God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” (Rom. 2:6)
Expanded Passage: Romans 2:5-7
While I am not an accountant by any stretch of the imagination, I am somewhat familiar with an accounting term called “accrued interest.” It is the amount of interest that has been incurred on a loan or other financial obligation but has not yet been paid out. Interest that has not yet been paid by the borrower or received by the lender is accrued interest. Accrued interest piles up until it is paid by the borrower or received by the lender.
Due to their stubbornness and refusal to acknowledge that they were in the same moral boat as the Gentiles, Paul warned the Jews that they would accrue interest for their unrepentant lives. They would face an inevitable accounting for their obstinate persistence in charting their own path. But those who tenaciously pursued a life of goodness and honor could expect to receive the accrued interest of reward.
The last day of our accounting period is the day we die. The accrued interest of one’s bent toward hard-heartedness or virtuousness will then be resolved by the righteous judgment of God.
Reflect on the “balance” of your “accrued interest” with God.
Ed Rotz has served The Wesleyan Church as a pastor and district superintendent. He currently works for PastorServe, Inc. and lives in Topeka, Kansas with his wife, Sharon.
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
