Will we have to give an account for our sins?

To “give an account” is to tell God if you believed in Him or not. In Romans 14:12, Paul says that everyone will give an account of himself. The verse before said that everyone shall bow to God (14:11).

Clearly then, Paul is saying at the judgment seat, will you say you believed in Jesus or rejected Him? He does not mention giving an account of everything we did, but in context is implying a question: Will you say you trusted Jesus or not?

Matthew 12:36-37 also uses this language and says that everyone will give an account for what they said. We have to understand what Matthew means by words. He says in verse 37 that we’re either justified by our words or condemned by them.

Obviously, he’s not talking about justification by works through the words we say. He’s contrasting the believer and unbeliever by saying, “With your words, do you confess Jesus or do you reject Him?”

This coincides with Romans 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

This passage is not saying that we’ll have to bring up every word that we say but is instead contrasting the believer and unbeliever. Once again, we will not be judged for the “bad” words we say because they’ve been taken away. And we know that everything good we say and do will last forever and will not be burned up.