern our own motives it will be necessary for Him to reveal them to us when we give account. I think we’ll all be greatly surprised at which ones are credited to us and which ones are burned up. To my knowledge, this is the only judgment believers will experience.