What every Christian should know about their ultimate and final test!
One of the final and most major goals of a Christian’s life is to ultimately to become like Jesus/God and also pass your final judgement with great approval from Jesus/God and receiving a great reward for all eternity!
Many Christians think that just getting saved/just becoming a Christian is ultimately all that is really required of them and living the actual Christian life that comes after that is ultimately optional. Since a Christian is forgiven of all their sins and will not face Hell/God’s wrath and they are under grace when being judged (there is nothing they can do to be saved but to trust and accept Jesus’s sacrifice) there will be no judgement for them thus Christians will not be judged along with the rest of the human race by Jesus Christ and will end up getting the same reward in the end (that is usually consider to be: having eternal life and living in heaven/the future kingdom of God).
Is this true? I salvation all that is really needed for a Christian in the end? Or is their much more important things in a Christians life than just getting saved/becoming a Christian?
Is Getting saved all a Christian really needs to do?
Many Christians think that getting saved is all anyone really needs once they have been saved from God’s wrath/hell by grace there will be no more judgement (and maybe even standards) for them because all is forgiven because they have accepted Jesus’s sacrifice for them, and God has forgiven their sins under his grace and thus all Christians will receive the same reward of eternal life/ruling with Christ.
So, is this assumption true? As Christians Let’s see what the Bible says about this:
Why the Bible leaves no doubt that being saved/becoming a Christian means all your past sins are forgiven and you will be saved from Hell/God’s wrath and guarantees you will live forever ruling with Jesus (The specific Bible verse clearly saying this, are covered in the Gospel section articles). So obviously being saved/becoming a Christian is very important the Bible and thus all Christians will receive these things in the end just for becoming saved/Christians. BUT that’s not the one and only thing the Bible says is important for Christians to do! In fact, nowhere does it say this is all there really is to do in a Christian life and it especially doesn’t say there will be no more judgement for Christians either!
In fact, the Bible really says the exact opposite:
There will be a testing for all Christians besides their salvation!
In 1 Corinthians 3:9 the apostle Paul tells the Christian Corinthians that they are God’s building:
1 Corinthians 3:9
“...you are… God’s building.”
He then goes on to symbolically compare his ministry to building a building: Paul (with the help of God) set a great foundation:
1 Corinthians 3:9
“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder…”
What is this foundation? This foundation is symbolic for salvation from accepting the Gospel (or as Paul puts it Jesus Christ):
1 Corinthians 3:9-7
“...no one can lay any foundation than the one already laid which is Jesus Christ.”
When someone accepts the gospel and becomes a Christian, they have officially accepted the foundation of salvation and are saved from God’s wrath/Hell and will have eternal life and have become Christians.
Why salvation is a major step for a person, Paul does not just stop at the foundation as being the only important thing for a Christian: he continues on symbolically to refer to building a structure on that foundation!
1 Corinthians 3:12
“...[A]…man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, and costly stones, wood, hay, or, straw;…”
So not only is the foundation itself important, apparently you can also build on this foundation with different materials: this part of the symbolic representation is important because Paul says this structure built on the foundation is the part that will be put in the fire on a day in the future to be tested in its value:
1 Corinthians 3:9-15
“...the Day will bring it to light. It will be reviled with fire. And the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward; if it is burned up, he will suffer loss;…”
According to the rest of this symbolism, this is what will be tested in fire on the day (or in symbolism on Judgement Day Jesus will judge how a Christian lived their life). They either lived it genuinely like he desired them to (symbolized as a building made of the precious sturdy material: gold, silver and precious stones) or lived a fake disobedient life that did not try to do what he desired (symbolized as a building made of the cheap fragile material: wood,hay,and straw). If it was a Christian life that was genuine and devoted to him (the building of precious material) Jesus will see this genuine devotion and judge this life/works in it good (the material will be refined by the fire) and they will be given a reward for a good life well lived. But if it was a Christian life that was fake and undevoted to him (the building of cheap material) Jesus will see right through these actions/works and judge this life/ works in it bad (the fire will destroy the cheap material) but instead of a reward they will suffer loses for their fake/undevoted life they lived.
