Personally Accountable to God

MEMORY SELECTION: “Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” —Luke 12:48

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Luke 12:41-48; James 5:1-6

IN ROMANS 2:5-11 we read: “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; but glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: for there is no respect of persons with God.”

We believe that this is a statement of a general principle of judgment as administered by the Heavenly Father. Those who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory, honor, and immortality, are the footstep followers of Jesus during the Gospel Age. These have their judgment now.

In I Peter 4:16,17 we read: “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God?”

The prospective members of the church are in a very special way responsible to the Heavenly Father. He has called them to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. They have answered the call and have made an unreserved consecration to do his will. The Scriptures inform these called-out ones that it is God’s will that they follow in the footsteps of Jesus, suffering the opposition of the world and laying their lives down in sacrifice serving the interests of the truth and the brethren.

If they are faithful in this, they will attain to the crowning life, immortality, and have a place in the heavenly kingdom with all that this implies. The Apostle Paul in Romans 8:17 states: “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” This is the judgment that the Heavenly Father makes with each of the footstep followers of Jesus. Only those who are “more than over-comers” will be found qualified to be partakers of the high calling.

The Apostle Peter admonishes, however, “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” (I Peter 4:19) In other words, God is just, and he will see to it that each receives a just recompense of reward.

The rest of mankind, which is the vast majority who are not called to the high calling, are responsible to God also. (Ezek. 18:2,3) In Romans 2:9,10, which has been previously quoted, the apostle indicates that sinners will suffer tribulation and anguish. But to everyone who “worketh good” there will be glory, honor, and peace. The word peace, according to Professor Strong, means to “set at one again.” The psalmist, when describing the perfection of Adam before the fall in the Garden of Eden, states, “Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou modest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!”—Ps. 8:5-9

But man’s judgment and the time when he will be directly responsible for his actions will be during the millennial reign of Christ. It is during this time when Satan will be bound and a full opportunity will be given through the Christ for every man to be brought back to the perfection originally enjoyed by Adam. Those who are incorrigible will suffer wrath and destruction.

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