We Must Give Account

[Sue J Love]

“Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 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. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:11-13 ESV)

“The rest” being spoken of here is God’s eternal rest for those who have believed in Jesus Christ, who have died with him to sin, and who are walking in obedience to his commands, in practice. It is salvation from sin and eternal life with God by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in the Lord, resulting in us being crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness (see Romans 6:1-23).

The Scriptures make it clear all throughout the New Testament writings, in the teachings of Christ and of his New Testament apostles, that a mere profession of faith in the Lord with our lips will gain none of us entry into God’s heaven. We must die with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, in practice, and we must obey our Lord and his commandments (New Covenant), in practice. For if sin is our practice, and not obedience to our Lord’s commands, then we will not inherit eternal life with God.

So many people today are teaching a gospel message absent of death to sin and of walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands. But they are necessary components and results of believing faith which comes from God and which is persuaded of God, and which is not of our own doing, not of human flesh. So they are selling the gospel short, and they are teaching the people lies which are giving them a false hope of salvation from sin and of eternal life with God. For biblical faith = obedience, and disobedience = unbelief.

And these lies largely come from Scriptures being taught out of context and twisted to say what they do not say if taught in the appropriate context. And this is why it is so critical that we be students of the Scriptures who study them for ourselves, in the right context, and under the direction of the Holy Spirit, so that we are getting the truth and not the lies. We must never rely on any human solely as our teacher of the Scriptures, for not everyone teaches the truth, and many are they who are spreading lies, instead.

But if we read the Scriptures for ourselves, in the appropriate context, preferably chapter by chapter, and verse by verse until we are well versed in the Scriptures and their teachings, we might, like I did, realize the things that we were taught wrong, and we might realize the truth that we did not get, and that we did not understand when we were reading the Scriptures out of context. And then we might come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit of our need to change course, to repent of sins, and to obey God.

For it is impossible for us to read the Scriptures in their full context and for us to walk away from them believing that a verbal profession of faith in Jesus Christ is enough to save us from our sins and to assure us heaven when we die. The only way we can do that is if our hearts are hardened to God and to his word and so we refuse to believe the Scriptures because we want to continue in our sins. For the Word of God is going to convict us of any deliberate and habitual sins and move us to repent and to obey God.

And all of us in the end are going to have to give an account to God for what we did with his gospel message and with our lives and for how we lived them, either for the flesh and in sin and in disobedience to God, or for the Lord in death to sin and in walks of obedience to our Lord in fellowship with him and in being and doing what he has called us to be and to do. Did we serve him with our lives? Or did we serve the flesh, instead? Was obedience to God our practice? Or was it disobedience, apathy, and selfishness?

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Broken and Contrite

An Original Work / May 13, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

I come before You, Lord, my Savior,
With humble heart and crushed in spirit.
I bow before You, I implore You,
Heal my broken heart, I pray.
Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,
You are the King of my heart.
Lord, purify my heart within me;
Sanctify me, whole within.

Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully
The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.
I pray You give me grace and mercy,
Strength and wisdom to obey.
Father God, my heart’s desire,
Won’t You set my heart on fire?
Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders
My walk with You, now I pray.

Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,
My heart cries out for understanding.
I want to follow You in all ways,
Never straying from Your truth.
Holy Spirit, come in power,
Fill me with Your love today.
Lord, mold and make me;
Your hands formed me;
Live Your life through me, I pray.

We Must Give Account
An Original Work / May 20, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love