Faith Not Sight

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, 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 we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 2 Corinthians 5:1-9

Faith is all about what we KNOW. We know that when our earth-house (human body) dies, we will be in our eternal abode which is prepared for us by Jesus Christ. We know that by comparison, the earth-house is inferior; burdened by earth-life, therefore we groan with anticipation for that which is superior and eternal. The Holy Spirit indwelling is our “guarantee” or pledge; a down-payment on the permanent dwelling we will have in eternity. We will not be bodiless beings, but will have bodies, like that of Jesus Christ.

Our present circumstances are temporary. We are physically absent from the Lord now, and must go on what we know about Him and His perfect provision for us (FAITH). We do not see Him, but we know Him, and His Word, and His love and His truth and His grace, and all His essence. His character (essence) is our anchor, our assurance of salvation, our peace. We long for the eternal, but we know we have work to do here, as representatives of our Lord, until He is ready to call us home from this battlefield. Our most important priority in life is to please Him. Our work as believers will be evaluated at the judgment seat of Christ. That judgment is for believers only, and will happen immediately after the rapture of the Church.

The following is copied from Warren Dowd’s Grace Notes:

There are three thrones on which the Lord Jesus Christ will sit.
The judgment seat is in heaven after the rapture.
The throne in Jerusalem during the millennium.
The great white throne in heaven after the millennium.
There is a general principle of scripture that every member of the human race is accountable to God.
God will evaluate every man according to his deeds. Jer. 17:10; 32:19.
All unbelievers will be evaluated at the great white throne. Rev. 20:12.
All believers in Christ will be evaluated at the judgment seat. Matt. 26:34-40 and 2 Cor. 5:10
The judgment seat of Christ is an evaluation of a Christian's production during his Christian life on earth. There is no judgment of sin at the judgment seat. Believer's sins were judged at the cross and Christ was our atonement for sin. (2 Cor. 5:10)
In John 15 and Gal. 5, bad deeds (phaulos), refer to actions, which may not be sinful, but which are worthless in the sight of God. These are human choices which do not measure up to God’s standard of righteousness. These deeds are human good (wood, hay and stubble), which are produced by believers when they are in a carnal state, not filled with the Holy Spirit, during periods when sin is not being confessed on a regular basis.
Divine good (gold, silver and precious stones) is agathos, which is production by a believer who is walking in fellowship and who is controlled by the Holy Spirit. In fellowship, a Christian will be controlled by the Holy Spirit, will be occupied with Christ in his thoughts and speech, and will live in the Bible. The power for his production comes directly from God and not from himself.
All production of the Christian believer (phaulos or agathos) will be evaluated at the judgment seat of Christ. The instrument of evaluation is fire. The production which is not burned up during the evaluation (the gold, silver and precious stones) is the basis of eternal rewards for the believer.
1 Cor. 3:11-14
A believer should never try to evaluate another believer's production. "To his own master he stands or falls..."
Matt. 7:1,2; Rom. 14:4

We can only answer for ourselves. There is one person I can control. That is a full-time job. Our faith is applicable only to our own production. We cannot apply our faith to someone else, as much as we would like to. Our faith can, however, inform and encourage them, in their pilgrimage to maturity. It is our faith; our spirit-inspired work, that will earn reward. God knows all about that. It is something only He can see.