Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Should we judge others?Jesus in Matthew 7:1 and Luke 6:37 commands his followers not to judge, and Paul echoes that in Romans 2:1 and 14:10 along with James 4:12.
Isaiah 45:22-25(v11)“Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by myself. The word has gone out of…
Philippians 2:10-11(v11)that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue…
Matthew 12:36(v12)I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
1 Peter 4:5(v12)They will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
Matthew 16:27(v12)For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds.
Show all 35 cross-references
Psalms 72:11(v11)Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.
Galatians 6:5(v12)For each man will bear his own burden.
Ecclesiastes 11:9(v12)Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the…
2 Corinthians 5:10(v10)For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things in the body according to what he has…
1 Corinthians 4:5(v10)Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the…
Ecclesiastes 12:14(v10)For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.
Luke 16:2(v12)He called him, and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be…
Romans 10:9(v11)that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Isaiah 49:18(v11)Lift up your eyes all around, and see: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live,” says Yahweh, “you shall surely…
Matthew 10:32(v11)Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven.
Romans 2:16(v10)in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.
1 John 4:15(v11)Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.
Numbers 14:21(v11)but in very deed—as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with Yahweh’s glory—
Romans 14:3-4(v10)Don’t let him who eats despise him who doesn’t eat. Don’t let him who doesn’t eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you…
Romans 15:9(v11)and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will give praise to you among the Gentiles and sing…
Revelation 5:14(v11)The four living creatures said, “Amen!” Then the elders fell down and worshiped.
Matthew 25:31-32(v10)“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. Before him all…
John 5:22(v10)For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son,
Zephaniah 2:9(v11)Therefore as I live, says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a…
2 John 1:7(v11)For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who don’t confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the…
Numbers 14:28(v11)Tell them, ‘As I live, says Yahweh, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so I will do to you.
Ezekiel 5:11(v11)Therefore as I live,’ says the Lord Yahweh, ‘surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all…
Acts 10:42(v10)He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that this is he who is appointed by God as the Judge of the living and the dead.
Jude 1:14-15(v10)About these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute…
Revelation 20:11-15(v10)I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them. I…
Matthew 18:23-35(v12)Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to reconcile accounts with his servants. When he had begun to reconcile,…
Acts 4:11(v10)He is ‘the stone which was regarded as worthless by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner.’
Jeremiah 22:24(v11)“As I live,” says Yahweh, “though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on my right hand, I would still pluck you from…
Luke 23:11(v10)Herod with his soldiers humiliated him and mocked him. Dressing him in luxurious clothing, they sent him back to Pilate.
Acts 17:31(v10)because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (23 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv10–1210. But thou, why dost thou, etc. As he…
10. But thou, why dost thou, etc. As he had made the life and death of us all subject to Christ, he now proceeds to mention the authority to judge, which the Father has conferred on him, together with the dominion over heaven and earth. He hence concludes, that it is an unreasonable boldness in any one to assume the power to judge his brother, since by taking such a liberty he robs Christ the Lord of the power which he alone has received from the Father.
But first, by the term brother, he checks this lust for judging; for since the Lord has established among us the right of a fraternal alliance, an equality ought to be preserved; every one then who assumes the character of a judge acts unreasonably. Secondly, he calls us before the only true judge, from whom no one can take away his power, and whose tribunal none can escape. As then it would be absurd among men for a criminal, who ought to occupy a humble place in the court, to ascend the tribunal of the judge; so it is absurd for a Christian to take to himself the liberty of judging the conscience of his brother. A similar argument is mentioned by James, when he says, that “he who judges his brother, judges the law,” and that “he who judges the law, is not an observer of the law but a president;” and, on the other hand, he says, that “there is but one lawgiver, who can save and destroy.” (James 4:12.) He has ascribed tribunal to Christ, which means his power to judge, as the voice of the archangel, by which we shall be summoned, is called, in another place, a trumpet; for it will pierce, as it were with its sound, into the minds and ears of all.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv10–11The conclusion: we must leave to God his right:…
The conclusion: we must leave to God his right: and therefore in matters, which according as the conscience if affected, are either good or evil, the strong must not despise their weak brethren, much less condemn them. But this consequent cannot be taken of equal force in the contrary, to wit, that the weak should not judge the strong, because the weak do not know, that they which do not observe a day, and eat, observe it not to the Lord, and eat to the Lord, as the strong men know, that the weak which observe a day and eat not, observe the day to the Lord, and eat not to the Lord.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv10–1210 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or…
10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Ver. 10. But why dost thou, &c.] Three things are not subject to our judgment: 1. The counsels of God. 2. The Holy Scriptures. 3. The persons of men. Be not therefore rash in rejecting or sour in censuring your fellowservant; but let your moderation herein be known to all men; and the rather, because the Lord is at hand, Php 4:5.
Read full note →
The judgment seat of Christ] Who gives the Lamb in his escutcheon; and wilt thou give the lion?
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv10–12He goes on to persuade them to a mutual…
He goes on to persuade them to a mutual forbearance, to dehort them from condemning or contemning one another about indifferent things. He suggests two arguments against it in this verse; one (which is more implied) is taken from the relation they bore one to another; they were brethren, not by natural generation, but by regeneration and adoption; they had the same Father, even God. The second argument is more plainly expressed; and it is taken from the consideration of the day of judgment, when all shall stand before Christ’s judgment seat; see 2Co 5:10; all, both the strong and the weak; and then he will determine who hath done well or ill. In the mean while, who art thou that darest to usurp his place or office? The interrogation hath the force of a strong denial; q.d. Have you no more grace, charity, or wisdom, than so to do.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv10–12But why dost thou judge thy brother?.... These words…
But why dost thou judge thy brother?.... These words are spoken to the man weak in faith, that scrupled eating of certain meats, and chose rather eat none, and live on herbs, and who esteemed one day above another; and was very apt to censure and condemn such as made use of their Christian liberty in these things, though they were brethren, not in a natural or civil, but in a spiritual relation:
or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? these words, on the other hand, are directed to the stronger believer, who believed he might eat all things, and esteemed every day alike; being fully persuaded, that the distinction of meats and of days was now ceased; and such were apt to be puffed up with their superior knowledge and faith, and were ready to treat with an air of contempt those that were weak; showing little or no regard to their peace and edification, though they stood in the same relation to each other. The emphasis lies upon the word "brother", in both branches of the expostulation; and the force of the apostle's reasoning is that they should not judge or despise one another, because they were brethren, stood in the same relation to God and Christ, belonged to the same family, were partakers of the same grace, and had no pre-eminence one over another; they had but one master, and all they were brethren: and which he further enforces with the following reason or argument,
Read full note →
for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ; at the last day, when he shall sit on his throne of glory, and all nations shall be gathered before him, and he shall pronounce and execute the decisive sentence on each of them: there is a particular, and a general judgment; a particular judgment at death, when the soul is immediately consigned to bliss or woe; and a general one in the end of time; which may be proved both from reason, as from the relation creatures stand in to God, from the inequality of things in this life, and the conscious fears of men with respect to a future one; and from divine revelation, Christ will be the Judge, he is so appointed by his Father, and is every way fit for it, being God omniscient and omnipotent; and when he shall appear in his glory, he shall sit on his judgment seat, the dead will be raised, the books will be opened, and all shall be summoned to appear before him, of every age and sex, of every rank and degree, and of every character, good or bad: here the saints are particularly designed, "we shall all stand"; whether ministers or private Christians, weak or strong believers; they that are apt to judge, and others that are too ready to despise; they shall all stand before the tribunal of Christ, who is sole Judge, and shall render to every man according to his works, and from whom they shall all receive their sentence. The allusion is to human courts of judicature, in which the judge sits upon a bench, and they that are tried stand before him; see Co2 5:10. The Alexandrian copy reads, "the judgment seat of God".
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv10–11Or why dost thou despise thy brother - Hitherto…
Or why dost thou despise thy brother - Hitherto the apostle as addressed the weak brother: now he speaks to the stronger.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv10, 12Verse 10. But why dost thou] Christian Jew, observing…
Verse 10. But why dost thou] Christian Jew, observing the rites of the Mosaic law, judge-condemn thy brother-the Christian Gentile, who does not think himself bound by this law?
Or why dost thou] Christian Gentile, set at nought thy Christian Jewish brother, as if he were unworthy of thy regard, because he does not yet believe that the Gospel has set him free from the rites and ceremonies of the law?
Read full note →
It is a true saying of Mr. Heylin, on this verse: The superstitious are prone to judge, and those who are not superstitious are prone to despise.
We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.] Why should we then judge and condemn each other? We are accountable to God for our conduct, and shall be judged at his bar; and let us consider that whatever measure we mete, the same shall be measured unto us again.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn v10Rom 14:10-12. But why dost thou judge — Or…
Rom 14:10-12. But why dost thou judge — Or condemn; thy Gentile brother — Because he neglects the distinction of meats and days? Or why dost thou — O Gentile believer; set at naught — And deride, as weak or superstitious, thy Jewish brother, who conscientiously observes that burdensome ritual, from which thou art so happy as to apprehend thyself free? This censoriousness, or contempt, is greatly to be blamed; and, as well as the judging and condemning just mentioned, must very ill become the state in which we are, and must quickly be: for no principle of our common faith is more certain than this, that we shall all stand and take our trial before the judgment-seat of Christ — And it is surely a dangerous presumption to anticipate that judgment. For it is written — In the Jewish Scriptures, (Isa 45:23,) As I live, saith the Lord — An oath proper to him, because he only possesseth life infinite and independent; every knee shall bow to me — Shall stoop to my dominion; and every tongue shall confess to God — Shall acknowledge my sovereignty, which shall be done most fully and perfectly at the day of judgment. The Lord grant we may find mercy in that day! And may it also be imparted to those who have differed from us! Yea, to those who have censured and condemned us for things which we have done from a desire to please him, or have refused to do from a fear of offending him. So then every one of us — The high, as well as the low, the rich, as well as the poor; shall give account of himself to God — Of his own conduct, and not of the weaknesses of others; and therefore we should not trouble ourselves about them, but look to ourselves.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv10–12But why ... - Since we are all subjects…
But why ... - Since we are all subjects and servants alike, and must all stand at the same tribunal, what right have we to sit in judgment on others?
Thou judge - Thou who art a “Jewish” convert, why dost thou attempt to arraign the “Gentile” disciple, as if he had violated a law of God? compare Rom 14:3.
Read full note →
Thy brother - God has recognised him as his friend Rom 14:3, and he should be regarded by thee as “a brother” in the same family.
Or why dost thou set at nought - Despise Rom 14:3; why dost thou, who art a “Gentile” convert, despise the “Jewish” disciple as being unnecessarily scrupulous and superstitious?
Thy brother - The Jewish convert is now a brother; and all the contempt which you Gentiles once cherished for the Jew should cease, from the fact that “he” is now “a Christian.” Nothing will do so much, on the one hand, to prevent a censorious disposition, and on the other, to prevent contempt for those who are in a different rank in life, as to remember that they are “Christians,” bought with the same blood, and going to the same heaven as ourselves.
We must all stand ... - That is, we must all be tried alike at the same tribunal; we must answer for our conduct, not to our-fellow man, but to Christ; and it does not become us to sit in judgment on each other.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn v11The apostle here gives a remarkable proof of the…
The apostle here gives a remarkable proof of the divinity of our Saviour. He could not possibly be more express. He had said in the preceding verse, that all men should appear before the tribunal of Christ; to prove this assertion, he adduces this testimony of the prophet Isaias: "As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall confess to God." (Isaias chap. xlv.) Thus shall all acknowledge the power, the divinity, and sovereign dominion of Christ, by bending the knee; and by confessing to him, shall acknowledge him for the master and judge of all mankind. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv10–12But why, &c.--The original is more lively:--"But thou (the…
But why, &c.--The original is more lively:--"But thou (the weaker believer), why judgest thou thy brother? And thou again (the stronger), why despisest thou thy brother?"
for we shall all--the strong and the weak together.
Read full note →
stand before the judgment-seat of Christ--All the most ancient and best manuscripts read here, "the judgment-seat of God." The present reading doubtless crept in from Co2 5:10, where "the judgment-seat of Christ" occurs. But here "the judgment-seat of God" seems to have been used, with reference to the quotation and the inference in Rom 14:11-12.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv10–1210. Thy brother—Each party admitted the other to be…
10. Thy brother—Each party admitted the other to be Christian, and therefore brother.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv10–1210–23. the same subject: mutual care and love more…
10–23. the same subject: mutual care and love more important and sacred than eager assertions of liberty
10. But why dost thou] “Thou” is strongly emphatic here, as in contrast to the Lord. So just below, in the next sentence.—Cp. Rom_14:4.
Read full note →
thy brother] Here, evidently, “thy brother in Christ;” one of the “many brethren” who are such as being adopted by the Eternal Father in the supreme Elder Brother (Rom_8:29. See also on Rom_12:10).
all] Strongly emphatic; the critic as well as the criticized will be there—all on one level.
the judgment seat] Lit. the bema; the Gr. equivalent of the Lat. tribunal. (Same word as e.g. Mat_27:19; Act_18:16-17). The great Session is imaged under the forms of imperial law.
of Christ] The true reading, probably, is of God. On the interchange of the words Christ and God in this context, see on Rom_14:6. It is significant that in 2Co_5:10 (the best commentary on this passage) the undoubted reading is, as in E. V., “of Christ.”
The “judgment seat” here is that of the Great Day, when “the books will be opened.” This passage by no means implies that the Christian must wait till then to know whether he is accepted or not; a thought which would contradict both the letter and spirit of e.g. ch. Rom_5:1-11; Rom_5:8. (See especially also 2Ti_4:8.) But it does imply that the judicial declaration of his acceptance, and also of the Lord’s verdict upon his life of new obedience, will be made to him as to one at the bar and before the Judge. The Judge will be his Brother, but yet his Judge, his King.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv10–11(10) Judgment seat of Christ.—The true reading is, of…
(10) Judgment seat of Christ.—The true reading is, of God.
