In the Judgement Seat of Christ, all our works will be tested by fire.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 – “According to the grace of God, which was given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another one builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds, for no other foundation can anyone lay, than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear, for the Day will declare it. It will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. And if anyone's work which he has built on endures, he will receive reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
He's talking about the evaluation of our works at the Judgement Seat (or the Bema Seat) of Christ. The first thing then is: the foundation laid in every believer is Jesus Christ. The foundation of a building is the unseen structure. It's what the building is constructed upon; a building always rests on a foundation. You start with a foundation, then you build up. The foundation of our faith is Jesus Christ Himself, and the finished work He accomplished on the cross. Our salvation and standing as a child of God is based solely on what Jesus did. Now this is an important truth. This is what you consider a foundational truth; and when this is laid, it never stops being the foundation, but you build upon it.
Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For by grace have you been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast”.
In other places, in Titus for example, God makes it very clear that our salvation experience, our being born again, our being joined to God and becoming a new creation, is not based on any work we do. It's based totally on the work of Jesus Christ, and our willingness to believe and trust at the cross He paid the full price for our salvation. There are no works involved in that; absolutely no works, whatsoever.
Notice it says: “by grace have you been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it’s a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast”. No works to get saved; salvation comes by putting our trust in what Jesus Christ has done. There's no work you can add to the foundation, to gain more forgiveness, or to gain more acceptance before God; our entrance to heaven, and to eternal life, is not based on any work. Primarily, it's based on the work of Jesus Christ. However, our status and role in the coming kingdom of heaven - that is determined by what we do. The foundation that we have in our life - our relationship with God, is built solely that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for all our sins, was our representative, has offered to us eternal life; “for by grace are you saved through faith”.
The grace is the power of God saving us. He does a work in our spirit, and cleanses, forgives us, gives us positioning and status before God. We're positioned where we can grow as a child of God into full sonship, and into qualification for reward. So, at the Judgement Seat of Christ, at the Bema Seat of Christ, the issue at stake there is not whether you're saved or not. The issue at stake there, because all believers appear there, is: what have you done with your life since you've been saved? What has happened; how have you grown; how have you related to God; how have you served people; how have you advanced the kingdom of God? Those are the questions that He will ask.
So secondly then, each believer is responsible to build his life, and fulfill his assignment from Jesus. You can't put that responsibility anywhere else. Your life is your life. Your assignment is your assignment. God put you in a local church, so that you have a family around you to support you; where you can then have opportunity, and a culture, and environment to grow spiritually. He also calls you to fulfil an assignment. Every believer is entrusted with an assignment in life that's unique to him.
Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are His workmanship…”, meaning that God is constantly working to build and grow you; you are His precious piece of art; He is working on your life; you're not complete yet; “…created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them”.
When you create something, you manufacture it for a purpose. It is created with something in mind. It's saying: we're His fine piece of art, His masterpiece, constantly being worked on by God. Your part is cooperating with the process of life transformation - you're responsible for the building of your life. It tells us: we're created in Christ Jesus, for good works. So God has assignments prepared for each one of us. They are uniquely related to our passion; our gifts; where we've come from; our journey; and it says: God prepared those beforehand, that we should walk in them.