[Darris McNeely] An article I was reading this week raised the question in my mind, is there a statute of limitations on sin? This past week, a trial began in Germany of a former Nazi guard at the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp, where over a million Jews were killed during World War II. 

Reinhold Hanning, today who’s 94 years old, is being tried for his part as a guard in that camp and the murder of Jews during the years 1943 to 1945. Evidently, he’s being charged with being responsible for the deaths of over 170,000 Jews during his time there. And it is an open court. A lot of people are interested. It is one of several that have gone on over the years to try Nazi criminals, and some say this might be the last one, because eyewitnesses are almost gone – Mr. Hanning is 94 years old – and yet there are eyewitnesses yet who are still going to testify in this case. And the chances of him spending some time in jail are very strong, as these crimes from all these years ago now continue to be brought to bear and justice performed in even German courts. It’s a stark reality of, again, the past and of human justice and the inexorable grind that moves toward ultimately trying to bring justice to past crimes, and especially the Holocaust of the 20th century on the Jews by the Nazis, is still one that’s very strong.

But as I was reading the story and thinking about this, it brought to mind a passage in Romans chapter 14, where the apostle Paul was talking about judgment (Romans 14:10-12), and all of us probably need to stop and think about this – if, in a human court, sins of 60, 70 years in the past are finally brought to trial – let’s let that be a reminder to us of our lives, how we live, and recognizing that as Paul says here in verse 10, that we too may one day, and will one day, stand before Christ in judgment. He said, “Why do you judge your brother? Why do you show contempt for your brother? We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’” We will all stand before a judgment seat, and our lives will be taken into account, and so our sins, our lives today, do matter, what we do. And let’s understand that we are all accountable to the ultimate Judge of the universe, God Himself. And let’s take to heed – by headline taking place even in today’s human courts, that one day we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And let’s make sure that our lives today are in order.

That’s BT Daily. Join us next time.