Are We

Are We Accountable to God?

Are accountable to God for our actions?  To answer this question we need to look at something else God has planted deep within us, a sense of justice.  Watch a group of children playing a game of football, or some other team sport.  If they are totally unsupervised with no adult as a referee it is not long before you hear them calling out, "That's cheating!" "You are not allowed to do that!" "That's not fair!" "I'm going to tell on you!"  They know when someone has broken the rules.  They all feel that the culprit needs to be made accountable for their actions.  This same sense of justice has been planted in all of us.  We all, at least, believe others should be made accountable for their actions.  We usually try to justify ourselves, but others, they should be blamed and punished.

Think of Adolf Hitler, who started a war that led to 50 million or more people being killed.  Many were tortured and other horrible atrocities were committed upon many people.  We feel cheated when we read that this monster committed suicide before he was caught and brought to justice for his crimes against humanity.  We think it doesn't seem fair that he should escape.  We believe he should be held accountable for his actions.  Deep down within us we feel that all wrongs should be righted, that there ought to be a day of reckoning.  

This is where the Bible comes to our rescue.  Hebrews 9:27 "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that face judgment."  This means a day of accountability is up ahead in the future where all wrongs will be righted. It happens after death.

If death means non existence like the blowing out of the flame of a candle, that means Hitler got away with his crimes, he shot himself and went into eternal non existence.  Our whole inner being cries out, "That's not fair!  He has never been made accountable for his actions."  This belief of a day of reckoning has been planted in us by our creator and the words of the Bible confirm it.  Romans 14:12 "So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God."  Not just Hitler but each one of us.  

This should make us all feel uncomfortable as none of us can say we are squeaky clean.  So what do most of us do?  We minimize our own wrong doing by comparing ourselves with others.  It is not hard to find people who do things that we feel we would never do.  I remember visiting a man in jail who was there because he stole from people.  He organized a gang who stole from people's homes and from factories.  While I was visiting him he said he realized he was not so bad after all.  Here he was in prison with murderers, rapists and those who had committed other horrible crimes which he would never do.  I think it made him feel quite saintly in comparison.  The thought went through my mind, "tell that to all the people you have robbed."  But before we judge him let's be honest and admit that we also do what he was doing with all our lesser crimes.

The Bible has something to say about this attitude.  Romans 2:1-3 "You therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.  Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.  So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?"

We can't judge others and we can't compare ourselves with others because each of us will have to give an account of ourselves to God.  When I first started going to church at 18 years of age I was very judgmental of all the religious people in the church.  I regarded myself as good as they were and quite a lot better than some of them.  One or two I thought were positive hypocrites.  But when I realized I was not being judged by the standard set by the lives of these people but the standard set by God, I took my eyes off them and looked at God's standard, God's goodness, and I found I fell far short of God's requirements and standards for my life.  I realized I had been judging these people unfairly, that I would have to give an account of my own failures, not theirs, to God.

Another interesting thing is how much Hell is still spoken about today.  People say to one another, "You can go to Hell!" "I've been through Hell!" Or sometimes just, "Hell!"  Many people today say they don't believe in a place called Hell yet the word is frequently used, sometimes in surprising ways.  For example, a man has been captured who has kidnapped and violently killed a little child.  On national TV a relative or someone close to the family, says to the whole of NZ, "May he rot in Hell!" or "May he burn in Hell!"  Everyone knows what they mean, that there ought to be a Hell for people who commit such crimes.  I suggest there is knowledge of such a place as Hell, deep down in all of us that comes to the surface when we are outraged by the disgusting, vile behaviour of some people.  Could you find anything stronger than what Jesus said about those who hurt little children?  Matthew 18:5-9 "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes Me.  But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.  Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin!  Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!  If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.  It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.  And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away.  It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of Hell."

Most of us would feel this way about anyone who committed a cruel, sadistic, unthinkable crime against a child, elderly person, young women or anyone else for that matter.  But we don't feel that way about ourselves.  We normally put ourselves in a different category.  We would never do such things!  We are like our friend in prison, when we compare ourselves with these people we see ourselves as good ordinary decent people.  We admit we are not perfect but we are not bad or evil.  And of course, there is a sense in which this is quite true.  We may even pride ourselves on the fact that we believe everyone is entitled to their own opinions about religion, politics and how they live their lives.  But, this does not alter the fact that after death, each one of us will have to give an account of ourselves unto God for our actions and things we should have done.  Our degree of failure might be less than those, so called bad evil people, but we must remember we are not going to be judged by man's standards but by God's standard, by God's requirements.

God is good and He does good.  He created us, gave us a conscience and wanted us to be good.  But, can any of us say that we have been 100% good all the time?  We will be judged by God's standard of goodness.  The Bible has some depressing news to give us about ourselves.  

 Romans 3:10 "There is no one righteous, not even one." verse 12 "There is no one who does good, not even one."

 Romans 3:23 "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

 Isaiah 53:6 "We all like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way."

Someone might be saying, "Wait a minute, I've done quite a few good things in my life, doesn't that count?"  I want to answer that question.  I also want to share God's good news for the human race, in fact it is the most wonderful news you could ever hear.  It can totally change your life and bring you into a relationship with God.  It can give you a pardon and forgiveness.  It can give a life of fellowship with God on earth and an eternity enjoying His presence. 

To find out more you can read How Can I Be Saved? or see more answers to faith questions below.

If you would like further help or information, or if you made a commitment to the Lord through reading this, please write to us at office@pcf.gen.nz  

We'd love you to visit us at PCF on Sundays to learn more about following Jesus.