Mike,

Very interesting! You said, “The person who sustains “the law of sin and death… in our members” is the person who is responsible and accountable for everything that happens in this earth.”
Are you saying that non- believers are not accountable, or only those of whom walk in the Spirit, and it is not THEM that do it but the sin within them… the elect?

J____

Hi J___,
Thank your for your question.

You ask if there is a difference between believers and non believers being held accountable for their actions? The short answer is, no there is not. There is only one event which is common to all men whether they are good or evil, because we are all evil to begin with, and we will all be good in the end.

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

“As is the good, so is the sinner”. So the only thing that differs in any way is the timing of our birth out of death and into life; out of flesh and into spirit. Birth itself demonstrates for us that the head is delivered before the body, and in the end, all men will become part of Christ, and will be in Him.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

That is Joseph’s whole point when he tells his brothers that while they sold him into Egypt, it wasn’t really them at all. The very same thing is true of all sins of all men of all time. “All things are of God, and there is one event to all men.”

2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom [ be] glory for ever. Amen.
1Co 8:6  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
Heb 2:10  For it became him, f or whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

What these verses are telling us is that nothing happens that was not predestined to happen – good or evil.

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

If God “creates evil… in the city” then He is responsible for that evil even if, as Joseph did to his brothers, God requires us to “give an accounting of our stewardship, and receive the things done in our bodies”.

Luk 16:2  And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
2Co 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether [ it be] good or bad.

Joseph judged his brothers “according to their deeds”, but he never told them that they were responsible for, or accountable for, those evil deeds. He said that God was responsible for their evil deed of selling him into Egypt.

Gen 45:4  And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I [ am] Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egyp t.
Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6  For these two years [ hath] the famine [ been] in the land: and yet [ there are] five years, in the which [ there shall] neither [ be] earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

So Joseph, as a type and shadow of Christ at the “great white throne” judgment, requires that his brothers all “give an account of their stewardship… and they receive the things done in their bodies”, but he does not tell us that they are accountable or responsible for those deeds. There is a world of difference between requiring an accounting and holding one responsible or accountable. “It was not you but God…” who was responsible for all evil deeds ever committed, according to the scriptures themselves.

Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

If nonbelievers are held accountable, then we would all be held accountable for our actions, because we all start out as nonbelievers. But the doctrine of scripture is that we do not so much as contribute even the faith that is required for salvation. Both the necessary grace and faith are the gift of God and not of ourselves. Everything we do is actually Him doing His predestined work, and He has predestined that as believers we should walk in good works “which He has before ordained” for us from before the foundation of the world.

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

So just like Joseph’s brothers in Gen 45:4-8, and just like the apostle Paul in Rom 7:17-21, even our sins were predestined before the foundation of the world, and while the details will always vary, this experience is common to all men.

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do i t, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [ how] to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

There it is twice. If “it is no more I that do it”, then how is it possible to hold me accountable for what God has made into “a law… in my members”?

Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Jas 4:12  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

God has already decided that the flesh of all men will be destroyed and “the spirit will be saved in the day of the Lord.”

1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Is there anyone to whom this verse has no application? Absolutely not! This too, is “common to all men”.

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

And it was all ‘written in His book, all the days ordained for us, before there were any of them’.

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them. (ASV)
1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, [ Greek, chronos aionios – before times aionian]
Tit 1:2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

I hope this demonstrates for you that that we not responsible or accountable either for what we are or what we do, even though we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an accounting of all of the things He has worked after the counsel of His own will… in this body.
Your brother in Christ.

Mike