And if anyone builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one’s work will become manifest; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test the quality of each one’s work, 1 Corinthians 3:12–13.
When the Church meets Christ in the air, we will undergo judgment concerning our works. This is not a judgment of condemnation, for there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Instead, its purpose is to test the quality of each person’s work.
What types of works are we building upon the foundation of Christ? God has prepared good works for us to walk in; are we indeed walking in them? These good works consist of living out who we are in Christ, thereby shining as luminaries in the midst of this perverse and corrupt generation. To discern these good works, we must know God’s desirous will and learn how to abide—that is, to be at ease—in Christ. We are part of the new man, created in righteousness and piety (holiness in action) of the truth; therefore, let us live accordingly, rejecting the old man so that we become far more at ease in practicing righteousness than in unrighteousness.