Why it's not really clear what loses a Christian will suffer Paul also notes they will still be saved from Hell even if they did not live like they were supposed to live: this means what many Christians think about salvation is true in this sense: all Christians will get eternal life from Hell in heaven/the kingdom of God. BUT Paul adds an important note to that: even though they are saved it was a very close call with hell/punishment because of their loses he says they barely escape the fire of judgement with much loss!
1 Corinthians 3:13
“If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”
So, Christians are right in thinking salvation guarantees all Christians eternal life, but they are very wrong in thinking that is all that a Christian needs to do/ there will be no more judgement for them: Obviously salvation is not the only important thing that matters: what a Christian does AFTER being saved and how they live equally matters to Jesus/God and especially will matter during this judgement!
So, there will be a judgement for Christians after all: and according to this verse it will be based on what works they did during their Christian lives and how well they lived their Christian lives.
Jesus himself also hints at this often
Like The parable of the bags of gold in Matthew 25:14-30
Which is about a slave master giving different amounts of gold for his servants to be responsible for:
Matthew 25:14
“...it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.”
Once he leaves on his journey, he expects them to use the money wisely and when he gets back, he judges how well they used the money they were given:
Matthew 25:19
“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.”
This is a parable (most likely) about Christians using what they have been given to serve their master Jesus Christ wisely; if this is the case, then Jesus say himself that when he returns to earth (called the second coming) he is going to judge how well Christians used what they were given to serve him!
Notice also the two servants that used their master’s money wisely were congratulated by their master, and guaranteed to have more control of his possessions:
Matthew 25:21
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ ”
But the one servant who did nothing with his gold was rebuked by his master and punished:
This also proves there will be rewarding for a faithful Christian life/works well done:
But it also proves there will be loss/a type of punishment for those Christians who did not live so faithful a life well done:
Matthew 25:26-30
“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant!…you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags…And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ‘”
So, if this is following the same theme of Jesus judging Christians, then this servant is a wicked Christian who Jesus is punishing for his disobedience:
so, Jesus reveals there will be loss and apparently a type of punishment for Christians who don’t live a good Christian life! So once again, there are more important things than just salvation for a Christian that will not only mean the difference between reward and loss in the end but also the difference between being punished!
And also, The parable of the wicked servant in Luke 12:42-47
Which is a story about a master who puts his manager in charge of all his servants:
Luke 12:42
“...the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time…”
If the wise manager does everything the master wants him to do, he will reward him by sharing his possessions with him:
Luke 12:43-44
“It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns….he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”
So, the servant that is found doing what he commanded him to do he will reward him for it by sharing all his possessions with him.
But if the wise manager does not do the right thing but slacks off and abuses his power, he will punish him by beating him many times:
Luke 12:45-47
“But suppose the servant…begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come…He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. The servant who knows the master’s will and…does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows.”
Once again this is most likely about Jesus judging Christians on how well they lived their Christian lives when he returns to Earth: And also notice ,once again, the Christian/good servant who was doing his will was rewarded while the Christian/bad servant who was not doing his will but ignoring it was punished with whippings proving even more there will be a type of punishment for disobedient Christians who don’t try to do his will.
So, from all the verses above we can pretty much conclude this; Getting saved is the foundation (beginning) of the Christian life but is not the complete structure (the whole of what Christian life is all about and the value of a Christian’s life).
Therefore, while getting saved will definitively guarantee a Christian has eternal life, rules with Jesus, and lives in the future kingdom of God forever it’s not the only major thing a Christian really needs in their life: A Christian also equally needs to obey but actually living like Jesus wants them to live so they will please Jesus/God and pass their judgement with great rewards along with eternal life!
Getting saved (and staying that way) Why this is a great and massive step, apart from this, all Christians will also be judged based on how obedient they were to Jesus/God!
So, since there is clearly a Judgement waiting for Christians in the future, we should probably figure out what exactly we will be judged on in our Christian life and start preparing for that.
