What does the Bible say about personal responsibility?

Ezekiel 18 contains the important principle that the soul that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him" (Ezek. 18:20). The individual would be dealt with by God according to his own conduct. It is not a question of what their fathers had been. Their own iniquities demanded and would entail God's judgment. Long before, God had threatened to visit "the iniquities of the fathers upon the children" (see Ex. 34:7). This principle is departed from. Individually they were guilty, and as such would be judged; nevertheless, where repentance was manifest, God would pardon, for He had no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:23). It must be borne in mind that what is spoken of here is temporal judgment, physical death, because of sin now. It gives us no teaching as to the eternal judgment of sin, which is taught elsewhere.

The apostle winds up this part of his subject by another word, and one that might appear to be paradoxical, if compared with the second verse. "For every man shall bear his own burden." In fact, we have here the two great practical principles of Christianity: the one is active energetic love, which bears the burdens of others; and the other is personal responsibility. "Every man shall bear his own burden." Observe, this is not speaking about salvation. If a man had to bear his own burden in the matter of justification before God, it would be to destroy every hope. "Enter not," says the Psalmist, "into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified." If in this question God enters into judgment with me, I am lost. He says, "Enter not into judgment" (not with a sinful man, but) "with thy servant." It is a converted or regenerate man. Therefore it is that our Lord brings out, in the question whether a man shall not be left to perish in his own death, or be delivered by the power of the life of Christ, a totally different principle. He says, "Verily I say unto you, He that heareth my words, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life." You will observe that in this passage I have altered the word "condemnation" to "judgment;" I have done it advisedly, because it is the only true meaning of the word. "Condemnation" is a positive mistake. That which is rightly translated "condemnation" elsewhere, is totally different from this. Thus, "there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus," is not the same word at all. But sometimes where our Lord and the Holy Spirit say "judgment," the translators have ventured to depart from the word of God, and have introduced "condemnation."

In that solemn hour, "every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (verse 12), In these words we get a dogmatic statement of our second principle. Each shall give account of himself, and not of another. Our responsibility is direct and personal, solitary and alone. Upon this is based the exhortation, "Let us not therefore judge one another any more; but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way" (verse 13) .

"For each one shall bear his own load" (v.5). In the final analysis, though we may at present "bear one another's burdens," each one of us is solitarily responsible only for our own work. We cannot transfer responsibility from ourselves to someone else. Nor should we have such an attitude as did Peter at one time, saying, "But Lord, what about this man?" (Jn.21:21). Therefore, while it is important that we have genuine compassion and care for others, we must not expect others to take responsibility for us, nor concern ourselves with what is their responsibility.

He has Himself assured us that He "visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation," but then it is added as most necessary guarding of what would be otherwise misconstrued, "of them that hate Me"; and elsewhere the proverb which Israel had taken up from just such misconstruction is reprobated most emphatically by the Lord: "the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." (Ezek. 18.) He not only says, but swears, that they shall have no occasion to use such a proverb; that the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor the father bear the iniquity of the son; that the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him; while the repentance of any shall avert his doom.

On the other hand, it is familiar to us all that the character of the father may have much to do with the temporal condition of the children; and that thus the warp and woof of human history proclaim the far-reaching consequences of sin. And all this is a witness from God as to it that could not be silenced without the worst results upon men at large. If we take, then; these guides and guards on either hand, we shall avoid serious mistake as to the moral character of what we have in this psalm, with all its solemn imprecations of judgment on the transgressor. So far as this affects his children it is overruled for blessing to them; as surely as they heed the lesson; nor can sin be bound upon Any, apart from the consent of their own character. And this the 14th verse here definitely shows: for the very prayer that the iniquity of his fathers may be remembered before Jehovah is grounded upon his own character in this way (ver. 16).

331 I wish to explain myself on this point, because it is important that all Christians should understand it. I have already said something about it in my pamphlets. That each is individually responsible for his conduct, and that each shall give an account of himself to God, is a principle upon this subject generally recognised, and I need not enlarge upon it. "Each of us," says the apostle, "shall give account of himself to God" (Rom. 14:12) - "Each shall bear his own burden" (Gal. 6:5) - "God will render to each according to his works in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel" (Rom. 2:6, 16); but that is not the government of God in the world. In this God acts often towards masses, on the general result which the whole presents in His sight, and even in the sight of the world, if it is His people who should render a testimony for Him; for without this God would be identified with the evil, and His very character would be compromised. He can sustain while chastening; but, as He said of Israel, the nations shall know that Israel is gone into captivity, because of their sins. Sometimes the sin of a chief person, who draws others after him, but who himself is the most culpable, brings judgment upon his posterity and upon his people. "Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal," 2 Kings 23:26.

In Exodus, where I read, and I'll come to it in a minute, Moses stood alone. Of course we know that Joshua was with Moses and we're told that he did not depart from the tent of meeting. But for the purposes of what I'm saying Moses stood alone. Aaron the high priest was tainted, he made the image, he caused the people to go into idolatry, a man of renown, an influential man, a man amongst the saints who should be giving a lead according to God, what did he? He made the calf, the golden calf. And when Moses challenged him as to what he had done, think of what a high priest responded, 'The people gave me these things, I cast it into the fire and this came out.' It reminds me of Saul, and not that I am comparing Aaron with Saul but the principle. Samuel had said to Saul that he was to tarry for seven days 'until I come'. He waited seven days, that's to say he was obedient, he waited seven days but the second part of the statement was 'until I come' and he forced himself, he disobeyed God, he lost the kingdom, God would not have him. You might say 'O.K., Saul was not the king, he was not the rightful king, h e was not God's choice and therefore something had to happen.' But he proved himself unworthy, of what was imposed upon him. Aaron said that 'I cast it into the fire and this came out'. It was just an excuse and isn't that a principle that has characterised man from the very beginning. When Adam sinned and God said to Adam 'What hast thou done?' he said, 'The woman.' But it would have been bad enough if he had said 'The woman' but he says 'The woman Thou hast given me.', he was blaming God, he said that 'You God are responsible for my having sinned.' That's the character of man. And then the woman says 'The serpent beguiled me.' Isn't that the principle that marks us as man, as men, beloved, that instead of taking responsibility we make an excuse. It is because of this problem or it is because of that problem why I have not been what I ought to be. Do you believe that you can say to God that I did not do what I ought to have done because my wife hindered me, or my husband hindered me? Do you think that that is acceptable? That's merely an excuse. And so you find right down the line that man has been making excuses, excuses, excuses.

There are two great principles in God's dealings, in connection with man on the earth, which are developed in the church of God, as such, and in the government of God. And these two things are very distinct the one from the other. In the church the riches of God's grace are manifested; but in His governmental dealings, righteousness, and the display of His attributes, as justice, mercy, and goodness. We have an example of God's governmental power in Exodus 34:6-7, "And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and fourth generation." Here it is in connection with the Jews, and not only among the Jews, but it shews also that which is outside in the world in God's dealings. What we get in Exodus 34 is not sovereign grace bringing a soul to eternal life, but governmental power; the exercise of which we may now mark every day around us. For if a man wastes his fortune, or ruins his health by intemperance of any kind, his children suffer for it. This is an invariable principle. We see also the exercise of righteous government in God's not clearing the guilty.

In the government of God, children have to suffer for the sins of their parents, and nations for the sins of their rulers. Men may murmur against this, and characterize it as injustice, but the fact remains, that should a man squander his inheritance and abuse his body, his children will have to suffer for it in want and weakness. But this does not extend beyond this present life, and the sorrows here on earth are but short lived. No man will be made to undergo the judgment of Gehenna for the sins of others, but only for those he himself has committed. And as a way of salvation has been opened up for all, and entrance into a sinless, sorrowless world of unspeakable happiness, what else can be done with the man who refuses to avail himself of a place and portion there, but cast him out? Any observant soul can see the fact verified in numberless instances, that the iniquities of the fathers are visited upon the children, and that mercy is shown to the descendants of them that love God and keep His commandments.

The question is not raised in this passage, we apprehend, as to where the punishment of the unfaithful servant will be inflicted, but it solely concerns the principle of responsibility. And most solemn is the instruction given in this connection. First, the case is supposed of the servant, who knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will: such an one shall be beaten with many stripes. The greater the light therefore, the greater is the responsibility; for where the light is possessed, there is positively no excuse for disobedience. Indeed, not to do according to the will made known is refusing to obey; in other words, it is rebellion. Judgment will thus take this into account, and hence there will be "many stripes." The second case given is one "that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes." It might have been thought that ignorance of his lord's will would have shielded the servant, though he deserved the punishment. But not so; for while he really did not know his master's mind, his will had been made known, as now, for example, in the Scriptures, and it was the servant's responsibility to have made himself acquainted with it. On this account, although the ignorance is accepted in mitigation of the sentence, the "few stripes" will be administered. Thereon the Lord affirms the principle already stated: "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." The principle, therefore, is both divine and human, man also acting upon it in the ordinary transactions of life.