QUESTION:  WILL I BE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERY WORD I'VE SPOKEN?

ANSWER:  Last night Curt asked me what did Jesus mean in Matthew 12:36-37 when he said, "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

In the context of this verse Jesus was telling the Pharisees who attributed his works to Satan's power that they were on the verge of committing the upardonable sin (blasphemy of the Holy Spirit). With their words they were sealing not only their own fate of condemnation but the fate of the people they were leading spiritually.

As Jesus makes his point with these Pharisees he states the general principle of verse 36-37 - and that is this:

PEOPLE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERY ACTION AND EVERY WORD - WHICH WILL EITHER ACQUIT THEM OR CONDEMN THEM ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

Jamison Faucett and Brown's commentary puts Jesus intention for this verse in these words:

They might say, It was nothing: we meant no evil; we merely threw out a supposition, as one way of accounting for the miracle we witnessed; if it will not stand, let it go; why make so much of it, and bear down with such severity for it? Jesus replies, It was not nothing, and at the great day will not be treated as nothing: Words, as the index of the heart, however idle they may seem, will be taken account of, whether good or bad, in estimating character in the day of judgment.

So our words will either aquit us or condemn us on God's day of judgment. That's why it's important to know that Romans 10:9-10 says, "That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

If you have done that your words of confession will stand on that day as a testimony to your faith in Christ who forgives all our sins. In this case you won't have to worry about condemnation because of idle words. Paul says in Romans 8:,1 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!"

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Last Updated 11/20/06