(10-12) Such being our relations to Christ, and such the judgment to which we look forward, there is no room for any human judgment. Censoriousness is thus condemned.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn v10Vers. 10-13. But thou, why judgest thou thy brother?…
Vers. 10-13. But thou, why judgest thou thy brother? or thou too, why settest thou at nought thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God (so, rather than of Christ, as in the Textus Receptus). For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God (Isa_45:23, quoted very freely from the LXX). So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us therefore no longer judge one another. This concluding appeal is addressed to both parties. In all that follows St. Paul returns exclusively to the more enlightened ones, whose feelings were in accordance with his own; and he now presses a further thought upon them, namely of the harm they might be doing to the very souls of the weak ones by tempting them, either by word or example, to disobey their own consciences. But judge ye this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block in his brother"s way, or an occasion of falling (skandalon). For the meaning of the word, cf. Luk_17:1 Rom_16:17 1Co_1:23 Rev_2:14.
Vers. 10-23. (with Rom_15:1-3) Three laws of Christian life.
Read full note →
In these closing verses of the fourteenth chapter and the opening verses of the fifteenth, three principles are laid down, one or other or all of which would cover almost every case of difference between fellow-Christians. These are
I THE LAW OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY. Where we differ from our fellow-Christians in details of doctrine, worship, or practice, we are very prone to be uncharitable in our judgments. We are inclined to doubt their Christianity because they do not just see as we do on such matters. One great fact the apostle would have us remember when we are tempted to condemn our brethren. It is the fact of the judgment to come. "Why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ" (ver. 10). "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more" (vers. 12, 13). It is not we who are to be the judges of our fellow-Christians, but God. We should not like that they would be our judges: then why should we judge them? The thought that we ourselves must stand before a higher judgment-seat, where all our sins and secret thoughts and unchristian motives shall be known, should make us more cautious in our condemnation of others. And, as regards our fellow-Christians, is it not enough for us that God will judge them? Surely we may leave their trial with confidence in his hands.
II THE LAW OF CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. There is a gradual progress in the principles here laid down. First of all, it is shown that we ought not to judge our brethren. This is a purely negative command. The next command is somewhat more positive. "But judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brother"s way" (ver. 13). The apostle enforces the exhortation to Christian self-denial by three special reasons.
1. The Christian should not injure those whom Christ has died to save. "Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died" (ver. 15). This is the true basis of total abstinence. "It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak" (ver. 21).
2. The Christian has higher enjoyments than those of selfish indulgence. "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (ver. 17). The giving up of a merely bodily comfort or enjoyment should not be a great hardship to the Christian. God is able to give us much more than this.
3. The example of Christ is an example of self-denial. "For even Christ pleased not himself". (Rom_15:3) Self-denial is an essential part of truly following Christ. "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." This law of Christian self-denial covers a wide field. Not merely abstinence from meats and drinks, from bodily indulgences which do harm to others; but also to put a bridle on our tongues, lest by our words we should give offence to others; to abstain from gratifying even lawful desires and wishes where the attainment of our purpose would cause pain or injury to others; this is self-denial, this is to follow the example of Christ. Self-pleasing is a besetting sin with most of us.
III THE LAW OF CHRISTIAN HELPFULNESS. Here the apostle takes another forward step. Here he states a still higher principle. "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another" (ver. 19); "Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification". (Rom_15:2) Here is the truly positive principle of Christian life. The Christian life should not be merely an abstinence from evil, but a positive doing of what is good. We should not merely refrain from injuring our neighbours, but we should be actively engaged, as Christians, in rendering them all the spiritual help we can. As a rule, our Christianity is negative rather than positive. It is too selfish. Many Christians are perfectly content with attaining the salvation of their own souls, and going through the world as harmlessly as possible. This, after all, is but a low type of Christianity True Christianity, the Christianity of the sermon on the mount, is as the salt, the light, the leaven; an active, helpful, beneficent influence upon those around us. C.H.I.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv10–11But why dost thou judge … thou set at…
Rom_14:10
But why dost thou judge … thou set at nought thy brother?
Read full note →
for we shall all stand before the Judgment seat of Christ.
The guilt of judging and contemptuousness
To the weak and scrupulous the apostle says, Why judge? To the strong and liberal, Why despise?
I. The supremacy of conscience.
1. This principle is the master thought of the chapter (Rom_14:5; Rom_14:12-13). Nothing is to supersede personal conviction.
(1) Human passions are not to bar Christian rights. For matters that do not interfere with the happiness of others do not mind the denim of your Christian character by fallible men. Feel that you owe allegiance to Christ, and in that feeling be calm.
(2) There is no appeal to public authority. Uniformitarians would have thought this just the occasion for the Church to decide once for all, and so put an end to variety. But as the great apostle would not interfere, no Church has a right to rule in these matters.
2. But let us not mistake supremacy of conscience for that of the individual will. The apostle asserted the sanctity of convictions, but we must not exalt our opinions to the rank of convictions.
II. The violation of the rights of conscience.
1. By unchristian judging. Judging is persecuting; it was the procedure of the dark ages. But consider the judgment that is not peculiar to Rome, but which belongs to human nature. Take these cases cited by the apostle--Sabbath observance, and abstinence from things pronounced worldly. How do we treat those who do not hold our views on these matters? You hear insinuations about laxity or Sabbath breaking or worldliness: then about socinianism or infidelity; then immorality. This is judging. It is not life or liberty that is assailed, but character. Look at the wrong of this. Note
(l) Its arrogance. Such judging is only to be defended on the claim of infallibility, and therefore Rome is consistent, but Protestants are not. Are those who judge free from human frailty? Or are they not generally the weakest of both sexes?
(2) Its failure to procure what it aims at--uniformity of opinion. This is the ideal good which men have tried for ages to attain, but is Christendom more united than in the apostles days?
(3) It destroys free inquiry. We boast in opposition to Rome, of our free and open Bible. But do we not really say, Here is the Bible; read it for yourself; but find these doctrines there and no others. Hence men will not bear to hear the truth. They think they have it already in the compass of a single mind, and they come to church to hear it repeated.
2. By contemptuousness. The sin of judging is the sin of the narrow minded; the sin of the liberal minded is contempt for narrowness and scorn for scruples. There is a distinction between largeness of view and largeness of heart. A narrow mind is not always a narrow heart. There are worse things than narrow views. The missionaries often hold narrow views, and yet these men give their lives to turn men to God, and shame those of larger views. Take heed how ye despise any of Gods little ones, for what is largeness of view compared with devotedness of life? Good men usually cling to a superstition or a form for the sake of some deep truth with which it stands connected. (F. W. Robertson, M.A.)
A lesson in charity
Peter Cooper of New York, a man who spends a large amount of money on philanthropic objects, took a great interest in a Womans Art School. One day he stood watching the portrait class in that institution, whilst they were drawing a likeness of the same model from different positions. One scholar took the face in profile; another had it turned a little into the shadow; a third saw more of the full face, and represented it accordingly; whilst others worked still further into the light or away from it. Of course the portraits thus taken were very different; some of them, indeed, so different, that any one unacquainted with the original might have been almost excused for thinking that they were portraits of different people. Mr. Cooper observing the scene, said, Such a sight as this should be a lesson in charity, when we perceive how the same person may be so different, according to the way he is looked at by various people. (Sunday at Home.)
Charity in judging others
It is a comfortable thought that the smallest and most turbid mud-puddle can contain its own picture of heaven; it shall be a symbol to me that even a human breast that may appear least spiritual in some aspects may still have the capability of reflecting an infinite heaven in its depths, and therefore of enjoying it. Let us remember this when we feel inclined to deny all spiritual life to some people, in whom, nevertheless, our Father may perhaps see the image of His face. This dull river has a deep religion of its own--so, let us trust, has the dullest human soul, though perhaps unconsciously. (W. Hawthorne.)
Reproof of censoriousness
Observe--
I. The characters reproved. Those who--
1. Judge others.
2. Despise others.
II. Their reproof.
1. They forget that all are amenable at the judgment seat of Christ.
2. That they invade the prerogative of God.
3. That they must give account of themselves. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The judgment seat of God
1. I suppose Christ slipped into certain MSS. because Paul had been speaking of Christ, and it was thought to be natural that he should continue to use the same name. He knew that Christ is God, and when he was speaking of Him it was no deviation for him to call Him God. It was necessary, too, because he was about to quote an Old Testament passage which speaks of the sovereignty of God, which is to be confessed by all mankind. It would have been most important to draw a distinction between Christ and God if there had been any doubt as to His divinity.
2. St. Paul mentioned the future judgment, that by its influence the Roman Christians might cease the mischievous meddlesomeness of judging, when the Judge was at the door. A day is to come when men shall be judged after a better fashion than we can judge. How dare we, then, travesty Gods great assize by ourselves mounting the throne. Moreover, we impudently intrude ourselves into the office and prerogative of Christ. It is all needless, too; for both your brother and yourself will stand before the judgment seat of God, who will manage the affairs of men far better than you can. And, finally, your judgment is unprofitable: you would spend your time better if you would recollect that you will be yourselves examined by an unerring eye. This judgment will be:--
I. Universal--all. There will come a judgment for the strong and for the weak. No elevation in piety will exclude us, and no weakness will serve as an excuse. The man of one and the man of ten talents must alike be reckoned with. What a motley throng will gather at that assize, of all nations and peoples and tongues! Persons of all ages. Kings and paupers, saints and sinners, will be arraigned.
II. Personal (Rom_14:12). If it only dealt with actions, words, and thoughts, the account would be solemn enough, but we must each one give an account of himself, of what he was as well as what he did, of what was in his heart as well as of that which came out of it in his deeds.
III. Divine, and therefore--
1. According to truth. God will make no mistakes.
2. By the supreme standard of perfect justice.
3. Most searching.
4. Impartial.
5. Final. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The final judgment
This is often spoken of as the most terrible event in human history. And so it will be, and the happiest too. We must all stand, etc.; then--
I. Life is not a set of broken accidents and confused occurrences. It seems to be so--act seems separated from act, and thought from thought, and thought from act, and we often know not what to make of life. But then life will appear in its completeness and its meaning be clear. This--
1. Should cause us to look more into the bearings of our life. We ought not to live at haphazard, but thoughtfully.
2. Should elevate life, and redeem it both from hopelessness and vulgarity.
II. We shall be independent of the misjudgments of men. There is a sense in which a concern for what our neighbours think of us may be just and proper. Nothing is more valuable than the words of the good and wise. But we ought not to be distressed in mind and hindered in our work by the unjust judgments of the world. In the long run we may get even better judgments from the world if we seek to live in the spirit of the judgment of Christ. But let those who fight against Gods people remember that they grasp a blade without a handle. Comfort yourselves, then, that Christ is Judge, and will vindicate righteousness.
III. We ought to make preparation for so solemn an event. If you are invited to meet some grand personage on some special occasion and make no preparation, you will be given to feel your want of preparedness by the contempt of those who are about you. Should we, then, as men of common sense, make no preparation for the supreme event in our history. Do not prepare in a spirit of fear, but as a matter of right, and as an expression of love? We are not to get up ourselves in fine rags and gilt, but meet our Judge in the robe of character which He has fashioned and adorned.
IV. We need have no uncertainty as to the decision. We know the Judge and His method. We can therefore judge ourselves now. Everything righteous and noble will be approved; everything base and bad will be condemned. Right is right eternally; wrong is wrong for ever. Have we repented, etc.?
V. Trifling excuses will not for one moment be tolerated. (J. Parker, D.D.)
The final judgment
1. Christ Himself spake of judgment, but never after this fashion. He never spoke of Himself as put upon His trial, but always as the Judge. Here, however, Paul speaks of himself as appearing at the judgment. What is the fair inference? Clearly, that high as Paul was, Jesus Christ is far higher. God cannot be judged, but every intelligent, accountable creature will be judged. Jesus Christ was not a creature, but God manifested in humanity.
2. Religious truths frequently conceal each other. This truth of the judgment day hides from some eyes the fact of the judgment which is going on every day. You are all now upon your trial. And there are certain results of this trial that are akin to sentence. Does not the drunkard and the sensualist of every shape suffer a present punishment? Are not integrity and truthfulness generally recognised with favour?
3. By the mention of this fact, the Apostle Paul teaches the members of the Church in Rome to be liberal in the estimate they form of each other. There is, however, a false liberality. There are some that would apply these remarks to the facts and doctrines of the gospel, and to moral principles. Now hear what the same man wrote: Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach to you any other gospel than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
I. The certainty of judgment. The emphasis of the text is in the words We shall. Judgment is no probability. But what is judgment ? There is trial--the idea of really testing the character, of summing up and judging the totality of a mans life. Then there is the disclosure, the bringing out of everything. Then there is decision upon the case, and sentence. Let us consider some facts which make this appear certain.
1. There is a looking for of judgment in every man. When Adam and his wife had eaten of the fruit they hid themselves. What was this but an expression of expectancy that God would come and judge them! Is this peculiar? No. What do the fears and the remorse of the man who has done wrong say but that he expects judgment!
2. This Divine and real judgment seems needful. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Look at the mistakes that occur concerning men. A man is in reputation for religion and may have a heart as black as hell. Now, is this to be perpetual? No; there is a sort of necessity in Gods nature to put everything right and to give to every man his real character.
3. It is indicated by present punishment and reward on a limited scale. During the storm you have often heard the thunder at the distance before the tempest has broken over your dwelling, and just so may you hear the trumpet of the future judgment in what you now experience when you have done wrong.
4. By the voice of Old Testament and New God speaks to you of this judgment.
II. Our personal appearance is certain. There will be no escape from a final Divine trial. You may leave a pious home to get far from what you call cant, but you will not escape from this judgment. There will be no evasion, excuse, proxy.
