WE'RE ALL ACCOUNTABLE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.

Romans 14:10-13a

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We all belong to God who has appointed His Son Jesus to be the Lord over the dead and the living.

This is what we have learned so far from our study of the opening verses of Romans 14.

So if God is in full control over everything in all creation and has delegated to Jesus authority over all things in heaven and on earth, this means that all people are inferior to them and subject to their judgment.

In other words, no one on earth has truly been granted the permission to serve as God’s appointed judge.

Now this doesn’t mean that God or Jesus don’t use people to execute their judgment on other people. That happens all the time and in all kinds of settings.

What it does mean is that not one person has been given autonomy by God to judge on His behalf without His influence. We don’t carry the right to judge on our own impulses.

This is what we learn in many places in the scriptures, one of which is in today’s passage from Romans 14. Here we find the Lord asking us two very basic questions:

“...why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt?”

It’s a scriptural way for God to ask, “Who do you think you are?”

Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). No one is excused from His examination and His associated verdict. Everyone will “stand before God’s judgment seat”. All are accountable for the lives they have lived.

Indeed, as sinners before a God who hates sin, we all will come before the Lord to stand trial for the lives we have lived. Once before Him, we won’t be taking some oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. No, we won’t be saying anything except acknowledging God for who He is as we but the knee to Him in complete subordination. We will then be given the opportunity to give an account of ourselves before our Judge.

But here’s the thing.

Who can possibly defend themselves when they have lived lives full of sin, sin that immediately warrants the penalty of eternal damnation and torment?

No one has a chance on their own and this is why we need Jesus. He is the only One who can step into this scene and bring us pardon.

You see, when it seems all is without hope as we try and give account of our sinful existence before God, Jesus steps in for the one who chose to believe in Him as Savior and justifies. He makes the sinner as if he had never sinned.

Jesus can do this because of His redeeming work of salvation at Calvary where the Lamb of God was nailed to a cross while bearing all the sin of the world. He paid the price we deserved and in doing so, purchased our pardon with His own life. He died in our place so we might be able to live forever.

That’s the beauty of the Gospel and how it reminds us of the love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness of God, all on full display through His Son Jesus.

So as the scriptures commend to us today, “let us stop passing judgment on one another”. Instead, let’s focus our energy on first ensuring our salvation is secure through belief in Jesus before helping others find Him and the eternal life found He brings for themselves.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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