by Jacob Ninan
"So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God" (Rom.14:12). What happened in the Garden of Eden was that Adam tried to give an account of what Eve had done, and Eve tried to account for Satan's actions. Nobody took respoonsibility for their own deeds. We don't have to give an account for other people, even if they have done things to us. But we do have to give an account of everything we have done.
Many Christians nowadays like to think of God as love, always forgiving, kind, giving us blessings, etc. But we should not forget that He is much more than love. He is our Creator who knows everything about us, and He is the one who has laid down all the laws concerning our life. He is the one to decide what is right and what is wrong. One day He is also going to be our Judge too; we will have to give Him an account of everything we have done in our life.
There are two types of account that He is going to ask from us. The first account is concerning how we have been obedient to His laws and about the sins we have committed (1Pet.4:3-5). Jesus amplified it a little when He told us that we would have to give an account for every idle word that we spoke (Matt.12:36). The way we have to settle our account for this is to acknowledge our sins and repent and receive forgiveness from God.
Another thing which we have to give account is for how fruitful and faithful we have been with the time, money, abilities and opportunities He had entrusted us with (Matt.25:14-19).
What if we have been going about carelessly in our life, thinking that since God has accepted us and everything is fine, and find on the last day that we have to give an account of our life?
It is encouraging to know that we have a High Priest, a Mediator, an Advocate, standing between us and God (Heb.4:15,16). He is able to help us. He understands us because He Himself was tempted in everything in the same way as we are tempted but overcoming every temptation without fail. Because He knows how we feel when we are tempted and when we fall, He is able to give us the help that we need. Therefore, we should go to Him, this Advocate, with confidence and be open with Him about our accounts. Even if we have fallen into the worst kind of sins, when we acknowledge them to God and repent from them, there is forgiveness given to us as an unmerited favour. That is mercy that is available at the throne of grace. But there is also help coming to us from the throne of grace for our time of need. That help is so that we don't repeat what we have done, another time. If our repentance does not include this determination not to repeat our folly, we should not assume that there is even forgiveness from God (Acts.8:22).
But we must remember that there is nothing that is hidden from eyes of God to whom we have to give an account (Heb.4:12,13). This passage tells us that the level to which God examines us is concerning our thoughts and intentions of our heart. Many people address only what they do and speak, which are observed by people, and assume that no one knows what they are thinking or planning. God is not focussing on what is seen outside, but what is going on inside our heart (1Sam.16:7). So, now we need to realise that our giving accounts to God must come to our thoughts and intentions of the heart.
It is sad to see that some Christians think that as long as they are keeping the Ten Commandments they are doing fine! But these commandments were a part of the old covenant which God made with Israel. This standard was not what God wanted to set for people. This was an intermediate standard which God gave before Israel who had just come out after 430 years in Egypt when they hardly knew God. Jesus came afterwards with the new covenant, raising the standard to the level God really wanted for people. He explained this through some examples in His 'Sermon on the mount'.
According to the Ten Commandments, we are not to have any god besides the true God. We may think we are obedient to that beccause we are not worshipping any idols, even when we worship money, fame or pleasure as gods in our heart. We think we have not killed anyone, even when we hate someone in our heart and mentally killed him. It may be that it was because of the fear of being caught that we did not kill him physically. If we imagine we have not committed adultery with anyone even while we have been looking at women with desire in our heart, Jesus says we have committed adultery already in our heart. Now think of this. If we have learned to give an account to God at the level of our heart and intentions, according to the standard of the new covenant, when we are learning to be careful with what we think and plan, is there any real possibility that we will actually commit idolatry, murder or adultery? Isn't that the way to live the new covenant life?
Once the Pharisees pointed out to Jesus that His disciples did not care to cermoniously wash their hands before eating their meals. Jesus explained to them that it was not about washing of hands or taking off one's shoes but about keeping our hearts pure (Matt.15:19,20). Instead of thinking at the level of external things, can't we learn to live moment by moment before God's face, giving Him an account of our life? Instead of waiting for the last day to face the judgment or doing a weekly confession, can't we learn to live before God moment by moment – confessing our sins when we slip up and asking for help not to fall again?
If we live before people, we become careful about what they can see and not about what goes on in our thoughts and intentions. If we get caught doing wrong, we try to pin the blame on someone else or our circumstances. Why don't we, instead, live as those who have to give an account of our thoughts and intentions? When we slip up, we acknowledge our failure, get forgiveness and seek help not to fall again. God wants us to stop sinning (1Jn.2:1). If we fall externally in such a way that others could also see it, is it not because we have not been faithful earlier at the level of our thoughts and intentions? If we hurt someone, don't we need to settle that account with God and with those whom we have hurt? Do we ignore it, trying to save our dignity, and accumulate the things we have to give an account for on the final day?
Sometimes it so happens that someone hurts us. We immediately feel a desire to take vengeance, teach him a lesson, keep him in the right place with regards to us, etc. But we ought to settle that account too immediately by forgiving him as soon as we become aware of it. But we think he does not deserve to be forgiven. Neither did we! God has forgiven us out of His grace, unmerited favour towards us, and now how can we deny forgiveness from him? If we hold on to saying he does not deserve forgiveness while we say we need forgiveness from God, the accounts do not match! But if the moment we realise that someone has wronged us and we forgive him, our account will remain straight even in that direction. There may be also things that we need to 'bear with' when we notice some weaknesses, some mannerisms, some twists of personality, etc., in others, remembering that those people will be having to bear with our weaknesses too, even if we are unaware of them (Col.3:13)! If we deal with everything like this as soon as we become aware of them, our accounts will be up to date with God. Some godly people of ancient times call it 'keeping short accounts' with God, without lag or backlog. It is when we live that kind of life that we can experience fellowship with God.
If we don't keep these short accounts with God, but allow backlogs to develop in our life, God says that they will keep us separated from God (Isa.59:1-2). Then God is hindered from doing many good things that He wants to do for us. Even our prayers are going to be ignored by God (Psa.66:18). Then we blame God for not answering our prayers or keeping His promises!
In connection with participating in the breaking of bread, after warning us not to take it lightly but to examine ourselves, God tells us through Paul, "But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged" (1Cor.11:31). This means to give an account of ourselves to God. If we are doing this regularly and if our accounts are up to date, then there is not going to be any judgment waiting for us!