III. Christ will be the judge, and mark what this involves. The Judge will be--
1. Visible. Christ has taken His human nature to heaven.
2. Competent, and the multitude, without exception, will feel that competency. Just as you often have been conscious of the presence of greatness when you have been with some man whose intelligence very far exceeded your own, so will it be felt before the judgment seat of Christ. (S. Martin.)
Future judgment
I. The fact.
1. All.
2. Shall stand.
3. At the judgment seat of Christ.
II. The certainty of it.
1. Attested by reason and revelation.
2. Confirmed by the oath of God.
III. The issue. Every one shall give an account--
1. Of himself.
(1) His conduct to man.
(2) To God.
2. Before God Himself. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The final tribunal
In the establishment of this we see--
I. The honour and dignity with which this invests individual human lives. Look at society. A few men are eminent, but the millions lead ordinary lives. We are limited, fettered, and we are ready to say, What is man? Yet God is to judge him, and individually. A human court puts honour on mans nature by his very trial. A leopard leaping from his cave to tear asunder his victim is not a subject of arrest and trial. He is shot, and that is the end of it. Man has a knowledge of God and of immortal verities. Therefore he is judged.
II. The significance of the humblest life and of the humblest act of any life. Too often we gauge character and success by their conspicuousness. We note the obsequies of the great, but who notes the paupers funeral? But the text--
1. Gives a significance to the poor mans death.
2. We are apt to measure our own lives by our larger efforts, and forget the little acts that, like drops, go to make up the continuous stream of life. It is these smaller actions that at once show and shape character. Christ represents the good as amazed at the final judgment because such little acts as the cup of water were remembered; and so the wicked. Phidias polished the back of his statues, for he said that though men saw not his work, the gods beheld it. Every deed, however small or secret, comes under the cognisance of God. To neglect to adjust our inward life to this truth and cultivate the merely outward exhibitions of character is as irrational as it would be to burnish the ornaments of an engine and build the boiler of defective metal, or decorate the outside of an edifice while its foundations and walls are insecure.
III. How majestic an attribute is mans conscience. True, conscience may be mistaken; but, enlightened by the Holy Spirit it is the echo of Gods voice. Its remorse is an echo of His rebuke, and its approval an echo of His benediction. We may anticipate the final tribunal. Judging ourselves now, we shall not at last be condemned. How wicked, then, it is to put out this eye, to suffocate the voice of God within us! It is moral suicide.
IV. The secret of true independence from the world. If God be for us, who can be against us? Paul, Pascal, Luther, Wilberforce, etc., swung loose from entangling criticisms, undismayed by human censure in the thought of their personal responsibility to their Judge. It is a small matter that we be judged of mans judgment; this was their word. So may the maligned wait calmly for the final vindication.
V. The beauty and significance of the Saviours work. Christ does not abolish judgment; He claims it as His own and thus asserts His Divinity. No man, no angel, can assume this function. It belongs to Omniscience alone. We learn how it is accomplished--by the self-conviction of the sinner. Before Christ on earth they who accused another stood self-convicted, and went away one by one. He told me all I ever knew, said another. It was on the Cross that atonement was completed. It is on that ground we, as believers, are saved. The lustre of the Cross is shed on the judgment throne. The Judge is our Redeemer, friend, and advocate. We can have boldness in that day, for we are in Him.
VI. The duty of accepting and the privilege of proclaiming the glorious gospel of the Son of God. Before His face we must stand. We cannot postpone the day. Nearer it comes every hour. Are you ready for it? Only in Christ can you be serene and safe, contemplating its approach. (R. S. Storrs, D.D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson1891 · Public DomainOn vv10–1210–13. Why dost thou judge thy brother? Christ, the…
10–13. Why dost thou judge thy brother? Christ, the Lord of all, is his Lord. He shall judge him and us alike. We are not the judges, for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn v10Rom_14:10.—Being accountable to Christ, we cannot be accountable in…
CRITICAL NOTES
Rom_14:10.—Being accountable to Christ, we cannot be accountable in the highest sense to any other.
Read full note →
Rom_14:11.—The phrase indicates the act of those who shall worship and acknowledge God. The knee may bend and the heart not engaged. Let us praise the Lord’s mercy and justice.
Rom_14:13.—Rabbins said, “When I enter the school to expound the law, I pray that no occasion of stumbling may arise through me to any.” Jewish Christians guilty by imposing Judaism, Gentile Christians by repelling scrupulous Jews.
Rom_14:14.—Nothing is unclean of itself.—Call nothing common or unclean. A thing may become evil if done against conscience, if the doing cause offence, if it make us leave some important work undone.
Rom_14:15. Because of meat.—Purposely selected as something contemptible. Eternal perdition not meant here. Destroy by causing him to act against his conscience, and so commit sin.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Rom_14:10-15
Self-judgment the paramount duty.—There is a certain morbid state of nature which leads men and women to spend too much time in judging themselves. There is also a censorious spirit which spends too much time in judging others. Both courses of conduct may be morally injurious. Nevertheless, we must judge ourselves, and if we do so aright we shall be the more disposed to walk charitably towards those who consider this or that not lawful.
I. We must judge ourselves, for we have our weaknesses.—We should not be human if we had not our weaknesses. A depraved nature suggests that we may have sins as well as weaknesses. The man who properly knows himself will make large allowance for others. If the Pharisee had known himself, had seen how contemptible was his sanctimonious and sinful pride in the view of the All-holy, he would not have directed a scornful look at the publican. There may be a littleness and a weakness about the man who prides himself upon his elevation above materialism, as there is a littleness about the man who has not learnt that the material is secondary to the spiritual. Why dost thou set at naught thy brother? Brethren have a family likeness and family failings. The strong brother of the family is not far removed from the weak. The good, stay-at-home brother did not show himself nearer heaven than the broken-down, prodigal brother who returned with tears of repentance.
II. We must judge ourselves, for we are individually responsible.—“We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ,” but each one must give account of himself to God. The strong brother will not have to give an account of the weak, but of himself. Solemn thought! How hast thou used thy strength? Has it been employed rather for self-glorification than for the helping of the weak? Thou hast gloried in thy strength; and yet what small moral use has it been to humanity! Thou hast condemned thy brother’s punctiliousness; and yet the weak brother may have helped to invest material things with spiritual significances.
III. We must judge ourselves, lest we hinder others.—A strong man is a pleasant sight; but strength is harmful if it become a stumbling-block so as to wound the weak brother, or an obstacle against which the weak brother stumbles and falls. Is it not likely to be true that more moral damage has been done to the world by the strong than by the weak? The Samsons of time have slain their thousands. Napoleons have done damage which long years only can repair. The Byrons of song have polluted the world’s ears with their melodies. Strong men, in their impatience of restraints, have engendered heresies of a pestilential character.
IV. We must judge ourselves in the light of divine teaching.—Material things have no moral qualities. A piece of meat has no conscience, and cannot be unclean of itself. A small square of bread cannot be incorporated with spiritual vitality. Bread of itself cannot give physical life, much less spiritual life. Still, if my weak brother esteemeth the bread supernaturally endowed, then as a strong brother I must walk charitably. The strong must not produce any painful and bitter feeling in the heart of the weak by the spectacle of free and bold eating, by the aspect of seeming irreverence with reference to sacred things. However, we must take care lest, while we vaunt our charity, we are only using another name for indifference. Charity suffereth long. Divine love suffers long. God is love, and yet God hates evil. St. John was the apostle of love, and yet he could say, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” Modern so-called charity would scout the exhortation, “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God-speed: for he that biddeth him God-speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”
V. We must judge ourselves, lest we obstruct the Saviour’s purposes.—“Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.” Let us not stay to inquire how man, weak at his best, can obstruct the purposes of the strong Christ. Let us seek to move in harmony with the merciful purpose of the loving Mediator. He came to save the weak as well as the strong. The mission of every Christlike soul should be a mission of salvation. Divine salvation is vaster than human. The latter is too often an affair of the letter; the former is of the spirit. Faith, hope, and love are the great words of spiritual salvation—faith in Christ, hope built upon faith, love the outcome of faith and hope. Let us work so that faith may be stronger, hope brighter, and love more far-reaching.
Rom_14:10. The coming judgment.—It is well said that he who judges arrogates to himself Christ’s office; he who bears in mind that Christ will judge us all will no more condemn. What must we think of the prisoner awaiting trial who presumes to pronounce sentence upon his fellow-prisoners? It is a course of conduct we might not naturally expect; but the unexpected happens; and we know from observation that the worst sinners are not the most lenient in their judgments. It is often the case that the purer the life, the more charitable the judgment. Who was purer than Christ, and who gentler in judgment? If He were severe, it was only to the vile pretenders. He was gentleness itself to publicans and harlots. The thought of a coming judgment should lead to gentleness and forbearance in dealing with our fellow-sinners. Alas! the thought of a coming judgment seems often eliminated from modern life. Let us consider the awe-inspiring fact.
I. There are declarations of a coming judgment.—The declarations of the inspired word of God tell us of a judgment to come. Our blessed Lord, by striking and terrible imagery, places before the minds of men the fact of such an event taking place in the moral government of God. Our Lord had no reason to deceive. The almost universal verdict of humanity is that Christ was the essence of goodness, and He could not be that if He were capable of deception. Can we for one moment entertain the idea of deception upon such an awful and momentous topic of consideration? We may not be able either to understand or to explain all His imagery, but the plain truth abides that there will be a general judgment. He speaks with authority, not only as being absolutely pure, but as coming forth from eternity and being intimately acquainted with all the counsels and designs of the Infinite.
II. There are premonitions of a coming judgment.—An appeal to the Bible is with many out of date. The preacher is not now asked to quote chapter and verse. A sentence from Shakespeare or Tennyson or Ruskin is often more welcome and more thought about than a sentence from the Bible. But we believe that in this case the declarations of the Bible are strongly supported by the premonitions of the human soul. Why speak we of premonitions? Why talk we of a coming judgment? Why, when there is a judgment here and now? Christ has His judgment-seat in the human conscience. The process is going on day by day—the process, we mean, of moral reckoning. The doctrine of moral accountability to the human being is not quite destroyed. In this enlightened age men are not to be frightened into being religious, and we quite admit that the religion of terror only is a base sort of thing. But even now men have their doubts and fears, and these are not the product of a cunning priestcraft. They spring from the constitution of the human soul. It is fatuous to talk of introducing the alien principle or faculty of conscience into the human creature if there be no place for it among our moral faculties—if there be no combination of faculties out of which such a faculty as conscience could be developed; that is, if we proceed on the false principle that conscience is not original, but derived. The doubts and fears with which the mind is tossed and harassed, the writhings of a guilty conscience, are the dread premonitions of a coming judgment. Conscience could not make us cowards if there were no moral Governor, if there were no judgment to come, if we did not fear that somewhere and somehow there would be a judgment. There is no need to lessen the vital importance of the question by materialising the thought. St. Paul must speak in human language. “We must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ” sets before us a solemn fact. We know not where the judgment-seat will be. We may in vain try to fancy the myriads upon myriads of our species that have lived on the earth, from the first man who saw creation’s prime to the last man who sees its final collapse, standing before the judgment-seat; but we cannot get away from our own oppressive thought that somehow there will be a judgment of the just and the unjust.
III. There are the certainties of a coming judgment.—These certainties are founded upon the declarations of the Bible and upon the premonitions of mankind—upon the testimony of conscience, which asserts, sometimes unwillingly, the equity and necessity of a final judgment. We speak of a religion of love and scout the idea of a religion of fear. But, after all, fear or misgiving of some kind or another has more to do with our religion than we are at all times prepared to allow. Vague fears are the foundation of all the religions, true or false, that have appeared. It is all very fine for philosophers to bid us shake ourselves free from fear and break loose from the miserable trammels of old world superstitions and traditions. They might as well tell us to shake ourselves free from ourselves; for these fears, these premonitions, these stirrings of conscience, are woven into the very texture of our nature. The coming judgment is not a mere probability; it is a certainty. If it be contended that it is only a probability, we affirm that such probabilities amount to certainties. We say it is probable that the sun will rise to-morrow because he has risen every day for so many ages. Probable, but not certain; and yet the business man and the farmer, in fact every sensible man, proceed as if it were a certainty that the sun will rise as aforetime. Let us for the moment admit that the judgment to come is only a probable event, then as sensible men it becomes us to proceed in life as if that probability were a certainty. But if we look carefully into the workings of our own moral natures, if we hear the dread warnings of conscience, the dark whisperings of the Infinite, if we listen to the words of divine wisdom, we shall assent to the statement that a coming judgment is a certainty, a crisis which we must all meet. We must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ—all—judges and judged, conquerors and conquered, righteous Pharisees and sinful publicans, Cæsars and their subjects, czars and their serfs, philosophers and fools, bishops and their flocks, inquisitors and their victims—there is no exception: we must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.
IV. There is a preparation for the coming judgment.—Preparation for ondemnation and preparation for acquittal. Preparation for condemnation there may be, though the man does not set himself in the way of fitting himself for the awful event. The man is practically preparing himself for a felon’s doom who is adopting a felon’s course of conduct. Condemnation is what the sinner has earned. He has prepared the way for the sentence of death to be pronounced. “The wages of sin is death.” What is our life? Are we preparing for condemnation? Are we sowing to the wind that by-and-by we may reap the dire whirlwind of righteous indignation? Is there any escape? Yes; there is a way of escape. Penitent and believing sinners have a powerful advocate in the Judge Himself. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from sin. “There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”
V. There is a twofold feeling with reference to the judgment to come.—Not necessarily in the same individual, but in different sections of the human race. The one feeling is that of sadness, of vague fears, sometimes of positive horror; the other feeling is that of gladness, of quiet confidence, of sweet assurance. What is our state of feeling? We too often come short of the gladness as we think of the judgment. We have our moments of confidence, and then we are tossed with fears. Happy man who can look forward to the judgment and feel no terrors in connection with that great day! Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven, who tastes the sweets of pardon; he can see the Lord coming in dreadful majesty, and feel no alarm; he can perceive the earth quaking, and experience no terror; the stars may withdraw their light, nature may wrap herself in funereal darkness, but in the soul of the true believer is a light that shines through all glooms, is a gladness which overtops all sorrows, is a confidence which overmasters all fears.