So, what will we be judged on?
The New Testament reveals what exactly Christians will be judged on in their lives in certain places:
Paul says Christians will be judged based on their “works”
A covered above, Paul makes it clear that in his symbolism of buildings that the maternal used in the buildings are works a Christian does. “Works” here are the actions a Christian has done in his or her Christian life.
So, what are these works that we will be tested on?
Giving to others in need
Giving money/other necessary items to someone that really needs it is one of the actions that will be judged because Jesus says God will reward this action:
Matthew 6:3
“…when you give to the needy,…your Father, who sees what is done…will reward you.”
Obeying (doing) what Jesus says for you to do
Another action that will be judged is if a Christian obeyed what Jesus/God commanded them to do or not. As explained by Jesus in the Parable of the foolish manager: the wise manager who was found doing what he commanded him to do was congratulated and rewarded for his obedience:
Luke 12:43-44
“It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns….he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”
that is showing if a Christian obeys what Jesus/God wants them to do, then they their obedience will pass the judgement and they will be rewarded.
Paul also hints at this when he says he and Apollos will eventually be rewarded for their individual obedience to what Jesus/God wanted them to do (in this case, Paul was commanded to preach the Gospel and Apollos was most likely called to teach God’s word):
1 Corinthians 3:4-9
“...Apollos…Paul…the Lord has assigned to each his task. …[each]…have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.”
Being faithful/wise with what you have
Another action that will be judged is how well you handled what you were given in your Christian life. Jesus also reveals this in the parable of the bags of gold; where each servant was given some of their master’s gold to collect interest on. The ones who handled what they were given wisely were congratulated the servant and gave him even more of his money:
Jesus also says this about using our wealth, possessions, and authority that we have been given:
Luke 16:11-12
“…if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth (possessions you have now), who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property(possessions Jesus/God has given you), who will give you property of your own?”
If you can’t properly use what possessions and authority Jesus/God has allowed, you to have wisely in your life right now; then why would Jesus/God even consider giving you anymore of his wealth/power in this future judgement? According to how Jesus talks about managing what you have; we can safely conclude we will also be judged based on what we did with what we were given.
Praying to God and fasting
Even the simple act of praying to God and fasting to him is said to be rewarded by Jesus:
Matthew 6:6
“…when you pray,…Then your Father…will reward you.”
Matthew 6:16-18
“...when you fast,…your Father, who sees what is done…will reward you.”
So, it also possible that we might be judged on how (or if) you prayed or fasted!
So, these are some of the major works that will be tested, however that does mean all of these works are necessarily all good just because you do them:
Going back to Paul’s symbolism: if these building materials represent a Christian’s actions, then there are two types of actions a Christian can do: the good actions (symbolized by the precious building material) and then the bad actions (symbolized by the cheap building material):
If we want to pass this judgement well, we will need to do some good actions in our Christian lives, but what exactly makes a good action different from a bad one to God?
Jesus tells how an action can be good or bad by revealing it is the intention of why someone is doing the action (and thus how they go about doing the action) that will determine if it receives a reward (thus is good) or does not receive a reward (thus is bad):
Matthew 6:1
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”
He uses how the hypocritical pharisees give to others/the poor and praying/fasting to God as examples:
Matthew 6:2-4
“…when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Matthew 6:5-6
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Matthew 6:16-18
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
So notice all these actions Jesus has pointed out are all actions that would be considered good (and usually are good) but because of the real intentions/nature of the people doing them (in this case, the self-righteous hypocritical pharisees were just doing these good things to just show off) were not genuinely trying serve God/do good so these actions were practically worthless: just like the symbolic cheap material!
So, we can conclude that it’s much more than these action that we want to try to do we also want to have the right intentions/motivations when doing them:
So, when you do the actions above that will be judged one day, you need to seriously ask yourself why you are doing them:
Is it really just to show off in front of other to make you look good? And when you do one of these actions do you do it out in public purposely for everyone around to see or go around bragging about it?
