"From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation." Luke 11:51.

Jesus was talking to Pharisees, scribes and lawyers when He said the words recorded above. It might seem unfair that they should be responsible for things that happened before their time, but they had the written records of the shedding of righteous blood and God's judgments on those that were responsible. Because they had this knowledge and they also knew the commandments to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, and their neighbor as themselves, their disobedience to what they knew the will of God to be made them responsible. Even knowing these things, they had purposed in their hearts to do the very same thing. The Bible says they were motivated by envy, which is a manifestation of selfishness. We who are living in this dispensation are even more accountable for the past events because we have more knowledge. Unless we have the love of God in our hearts and a complete surrender of our will to Him, we will be like those that crucified our Lord Jesus. Our disbelief and disobedience can make us partakers in the crucifixion of Jesus, and can there be any greater sin than that?

"Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." I Timothy 4:16. This text tells us that by being obedient we will not only be saved ourselves, but also through our obedience others may find salvation, and this should be the greatest desire of every child of God.

"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." James 4:17. This is another scripture that speaks of the responsibility of having knowledge. We have no excuse for ignorance because we have the Bible, which is the Word of God, to let us know what God's will is for us.

"He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." John 12:48. Here we are told that we will be judged in the last day by the words of Jesus, so we will have to be obedient to what He has said, and it is all in the Bible.

"And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required:..." Luke 12:47-48. God is the Just Judge of all the earth and every one will receive the reward that each one deserves. Only with Godly sorrow, repentance and dying to self can we deserve anything other than eternal torment. But by the blood of Christ we are made sons and daughters of God and are then deserving of eternal life. [ The End ]