I don't know when it started, but I've never seen it any other way. I'm speaking of the way we've come to avoid holding each other accountable to obey God's word and live according to its principles. In the first century church, accountability was a mandate, not an option. Every person had to account for his or her faith by what they did. As the church in this century, we should likewise insist on, not only doing what's right according to God's word, but also expecting others to do it as well.

Jeremiah was a young boy called to be a prophet when another boy named Josiah was appointed king over Judah. Both of them worked together for years to make an impact for God among the people. They tore down idols, and cleaned the land of places of worship of false gods. The people were impressionable but not changed, so God instructed Jeremiah to speak plainly and without reservation to them about the need to repent. The price Jeremiah paid for his devotion was being cast out, mocked, beaten and even thrown in a cistern to die. The amazing thing however, it was not God-haters who did such things, but it was those who claimed to love God.

At the heart of accountability is repentance, a word that simply means "to change." But if you really want to see most church leaders get bent out of shape and go postal, then openly and boldly teach repentance as necessary for salvation. If you do however, you'd better think long and hard, for you'll no doubt be seen as a troublemaker and possibly even asked to leave the fellowship. That's exactly what they did to Jeremiah.

Scripture says repentance is proof of salvation. Paul told the Corinthians that godly sorrow leads to repentance, which in turn leads to salvation. (Cp: 2Co 7:10) Jeremiah preached a simple message to people who were acting like they were compliant to God's word but were in fact doing nothing more than pretending.

If someone told you it's what you think or what you say that saves you, then you've been done a disservice. It's entirely possible you've never been saved even though you think you are, someone told you so and you act like it. How can you know for certain?

Listen to Jeremiah's words today and ask yourself how you've changed as a result of God coming into your life. Look at the way the world acts and determine if you're different. Finally, does the Spirit of God hold you accountable when you sin? that is, does He prompt you when you tend to consider doing the wrong thing? Does he remind you of the right thing to do even before you consider doing the wrong thing?

Proper action is no doubt important, but for the child of God, righteous acts are nothing more than evidence of salvation. Do you have evidence of your salvation? Jeremiah suggested the best way to know for sure is to look at what you do when you think no one is watching.

1 Developed from Read the Bible Thru (Jr. 6:15-8:7 Cl. 2:8-23 Ps. 78:1-25 Pr. 24:26 )
2. Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society

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