Or do you genuinely do these things to just please and obey Jesus/God and Jesus/God alone?
These are two very serious questions you really need to ask yourself as a Christian: because you will eventually be judged based on your real intentions of your good actions and the truth will be revealed in this judgement. And your real intentions behind your actions will determine if you get rewarded/congratulated or suffer loss/punishment in this judgement!
Other notable things that will be judged.
While the actions covered above are some of the most important actions a Christian can do that will be judged; there are also other notable things talked about in the New Testament that are also described as going to be judged that Christians need to be aware about:
Every word you have spoken in your Christian life
While it’s true that Christians have been forgiven for their past sins: including what horrible or bad things they might have said against someone else/against maybe even God/Jesus himself: it also seems equally true that you will also be judged based on what words you say right now in your present Christian life! Jesus says himself that everyone (everyone would include Christians) will one day have to answer to every word they have spoken (be judged on what they have said!):
Matthew 12:36-37
“...I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
These words will either justify you through this judgement (be words of precious materials) or condemn you through this judgement (be words of Cheep materials). Jesus even says here even things you have said that you didn’t even mean or had little though behind will be held accountable!
So here is another important question you need to ask yourself:
Are you speaking words of hate, deception, evil and maybe even blasphemy by taking God’s/Jesus’s name in vain even if you don’t really think about or consider it a big deal?
Or are you speaking words that are true, just, and especially words glorifying God/Jesus?
You also need to seriously ask yourself this question, because you words you speak today in your present life will one day come back to honor you or condemn you!
How you respond to trials in your life
You will also be judged by how you respond to different trials you encounter in your Christian life as Peter points out: (Notice he even refers to the symbolic testing of judgment day with gold and fire just like Paul does):
1 Peter 1:6-8
“...for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come…[to prove the]… genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (he will be revealed when he returns to Earth: his second coming).”
So, when you encounter difficult situations in your life does it show your genuine faith in God/Jesus? What I mean by that is when you encounter a trial in your life do you:
Still trust in Jesus/God in prayer, worship, talking, and serving him no matter what?
Or do you get angry with God/Jesus about the hard situation? Do you complain about the situation to yourself, to others, or to God; stop serving God/Jesus because of the situation or maybe even think about quitting your Christian life to go back to the life you use to live or do whatever you want?
This is also a serious question you need to consider: because it matters how you respond to trials in your life and will matter when Jesus returns back to earth!
If you are persecuted/hated for following God/Jesus
While it’s definitely not pleasant or conformable to experience it in the moment, if you have been persecuted or hated for just following/taking about God’s/Jesus’s will, then you will be very happy to know that even your own persecutions from others you are blessed because they will be judged as good on judgement day as Jesus himself says:
Matthew 5:11-13
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven,…”
Luke 6:22-23
“Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man (Jesus). Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.”
This is a very good thing because if you are being hated because of your obedience to Jesus then it means you are truly following his and sacrificing for him: not to please people!
(if you have never been really persecuted before don’t worry about it; it’s completely okay: it’s not necessarily a requirement to face persecution as soon as you start living a Christian life, BUT eventually you will face persecution of some type or form if you keep obeying and living a Christian life: and when you eventually do, you can be assured that it’s very likely you will pass this judgement with great rewards/approval!)
Praying for and loving your enemies
You also seemed to be judged based on how you treated your enemies: because Jesus commanded Christians to love their enemies (not hate them) and even pray for them to be well/repent:
Luke 6:27-35
“...I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,…pray for those who mistreat you…But love your enemies, do good to them…”
Jesus said if any Christian did this, they would receive a great reward:
Luke 6:35
“…Then your reward will be great,…”
By this statement alone, we can conclude that how you treated your enemies as a Christian will be judged!
So, you also need to ask yourself:
Do you treat your enemies kindly: even if they abused you, hate you, and treated you horribly? Do you pray for your enemies to be saved and be well?
Or do you hate your enemies and treat them like they treat you and hope they get what they deserve?
This is also a very important question you really need to ask: because you will very likely be judged on how you treated you enemies.