The Bible says every person is appointed to die once and face God’s judgment, which includes Christians. However, there are two distinct judgments in Scripture: the judgment seat of Christ and the great white throne judgment.
The judgment seat of Christ is reserved for born-again believers exclusively. During this futuristic event, Christians will not be judged for their sins because Jesus was judged on their behalf at Calvary. However, they will still be held accountable for their earthly works and the spiritual gifts entrusted to them by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus will test each believer’s deeds and motives by fire to determine their authenticity. He will reward each person for their work that survives. But believers will suffer a loss of reward for those that fail His test—though never their salvation. Their redemption was a gift of God’s grace when they trusted Jesus for it. It also sealed them as God's children and caused their names to be included in the Book of Life.
On the contrary, the great white throne judgment is reserved exclusively for unbelievers. In addition to being held accountable for their earthly works like Christians, they will also be judged for their sins, including their unbelief.
Non-believers will stand before God during this judgment while He opens various books containing a written record of their sinful words, actions, attitudes, motives, and thoughts. He will also open the Book of Life.
Once Jesus completes each unbeliever's judgment according to the things recorded in the first set of books, He will “verify” their name does not appear in the Book of Life. Afterward, Jesus will cast them into the Lake of Fire to serve out their eternal and righteous sentence.
Although the exact timing of both judgments is debatable among scholars, they will occur at the pre-appointed moment God has sovereignly determined. Perhaps His timing for these judgments allows for the full measure of each person’s choices and their long-term effects to come to fruition since death does not necessarily stop the impact of their actions and choices on Earth. Regardless, God’s judgments are always correct and should give us cause to be faithful with all He entrusted to us for His glory and others' good.
I hope this information has been helpful. For Scripture references on this important subject, click here.
