Every person is appointed to die once and face God’s judgment, which will be carried out by Jesus Christ. There are two types of judgments found in Scripture. One is the judgment seat of Christ, and the other is the great white throne judgment. These judgments will occur at an appointed time set by God.
The judgment seat of Christ is exclusively for born-again believers. Christians are not judged for their sins during this judgment but for their deeds and motives behind each work of righteousness, whether good or bad. Jesus will test each one’s work with fire and reward believers for the ones that survive His test. Works that fail His test will result in believers losing a reward, although never the loss of their salvation. Their gift of redemption was sealed the moment they trusted Jesus for it by faith.
The great white throne judgment is exclusively for unbelievers. During this event, each one will be judged for their sinful actions, including their unbelief. They will stand before God while various books are opened containing a written record of their sinful words, actions, attitudes, motives, and thoughts. Another book will be opened, which is the Book of Life. This book includes the names of everyone who trusted Jesus Christ by faith for salvation. Since unbelievers rejected Jesus and His offer of grace, their names will not be found in this book. Instead, they will be judged according to their sins recorded in the first set of books. Once God completes each unbeliever's judgment, He will cast them into the Lake of Fire to serve out their eternal sentence. Most likely, they will experience varying degrees of eternal suffering and torment based upon their sins and evil deeds done on the earth.
The timing of the judgment seat of Christ is unclear, but many believe it to occur immediately following the rapture. Whether that is the case or not, the Bible identifies this judgment as transpiring, nonetheless. However, the timing of the great white throne judgment occurs at the end of all things. Perhaps this delay allows the long-term effects of unbelievers’ lives and works to come to fruition before final judgment is rendered since death does not necessarily stop the impact of a person’s actions and choices.
In addition to Jesus judging believers and unbelievers, He will also judge Satan and his demons, casting them into the Lake of Fire to suffer torment forever. This will also take place at the end of all things.
Believers will have a part in “judging” the world and the holy angels. However, their “judgment” has more to do with ruling and reigning with Jesus during the Millennium as opposed to sentencing or rewarding anyone during God’s judgments described above.
(See the Scripture References link at the top of the page.)
