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JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST VS. WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT How do we know that the Judgment Seat of Christ and the White Throne Judgment are different judgments? Some teach a general judgment theory in which everyone is judged at the same time, both saved people and the lost. People arrive at this theory by overemphasizing some verses about judgment and then ignoring others. Daniel 12:2, for instance, seems to support the general judgment theory: “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” However, when the rest of the Bible is considered, it becomes clear that God has two separate judgments, one for saved people and one for the lost. The Judgment Seat of Christ is for Christians. The White Throne Judgment, also called the Second Death, is for lost people—those who reject Jesus Christ. Notice some contrasts between the two judgments:(1) Different terms are used to designate the two judgments. The term “judgment seat of Christ” is found only twice in the Bible, and both occurrences are in Pauline epistles written specifically for the edification of the body of Christ during the church age. The White Throne Judgment is called “the second death,” a major contrast to the eternal life that all Christians enjoy.(2) Revelation chapter twenty clearly separates the two judgments by 1,000 years. Verse 4 states that even the Tribulation saints are resurrected and granted to reign with Christ for 1,000 years. This indicates that a judgment has occurred at which they received this reward. In fact, verse 6 plainly states that the second death has no power over them or over anyone else who is part of the “first resurrection.” Since the second death is the White Throne Judgment (verse 14), this means they will not be judged there.(3) This view makes perfect sense in light of the fact that I Corinthians 6:2 says, “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?” It cannot be that we are going to be judged at the same judgment in which we judge the world, so it must be that our judgment comes first—at the time of the first resurrection.(4) There is no lake of fire, nor is anyone condemned, at the Judgment Seat of Christ (Rom. 14:10; II Cor. 5:10), yet there is a lake of fire at the White Throne Judgment, and people are condemned to it (Rev. 20:11-15). Not only are people being judged by the Lord at the White Throne Judgment; “thousand thousands” minister unto Him (Dan. 7:10). This number would obviously consist of believers, believers who had already been judged at their own judgment, the judgment seat of Christ.So, all Christians are blessed to have part in the "first resurrection" and in the Judgment Seat of Christ, which occurs long before the "second death," which is the White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20.