Rom_14:10. The great assize.—Consider:
1. The chief circumstances which will precede our standing before the judgment-seat of Christ;
2. The judgment itself;
3. Circumstances which will follow it;
4. Application to the hearer.—John Wesley.
Rom_14:12. Individual responsibility.—Here is a solemn truth which must, we think, have at once lifted the thoughts of the apostle’s Roman readers above the little controversies in which they were engaged into a higher and a serener atmosphere. Whatever food they ate or did not eat, whatever days they did or did not privately observe, one thing was certain—they would have to give an account of this particular act or omission, as of everything else in their whole lives. “Every one shall give account of himself to God.” My duty is that which, as a man, as a Christian, I have to do. My responsibility recalls the account which I must render for what I do and what I leave undone. Duty looks to the present, responsibility to the present and the future. Duty may seem at first to represent the most disinterested of the two ideas. Responsibility, human nature being what it is, is the more practically vigorous. Responsibility goes hand in hand with power—with power of choice. No man is responsible for the size of his body, or for the colour of his hair, or for the number of his sisters and brothers. His responsibility begins exactly where his power of choice begins. It varies with that power, and upon the use he makes of it will depend the kind of account which, sooner or later, he will have to give. It stands to reason that an account must be given, if given at all, to some person. Responsibility implies a person to whom responsible man is responsible. All human society is based on this law of responsibility to persons. The strongest of all the motives that can change a man’s life, both within and without, for his lasting good, is the love of God. If we could love God quite sincerely for twenty-four hours we should be other men, capable, spiritually speaking, almost of anything. But if this be so, the next motive in the order of efficiency is, beyond all doubt, the remembrance of the inevitable last account which we must each of us give before the judgment-seat of Christ. St. Augustine says, “Nothing has contributed more powerfully to wean me from all that held me down to earth than the thought constantly dwelt on of death and of the last account.” This resolution to give thought to the last account would prove a useful stimulus. It is like the old Jewish law—it is a schoolmaster to bring the soul to the feet of Jesus Christ; for the thought of that account does force us to think over our lives here—not once or twice, but often—not superficially, but with a determination to see ourselves as we are. To think of ourselves thus is to anticipate its result as far as we are conerned. It is to act on St. Paul’s advice—that if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. We can do all things through Christ that strengthened us; and so with His cross before our eyes, with His gracious presence and blessing within our souls, we look forward to our account with trembling joy.—Canon Liddon.
Joy and peace in believing.—“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” It will be good to take this apostolic prayer to pieces, and mark each separate part and truth.
I. The hope.—It is of the things hoped for that the apostle is speaking. It is not to “hope,” or to “a hope,” but to “the hope,” that he is poinring. It is not that thing called “hope,” as springing up in our breasts, that he would have us dwell upon; it is the glory to be revealed, the hops which is laid up for us in heaven. This is the bright star on which he fixes our eye.
II. The God of the hope.—Of that hope He is the beginning, the middle, and the end; the centre and the circumference; its root and stem and branches; its seed, its blossom, and its fruit. There is not one of these “things hoped for” but is to be t aced to Him as its sole fountain-head.
III. Fill you with all joy and peace.—There is joy, “joy unspeakable and full of glory”; but it is nor, of earth. It comes down from heaven. There is peace, the peace which passeth all understanding; but its fountain is above. It is God who gives these; and He does so as “the God of the hope.”
IV. In believing.—This joy and peace, though heavenly in their origin and nature, were not miraculous. They did not gush up into the soul like water springing from the sand by some supernatural touch. They found their way into the soul by a very natural, very simple, but very effectual channel—the belief of God’s good news about His only begotten Son. They were not the reward of believing; they were not purchased by believing; nor did they come in after believing: they were obtained in believing.
V. That we may abound in the hope.—The hope not only fills, but overflows, as the word “abound” might be rendered. It comes in and lights up the soul with its heavenly brightness; but it does more. It is so glorious and so boundless that the soul cannot contain it.
VI. Through the power of the Holy Ghost.—He comes in and dwells in us; thus working in us from within, not from without. He comes in as the Spirit of power and love and of a sound mind. He con es in as the earnest of the inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. He comes in, not in feebleness, but in power, in almighty power, to work a work in us and for us which but for Him must remain unaccomplished for ever.—H. Bonar.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Rom_14:10-15
AII shall be manifest.—All the wickedness that men have brooded on and hatched in the darkest vaults of their own hearts, or acted in the obscurest secrecy, shall be then made as manifest as if they were every one of them written on their foreheads with the point of a sunbeam. Here on earth none know so much of us—neither would we that they should—as our own consciences; and yet those great secretaries, our own consciences, through ignorance or searedness, overlook many sins which we commit. But our own consciences shall not know more of us than all the world shall, for all that has been done shall be brought into public notice.—Bishop Hopkins.
Another’s fault may be ours.—It matters not that Christ warned us to “judge not, that we be not judged” (Mat_7:1), for men still hold up each other’s faults, real or suspected, and inspect and dissect them, and pronounce judgment, as if they fear to find a worthy man, lost their own meanness should stand out in dark contrast. There are modifying facts of which all men are ignorant concerning every action. It therefore requires much knowledge and wisdom to render right judgment. How is it, then, that we dishonour God’s command, and call fellow-beings before the bar of our illegal court for rash and presumptuous sentences? Do not, then, hold the characters of others up for dissection; do not talk much about people in any way: turn your conversation into more intellectual, less dangerous, and more profitable lines. Do not judge. The fault which you detect in another, even though radical and unmistakable, is no worse than some other evil, or often the selfsame evil, in yourself. Nay, look well to it that you have not weaknesses even more shameful and grievous; for the censor is often worse than his victim. Robert Westly Peach.
It is a true proverb, “Though two do the same thing, it is not really the same thing”; for not the form of the deed, but the sense of the doer, decides as to whether anything is unclean or holy, or contrary to faith and love (Rom_14:14).—Besser.
Dangerous to increase restrictions.—It is always dangerous to multiply restrictions and requirements beyond what is essential—because men, feeling themselves hemmed in, break the artificial barrier; but, breaking it with a sense of guilt, thereby become hardened in conscience, and prepared for transgressions against commandments which are divine and of eternal obligation. Hence it is that the criminal has so often in his confessions traced his deterioration in crime to the first step of breaking the Sabbath day; and no doubt with accurate truth. If God have judgments in store for England, it is because we are selfish men—because we prefer pleasure to duty, party to our Church, and ourselves to everything else.—F. W. Robertson.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 14
Rom_14:10. Judgments, kind.—Jesus arrived one evening at the gates of a certain city, and He sent His disciples forward to prepare supper, while He Himself, intent on doing good, walked through the streets into the market-place. And He saw at the corner of the market some people gathered together, looking at an object ou the ground; and He drew near to see what it might be. It was a dead dog with a halter round its neck, by which it appeared to have been dragged through the dirt; and a viler, a more abject, a more unclean thing never met the eyes of man. “Faugh!” said one, stopping his nose; “it pollutes the air.” “How long,” said another, “shall this foul beast offend our sight?” “Look at its torn hide,” said a third; “one could not even cut a shoe out of it.” “And its ears,” said a fourth, “all draggled and bleeding.” “No doubt,” said a fifth, “it has been hanged for thieving.” And Jesus heard them, and looking down compassionately on the dead creature, He said, “Pearls are not equal to the whiteness of its teeth.” Then the people turned towards Him with amazement, and said among themselves, “Who is this? This must be Jesus of Nazareth, for only He could find something to pity and approve even in a dead dog.” And being ashamed, they bowed their heads before Him, and went each on his way.—Persian Fable.
Rom_14:10-15. The cadi and the king.—One of the Moorish kings of Spain wished to build a pavilion on a field near his garden, and offered to purchase it of the woman to whom it belonged, but she would not consent to part with the inheritance of her fathers. The field, however, was seized, and the building was erected. The poor woman complained to a cadi, who promised to do all in his power to serve her. One day, while the king was in the field, the cadi came with an empty sack, and asked permission to fill it with the earth on which he was treading. He obtained leave, and when the sack was filled he requested the king to complete his kindness by assisting him to load his ass with it. The monarch laughed, and tried to lift it, but soon let it fall, complaining of its enormous weight. “It is, however,” said the cadi, “only a small part of the ground which thou ast wrested from one of thy subjects; how then wilt thou bear the weight of the whole field when thou shalt appear before the great Judge laden with this iniquity?” The king thanked him for his reproof, and not only restored the field to its owner, but gave her the building which he had erected and all the wealth which it contained.
Rom_14:14-15. Charitable judgments.—Those of us who have read classic history may remember an incident in the history of the Macedonian emperor. A painter was commanded to sketch the monarch. In one of his great battles he had been struck with a sword upon the forehead, and a very large scar had been left on the right temple. The painter, who was a master-hand in his art, sketched him leaning on his elbow with his finger covering the scar on his forehead; and so the likeness of the king was taken, but without the scar. Let us put the finger of charity upon the scar of the Christian as we look at him, whatever it may be—the finger of a tender and forbearing charity—and see, in spite of it and under it, the image of Christ notwithstanding.—Dr. Cumming.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey1900 · Public DomainOn vv10–1210. “Why do you condemn your brother or why…
10. “Why do you condemn your brother or why do you discount your brother?
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren1905 · Public DomainOn v12Rom 14:12 - Rom 14:23.
Romans
THE LIMITS OF LIBERTY
Read full note →
Rom 14:12 - Rom 14:23.
The special case in view, in the section of which this passage is part, is the difference of opinion as to the lawfulness of eating certain meats. It is of little consequence, so far as the principles involved are concerned, whether these were the food which the Mosaic ordinances made unclean, or, as in Corinth, meats offered to idols. The latter is the more probable, and would be the more important in Rome. The two opinions on the point represented two tendencies of mind, which always exist; one more scrupulous, and one more liberal. Paul has been giving the former class the lesson they needed in the former part of this chapter; and he now turns to the ‘stronger’ brethren, and lays down the law for their conduct. We may, perhaps, best simply follow him, verse by verse.
We note then, first, the great thought with which he starts, that of the final judgment, in which each man shall give account of himself. What has that to do with the question in hand? This, that it ought to keep us from premature and censorious judging. We have something more pressing to do than to criticise each other. Ourselves are enough to keep our hands full, without taking a lift of our fellows’ conduct. And this, further, that, in view of the final judgment, we should hold a preliminary investigation on our own principles of action, and ‘decide’ to adopt as the overruling law for ourselves, that we shall do nothing which will make duty harder for our brethren. Paul habitually settled small matters on large principles, and brought the solemnities of the final account to bear on the marketplace and the meal.
In Rom 14:13 he lays down the supreme principle for settling the case in hand. No Christian is blameless if he voluntarily acts so as to lay a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in another’s path. Are these two things the same? Possibly, but a man may stumble, and not fall, and that which makes him stumble may possibly indicate a temptation to a less grave evil than that which makes him fall does. It may be noticed that in the sequel we hear of a brother’s being ‘grieved’ first, and then of his being ‘overthrown.’ In any case, there is no mistake about the principle laid down and repeated in Rom 14:21. It is a hard saying for some of us. Is my liberty to be restricted by the narrow scruples of ‘strait-laced’ Christians? Yes. Does not that make them masters, and attach too much importance to their narrowness? No. It recognises Christ as Master, and all His servants as brethren. If the scrupulous ones go so far as to say to the more liberal, ‘You cannot be Christians if you do not do as we do’ then the limits of concession have been reached, and we are to do as Paul did, when he flatly refused to yield one hair’s-breadth to the Judaisers. If a man says, You must adopt this, that, or the other limitation in conduct, or else you shall be unchurched, the only answer is, I will not. We are to be flexible as long as possible, and let weak brethren’s scruples restrain our action. But if they insist on things indifferent as essential, a yet higher duty than that of regard to their weak consciences comes in, and faithfulness to Christ limits concession to His servants.
But, short of that extreme case, Paul lays down the law of curbing liberty in deference to ‘narrowness.’ In Rom 14:14 he states with equal breadth the extreme principle of the liberal party, that nothing is unclean of itself. He has learned that ‘in the Lord Jesus.’ Before he was ‘in Him,’ he had been entangled in cobwebs of legal cleanness and uncleanness; but now he is free. But he adds an exception, which must be kept in mind by the liberal-minded section-namely, that a clean thing is unclean to a man who thinks it is. Of course, these principles do not affect the eternal distinctions of right and wrong. Paul is not playing fast and loose with the solemn, divine law which makes sin and righteousness independent of men’s notions. He is speaking of things indifferent-ceremonial observances and the like; and the modern analogies of these are conventional pieces of conduct, in regard to amusements and the like, which, in themselves, a Christian man can do or abstain from without sin.
Rom 14:15 is difficult to understand, if the ‘for’ at the beginning is taken strictly. Some commentators would read instead of it a simple ‘but’ which smooths the flow of thought. But possibly the verse assigns a reason for the law in Rom 14:13, rather than for the statements in Rom 14:14. And surely there is no stronger reason for tender consideration for even the narrowest scruples of Christians than the obligation to walk in love. Our common brotherhood binds us to do nothing that would even grieve one of the family. For instance, Christian men have different views of the obligations of Sunday observance. It is conceivable that a very ‘broad’ Christian might see no harm in playing lawn-tennis in his garden on a Sunday; but if his doing so scandalised, or, as Paul says, ‘grieved’ Christian people of less advanced views, he would be sinning against the law of love if he did it.
