“...I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. (Ezekiel 3:17)
Often when we think of human responsibility toward the gospel we tend to immediately think of those who either receive the good news or reject it.
But in our above text, Ezekiel, God’s prophet to the people, is being commissioned to warn, preach, tell forth exactly what came from the mouth of God. But God does not stop there. He does not leave Ezekiel wondering about any personal accountability that he may have to consider. He tells Ezekiel that: “If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.” (Ezek. 3:18)
By way of application here, every believer today also has been commissioned to warn, preach, tell forth exactly what came from the mouth of God - the gospel - the good news of salvation and eternal life, by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone according to God’s Word alone! This commission is given in the ‘great commission’ as we see in Matthew 28:19-20.
Now the question needs asking. "Will we be held in any way accountable - are we responsible in way for our obedience to this commission?" I would suggest that every believer will be held accountable for how we have responded to our commission in the gospel. 1 Cor. 3:10-15; 2Cor 5:10, tells us of a judgment seat where every believer will appear and be assessed as to the value of service he/she has done for the Lord and be recompensed accordingly.
In other words, we are responsible and will be held to account to tell the gospel according to the Word of God & warn sinners of the peril they are facing. May it not be this charge against us: “his blood will I require at your hand.”