QUESTION:
At the Judgment of the Believer’s Works, will everyone have all their sins revealed for others to see? Or will this just be private, between us and the Lord?
ANSWER:
The preponderance of evidence in Scripture is that the things that are presently kept secret on the Earth will be revealed in eternity. For example, Jesus said:
“… for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known,” Matthew 10:26.
The Apostle Paul, who, in the context of this passage, was referring to Christians specifically, said:
“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God,” 1 Corinthians 4:5.
The writer of Hebrews summed things up by saying:
“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do,” Hebrews 4:13.
Remember that the Judgment of the Believer’s Works is not to determine our salvation. Our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, if we have received Him as Savior. But at this judgment, we will be rewarded with authority in eternity based on our activities from the time we became Christians until the time we arrive in glory.
Even as Christians, we have all done things for which we are ashamed. So, no one will be able to look down at his or her brothers and sisters in the Lord, because we have all had problem areas in our spiritual lives from time to time. We will all be looking down at our own selves, realizing that we have failed God periodically, but at the same time, we will be praising the Lord because our sins have been covered by His sacrificial death on our behalf.
Further, with the record books completely opened, so to speak, everyone in Heaven will know that the Lord’s assignment of eternal rewards is totally fair based upon our performance on Earth.
Two additional items are vital for consideration in this discussion. First, the sins and failures we have committed for which we have asked forgiveness will not be brought into account. John, in addressing believers, said:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” 1 John 1:9.
Those who have confessed and overcome their failures before the Lord prior to meeting Him face to face will have them forgiven and forgotten, and they will not be held against them in this judgment. That is why it is vital that we keep “short accounts” with God and conduct a daily examination of our own lives to see if they are in conformity with His Word, so that we may “not be ashamed before him at his coming” (1 John 2:28).
Second, Jesus reminds us that our faithful service to Him will be rewarded even if we never receive public recognition. In fact, He urges us not to do good deeds just to receive the praise of men. All our faithful works should be to His glory.
It was with this in mind that Jesus said:
“But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly,” Matthew 6:3-4.
Therefore, may we live our lives with the goal of pleasing the Lord, doing that which is pleasing in His sight, and avoiding those things that would grieve Him. In so doing, we can look forward with confidence to meeting Him in Heaven when He reviews our lives and bestows rewards upon us.