Saturday, September 14, 2019

Chris VanLandingham on 2 Corinthians 5:10 and the Final Judgment



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:


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