Yes, we do have confidence, and we would
rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at
home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for
what has been done in the body, whether good or evil. (2 Cor 5:8-10 NRSV)
Commenting
on this text, Chris VanLandingham wrote:
There is some ambiguity regarding how the
second half of verse 10 should be translated, even though the point is clear
that people will be judged according to their deeds. The phrase δια του
σωματος, which the NRSV simply identifies with εν τω σωματι in verse 6, probably means “through
the medium of the body.” It is not entirely clear whether αγαθον and φαυλον are objects of κομισηται or a description of one’s deeds,
although the latter is most likely. In the middle voice, κομιζω has the sense of “receive back”;
and in judicial contexts, “recompense.” In addition, one “receives back” God’s recompense
as the consequence of one’s actions, and not specifically as the consequence of
one’s faith in Christ. The recompense is either a reward or a punishment for
one’s deeds—there is simply no other way to read verse 10b. Other examples of κομιζω in the middle voice help make
this clear:
Since we know that each one, if he does any
good thing, this he shall receive
back (κομισεται) from the
Lord. (Eph 6:8; my trans.)
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in
everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but
wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. Whatever your task, put yourselves into it,
as done for the Lord and not for your master, since you know that from the Lord
you will receive the inheritance as your reward, you serve the Lord Jesus
Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back (κομισεται) for whatever wrong has been
done, and there is no partiality. (Col 3:22-25)
The idea is one of reciprocity. Reward and punishment
corresponds directly to what the person did and how the person behaved.
Because 2 Cor 5:10 so clearly states that the
Last Judgment is adjudicated in accordance to one’s deeds, for most scholars,
in light of the Protestant understanding of justification by faith, the
question focuses on whether the outcome determines one’s eternal destiny. Typically,
therefore, most interpreters find that, at least for Christians, the purpose of
the Last Judgment is merely to dole out rewards, for such an issue as eternal destiny
has already been settled at the time of faith in Christ.
Lieselotte Mattern argues that, according to
Paul, at the Last Judgment God does not judge the sins of the Christian in
order to decide whether one is righteous or unrighteous, saved or damned. To support
this argument, she posits that φαυλον in 5:10 does not refer to sin, but to
worthless deeds. She avers that since Paul did not use the more common κακον, but φαυλον, he refers to degrees of reward
within the sphere of salvation. Here, however, the occurrence of φαυλον is not significant since φαυλον is synonymous with κακον. Even if αγαθον and φαυλον refer to opposite ends of the
moral spectrum, Mattern, Sanders, and others with similar arguments incorrectly
conclude from 2 Cor 5:10 that one’s eternal destiny lies outside consideration
at the Last Judgment.
Mattern’s interpretation of 2 Cor 5:10 should
be rejected for other reasons as well. First, this reading of 2 Cor 5:10
requires a certain understanding of 1 Cor 3:15 and 5:5, as well as the need to reconcile
the Last Judgment and justification by faith in Paul. If the recompense of the
judgment according to deeds in 2 Cor 5:10 involves eternal destiny, then Paul
teaches that justification depends on deeds. This aversion, though wrong, is
understandable. The best Pauline text for interpreting 2 Cor 5:10 is Rom 2:6-9.
If 2 Cor 5:10 is laconic and wanting of details, Rom 2:6-9 describes clearly
what Paul means when he says that the Last Judgment depends on deeds—and raises
no question that each one’s eternal destiny is the primary purpose of such a
judgment. Despite this clarity, Mattern, followed by V.P. Furnish, argues that
Rom 2:6-9 is not parallel with 2 Cor 5:10 at all, for whereas Rom 2 discusses
the judgment over both the αγαθος and the κακος, 2 Cor 5:10 only has Christians
in view. Although 2 Cor 5:10 may only have Christians in view, this fact is not
decisive for either argument: the judgment still occurs according to deeds, even
for Christians. Mattern’s argument concerning 2 Cor 5:10 works for her because
she argues from a certain presupposition, namely, her interpretation of 1 Cor
3:5-15. If, however, one reads 2 Cor 5:10 from the perspective of Rom 2:6-9, then
2 Cor 5:10 reads as if the determination of one’s eternal destiny occurs at the
Last Judgment, even for Christians. Because 2 Cor 5:10 by itself is ambiguous
regarding whether one’s eternal destiny is involved in the judgment of
Christians, one’s interpretation largely depends on one’s point of view.
Essentially, Mattern argues that Christians are guaranteed acceptance at God’s
tribunal in spite of their behavior—a point with which Paul does not concur.
Second, the context of 2 Cor 5:10 hints that
this judgment involves more than just rewards or the lack of rewards. Paul
bases his paraenesis in verse 9, “we make it our aim to please him,” on the
threat of judgment in verse 10. This appeal appears nonsensical if no real
threat of punishment exists. Of course, it is difficult to say how one would be
punished in the resurrected state (i.e., apart from damnation); but that
difficulty does not preclude Paul from conceiving of this punishment. All the
available contemporary Jewish texts that discuss punishment in the afterlife consider
damnation as that punishment. Likewise, every Pauline text that bases
paraenesis for proper behavior on the prospect of judgment involves the threat
of damnation. Paul may have had a change of mind on many issues as a result of
his faith in Jesus as the messiah, but there is no evidence that his conception
of the Last Judgment is fundamentally different from that of other Jews.
Finally, verse 11 also points in this
direction: “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade others.”
Though not all agree, it is most likely that ουν points back to the prospect of judgment
mentioned in verse 10. The familiar biblical phrase “the fear of the Lord”
highlights the judgment’s possible negative outcome. Several other texts from
the New Testament help provide the conceptual background here:
Fear him who can destroy both soul and body
in hell. (Matt 10:28)
Work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling. (Phil 2:12; cf. 2 Cor 7:11)
“The Lord will judge his people.” It is a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb 10:28)
Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of
his judgment has come. (Rev 14:7)
(Chris VanLandingham, Judgment and Justification in Early Judaism and the Apostle Paul [Peabody,
Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2006], 199-202)
Such a
theology is also found in1 Cor 3:15. For my exegesis and discussion of such, see: