Accept those whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. Some consider one day more sacred than another; others consider every day alike. Everyone should be fully convinced in their own mind. Those who regard one day as special do so to the Lord. Those who eat meat do so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and those who abstain do so to the Lord and give thanks to God. For we do not live to ourselves alone and we do not die to ourselves alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat your brother or sister with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: “As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.” So then, we will all give an account of ourselves to God.

—Romans 1, 5-12 (TNIV)

This section of Paul’s letter to the Romans was likely written to the Jewish Christians at the church of Rome who had not quite been able to shake off old customs and habits and accept fully their freedom in Christ. Paul calls them weak in faith. Note that he does not admonish them as much as he reminds everyone to bear with one another over things that are not essential to the faith, i.e., “disputable matters.”

He tells the “weak” Christians not to judge the “strong” and the “strong” Christians not to hold the “weak” in contempt. Do you see the humble mindset here? Do you see Paul’s belief in who Jesus is come through? He reminds us that we are not to judge, that is God’s right alone, and each one of us will have to give an account of ourselves to God.

Are you putting into practice that which Paul admonishes you to do? If all members of Christ’s Body, the Church practiced this one thing, it would literally turn heads and attract great attention.

So is this last verse on having to give an account to God an example of a faith/works dichotomy? Not at all. We will indeed give an account to God for our works and it will be well for us if our works flow from our faith. Because we understand that God has acted on our behalf in Christ to save us from eternal death and separation from him, we will act humbly and not haughtily (like refraining from being judgmental of our brothers and sisters in Christ). We will not rely on ritual or anything else other than Christ, and our behaviors will reflect that faith. We will act like we really have been saved by the blood of the Lamb and our actions will reflect and imitate the Lord who loves us and gave himself for us. God will see that reflected in our actions and we will surely hear the blessed words, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the reward that was prepared for you by the blood of the Lamb. You have indeed acted like you believed it!”