On Being Held Accountable

On Being Held Accountable

GOD'S MESSAGE/November 2010

Man must give an account to God for everything that he does. And it is not only his actions that he must account to God - even every word that he says.

AMONG GOD'S CREATIONS on earth, it is man whom He endows with the faculty of reason and the ability to distinguish right from wrong. That is why it is oftentimes said that man is a rational being. This is what makes man unique and sets him apart from other created beings. And not only does God endow man the capacity to reason or to think; God also gives him free will—

man is not a robot without a mind and a will of his own. But this doesn't mean that man is free to do whatever he pleases without facing any consequence. On the contrary, because man has free will, he should be held accountable for his deeds. And this has been proven true since the time of the first couple, Adam and Eve: "And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die'" (Gen. 2:16-17, New International Version).

God did not just give the first couple His command, but also the freedom to choose between right and wrong. Should they so choose to disobey, they had to face the consequence of their disobedience, which is death. And if they would do what was right, they were free to eat all the fruits in the Garden of Eden, except that of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and there enjoyed God's blessings. Hence, man's free will and his choices make him accountable or responsible for his actions. The first couple, in choosing to violate God's decree to not eat from the prohibited tree, was held accountable. Thus they fell from God's grace, driven out of paradise and since then, man has to experience death as punishment on account of sin.

Give an account to God

Because man is accountable for the things he does in his lifetime, the Bible gives this warning: "Young man, it's wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do" (Eccles. 11:9, Neip Living Translation). Man must give an account to God for everything that he does. And it is not only his actions that he must account to God—even every word that he says: "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken" (Matt. 12:36, NIV). We will give account on Judgment Day for all our deeds and the words we have uttered. We will all stand before our Lord Jesus Christ to be judged by Him—to receive what we deserve based on the good or evil we have done in our lifetime (II Cor. 5:10, God's Word). And nobody is exempted from being held answerable to God: "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned" (Rom. 5:12, NIV). Because all men have sinned, all are held accountable to God. Consequently, we will suffer death, as death is the wages of sin (Rom. 6:23; Rev. 20:14). And God's law on sin and punishment is: "Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin (Deut. 24:16, Neiv King James Version). Hence, when it comes to paying for one's sins or settling accounts to God, each person who commits sins will be the one to answer for or be held accountable for his sins and not another. This is God's righteousness concerning accountability for one's actions or deeds.

Will be raised back to life

Even if a person is already dead, as God has already appointed death to man (Heb. 9:27), still he can and will be held accountable on Judgment Day. Our Lord Jesus Christ elucidates: "Don't be surprised at this: A time is coming when all who are dead and in their graves will hear his voice. Then they will come out of their graves. Those who did good will rise and have life forever, but those who did evil will rise to be judged guilty" (John 5:28-29, New Century Version). All of the dead will rise again or they will be resurrected as appointed by God—either to be judged guilty or to be rewarded with eternal life, depending on what they have done during their lifetime. And there is no way a person can hide anything from God, as everything will be accounted for based on what is recorded on the books to be opened: "And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:12-15, NIV). There will be solid proofs upon which we shall be judged in everything that we have done in our lifetime. All are recorded and will be accounted for on the day of Judgment— there's no act, utterance, and thought that will go unaccounted on that great day of reckoning. That is why we have to be careful on how we live and conduct ourselves in this life. 

The propitiation for sins

Although we will surely die if we are to pay for our sins, God, being righteous, loving, and merciful has provided a way by which we can be saved from punishment on account of our sins. Apostle John teaches: "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (I John 4:10, NKJV).

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, we can be saved from punishment for sin. God sent Him to be the propitiation for our sins. Christ is the atoning sacrifice for our transgressions. Apostle Paul explains how He became so: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (II Cor. 5:21, NIV).

Although Christ did not commit sin, God made Him to be sin for us. In the process, we have become God's righteousness in Christ. So it was Christ whom God held accountable for our sins. He was the one who paid and atoned for our sins through His death on the cross for us to be saved from punishment. But how was Christ able to answer or account for our sins without violating God's law that whoever commits sin must die for his own sin? Apostle Paul explains: "having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace" (Eph. 2:15, NKJV). 

Christ created the one new man from the two, through which peace with God was established. The two that compose the one new man are Christ, who is the head, and His Church that is his body: "And He is the head of the body, the church ..." (Col. 1:18, Ibid.). 

Related as they are to each other as head and body, when Christ took responsibility of or accounted for the sins of those in His Church, He did not violate God's righteousness concerning accountability for sin. Instead, it became God's righteousness for Christ to account for the sins of His Church because they are no longer two but one. Thus, for one's sins to be answered or paid for by Christ through the shedding of His blood, one must become part of Christ's body or the Church headed by Him— the Church of Christ (Acts 20:28, Lamsa Translation).

Christ's invitation
  
What then should people do for Christ to serve as the propitiation for their sins? What is Christ's invitation for those who want to be saved by Him? The Lord extends this invite: "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved ..." (John 10:9, NKJV).  
    

Entering Christ means becoming members of His body or Church. The Apostle Paul emphasizes this to the Christians: "Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually" (I Cor. 12:27, Ibid.). 

To be saved by Christ, it is not enough to just believe or accept Him as one's personal Savior. A person has to enter or join the Church of Christ as member, because it is for this Church that Christ gave account to God. That is why, to those who refuse to become members of Christ's body by joining the true Church of Christ, the Lord has this to say: "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins" (John 8:24, Ibid.). 

Those who are not members of Christ's body or Church will die for their own sins. Christ will not answer for them. This means that they will be eternally punished in the lake of fire. 

Leave sins behind and renew life

Joining the Church of Christ however, is just a step in the process of attaining salvation—one needs to renew his life and be a new creation in Christ. Apostle Paul puts emphasis to this when he states: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (II Cor. 5:17, Ibid.). 

If a person is in Christ or a member of the Church of Christ, he becomes a new creation. He should now leave behind the old things or the former way of life and thinking that became corrupt. He should now put on the new way of life and thinking: "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (Eph. 4:22-24, NIV). 

The old self that was corrupted should now be put off and be replaced with the new self. This is the being that is in accordance with God's true righteousness and holiness. In other words, he should leave behind sin and renew his life. 

Let us not be transgressors but obedient servants of the Lord. Our life and future, whether here on earth or the hereafter, are shaped and determined by our choices for which God will hold us accountable. And since God wants only what is good for us, He has given us the best advice on what to choose: "I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God's blessing and God's curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life. Love the LORD your God, obey him and be faithful to him, and then you and your descendants will live long in the land that he promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (Deut. 30:19-20, Today's English Version).

For our own sake and welfare, may all of us make the right choice— love our Lord God by being obedient and faithful to Him till the end. ® 

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