There are many other applications of the principle readily suggested. The principle is the thing to keep clearly in view. It has a wide field for its exercise in our times, and when the Christian brotherhood includes such diversities of culture and social condition. And that is a solemn deepening of it, ‘Destroy not with thy meat him for whom Christ died.’ Note the almost bitter emphasis on ‘thy,’ which brings out not only the smallness of the gratification for which the mischief is done, but the selfishness of the man who will not yield up so small a thing to shield from evil which may prove fatal, a brother for whom Christ did not shrink from yielding up life. If He is our pattern, any sacrifice of tastes and liberties for our brother’s sake is plain duty, and cannot be neglected without selfish sin. One great reason, then, for the conduct enjoined, is set forth in Rom 14:15. It is the clear dictate of Christian love.
Another reason is urged in Rom 14:16 - Rom 14:18. It displays the true character of Christianity, and so reflects honour on the doer. ‘Your good’ is an expression for the whole sum of the blessings obtained by becoming Christians, and is closely connected with what is here meant by the ‘kingdom of God.’ That latter phrase seems here to be substantially equivalent to the inward condition in which they are who have submitted to the dominion of the will of God. It is ‘the kingdom within us’ which is ‘righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.’ What have you won by your Christianity? the Apostle in effect says, Do you think that its purpose is mainly to give you greater licence in regard to these matters in question? If the most obvious thing in your conduct is your ‘eating and drinking,’ your whole Christian standing will be misconceived, and men will fancy that your religion permits laxity of life. But if, on the other hand, you show that you are Christ’s servants by righteousness, peace, and joy, you will be pleasing to God, and men will recognise that your religion is from Him, and that you are consistent professors of it.
Modern liberal-minded brethren can easily translate all this for to-day’s use. Take care that you do not give the impression that your Christianity has its main operation in permitting you to do what your weaker brethren have scruples about. If you do not yield to them, but flaunt your liberty in their and the world’s faces, your advanced enlightenment will be taken by rough-and-ready observers as mainly cherished because it procures you these immunities. Show by your life that you have the true spiritual gifts. Think more about them than about your ‘breadth,’ and superiority to ‘narrow prejudices.’ Realise the purpose of the Gospel as concerns your own moral perfecting, and the questions in hand will fall into their right place.
In Rom 14:19 two more reasons are given for restricting liberty in deference to others’ scruples. Such conduct contributes to peace. If truth is imperilled, or Christ’s name in danger of being tarnished, counsels of peace are counsels of treachery; but there are not many things worth buying at the price of Christian concord. Such conduct tends to build up our own and others’ Christian character. Concessions to the ‘weak’ may help them to become strong, but flying in the face of their scruples is sure to hurt them, in one way or another.
In Rom 14:15, the case was supposed of a brother’s being grieved by what he felt to be laxity. That case corresponded to the stumbling-block of Rom 14:13. A worse result seems contemplated in Rom 14:20,-that of the weak brother, still believing that laxity was wrong, and yet being tempted by the example of the stronger to indulge in it. In that event, the responsibility of overthrowing what God had built lies at the door of the tempter. The metaphor of ‘overthrowing’ is suggested by the previous one of ‘edifying.’ Christian duty is mutual building up of character; inconsiderate exercise of ‘liberty’ may lead to pulling down, by inducing to imitation which conscience condemns.
From this point onwards, the Apostle first reiterates in inverse order his two broad principles, that clean things are unclean to the man who thinks them so, and that Christian obligation requires abstinence from permitted things if our indulgence tends to a brother’s hurt. The application of the latter principle to the duty of total abstinence from intoxicants for the sake of others is perfectly legitimate, but it is an application, not the direct purpose of the Apostle’s injunctions.
In Rom 14:22 - Rom 14:23, the section is closed by two exhortations, in which both parties, the strong and the weak, are addressed. The former is spoken to in Rom 14:22, the latter in Rom 14:23. The strong brother is bid to be content with having his wider views, or ‘faith’-that is, certainty that his liberty is in accordance with Christ’s will. It is enough that he should enjoy that conviction, only let him make sure that he can hold it as in God’s sight, and do not let him flourish it in the faces of brethren whom it would grieve, or might lead to imitating his practice, without having risen to his conviction. And let him be quite sure that his conscience is entirely convinced, and not bribed by inclination; for many a man condemns himself by letting wishes dictate to conscience.
On the other hand, there is a danger that those who have scruples should, by the example of those who have not, be tempted to do what they are not quite sure is right. If you have any doubts, says Paul, the safe course is to abstain from the conduct in question. Perhaps a brother can go to the theatre without harm, if he believes it right to do so; but if you have any hesitation as to the propriety of going, you will be condemned as sinning if you do. You must not measure your corn by another man’s bushel. Your convictions, not his, are to be your guides. ‘Faith’ is used here in a somewhat unusual sense. It means certitude of judgment. The last words of Rom 14:23 have no such meaning as is sometimes extracted from them; namely, that actions, however pure and good, done by unbelievers, are of the nature of sin. They simply mean that whatever a Christian man does without clear warrant of his judgment and conscience is sin to him, whatever it is to others.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey1914 · Public DomainOn vv10–12But thou [O weak one], why dost thou judge…
But thou [O weak one], why dost thou judge thy brother? or thou again [O strong one], why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God . [The fact that each is so great a sinner that Christ must needs die for him, should prevent the one from judging and the other from despising. Since Christ, having died, is able to justify whom he will, what folly is it to attempt to usurp Christ's office so as to condemn any who trust in him? The believer is not even judged of Christ, but is called into judgment that he may be justified-- 2Co_5:10 ; Rom_8:33 ]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv10, 12why do you judge your brother? And you, why…
why do you judge your brother? And you, why do you despise your brother?
By using these questions, Paul is demonstrating how he might need to scold individuals among his readers. AT: "it is wrong for you to judge your brother, and it is wrong for you to despise your brother!" or "stop judging and despising your brother!" (See: Forms of You)
Read full note →
brother
Here this means a fellow Christian, male or female.
For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God
The "judgment seat" refers to God's authority to judge. AT: "For God will judge us all" (See: Metonymy)
For it is written, "As
You can translate this in an active form. AT: "For someone has written in the Scriptures: 'As" (See: Active or Passive)
As I live
This phrase is used to start an oath or solemn promise. AT: "You can be certain that this is true" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
to me every knee will bend, and every tongue will give praise to God
Paul uses the words "knee" and "tongue" to refer to the whole person. Also, the Lord uses the word "God" to refer to himself. AT: "every person will bow and give praise to me" (See: Synecdoche and First, Second, or Third Person)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv10–1114:10 we will all stand before the judgment seat…
14:10 we will all stand before the judgment seat of God: Paul reminds the Roman Christians that it is the Lord, not other Christians, who will ultimately judge all of us (cp. 2 Cor 5:10).
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv10–12 10. But thou, why dost thou, etc. As he…
10. But thou, why dost thou, etc. As he had made the life and death of us all subject to Christ, he now proceeds to mention the authority to judge, which the Father has conferred on him, together with the dominion over heaven and earth. He hence concludes, that it is an unreasonable boldness in any one to assume the power to judge his brother, since by taking such a liberty he robs Christ the Lord of the power which he alone has received from the Father.
But first, by the term brother, he checks this lust for judging; for since the Lord has established among us the right of a fraternal alliance, an equality ought to be preserved; every one then who assumes the character of a judge acts unreasonably. Secondly, he calls us before the only true judge, from whom no one can take away his power, and whose tribunal none can escape. As then it would be absurd among men for a criminal, who ought to occupy a humble place in the court, to ascend the tribunal of the judge; so it is absurd for a Christian to take to himself the liberty of judging the conscience of his brother. A similar argument is mentioned by James, when he says, that “he who judges his brother, judges the law,” and that “he who judges the law, is not an observer of the law but a president;” and, on the other hand, he says, that “there is but one lawgiver, who can save and destroy.” (James 4:12.) He has ascribed tribunal to Christ, which means his power to judge, as the voice of the archangel, by which we shall be summoned, is called, in another place, a trumpet; for it will pierce, as it were with its sound, into the minds and ears of all.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv10–11 The conclusion: we must leave to God his right:…
The conclusion: we must leave to God his right: and therefore in matters, which according as the conscience if affected, are either good or evil, the strong must not despise their weak brethren, much less condemn them. But this consequent cannot be taken of equal force in the contrary, to wit, that the weak should not judge the strong, because the weak do not know, that they which do not observe a day, and eat, observe it not to the Lord, and eat to the Lord, as the strong men know, that the weak which observe a day and eat not, observe the day to the Lord, and eat not to the Lord.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv10–12 10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or…
10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Ver. 10. But why dost thou, &c.] Three things are not subject to our judgment: 1. The counsels of God. 2. The Holy Scriptures. 3. The persons of men. Be not therefore rash in rejecting or sour in censuring your fellowservant; but let your moderation herein be known to all men; and the rather, because the Lord is at hand, Php 4:5.
Read full note →
The judgment seat of Christ] Who gives the Lamb in his escutcheon; and wilt thou give the lion?
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv10–12 He goes on to persuade them to a mutual…
He goes on to persuade them to a mutual forbearance, to dehort them from condemning or contemning one another about indifferent things. He suggests two arguments against it in this verse; one (which is more implied) is taken from the relation they bore one to another; they were brethren, not by natural generation, but by regeneration and adoption; they had the same Father, even God. The second argument is more plainly expressed; and it is taken from the consideration of the day of judgment, when all shall stand before Christ’s judgment seat; see 2Co 5:10; all, both the strong and the weak; and then he will determine who hath done well or ill. In the mean while, who art thou that darest to usurp his place or office? The interrogation hath the force of a strong denial; q.d. Have you no more grace, charity, or wisdom, than so to do.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv10–12 But why dost thou judge thy brother?.... These words…
But why dost thou judge thy brother?.... These words are spoken to the man weak in faith, that scrupled eating of certain meats, and chose rather eat none, and live on herbs, and who esteemed one day above another; and was very apt to censure and condemn such as made use of their Christian liberty in these things, though they were brethren, not in a natural or civil, but in a spiritual relation:
or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? these words, on the other hand, are directed to the stronger believer, who believed he might eat all things, and esteemed every day alike; being fully persuaded, that the distinction of meats and of days was now ceased; and such were apt to be puffed up with their superior knowledge and faith, and were ready to treat with an air of contempt those that were weak; showing little or no regard to their peace and edification, though they stood in the same relation to each other. The emphasis lies upon the word "brother", in both branches of the expostulation; and the force of the apostle's reasoning is that they should not judge or despise one another, because they were brethren, stood in the same relation to God and Christ, belonged to the same family, were partakers of the same grace, and had no pre-eminence one over another; they had but one master, and all they were brethren: and which he further enforces with the following reason or argument,
Read full note →
for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ; at the last day, when he shall sit on his throne of glory, and all nations shall be gathered before him, and he shall pronounce and execute the decisive sentence on each of them: there is a particular, and a general judgment; a particular judgment at death, when the soul is immediately consigned to bliss or woe; and a general one in the end of time; which may be proved both from reason, as from the relation creatures stand in to God, from the inequality of things in this life, and the conscious fears of men with respect to a future one; and from divine revelation, Christ will be the Judge, he is so appointed by his Father, and is every way fit for it, being God omniscient and omnipotent; and when he shall appear in his glory, he shall sit on his judgment seat, the dead will be raised, the books will be opened, and all shall be summoned to appear before him, of every age and sex, of every rank and degree, and of every character, good or bad: here the saints are particularly designed, "we shall all stand"; whether ministers or private Christians, weak or strong believers; they that are apt to judge, and others that are too ready to despise; they shall all stand before the tribunal of Christ, who is sole Judge, and shall render to every man according to his works, and from whom they shall all receive their sentence. The allusion is to human courts of judicature, in which the judge sits upon a bench, and they that are tried stand before him; see Co2 5:10. The Alexandrian copy reads, "the judgment seat of God".
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv10–11 Or why dost thou despise thy brother - Hitherto…
Or why dost thou despise thy brother - Hitherto the apostle as addressed the weak brother: now he speaks to the stronger.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv10, 12 Verse 10. But why dost thou] Christian Jew, observing…
Verse 10. But why dost thou] Christian Jew, observing the rites of the Mosaic law, judge-condemn thy brother-the Christian Gentile, who does not think himself bound by this law?
Or why dost thou] Christian Gentile, set at nought thy Christian Jewish brother, as if he were unworthy of thy regard, because he does not yet believe that the Gospel has set him free from the rites and ceremonies of the law?
Read full note →
It is a true saying of Mr. Heylin, on this verse: The superstitious are prone to judge, and those who are not superstitious are prone to despise.
We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.] Why should we then judge and condemn each other? We are accountable to God for our conduct, and shall be judged at his bar; and let us consider that whatever measure we mete, the same shall be measured unto us again.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v10 Rom 14:10-12. But why dost thou judge — Or…
Rom 14:10-12. But why dost thou judge — Or condemn; thy Gentile brother — Because he neglects the distinction of meats and days? Or why dost thou — O Gentile believer; set at naught — And deride, as weak or superstitious, thy Jewish brother, who conscientiously observes that burdensome ritual, from which thou art so happy as to apprehend thyself free? This censoriousness, or contempt, is greatly to be blamed; and, as well as the judging and condemning just mentioned, must very ill become the state in which we are, and must quickly be: for no principle of our common faith is more certain than this, that we shall all stand and take our trial before the judgment-seat of Christ — And it is surely a dangerous presumption to anticipate that judgment. For it is written — In the Jewish Scriptures, (Isa 45:23,) As I live, saith the Lord — An oath proper to him, because he only possesseth life infinite and independent; every knee shall bow to me — Shall stoop to my dominion; and every tongue shall confess to God — Shall acknowledge my sovereignty, which shall be done most fully and perfectly at the day of judgment. The Lord grant we may find mercy in that day! And may it also be imparted to those who have differed from us! Yea, to those who have censured and condemned us for things which we have done from a desire to please him, or have refused to do from a fear of offending him. So then every one of us — The high, as well as the low, the rich, as well as the poor; shall give account of himself to God — Of his own conduct, and not of the weaknesses of others; and therefore we should not trouble ourselves about them, but look to ourselves.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv10–12 But why ... - Since we are all subjects…
But why ... - Since we are all subjects and servants alike, and must all stand at the same tribunal, what right have we to sit in judgment on others?
