Unraveling The Bema Seat Versus The Great White Throne Of Judgment

The teaching of 'rewards' suggests that Heaven will be a meritocracy that is based upon personal labor and the amount of diligent good works done by the Born-Again Christian rather than by the 'grace' of God alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8-9).

"But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace." (Romans 11:6 ESV)

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12 ESV)

Each time the mark is missed, all wrongdoing, including positional and conditional, confessed and unconfessed sins, were forgiven on the Cross. There is NO direct Scriptural evidence that God will evaluate the mistakes of a Born-Again Christian at the Judgement Seat (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10).

Accountability

“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:26 ESV - see also Matthew 12:36; Romans 14:12; 1 Peter 4:5; Hebrews 4:13)

Some believe that forgiveness does not exclude accountability, defined as the state of being accountable or answerable; responsibility for fulfilling obligations; liability to account for conduct, meet or suffer consequences, etc., as a means of holding a trustee accountable.

The English word translated as ‘account, accountable, reckoning’ is the Greek word for ‘logos,’ which refers to a word, decree, the act of speaking, teaching, reason, or account; the first sense of collection, conversation; expression of thought in words, a complete statement description, talking to a conclusion, sharing a word (See Matthew 12:36; 16:2, 18:23, 19:40; 20:24; Romans 14:12; Philippians 4:17; Hebrews 4:13,13:17; 1 Peter 4:5 - Vine's). The Bible often uses the Greek word "logos" to refer to that which Jesus had spoken (Matthew 21:42; 22:29; John 2:22, 5:39, 14:23-24, 17:6,14; Acts 17:11; 18:24; Romans 1:2).

Jesus is the "logos" who spoke the "logos," and all that exists came into existence (John 1:1-3). The word "logos" is a synonym of the word "rhema" and they are equated with each other (2 Peter 3:5). The word "rhema" can be seen as referring to what was written. Although the prophets "spoke" words from God, they were written to the people (1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 3:2, 5; Hebrews 12:19, 11:3; Jude 1:17).

"Logos" also refers to the Gospel as preached by the Apostles, not to all the Scriptures (Acts 4:4). It is used regarding the supernatural gifts of prophecy, wisdom, knowledge, and tongues (1 Corinthians 12:8, 14:9). The "logos" is also ‘spoken’ by Angels (Hebrews 2:2, 12:19) and refers directly to Jesus (John 1:1, 14).

A simple word study of the original Greek language used in the New Testament (NT) quickly reveals that there is no major difference between the words ‘rhema’ and ‘logos.’ The word ‘logos’ is used interchangeably in the Bible with the Greek word ‘rhema’ because they irrefutably mean the same thing and are not subtle differences from each other. The actual difference between the words is simply a matter of writing style and expression. The word "logos" occurs 330 times in the NT. The word "rhema" occurs 70 times in the NT. There are 218 times when the word "logos" appears, and it is translated as "word." “Rhema” is translated 56 times as 'word.' The word "logos" occurs 50 times and is translated as "saying." Nine times "rhema" is also translated as "saying." The words "logos" and "rhema" are equally associated with 'word' and 'saying.' "Rhema" is a 'saying' that could be in a written form, so many "rhema's" put together could constitute a "logos." The Biblical truth is that every human being is 100% accountable for either receiving or rejecting Jesus as their Lord and Savior.