"Each of us will give an account of himself to God"
A closer look at Romans 14:12.
12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. - Romans 14:12 (ESV)
Introduction
We are reminded in 2 Timothy 3:16 that all of the Bible is God-breathed - it comes directly from Him - and has a variety of purposes. Scripture teaches us, rebukes us, corrects us and trains us. And we are told this about God’s word in Hebrews 4:12:
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)
God’s word is alive, active and on the move. It is designed to impact us and one of the Holy Spirit’s roles is to reveal God’s word to our hearts. (1 Corinthians 2:14) So when we hear Scripture like today’s verse, it should have an impact on us:
So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Let’s dive in and take a closer look at Romans 14:12.
“So then each of us will give an account”
It is not known how each of us will make it into eternity.
Maybe we die in an accident or die after a long illness or just fade away after a long, long life. Or maybe go to eternity when Jesus comes back.
But regardless of how we reach eternal life or death, at some point each of us will be judged*. Each of us will have to give an account of our words, deeds and thoughts before God. The Bible is very clear about this. For example, a couple of verses earlier in Romans 14:10, the Apostle Paul writes this:
10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. - Romans 14:10 (ESV)
In 2 Corinthians 5:10 we are told:
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. - 2 Corinthians 5:10 (ESV)
Jesus Himself also makes clear that there will be a forthcoming judgment:
36 “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” - Matthew 12:36-37 (ESV)
Again later in the book of Matthew He says:
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.” - Matthew 25:31-33 (ESV)
There are Old Testament promises of judgment applied to all as well:
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. - Ecclesiastes 12:14 (ESV)
And, of course, there is the Great White Throne judgment passage:
11 “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” - Revelation 20:11-15 (ESV)
Though this is an extensive list, these are not all of the Biblical references to the eternal judgment process. But what we can clearly understand from this all of these passages is that there will be an eternal judgment for all of us. We will will give an accounting of what we have done, or not done, during our lives.
“Of himself to God”
Imagine if someone had access to every thought that had ever crossed out minds. Imagine if someone had witnessed every action we had ever taken and also knew everything we should have done but did not do. Imagine if someone had heard every word we had ever spoken.
Then imagine that the someone with all of this knowledge could access it in a moment and had the power and authority to judge us based on what was known.
Well, that is a crass way of explaining the power, knowledge and authority that Almighty God has. And based upon what Scripture has told us, we will face judgement before Him at some point in the future.
We will take our record and we will stand before the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Alpha and the Omega, the great I AM for a time of judgment. Our record will viewed and our eternal future will hang in the balance.
It is true that that not everything we have ever done or thought is bad or sinful. Therefore, some would look at the above passages from the Bible and the pending judgment and say, “I’ll take my chances. I think I’ve done more good than bad.”
But is that a good idea?
The Bible tells us in Hebrews 4:12 that God’s word is alive and active and is able to discern “the thoughts and intentions of” our hearts. This reminds us that God knows what is going on inside of us.
The Bible also tells us that even our best work is considered like a dirty menstrual cloth before God (Isaiah 64:6).
And some might say, “Well, I’m still a pretty good person. I probably don’t sin more than once per day.” Unless that one sin every day was murdering someone, that person would indeed appear to be a very good person. But based on God’s standard He would not see a good person, someone who earned their way into His eternal presence. He would see someone who had committed cosmic treason against Him 14,600 times (1 sin x 365 days x 40 years)!
The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). What we get for what we do is death. What we deserve for the lives we have lived and the things we have done is eternal punishment. And this is not God’s fault. He does not desire that any should perish. His desire is “that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) But because He is perfect and holy those are His standards. Those are His standards for judging us and that is what is applied to each of us.
So, this “judgment thing” is a big deal. It will happen. God’s knowledge of us will be recalled. God’s holy and righteous standards will apply to the process. And because He is just, the process will done correctly.
Application
Overall, this “judgment thing” sounds bad because the Bible tells us “none is righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10) We do not measure up. We do not meet the standard.
“But God”
But God knows this. He loves us. He wants the best for us. He wants everyone to spend eternity with everyone in heaven. But He is not like a jolly old grandpa who chuckles at our sins and ignores them.
This is truly a cosmic conundrum. God loves us and wants eternity with us, but He is also a just God has His standards to uphold. But this can’t happen because of our sinful condition.
So how is this impossible situation solved?
Through Jesus Christ our Savior.
In the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah reminds us of this in Isaiah 53:6:
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. - Isaiah 53:6 (ESV)
The Apostle Paul also gives us great reminders of the gospel of Jesus, the good news, like this:
8 But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8 (ESV)
And this:
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - 2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)
In fact, this good news, of God’s grace and mercy is throughout the Bible.
When we recognize that we are sinners and that our sin separates us from God, then we realize that we need a Savior. We are separated from God by our sin, but He has also made a way for us to be reconciled to Him. Instead of trusting in our own works and actions - or inactions - we place our trust in the perfect work that Jesus has done on our behalf.
When we stand before the judgment*, we can stand before God and say that we do not in any way deserve to be in His presence, but have trusted His Son Jesus to do what we could not do. Like the Hebrews turning to look at the bronze serpent on a pole to be healed (Numbers 21:9), we turn to Jesus to save us.
Amen.
* There are differing views among Christians and Bible scholars as to how this process of judgement is carried out. Some see the process in two parts: one judgment for Christians and another judgement for unbelievers. Others, like myself, view this judgment as happening once. Regardless of the number, one thing is certain. All will be judged. For the purposes of this article, we won’t get into the details that support one view or the other.
Also, for those trusting in Christ as their Savior, the judgment won’t just be about eternal death or eternal life. We are called to good works after we follow Jesus and those works will be judged as well and will somehow be rewarded. And then we will turn and cast those awards back toward the feet of Jesus. (Romans 4:10-11)