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Matthew 12:36.
'Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall
give account thereof in the day of judgment'.
Matthew 18:23.
'Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a
certain king, which would take account of his servants'.
Luke 16:2.
'Give an account of thy stewardship'.
Acts 19:40. 'There being no cause whereby we may give an account of
this concourse'.
Romans 14:12.
'So then every one of us shall give account of
himself to God'.
Philippians 4:17. 'I desire fruit that may abound to your account'.
Hebrews 13:17.
'They watch for your souls, as they that must give
account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief'.
1 Peter 4:5.
'Who shall give account to Him that is ready to judge
the quick and the dead'.
The reference in Acts, while it illustrates the meaning of the term,
can be omitted from the present study, but all of the remaining references
clearly indicate the responsibility of stewardship, which demands a
consideration of the teaching of Scripture concerning 'The Judgment Seat of
Christ' and for this aspect of the doctrine, the reader is directed to the
article, Judgment Seat2. One reference, however, namely 1 Peter 4:5, calls
for a closer study for the following reason. In every other passage the
believer is in view; the accountability of the ungodly is not the subject of
these references. But 1 Peter 4:5 does not fall so readily under that
heading. Who are the ones that shall give account? On the surface, not the
believer, but those who think it strange that the believer does not run to
the same excess of riot, and who think evil of them as a consequence. The
following translations should be weighed however, before coming to a
decision.
'They abuse you, but they will have to answer for that to Him Who is
prepared to judge the living and the dead' (Moffatt).
Here, if this translation be accepted, there is no doubt as to who are the
ones that will give an account.
'... they speak abusively of you. But they will have to give account
to Him Who stands ...' (Weymouth 1909).
'Speaking injuriously (of you); who shall render account to Him Who is
ready to judge (the) living and (the) dead' (J.N. Darby).
It seems evident that the ungodly shall also give an account in the day
of judgment, and at the close of the same chapter, Peter says:
'For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and
if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not
the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall
the ungodly and the sinner appear?'