Thou judge - Thou who art a “Jewish” convert, why dost thou attempt to arraign the “Gentile” disciple, as if he had violated a law of God? compare Rom 14:3.
Read full note →
Thy brother - God has recognised him as his friend Rom 14:3, and he should be regarded by thee as “a brother” in the same family.
Or why dost thou set at nought - Despise Rom 14:3; why dost thou, who art a “Gentile” convert, despise the “Jewish” disciple as being unnecessarily scrupulous and superstitious?
Thy brother - The Jewish convert is now a brother; and all the contempt which you Gentiles once cherished for the Jew should cease, from the fact that “he” is now “a Christian.” Nothing will do so much, on the one hand, to prevent a censorious disposition, and on the other, to prevent contempt for those who are in a different rank in life, as to remember that they are “Christians,” bought with the same blood, and going to the same heaven as ourselves.
We must all stand ... - That is, we must all be tried alike at the same tribunal; we must answer for our conduct, not to our-fellow man, but to Christ; and it does not become us to sit in judgment on each other.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v11 The apostle here gives a remarkable proof of the…
The apostle here gives a remarkable proof of the divinity of our Saviour. He could not possibly be more express. He had said in the preceding verse, that all men should appear before the tribunal of Christ; to prove this assertion, he adduces this testimony of the prophet Isaias: "As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall confess to God." (Isaias chap. xlv.) Thus shall all acknowledge the power, the divinity, and sovereign dominion of Christ, by bending the knee; and by confessing to him, shall acknowledge him for the master and judge of all mankind. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv10–12 But why, &c.--The original is more lively:--"But thou (the…
But why, &c.--The original is more lively:--"But thou (the weaker believer), why judgest thou thy brother? And thou again (the stronger), why despisest thou thy brother?"
for we shall all--the strong and the weak together.
Read full note →
stand before the judgment-seat of Christ--All the most ancient and best manuscripts read here, "the judgment-seat of God." The present reading doubtless crept in from Co2 5:10, where "the judgment-seat of Christ" occurs. But here "the judgment-seat of God" seems to have been used, with reference to the quotation and the inference in Rom 14:11-12.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv10–12 10. Thy brother—Each party admitted the other to be…
10. Thy brother—Each party admitted the other to be Christian, and therefore brother.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv10–12 10–23. the same subject: mutual care and love more…
10–23. the same subject: mutual care and love more important and sacred than eager assertions of liberty
10. But why dost thou] “Thou” is strongly emphatic here, as in contrast to the Lord. So just below, in the next sentence.—Cp. Rom_14:4.
Read full note →
thy brother] Here, evidently, “thy brother in Christ;” one of the “many brethren” who are such as being adopted by the Eternal Father in the supreme Elder Brother (Rom_8:29. See also on Rom_12:10).
all] Strongly emphatic; the critic as well as the criticized will be there—all on one level.
the judgment seat] Lit. the bema; the Gr. equivalent of the Lat. tribunal. (Same word as e.g. Mat_27:19; Act_18:16-17). The great Session is imaged under the forms of imperial law.
of Christ] The true reading, probably, is of God. On the interchange of the words Christ and God in this context, see on Rom_14:6. It is significant that in 2Co_5:10 (the best commentary on this passage) the undoubted reading is, as in E. V., “of Christ.”
The “judgment seat” here is that of the Great Day, when “the books will be opened.” This passage by no means implies that the Christian must wait till then to know whether he is accepted or not; a thought which would contradict both the letter and spirit of e.g. ch. Rom_5:1-11; Rom_5:8. (See especially also 2Ti_4:8.) But it does imply that the judicial declaration of his acceptance, and also of the Lord’s verdict upon his life of new obedience, will be made to him as to one at the bar and before the Judge. The Judge will be his Brother, but yet his Judge, his King.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv10–11 (10) Judgment seat of Christ.—The true reading is, of…
(10) Judgment seat of Christ.—The true reading is, of God.
(10-12) Such being our relations to Christ, and such the judgment to which we look forward, there is no room for any human judgment. Censoriousness is thus condemned.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On v10 Vers. 10-13. But thou, why judgest thou thy brother?…
Vers. 10-13. But thou, why judgest thou thy brother? or thou too, why settest thou at nought thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God (so, rather than of Christ, as in the Textus Receptus). For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God (Isa_45:23, quoted very freely from the LXX). So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us therefore no longer judge one another. This concluding appeal is addressed to both parties. In all that follows St. Paul returns exclusively to the more enlightened ones, whose feelings were in accordance with his own; and he now presses a further thought upon them, namely of the harm they might be doing to the very souls of the weak ones by tempting them, either by word or example, to disobey their own consciences. But judge ye this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block in his brother"s way, or an occasion of falling (skandalon). For the meaning of the word, cf. Luk_17:1 Rom_16:17 1Co_1:23 Rev_2:14.
Vers. 10-23. (with Rom_15:1-3) Three laws of Christian life.
Read full note →
In these closing verses of the fourteenth chapter and the opening verses of the fifteenth, three principles are laid down, one or other or all of which would cover almost every case of difference between fellow-Christians. These are
I THE LAW OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY. Where we differ from our fellow-Christians in details of doctrine, worship, or practice, we are very prone to be uncharitable in our judgments. We are inclined to doubt their Christianity because they do not just see as we do on such matters. One great fact the apostle would have us remember when we are tempted to condemn our brethren. It is the fact of the judgment to come. "Why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ" (ver. 10). "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more" (vers. 12, 13). It is not we who are to be the judges of our fellow-Christians, but God. We should not like that they would be our judges: then why should we judge them? The thought that we ourselves must stand before a higher judgment-seat, where all our sins and secret thoughts and unchristian motives shall be known, should make us more cautious in our condemnation of others. And, as regards our fellow-Christians, is it not enough for us that God will judge them? Surely we may leave their trial with confidence in his hands.
II THE LAW OF CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. There is a gradual progress in the principles here laid down. First of all, it is shown that we ought not to judge our brethren. This is a purely negative command. The next command is somewhat more positive. "But judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brother"s way" (ver. 13). The apostle enforces the exhortation to Christian self-denial by three special reasons.
1. The Christian should not injure those whom Christ has died to save. "Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died" (ver. 15). This is the true basis of total abstinence. "It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak" (ver. 21).
2. The Christian has higher enjoyments than those of selfish indulgence. "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (ver. 17). The giving up of a merely bodily comfort or enjoyment should not be a great hardship to the Christian. God is able to give us much more than this.
3. The example of Christ is an example of self-denial. "For even Christ pleased not himself". (Rom_15:3) Self-denial is an essential part of truly following Christ. "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." This law of Christian self-denial covers a wide field. Not merely abstinence from meats and drinks, from bodily indulgences which do harm to others; but also to put a bridle on our tongues, lest by our words we should give offence to others; to abstain from gratifying even lawful desires and wishes where the attainment of our purpose would cause pain or injury to others; this is self-denial, this is to follow the example of Christ. Self-pleasing is a besetting sin with most of us.
III THE LAW OF CHRISTIAN HELPFULNESS. Here the apostle takes another forward step. Here he states a still higher principle. "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another" (ver. 19); "Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification". (Rom_15:2) Here is the truly positive principle of Christian life. The Christian life should not be merely an abstinence from evil, but a positive doing of what is good. We should not merely refrain from injuring our neighbours, but we should be actively engaged, as Christians, in rendering them all the spiritual help we can. As a rule, our Christianity is negative rather than positive. It is too selfish. Many Christians are perfectly content with attaining the salvation of their own souls, and going through the world as harmlessly as possible. This, after all, is but a low type of Christianity True Christianity, the Christianity of the sermon on the mount, is as the salt, the light, the leaven; an active, helpful, beneficent influence upon those around us. C.H.I.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv10–11 But why dost thou judge … thou set at…
Rom_14:10
But why dost thou judge … thou set at nought thy brother?
Read full note →
for we shall all stand before the Judgment seat of Christ.
The guilt of judging and contemptuousness
To the weak and scrupulous the apostle says, Why judge? To the strong and liberal, Why despise?
I. The supremacy of conscience.
1. This principle is the master thought of the chapter (Rom_14:5; Rom_14:12-13). Nothing is to supersede personal conviction.
(1) Human passions are not to bar Christian rights. For matters that do not interfere with the happiness of others do not mind the denim of your Christian character by fallible men. Feel that you owe allegiance to Christ, and in that feeling be calm.
(2) There is no appeal to public authority. Uniformitarians would have thought this just the occasion for the Church to decide once for all, and so put an end to variety. But as the great apostle would not interfere, no Church has a right to rule in these matters.
2. But let us not mistake supremacy of conscience for that of the individual will. The apostle asserted the sanctity of convictions, but we must not exalt our opinions to the rank of convictions.
II. The violation of the rights of conscience.
1. By unchristian judging. Judging is persecuting; it was the procedure of the dark ages. But consider the judgment that is not peculiar to Rome, but which belongs to human nature. Take these cases cited by the apostle--Sabbath observance, and abstinence from things pronounced worldly. How do we treat those who do not hold our views on these matters? You hear insinuations about laxity or Sabbath breaking or worldliness: then about socinianism or infidelity; then immorality. This is judging. It is not life or liberty that is assailed, but character. Look at the wrong of this. Note
(l) Its arrogance. Such judging is only to be defended on the claim of infallibility, and therefore Rome is consistent, but Protestants are not. Are those who judge free from human frailty? Or are they not generally the weakest of both sexes?
(2) Its failure to procure what it aims at--uniformity of opinion. This is the ideal good which men have tried for ages to attain, but is Christendom more united than in the apostles days?
(3) It destroys free inquiry. We boast in opposition to Rome, of our free and open Bible. But do we not really say, Here is the Bible; read it for yourself; but find these doctrines there and no others. Hence men will not bear to hear the truth. They think they have it already in the compass of a single mind, and they come to church to hear it repeated.
2. By contemptuousness. The sin of judging is the sin of the narrow minded; the sin of the liberal minded is contempt for narrowness and scorn for scruples. There is a distinction between largeness of view and largeness of heart. A narrow mind is not always a narrow heart. There are worse things than narrow views. The missionaries often hold narrow views, and yet these men give their lives to turn men to God, and shame those of larger views. Take heed how ye despise any of Gods little ones, for what is largeness of view compared with devotedness of life? Good men usually cling to a superstition or a form for the sake of some deep truth with which it stands connected. (F. W. Robertson, M.A.)
A lesson in charity
Peter Cooper of New York, a man who spends a large amount of money on philanthropic objects, took a great interest in a Womans Art School. One day he stood watching the portrait class in that institution, whilst they were drawing a likeness of the same model from different positions. One scholar took the face in profile; another had it turned a little into the shadow; a third saw more of the full face, and represented it accordingly; whilst others worked still further into the light or away from it. Of course the portraits thus taken were very different; some of them, indeed, so different, that any one unacquainted with the original might have been almost excused for thinking that they were portraits of different people. Mr. Cooper observing the scene, said, Such a sight as this should be a lesson in charity, when we perceive how the same person may be so different, according to the way he is looked at by various people. (Sunday at Home.)
Charity in judging others
It is a comfortable thought that the smallest and most turbid mud-puddle can contain its own picture of heaven; it shall be a symbol to me that even a human breast that may appear least spiritual in some aspects may still have the capability of reflecting an infinite heaven in its depths, and therefore of enjoying it. Let us remember this when we feel inclined to deny all spiritual life to some people, in whom, nevertheless, our Father may perhaps see the image of His face. This dull river has a deep religion of its own--so, let us trust, has the dullest human soul, though perhaps unconsciously. (W. Hawthorne.)
Reproof of censoriousness
Observe--
I. The characters reproved. Those who--
1. Judge others.
2. Despise others.
II. Their reproof.
1. They forget that all are amenable at the judgment seat of Christ.
2. That they invade the prerogative of God.
3. That they must give account of themselves. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The judgment seat of God
1. I suppose Christ slipped into certain MSS. because Paul had been speaking of Christ, and it was thought to be natural that he should continue to use the same name. He knew that Christ is God, and when he was speaking of Him it was no deviation for him to call Him God. It was necessary, too, because he was about to quote an Old Testament passage which speaks of the sovereignty of God, which is to be confessed by all mankind. It would have been most important to draw a distinction between Christ and God if there had been any doubt as to His divinity.
2. St. Paul mentioned the future judgment, that by its influence the Roman Christians might cease the mischievous meddlesomeness of judging, when the Judge was at the door. A day is to come when men shall be judged after a better fashion than we can judge. How dare we, then, travesty Gods great assize by ourselves mounting the throne. Moreover, we impudently intrude ourselves into the office and prerogative of Christ. It is all needless, too; for both your brother and yourself will stand before the judgment seat of God, who will manage the affairs of men far better than you can. And, finally, your judgment is unprofitable: you would spend your time better if you would recollect that you will be yourselves examined by an unerring eye. This judgment will be:--
I. Universal--all. There will come a judgment for the strong and for the weak. No elevation in piety will exclude us, and no weakness will serve as an excuse. The man of one and the man of ten talents must alike be reckoned with. What a motley throng will gather at that assize, of all nations and peoples and tongues! Persons of all ages. Kings and paupers, saints and sinners, will be arraigned.
II. Personal (Rom_14:12). If it only dealt with actions, words, and thoughts, the account would be solemn enough, but we must each one give an account of himself, of what he was as well as what he did, of what was in his heart as well as of that which came out of it in his deeds.
