At the judgment seat of Christ, every believer's works will be personally examined by the fiery eyes of the Lord Jesus and tested by fire, so that lasting works bring reward while wood, hay, and stubble are burned — salvation itself is never at stake.
Les Feldick explains that the bema seat is like the judge's seat at the Olympic finish line — it determines reward, not eternal destiny, since salvation is settled the moment a person believes. Each believer's work is made manifest under an intense spotlight and tested by fire. Works of gold, silver, and precious stones survive and receive reward; works of wood, hay, and stubble are burned, bringing loss of reward — yet the believer himself is still saved.
1 Corinthians 3:13-15 — Paul's description of every believer's work being tested by fire is the passage Les repeatedly opens; it directly answers how works are judged at the bema seat of Christ.
The apostle Paul describes the judgment of every believer's work in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15. The foundation — Jesus Christ — is already laid, and each believer builds upon it with materials of gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble (verse 12). 'Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is' (verse 13). If the work abides — built upon the foundation — the believer 'shall receive a reward' (verse 14). If the work is burned up, the believer suffers loss, 'but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire' (verse 15). The passage plainly distinguishes between the loss of the work and the salvation of the worker. Paul also states, 'For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad' (2 Corinthians 5:10).
Les Feldick explains that the judgment seat of Christ — the bema seat — has nothing to do with eternal destiny, which is settled the moment a person believes. Rather, like the Olympic judge's seat at the finish line, it determines reward: who was first, second, and third. As Les puts it, the bema seat determines 'how much reward,' and believers are to get busy working for God's glory and their own benefit of reward. Les describes the examination itself: every believer will come before the fiery, penetrating eyes of the Lord Jesus, and every work will be made manifest as if under an intense spotlight where nothing is left to chance. The fire tests what sort of work each person built. Works of gold, silver, and precious stone survive the heat; works of wood, hay, and stubble go up in smoke. Les pictures many Christians who 'fiddled around' with wood, hay, and stubble, never going out to grub for gold or dig for silver — and warns that a multitude of believers will go out to meet the Lord with nothing in their section of the wall. The reward, Les teaches, is not crowns but responsibilities given to believers in the Kingdom — positions of involvement rather than merely sitting in the stands. The loss is a loss of reward, never of salvation: 'yet he himself shall be saved.' Les sums up the difference by noting salvation is God's gift and cannot be mixed with works; works belong to the area of Christian service and working for reward.
Scripture makes the issue explicit: 'If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire' (1 Corinthians 3:14-15). The reward and the loss concern works, while salvation remains secure. Les Feldick agrees: the bema seat is going to determine how much reward, and believers never come before the Lord to answer for sin — that was settled the moment they believed.
Les identifies the testing fire with the fiery, penetrating eyes of the Lord Jesus on the bema seat. He explains the word 'manifest' as putting something under an intense spotlight where nothing is left to chance. Every believer's day-to-day practices will be examined that way — not for sin, but for what sort of work was built — and only gold, silver, and precious stones will survive the heat.
Scripture lists the building materials: 'gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble' (1 Corinthians 3:12). Les explains that a believer who builds with wood, hay, and stubble has never gone out and grubbed for gold or dug for the silver or the precious stones, but merely fiddled around with temporary things. When the torch of the Lord's eyes comes upon such work, it goes up as a puff of smoke, leaving nothing.
For works that abide the fire, Scripture promises 'he shall receive a reward' (1 Corinthians 3:14). Les defines that reward as responsibilities in the Kingdom: 'This has nothing to do with the crowns, but this will be responsibilities that are going to be given to us in the kingdom.' He illustrates it with a football analogy — it is the difference between being the quarterback and sitting way up in the stands.
The Bema Seat Determines Reward, Not Destiny
Les explains that the bema seat, like the judge's seat at the Olympic finish line, determines how much reward a believer receives, not eternal destiny — which was settled the moment the person believed. He urges believers to get busy working for God's glory and for personal reward.
Fire Tests Every Man's Work
Reading 1 Corinthians 3:13-15, Les emphasizes that no believer escapes the fiery eyes of the Lord; the fire reveals what sort of work each person built, and the passage speaks of reward — not salvation. Works of wood, hay, and stubble indicate a believer who never dug for gold or silver.
Reward Is Eternity's Responsibilities
Les points to 2 Corinthians 5 as the judgment seat where believers answer for reward, never for sin. After the fiery eyes finish, only gold, silver, and precious stones remain, and the reward is responsibilities given to believers in the Kingdom — not crowns.
The Bema Seat's Fiery Examination
Les ties the statement that every man's work will be made manifest to the fiery eyes of the Lord Jesus on the bema seat, asking whether each work will go up in smoke or survive as gold, silver, and precious stone.
Every Believer Under the Spotlight
Les warns that too many Christians never bother to dig for gold and silver, and at the bema seat every believer's work is put under the spotlight of Christ's fiery eyes — not to face sin, but to see whether reward has been won.
The Intense Spotlight of Manifest Works
Les defines 'manifest' as placing something in an intense spotlight where nothing is left to chance; every believer — men, women, and children — will be examined by the penetrating fiery eyes of the Lord Jesus for works, not sin.
Loss of Reward, Not Loss of Salvation
Les pictures the torch of the Lord's eyes coming upon each believer's work: gold, silver, and precious stones remain, while wood, hay, and stubble become a puff of smoke. The burned work means the believer suffers loss of reward, not loss of salvation — works belong to the area of Christian service.
Saved, Yet With No Reward
Les stresses the plain English of 1 Corinthians 3:15 — if a believer's work is burned, he suffers loss of reward but is still saved. He warns that many Christians will meet the Lord with nothing in their section of the wall but old sticks, saved yet without reward.
1 Corinthians 3:12: Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
Lists the two categories of materials believers build with — gold, silver, precious stones versus wood, hay, stubble — whose fate is determined by the fire at the judgment.
1 Corinthians 3:13: Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
States that every man's work will be made manifest, revealed by fire, and tested as to what sort it is — the core verse on how works are judged.
1 Corinthians 3:14: If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
Promises a reward to the believer whose work abides the testing fire.
1 Corinthians 3:15: If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Guarantees that the believer whose work is burned suffers loss of reward yet is still saved — distinguishing works from salvation.
2 Corinthians 5:10: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Paul's statement that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive what we have done in the body — the passage Les points to for the bema seat.
No. Les teaches that believers will never answer for sin at the judgment seat — they will answer for reward. He states plainly that 'we're not going to come before Him with our sin'; instead, the fiery eyes of the Lord examine each believer's works. Salvation is settled the moment a person believes.
Scripture says the fire shall test every man's work of what sort it is (1 Corinthians 3:13). Les explains that this fire is the penetrating, fiery eyes of the Lord Jesus at the bema seat, which place every believer's day-to-day practices under an intense spotlight to reveal whether they are gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay, and stubble.
The believer suffers loss of reward but is still saved. Les reads 1 Corinthians 3:15 in plain English: 'if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved.' He pictures such a believer going out to meet the Lord with nothing in his section of the wall but old sticks — saved, yet with no reward.
Les teaches that the reward is responsibilities given to believers in the Kingdom. It 'has nothing to do with the crowns,' he says, but will be responsibilities of involvement — the difference between being the quarterback in the game and sitting up in the stands.
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