{"id":599,"date":"2016-10-30T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-30T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/?p=599"},"modified":"2016-10-29T22:23:03","modified_gmt":"2016-10-30T03:23:03","slug":"what-does-the-bible-say-about-being-called-to-account","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/2016\/what-does-the-bible-say-about-being-called-to-account\/","title":{"rendered":"What does the Bible say about being called to account?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cAnd as it is appointed for men to die once, but, after this the judgment.\u201d Hebrews 9:27\u201328<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

One of the most nagging and gnawing fears for each and every man is being called to account before God. Solomon closed his book of Ecclesiastes with these words, \u201cLet us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man\u2019s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil\u201d (12:13f).<\/p>\n

I have observed that we generally tend to subtly whitewash the more painful realities of our fallen existence. We say that someone \u201cdied.\u201d Died is an active verb as if dying was a chosen time and a volitional act. Dying is something that happens to you.<\/p>\n

Also, we are much more apt to say of someone who has been taken from us that they have passed away, have gone to a better place, that they are at peace, at rest, or that their suffering is over. In fact, we go out of our way to avoid saying anything remotely like what Paul says in 2\u00a0Corinthians\u00a05:10f: \u201cFor we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men\u2026.\u201d The reality is that when someone is summoned into the presence of the Lord of all the earth on the day of his death, he is called to give account for himself. He has an appointment made by God and perhaps that is how believers ought to refer to the event as both a reminder to our hearer as well as to ourselves.<\/p>\n

Biblically speaking, there is a stark difference between those \u201cwho sleep in Jesus\u201d (1\u00a0Thessalonians\u00a04:14) and those who die and are \u201cin torments in Hell\u201d (Luke\u00a016:23). The kindest thing we can do is not to sugar-coat reality by passively referencing someone\u2019s earthly demise, but to lovingly promote awareness of God\u2019s holiness and eternal truth, especially for the living who yet may repent. For the departed believer, every day, as we mark time, is another glorious day fellowshipping among the redeemed. For the departed unbeliever, every day is another day of darkness, fiery torment of mind and body, obtaining no quarter or relief, and unending hopelessness all the way out to eternity.<\/p>\n

Why is every man required to give account to God for his life? Several reasons spring to mind. The first is that God is the One who gave life to every man in the first place. Genesis\u00a01:26\u201328 teaches that God made man in His image and commissioned him with a job to do, to have dominion over the earth and all its creatures. Genesis\u00a02:7 explains this connection further by saying, \u201cAnd the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.\u201d God did nothing remotely like this with any other part of His creation. Human life, in any form, is a bearer of His image, is borrowed, and has an eternal soul. As anyone who creates will readily affirm, being the sole maker of anything means that you have the right to determine your creation\u2019s destiny; it is your property. Every human life is therefore ultimately subject to the sovereignty of God.<\/p>\n

The second is that God \u201ckeeps the books\u201d on sin and salvation. Revelation\u00a020:11\u201315 plainly teaches that at the resurrection of the unsaved at the end of the age, the unbelievers will be required to stand at the Great White Throne judgment and God\u2019s books of records will be opened. Account will be given based on what spiritual light they knew and how they individually lived accordingly (Deuteronomy\u00a024:16; Jeremiah\u00a031:30; Ezekiel\u00a018:4, 20). They will then be sentenced to varying degrees of punishment in the Lake of Fire for all eternity. It really will be an awful thing to be a sinner \u201cin the hands of an angry God,\u201d unshielded from His just wrath.<\/p>\n

The reason for giving account is especially significant for the saint. In the believer\u2019s case, he has been doubly created (2\u00a0Corinthians\u00a05:17f). Not only has he been given breath from the Creator, but he has been given the gift of forgiveness and eternal life through the death of God\u2019s Son, Jesus Christ. 1\u00a0Corinthians\u00a06:19f states, \u201cYou are not your own. For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God\u2019s\u201d (Ephesians\u00a06:7f).<\/p>\n

Not only are we made alive twice, but we are doubly blessed. We are given the opportunities of life common to all men, but we are also granted spiritual fruit and a foretaste of heaven to come (1\u00a0Peter\u00a04:10, Luke\u00a012:48). This is known as being a good steward of the grace of life which God has given in word (Matthew\u00a012:36), in giftedness (Matthew\u00a018:23), in money decisions (Luke\u00a012:20), in dealings with others (1\u00a0Peter\u00a04:4f), in faithfulness (1\u00a0Corinthians\u00a04:2), and in the Gospel (Colossians\u00a01:25).<\/p>\n

1 John\u00a02:28f admonishes us, \u201cAbide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him.\u201d A healthy view of genuine love and regard for others requires that we be prepared to give account. It also requires that we encourage others to be prepared to give account. Answer we all will. Trust and obey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAnd as it is appointed for men to die once, but, after this the judgment.\u201d Hebrews 9:27\u201328 One of the most nagging and gnawing fears for each and every man is being called to account before God. Solomon closed his book of Ecclesiastes with these words, \u201cLet us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}