Christian Responsibility Is a Day-by-Day Reality

                                    By A. W. Tozer

         Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord
         come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of
         darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the
         hearts:  and then shall every man have praise of God.
                                                             -  -  1 Corinthians 4:5

             When we believe that Christ died for the unjust,
         making it possible for the unjust to live with the Just in
         complete moral congruity, do we mean that redeemed
         and forgiven men and women have no further responsi-
         bility to God for their conduct?

             Does this mean that now that they are clothed with
         the righteousness of Christ, they will never be called to
         account for their deeds?

            God forbid!  How could the moral Governor of the
         universe release a segment of that universe from the
         moral law of deeds and consequences and hope to
         uphold the order of the world?

             Within the household of God among the redeemed
         and justified, there is law as well as grace; not the law of
         Moses that knew no mercy, but the kindly law of the
         Father's heart that requires and expects of His children
         lives lived in conformity to the commandments of God.

             The Lord told us plainly, as have the apostles, that we
         must all give account of the deeds done in the body. And
         He has warned us faithfully of the danger that we shall
         have for our reward only wood, hay, and stubble in the
         day of Christ  Rom. 14:7-12; I Cor. 3:9-15.

             The judgment unto death and hell lies behind the
         Christian, but the judgment seat of Christ lies ahead.
         There the question will not be the law of Moses, but
         how we have lived within the Father's household.  We
         have the Bible before us and the Holy Spirit within.  I
         believe we may anticipate and prepare ourselves for the
         judgment seat of Christ by honest self-judgment in this
         life.
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         Yours in Christ,
         Paul N. F.