31 1 1 Through the Bible with Les Feldick, Our Sins have Already been Forgiven: 2 Corinthians 5

Matthew 19:27,28

"Then answered Peter and said unto him, `Behold we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? (what's Peter referring to? What kind of a reward are we going to get for having left all of material blessing, his fishing, and business, their home and family? And look at how Jesus answers them.) 28. And Jesus said unto them, `Verily I say unto you. That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration (that is when the 1000-year kingdom would be set up) when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.'"


Now what was that? That's their reward for having served Him so diligently during those three years of His earthly ministry. It didn't have anything to do with their salvation but it had everything to do with their rewards. Now back to II Corinthians 5, and we have the same concept for you and I as members of the Body of Christ. Paul's not dealing with our salvation here, but rather with rewards.


II Corinthians 5:10a

"For we must all (no one is going to escape it, they won't be able to fast talk the Lord out of this situation. because all believers must) appear before the judgment seat of Christ;..."


Now I wish the King James translators wouldn't have used the word judgment, because I think that scares people. The Greek word for this judgment is "Bema," and we must all appear before the Bema Seat. In the Greek it's Bema, and most of you know that it was a raised platform that was used to judge people by. The parties would come and stand in front of the judges who were on the Bema Seat. It was also used in the Olympic games for the seat of the judges who determined who would win. So this is the analogy that I think Paul is more apt to have the Olympics in mind rather than the political situation at the Bema Seat of government.

So looking at it from an Olympic sports event scenario we must all appear before the Bema Seat, not to be judged for our sins, but rather for our rewards. Oh, I can't stress that enough because you have no idea how many people over the years have said, "Les, am I going through all these trials and tribulations because of sin in my past?" Well the first thing I ask those people is this. "Are you a believer? Are you a child of God?" And they always say, "Yeah, I know I'm saved." "Well then, where do you get the idea that you still have sin on your back, because it's not in this Book? You do not carry past sins because they have been judged at the Cross." Let's look at a few verses to confirm this because there are some who will say, "Les, where do you get these things?" Turn to Ephesians 4:32:


Ephesians 4:32a

"And be ye kind one to another, (remember Paul is addressing only believers, But he is doing so on a higher level than he did the Corinthians. Also remember that the Epistles of Paul are progressive. We move from the simplistic to the more in-depth, and those things that are more doctrinal.) tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath (past tense, already) forgiven you."