Obey them that have the rule over you

[KeptByTheWord]

Originally Posted by votivesoul

As they that must give an account...

It has long been believed that this means that pastors will have to stand before Christ in the judgment seat and tell Him how so and so in their church was; were they good or bad, easy or hard to pastor, and that somehow, this account will determine whether or not Jesus will allow the person so pastored into heaven.

Where is that in the verse?

That is all assumed. It makes my salvation dependent upon another man who is not my head to give a report to the Lord and either save or condemn me. That's garbage.

Let's be realistic. No one in the Body but Jesus Himself has that kind of power over a soul.

After all, maybe when I stand before the Lord in the judgment seat, I will give an account of how badly some men I know have pastored and Jesus will bar them entrance?

Thank you for bringing up the next part of the verse that is often used by pastors in the sense that they feel a responsibility for the souls they must "give account for" - of which understanding is completely false. Many pastors use this "give account for your souls" teaching to further demand obedience out of their saints, and what a lie from the enemy that is.

Here is our conclusion from our study on that particular part of the verse:

Heb. 13:17 "as they that must give account"

-- This scripture does not explicitly state who they will give an account of. Two popular schools of thought are: 1) they will give account of themselves and 2) they will give account of those they lead. Because this scripture does not provide any context to determine who they are giving account of, we must cross reference to other scriptures that mention giving account.

Matthew 12:36
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

Romans 14:12
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

1 Peter 4:5
Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
['who' is referring to those who are doing evil things-- they will have to account for themselves]

--These scriptures are the strongest evidence that every man must give an account for himself. Therefore, these spiritual leaders must also give account for themselves and for their conversation (lifestyle), as every man must. This is motivation to be a godly example, also.

... "that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you."

-- It would make sense, then, that if a spiritual leader is living a godly example, they are able to give account for themselves with joy and not grief. However, if these spiritual leaders are not living a godly example, that would be unprofitable for fellow believers because they may lead others astray.