Romans 14:12 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

NIV: So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

NASB: So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

CSB: So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

NLT: Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God.

KJV: So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

NKJV: So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

Paul sums up the message of his previous two verses in one simple sentence. Each one of us will give an account of ourselves to God at some future moment in the end times. Paul included himself here. He, too, will give an account of himself to God. Critically, Paul's point here is that this account is not given to other Christians (Colossians 2:16–23). This passage speaks of the need to tolerate fellow believers when they have a different opinion on a non-essential issue. A heavy motivator for that tolerance is the fact that we, ourselves, are not that other Christian's ultimate master; God is.

Paul is talking about what is known as the judgment seat of Christ, described more fully in 2 Corinthians 5:10. This judgment will not be about salvation. God will not respond to the account we give of ourselves here and then decide if we deserve heaven or hell. If He did, each of us would be sent to hell. Paul wrote in Romans 3:23 that all of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. Rather, the decision about whether we will be allowed into heaven or not has already been made for those of who are in Christ. It was finished the moment we came to Him in faith (Ephesians 2:8–9).

Instead, we will give to Christ an account of our works in this life and they will be shown to be lasting or worthless. Christians will be rewarded for their lasting works and suffer loss of some kind for their worthless ones. Everyone there, though, will stand in Christ and be saved (1 Corinthians 3:12–15).

Romans 14:1–12 describes how Christians with opposing views on matters of freedom and sin should treat each other. First, strong-faith Christians who understand that all things are clean for those in Christ should welcome and not try to change weaker-faith Christians who believe some things, like eating certain meats, to be sinful. Each should act on their convictions and honor the Lord in doing so. Neither should judge the other, for the real day of judgment is coming when we will all stand before Christ and give an account of our lives.

In Romans 14, Paul tackles the question of how Christians with different convictions about disputable matters should treat each other in the church. Strong-faith Christians who feel free to eat and drink what was formerly forbidden under the law of Moses should not flaunt their freedoms in front of weaker-faith Christians who are not convinced it is right to participate in those things. Neither group should judge the other. Those strong in their faith should rather yield than lead those weaker in faith to violate their conscience, which is a sin.

Paul turns from the black-and-white instructions about light and darkness in Romans 13 to the issue of disputable matters with the potential to divide the church. Paul instructs those who feel free to participate in activities formally forbidden under the law not to flaunt their freedom in front of those who, by conscience, still believe those actions to be wrong. Those strong-faith Christians should be willing to set aside their freedom to keep from leading their weaker brothers and sisters into sin by violating their convictions. Paul addresses this topic with additional comments in 1 Corinthians chapter 10.

The book of Romans is the New Testament's longest, most structured, and most detailed description of Christian theology. Paul lays out the core of the gospel message: salvation by grace alone through faith alone. His intent is to explain the good news of Jesus Christ in accurate and clear terms. As part of this effort, Paul addresses the conflicts between law and grace, between Jews and Gentiles, and between sin and righteousness. As is common in his writing, Paul closes out his letter with a series of practical applications.