Note and Comment

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 1, 1910

Responsible Alone to God

The apostle Paul teaches the doctrine that every man shall give an account of himself to God. Man's personal relationship to his Creator does not involve allegiance to Pope or priest or prelate. It does not take into account majorities or minorities. God holds every one personally responsible for what he believes and does, irrespective of the course pursued by his fellows. Speaking of this principle, the Western Recorder of June 2 truly says:—

No man or body of men must come between a man's conscience and his God. To yield to a majority, no matter how large, where conscience is involved, is to put that majority in God's place. That is the plain English of it. That is the universal and unquestioned belief of all Protestants. A man must yield his conscience only to his God. And to let any man or all men be master of one's conscience is having another god before Him.

No man nor body of men must come between a man's conscience and his God. In this age of religious subservience to man and of trusting to blind leadership, it would be well if every child of God would appreciate and experience this truth. Before God's judgment bar at last, no one of our fellows can plead our cause. Each at that time must meet his record, irrespective of the course pursued by others. Let each, then, look to God, and take the rule of faith, which he has provided in his Word, as the standard whereby character shall be formed now and judged at last.