III. Divine, and therefore--
1. According to truth. God will make no mistakes.
2. By the supreme standard of perfect justice.
3. Most searching.
4. Impartial.
5. Final. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The final judgment
This is often spoken of as the most terrible event in human history. And so it will be, and the happiest too. We must all stand, etc.; then--
I. Life is not a set of broken accidents and confused occurrences. It seems to be so--act seems separated from act, and thought from thought, and thought from act, and we often know not what to make of life. But then life will appear in its completeness and its meaning be clear. This--
1. Should cause us to look more into the bearings of our life. We ought not to live at haphazard, but thoughtfully.
2. Should elevate life, and redeem it both from hopelessness and vulgarity.
II. We shall be independent of the misjudgments of men. There is a sense in which a concern for what our neighbours think of us may be just and proper. Nothing is more valuable than the words of the good and wise. But we ought not to be distressed in mind and hindered in our work by the unjust judgments of the world. In the long run we may get even better judgments from the world if we seek to live in the spirit of the judgment of Christ. But let those who fight against Gods people remember that they grasp a blade without a handle. Comfort yourselves, then, that Christ is Judge, and will vindicate righteousness.
III. We ought to make preparation for so solemn an event. If you are invited to meet some grand personage on some special occasion and make no preparation, you will be given to feel your want of preparedness by the contempt of those who are about you. Should we, then, as men of common sense, make no preparation for the supreme event in our history. Do not prepare in a spirit of fear, but as a matter of right, and as an expression of love? We are not to get up ourselves in fine rags and gilt, but meet our Judge in the robe of character which He has fashioned and adorned.
IV. We need have no uncertainty as to the decision. We know the Judge and His method. We can therefore judge ourselves now. Everything righteous and noble will be approved; everything base and bad will be condemned. Right is right eternally; wrong is wrong for ever. Have we repented, etc.?
V. Trifling excuses will not for one moment be tolerated. (J. Parker, D.D.)
The final judgment
1. Christ Himself spake of judgment, but never after this fashion. He never spoke of Himself as put upon His trial, but always as the Judge. Here, however, Paul speaks of himself as appearing at the judgment. What is the fair inference? Clearly, that high as Paul was, Jesus Christ is far higher. God cannot be judged, but every intelligent, accountable creature will be judged. Jesus Christ was not a creature, but God manifested in humanity.
2. Religious truths frequently conceal each other. This truth of the judgment day hides from some eyes the fact of the judgment which is going on every day. You are all now upon your trial. And there are certain results of this trial that are akin to sentence. Does not the drunkard and the sensualist of every shape suffer a present punishment? Are not integrity and truthfulness generally recognised with favour?
3. By the mention of this fact, the Apostle Paul teaches the members of the Church in Rome to be liberal in the estimate they form of each other. There is, however, a false liberality. There are some that would apply these remarks to the facts and doctrines of the gospel, and to moral principles. Now hear what the same man wrote: Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach to you any other gospel than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
I. The certainty of judgment. The emphasis of the text is in the words We shall. Judgment is no probability. But what is judgment ? There is trial--the idea of really testing the character, of summing up and judging the totality of a mans life. Then there is the disclosure, the bringing out of everything. Then there is decision upon the case, and sentence. Let us consider some facts which make this appear certain.
1. There is a looking for of judgment in every man. When Adam and his wife had eaten of the fruit they hid themselves. What was this but an expression of expectancy that God would come and judge them! Is this peculiar? No. What do the fears and the remorse of the man who has done wrong say but that he expects judgment!
2. This Divine and real judgment seems needful. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Look at the mistakes that occur concerning men. A man is in reputation for religion and may have a heart as black as hell. Now, is this to be perpetual? No; there is a sort of necessity in Gods nature to put everything right and to give to every man his real character.
3. It is indicated by present punishment and reward on a limited scale. During the storm you have often heard the thunder at the distance before the tempest has broken over your dwelling, and just so may you hear the trumpet of the future judgment in what you now experience when you have done wrong.
4. By the voice of Old Testament and New God speaks to you of this judgment.
II. Our personal appearance is certain. There will be no escape from a final Divine trial. You may leave a pious home to get far from what you call cant, but you will not escape from this judgment. There will be no evasion, excuse, proxy.
III. Christ will be the judge, and mark what this involves. The Judge will be--
1. Visible. Christ has taken His human nature to heaven.
2. Competent, and the multitude, without exception, will feel that competency. Just as you often have been conscious of the presence of greatness when you have been with some man whose intelligence very far exceeded your own, so will it be felt before the judgment seat of Christ. (S. Martin.)
Future judgment
I. The fact.
1. All.
2. Shall stand.
3. At the judgment seat of Christ.
II. The certainty of it.
1. Attested by reason and revelation.
2. Confirmed by the oath of God.
III. The issue. Every one shall give an account--
1. Of himself.
(1) His conduct to man.
(2) To God.
2. Before God Himself. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The final tribunal
In the establishment of this we see--
I. The honour and dignity with which this invests individual human lives. Look at society. A few men are eminent, but the millions lead ordinary lives. We are limited, fettered, and we are ready to say, What is man? Yet God is to judge him, and individually. A human court puts honour on mans nature by his very trial. A leopard leaping from his cave to tear asunder his victim is not a subject of arrest and trial. He is shot, and that is the end of it. Man has a knowledge of God and of immortal verities. Therefore he is judged.
II. The significance of the humblest life and of the humblest act of any life. Too often we gauge character and success by their conspicuousness. We note the obsequies of the great, but who notes the paupers funeral? But the text--
1. Gives a significance to the poor mans death.
2. We are apt to measure our own lives by our larger efforts, and forget the little acts that, like drops, go to make up the continuous stream of life. It is these smaller actions that at once show and shape character. Christ represents the good as amazed at the final judgment because such little acts as the cup of water were remembered; and so the wicked. Phidias polished the back of his statues, for he said that though men saw not his work, the gods beheld it. Every deed, however small or secret, comes under the cognisance of God. To neglect to adjust our inward life to this truth and cultivate the merely outward exhibitions of character is as irrational as it would be to burnish the ornaments of an engine and build the boiler of defective metal, or decorate the outside of an edifice while its foundations and walls are insecure.
III. How majestic an attribute is mans conscience. True, conscience may be mistaken; but, enlightened by the Holy Spirit it is the echo of Gods voice. Its remorse is an echo of His rebuke, and its approval an echo of His benediction. We may anticipate the final tribunal. Judging ourselves now, we shall not at last be condemned. How wicked, then, it is to put out this eye, to suffocate the voice of God within us! It is moral suicide.
IV. The secret of true independence from the world. If God be for us, who can be against us? Paul, Pascal, Luther, Wilberforce, etc., swung loose from entangling criticisms, undismayed by human censure in the thought of their personal responsibility to their Judge. It is a small matter that we be judged of mans judgment; this was their word. So may the maligned wait calmly for the final vindication.
V. The beauty and significance of the Saviours work. Christ does not abolish judgment; He claims it as His own and thus asserts His Divinity. No man, no angel, can assume this function. It belongs to Omniscience alone. We learn how it is accomplished--by the self-conviction of the sinner. Before Christ on earth they who accused another stood self-convicted, and went away one by one. He told me all I ever knew, said another. It was on the Cross that atonement was completed. It is on that ground we, as believers, are saved. The lustre of the Cross is shed on the judgment throne. The Judge is our Redeemer, friend, and advocate. We can have boldness in that day, for we are in Him.
VI. The duty of accepting and the privilege of proclaiming the glorious gospel of the Son of God. Before His face we must stand. We cannot postpone the day. Nearer it comes every hour. Are you ready for it? Only in Christ can you be serene and safe, contemplating its approach. (R. S. Storrs, D.D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv10–12 10–13. Why dost thou judge thy brother? Christ, the…
10–13. Why dost thou judge thy brother? Christ, the Lord of all, is his Lord. He shall judge him and us alike. We are not the judges, for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v10 Rom_14:10.—Being accountable to Christ, we cannot be accountable in…
CRITICAL NOTES
Rom_14:10.—Being accountable to Christ, we cannot be accountable in the highest sense to any other.
Read full note →
Rom_14:11.—The phrase indicates the act of those who shall worship and acknowledge God. The knee may bend and the heart not engaged. Let us praise the Lord’s mercy and justice.
Rom_14:13.—Rabbins said, “When I enter the school to expound the law, I pray that no occasion of stumbling may arise through me to any.” Jewish Christians guilty by imposing Judaism, Gentile Christians by repelling scrupulous Jews.
Rom_14:14.—Nothing is unclean of itself.—Call nothing common or unclean. A thing may become evil if done against conscience, if the doing cause offence, if it make us leave some important work undone.
Rom_14:15. Because of meat.—Purposely selected as something contemptible. Eternal perdition not meant here. Destroy by causing him to act against his conscience, and so commit sin.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Rom_14:10-15
Self-judgment the paramount duty.—There is a certain morbid state of nature which leads men and women to spend too much time in judging themselves. There is also a censorious spirit which spends too much time in judging others. Both courses of conduct may be morally injurious. Nevertheless, we must judge ourselves, and if we do so aright we shall be the more disposed to walk charitably towards those who consider this or that not lawful.
I. We must judge ourselves, for we have our weaknesses.—We should not be human if we had not our weaknesses. A depraved nature suggests that we may have sins as well as weaknesses. The man who properly knows himself will make large allowance for others. If the Pharisee had known himself, had seen how contemptible was his sanctimonious and sinful pride in the view of the All-holy, he would not have directed a scornful look at the publican. There may be a littleness and a weakness about the man who prides himself upon his elevation above materialism, as there is a littleness about the man who has not learnt that the material is secondary to the spiritual. Why dost thou set at naught thy brother? Brethren have a family likeness and family failings. The strong brother of the family is not far removed from the weak. The good, stay-at-home brother did not show himself nearer heaven than the broken-down, prodigal brother who returned with tears of repentance.
II. We must judge ourselves, for we are individually responsible.—“We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ,” but each one must give account of himself to God. The strong brother will not have to give an account of the weak, but of himself. Solemn thought! How hast thou used thy strength? Has it been employed rather for self-glorification than for the helping of the weak? Thou hast gloried in thy strength; and yet what small moral use has it been to humanity! Thou hast condemned thy brother’s punctiliousness; and yet the weak brother may have helped to invest material things with spiritual significances.
III. We must judge ourselves, lest we hinder others.—A strong man is a pleasant sight; but strength is harmful if it become a stumbling-block so as to wound the weak brother, or an obstacle against which the weak brother stumbles and falls. Is it not likely to be true that more moral damage has been done to the world by the strong than by the weak? The Samsons of time have slain their thousands. Napoleons have done damage which long years only can repair. The Byrons of song have polluted the world’s ears with their melodies. Strong men, in their impatience of restraints, have engendered heresies of a pestilential character.
IV. We must judge ourselves in the light of divine teaching.—Material things have no moral qualities. A piece of meat has no conscience, and cannot be unclean of itself. A small square of bread cannot be incorporated with spiritual vitality. Bread of itself cannot give physical life, much less spiritual life. Still, if my weak brother esteemeth the bread supernaturally endowed, then as a strong brother I must walk charitably. The strong must not produce any painful and bitter feeling in the heart of the weak by the spectacle of free and bold eating, by the aspect of seeming irreverence with reference to sacred things. However, we must take care lest, while we vaunt our charity, we are only using another name for indifference. Charity suffereth long. Divine love suffers long. God is love, and yet God hates evil. St. John was the apostle of love, and yet he could say, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” Modern so-called charity would scout the exhortation, “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God-speed: for he that biddeth him God-speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”
V. We must judge ourselves, lest we obstruct the Saviour’s purposes.—“Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.” Let us not stay to inquire how man, weak at his best, can obstruct the purposes of the strong Christ. Let us seek to move in harmony with the merciful purpose of the loving Mediator. He came to save the weak as well as the strong. The mission of every Christlike soul should be a mission of salvation. Divine salvation is vaster than human. The latter is too often an affair of the letter; the former is of the spirit. Faith, hope, and love are the great words of spiritual salvation—faith in Christ, hope built upon faith, love the outcome of faith and hope. Let us work so that faith may be stronger, hope brighter, and love more far-reaching.
Rom_14:10. The coming judgment.—It is well said that he who judges arrogates to himself Christ’s office; he who bears in mind that Christ will judge us all will no more condemn. What must we think of the prisoner awaiting trial who presumes to pronounce sentence upon his fellow-prisoners? It is a course of conduct we might not naturally expect; but the unexpected happens; and we know from observation that the worst sinners are not the most lenient in their judgments. It is often the case that the purer the life, the more charitable the judgment. Who was purer than Christ, and who gentler in judgment? If He were severe, it was only to the vile pretenders. He was gentleness itself to publicans and harlots. The thought of a coming judgment should lead to gentleness and forbearance in dealing with our fellow-sinners. Alas! the thought of a coming judgment seems often eliminated from modern life. Let us consider the awe-inspiring fact.
I. There are declarations of a coming judgment.—The declarations of the inspired word of God tell us of a judgment to come. Our blessed Lord, by striking and terrible imagery, places before the minds of men the fact of such an event taking place in the moral government of God. Our Lord had no reason to deceive. The almost universal verdict of humanity is that Christ was the essence of goodness, and He could not be that if He were capable of deception. Can we for one moment entertain the idea of deception upon such an awful and momentous topic of consideration? We may not be able either to understand or to explain all His imagery, but the plain truth abides that there will be a general judgment. He speaks with authority, not only as being absolutely pure, but as coming forth from eternity and being intimately acquainted with all the counsels and designs of the Infinite.
