Accountable to God

Everyone is ultimately accountable to God. He is the Creator of all things, “and there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13).

God revealed Himself to man “so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God” (Romans 3:19).

Our Problem

We should not think that we will be fine when we stand before God. The Bible says that “no flesh will be justified in His sight” (Romans 3:20). That is, no one can simply walk into God’s presence and assume that everything is all right.

Why? Because God is holy and He demands that His people also be holy (see 1 Peter 1:14–15). He created us to worship, love, and obey Him. He commanded us not to lie, to steal, or to otherwise harm one another. But each one of us has violated His commandments and we are all guilty in His sight.

God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

God is “a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation [against sinners] every day” (Psalm 7:11–12). As sinners we should die for our sins and be separated from Him in eternity.

The Gospel—God’s Gracious Gift

But God is loving, gracious, and kind. He is full of mercy toward those who fear Him. And we have good news: He made a way for our sins to be forgiven!

God loved us and sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to pay our debt:

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. (John 3:16–17)

Jesus can save us because He is truly God and truly human. He always did right and never sinned in thought, word, or deed. He died as a substitute for sinners so that we could be saved from the wrath of God (Romans 5:6–11).

God the Father confirmed that He accepted His Son’s death by raising Him from the dead (Romans 1:4). And since Christ is raised, we know that all men will be resurrected—some to eternal life and some to eternal damnation (Romans 2:4–11).

The Bible says that “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Will You Receive the Gift?

John the Baptist told everyone what to do to receive God’s gift: “repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

Repenting means turning away from sin and turning to God (1 Thessalonians 1:9–10). It requires a change of thinking and acting so that we despise the wickedness of sin. Instead, we hunger for the righteousness that only God can provide. We recognize that we have sinned against a holy God (Psalm 51:4). And we trust that God alone is able to forgive us and to make us clean (Isaiah 1:18; 1 John 1:5–10).

Believing the gospel means that we look to Jesus alone for our salvation (Philippians 3:3). Instead of expecting judgment from God, each of us must trust Him for salvation. The Bible says, “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Trust the promise of the gospel:

if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For . . . “whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9–13)

Examine Yourself

Have you been saved from God’s wrath? How would you know if this were true?

The Scripture teaches us, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 12:5).

Do you see changes in your life? The Bible says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Ask yourself these kind of questions:

• Are you walking in the light of God’s truth and righteousness? (See 1 John 1:5–7.)
• Are you daily confessing sin? (See 1 John 1:8–10.)
• Do you obey Christ? (See 1 John 2:3–4.)
• Do you love fellow Christians? (See 1 John 2:9–11.)
• Do you hate worldliness? (See 1 John 2:15–17.)
• Are you persevering in doctrine? (See 1 John 2:24–25.)
• Are you seeking righteousness? (See 1 John 3:10.)
• Do you see the fruit of the Spirit in your life? (See Galatians 5:16–24.)
• Are you growing under God’s discipline? (See Hebrews 12:5–8.)
• Are you doing good works as a result of your salvation? (See Ephesians 2:8–10.)

Praise the Savior!

We are all accountable to God. So be sure that you stand before Him without a reason to be ashamed. Look to Christ as your only hope of deliverance.

What a wonderful God! He is both “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). Receive His free gift today.