II. There are premonitions of a coming judgment.—An appeal to the Bible is with many out of date. The preacher is not now asked to quote chapter and verse. A sentence from Shakespeare or Tennyson or Ruskin is often more welcome and more thought about than a sentence from the Bible. But we believe that in this case the declarations of the Bible are strongly supported by the premonitions of the human soul. Why speak we of premonitions? Why talk we of a coming judgment? Why, when there is a judgment here and now? Christ has His judgment-seat in the human conscience. The process is going on day by day—the process, we mean, of moral reckoning. The doctrine of moral accountability to the human being is not quite destroyed. In this enlightened age men are not to be frightened into being religious, and we quite admit that the religion of terror only is a base sort of thing. But even now men have their doubts and fears, and these are not the product of a cunning priestcraft. They spring from the constitution of the human soul. It is fatuous to talk of introducing the alien principle or faculty of conscience into the human creature if there be no place for it among our moral faculties—if there be no combination of faculties out of which such a faculty as conscience could be developed; that is, if we proceed on the false principle that conscience is not original, but derived. The doubts and fears with which the mind is tossed and harassed, the writhings of a guilty conscience, are the dread premonitions of a coming judgment. Conscience could not make us cowards if there were no moral Governor, if there were no judgment to come, if we did not fear that somewhere and somehow there would be a judgment. There is no need to lessen the vital importance of the question by materialising the thought. St. Paul must speak in human language. “We must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ” sets before us a solemn fact. We know not where the judgment-seat will be. We may in vain try to fancy the myriads upon myriads of our species that have lived on the earth, from the first man who saw creation’s prime to the last man who sees its final collapse, standing before the judgment-seat; but we cannot get away from our own oppressive thought that somehow there will be a judgment of the just and the unjust.
III. There are the certainties of a coming judgment.—These certainties are founded upon the declarations of the Bible and upon the premonitions of mankind—upon the testimony of conscience, which asserts, sometimes unwillingly, the equity and necessity of a final judgment. We speak of a religion of love and scout the idea of a religion of fear. But, after all, fear or misgiving of some kind or another has more to do with our religion than we are at all times prepared to allow. Vague fears are the foundation of all the religions, true or false, that have appeared. It is all very fine for philosophers to bid us shake ourselves free from fear and break loose from the miserable trammels of old world superstitions and traditions. They might as well tell us to shake ourselves free from ourselves; for these fears, these premonitions, these stirrings of conscience, are woven into the very texture of our nature. The coming judgment is not a mere probability; it is a certainty. If it be contended that it is only a probability, we affirm that such probabilities amount to certainties. We say it is probable that the sun will rise to-morrow because he has risen every day for so many ages. Probable, but not certain; and yet the business man and the farmer, in fact every sensible man, proceed as if it were a certainty that the sun will rise as aforetime. Let us for the moment admit that the judgment to come is only a probable event, then as sensible men it becomes us to proceed in life as if that probability were a certainty. But if we look carefully into the workings of our own moral natures, if we hear the dread warnings of conscience, the dark whisperings of the Infinite, if we listen to the words of divine wisdom, we shall assent to the statement that a coming judgment is a certainty, a crisis which we must all meet. We must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ—all—judges and judged, conquerors and conquered, righteous Pharisees and sinful publicans, Cæsars and their subjects, czars and their serfs, philosophers and fools, bishops and their flocks, inquisitors and their victims—there is no exception: we must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.
IV. There is a preparation for the coming judgment.—Preparation for ondemnation and preparation for acquittal. Preparation for condemnation there may be, though the man does not set himself in the way of fitting himself for the awful event. The man is practically preparing himself for a felon’s doom who is adopting a felon’s course of conduct. Condemnation is what the sinner has earned. He has prepared the way for the sentence of death to be pronounced. “The wages of sin is death.” What is our life? Are we preparing for condemnation? Are we sowing to the wind that by-and-by we may reap the dire whirlwind of righteous indignation? Is there any escape? Yes; there is a way of escape. Penitent and believing sinners have a powerful advocate in the Judge Himself. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from sin. “There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”
V. There is a twofold feeling with reference to the judgment to come.—Not necessarily in the same individual, but in different sections of the human race. The one feeling is that of sadness, of vague fears, sometimes of positive horror; the other feeling is that of gladness, of quiet confidence, of sweet assurance. What is our state of feeling? We too often come short of the gladness as we think of the judgment. We have our moments of confidence, and then we are tossed with fears. Happy man who can look forward to the judgment and feel no terrors in connection with that great day! Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven, who tastes the sweets of pardon; he can see the Lord coming in dreadful majesty, and feel no alarm; he can perceive the earth quaking, and experience no terror; the stars may withdraw their light, nature may wrap herself in funereal darkness, but in the soul of the true believer is a light that shines through all glooms, is a gladness which overtops all sorrows, is a confidence which overmasters all fears.
Rom_14:10. The great assize.—Consider:
1. The chief circumstances which will precede our standing before the judgment-seat of Christ;
2. The judgment itself;
3. Circumstances which will follow it;
4. Application to the hearer.—John Wesley.
Rom_14:12. Individual responsibility.—Here is a solemn truth which must, we think, have at once lifted the thoughts of the apostle’s Roman readers above the little controversies in which they were engaged into a higher and a serener atmosphere. Whatever food they ate or did not eat, whatever days they did or did not privately observe, one thing was certain—they would have to give an account of this particular act or omission, as of everything else in their whole lives. “Every one shall give account of himself to God.” My duty is that which, as a man, as a Christian, I have to do. My responsibility recalls the account which I must render for what I do and what I leave undone. Duty looks to the present, responsibility to the present and the future. Duty may seem at first to represent the most disinterested of the two ideas. Responsibility, human nature being what it is, is the more practically vigorous. Responsibility goes hand in hand with power—with power of choice. No man is responsible for the size of his body, or for the colour of his hair, or for the number of his sisters and brothers. His responsibility begins exactly where his power of choice begins. It varies with that power, and upon the use he makes of it will depend the kind of account which, sooner or later, he will have to give. It stands to reason that an account must be given, if given at all, to some person. Responsibility implies a person to whom responsible man is responsible. All human society is based on this law of responsibility to persons. The strongest of all the motives that can change a man’s life, both within and without, for his lasting good, is the love of God. If we could love God quite sincerely for twenty-four hours we should be other men, capable, spiritually speaking, almost of anything. But if this be so, the next motive in the order of efficiency is, beyond all doubt, the remembrance of the inevitable last account which we must each of us give before the judgment-seat of Christ. St. Augustine says, “Nothing has contributed more powerfully to wean me from all that held me down to earth than the thought constantly dwelt on of death and of the last account.” This resolution to give thought to the last account would prove a useful stimulus. It is like the old Jewish law—it is a schoolmaster to bring the soul to the feet of Jesus Christ; for the thought of that account does force us to think over our lives here—not once or twice, but often—not superficially, but with a determination to see ourselves as we are. To think of ourselves thus is to anticipate its result as far as we are conerned. It is to act on St. Paul’s advice—that if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. We can do all things through Christ that strengthened us; and so with His cross before our eyes, with His gracious presence and blessing within our souls, we look forward to our account with trembling joy.—Canon Liddon.
Joy and peace in believing.—“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” It will be good to take this apostolic prayer to pieces, and mark each separate part and truth.
I. The hope.—It is of the things hoped for that the apostle is speaking. It is not to “hope,” or to “a hope,” but to “the hope,” that he is poinring. It is not that thing called “hope,” as springing up in our breasts, that he would have us dwell upon; it is the glory to be revealed, the hops which is laid up for us in heaven. This is the bright star on which he fixes our eye.
II. The God of the hope.—Of that hope He is the beginning, the middle, and the end; the centre and the circumference; its root and stem and branches; its seed, its blossom, and its fruit. There is not one of these “things hoped for” but is to be t aced to Him as its sole fountain-head.
III. Fill you with all joy and peace.—There is joy, “joy unspeakable and full of glory”; but it is nor, of earth. It comes down from heaven. There is peace, the peace which passeth all understanding; but its fountain is above. It is God who gives these; and He does so as “the God of the hope.”
IV. In believing.—This joy and peace, though heavenly in their origin and nature, were not miraculous. They did not gush up into the soul like water springing from the sand by some supernatural touch. They found their way into the soul by a very natural, very simple, but very effectual channel—the belief of God’s good news about His only begotten Son. They were not the reward of believing; they were not purchased by believing; nor did they come in after believing: they were obtained in believing.
V. That we may abound in the hope.—The hope not only fills, but overflows, as the word “abound” might be rendered. It comes in and lights up the soul with its heavenly brightness; but it does more. It is so glorious and so boundless that the soul cannot contain it.
VI. Through the power of the Holy Ghost.—He comes in and dwells in us; thus working in us from within, not from without. He comes in as the Spirit of power and love and of a sound mind. He con es in as the earnest of the inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. He comes in, not in feebleness, but in power, in almighty power, to work a work in us and for us which but for Him must remain unaccomplished for ever.—H. Bonar.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Rom_14:10-15
AII shall be manifest.—All the wickedness that men have brooded on and hatched in the darkest vaults of their own hearts, or acted in the obscurest secrecy, shall be then made as manifest as if they were every one of them written on their foreheads with the point of a sunbeam. Here on earth none know so much of us—neither would we that they should—as our own consciences; and yet those great secretaries, our own consciences, through ignorance or searedness, overlook many sins which we commit. But our own consciences shall not know more of us than all the world shall, for all that has been done shall be brought into public notice.—Bishop Hopkins.
Another’s fault may be ours.—It matters not that Christ warned us to “judge not, that we be not judged” (Mat_7:1), for men still hold up each other’s faults, real or suspected, and inspect and dissect them, and pronounce judgment, as if they fear to find a worthy man, lost their own meanness should stand out in dark contrast. There are modifying facts of which all men are ignorant concerning every action. It therefore requires much knowledge and wisdom to render right judgment. How is it, then, that we dishonour God’s command, and call fellow-beings before the bar of our illegal court for rash and presumptuous sentences? Do not, then, hold the characters of others up for dissection; do not talk much about people in any way: turn your conversation into more intellectual, less dangerous, and more profitable lines. Do not judge. The fault which you detect in another, even though radical and unmistakable, is no worse than some other evil, or often the selfsame evil, in yourself. Nay, look well to it that you have not weaknesses even more shameful and grievous; for the censor is often worse than his victim. Robert Westly Peach.
It is a true proverb, “Though two do the same thing, it is not really the same thing”; for not the form of the deed, but the sense of the doer, decides as to whether anything is unclean or holy, or contrary to faith and love (Rom_14:14).—Besser.
Dangerous to increase restrictions.—It is always dangerous to multiply restrictions and requirements beyond what is essential—because men, feeling themselves hemmed in, break the artificial barrier; but, breaking it with a sense of guilt, thereby become hardened in conscience, and prepared for transgressions against commandments which are divine and of eternal obligation. Hence it is that the criminal has so often in his confessions traced his deterioration in crime to the first step of breaking the Sabbath day; and no doubt with accurate truth. If God have judgments in store for England, it is because we are selfish men—because we prefer pleasure to duty, party to our Church, and ourselves to everything else.—F. W. Robertson.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 14
Rom_14:10. Judgments, kind.—Jesus arrived one evening at the gates of a certain city, and He sent His disciples forward to prepare supper, while He Himself, intent on doing good, walked through the streets into the market-place. And He saw at the corner of the market some people gathered together, looking at an object ou the ground; and He drew near to see what it might be. It was a dead dog with a halter round its neck, by which it appeared to have been dragged through the dirt; and a viler, a more abject, a more unclean thing never met the eyes of man. “Faugh!” said one, stopping his nose; “it pollutes the air.” “How long,” said another, “shall this foul beast offend our sight?” “Look at its torn hide,” said a third; “one could not even cut a shoe out of it.” “And its ears,” said a fourth, “all draggled and bleeding.” “No doubt,” said a fifth, “it has been hanged for thieving.” And Jesus heard them, and looking down compassionately on the dead creature, He said, “Pearls are not equal to the whiteness of its teeth.” Then the people turned towards Him with amazement, and said among themselves, “Who is this? This must be Jesus of Nazareth, for only He could find something to pity and approve even in a dead dog.” And being ashamed, they bowed their heads before Him, and went each on his way.—Persian Fable.
Rom_14:10-15. The cadi and the king.—One of the Moorish kings of Spain wished to build a pavilion on a field near his garden, and offered to purchase it of the woman to whom it belonged, but she would not consent to part with the inheritance of her fathers. The field, however, was seized, and the building was erected. The poor woman complained to a cadi, who promised to do all in his power to serve her. One day, while the king was in the field, the cadi came with an empty sack, and asked permission to fill it with the earth on which he was treading. He obtained leave, and when the sack was filled he requested the king to complete his kindness by assisting him to load his ass with it. The monarch laughed, and tried to lift it, but soon let it fall, complaining of its enormous weight. “It is, however,” said the cadi, “only a small part of the ground which thou ast wrested from one of thy subjects; how then wilt thou bear the weight of the whole field when thou shalt appear before the great Judge laden with this iniquity?” The king thanked him for his reproof, and not only restored the field to its owner, but gave her the building which he had erected and all the wealth which it contained.
Rom_14:14-15. Charitable judgments.—Those of us who have read classic history may remember an incident in the history of the Macedonian emperor. A painter was commanded to sketch the monarch. In one of his great battles he had been struck with a sword upon the forehead, and a very large scar had been left on the right temple. The painter, who was a master-hand in his art, sketched him leaning on his elbow with his finger covering the scar on his forehead; and so the likeness of the king was taken, but without the scar. Let us put the finger of charity upon the scar of the Christian as we look at him, whatever it may be—the finger of a tender and forbearing charity—and see, in spite of it and under it, the image of Christ notwithstanding.—Dr. Cumming.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv10–12 10. “Why do you condemn your brother or why…
10. “Why do you condemn your brother or why do you discount your brother?
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v12 Rom 14:12 - Rom 14:23.
Romans
THE LIMITS OF LIBERTY
Read full note →
Rom 14:12 - Rom 14:23.
The special case in view, in the section of which this passage is part, is the difference of opinion as to the lawfulness of eating certain meats. It is of little consequence, so far as the principles involved are concerned, whether these were the food which the Mosaic ordinances made unclean, or, as in Corinth, meats offered to idols. The latter is the more probable, and would be the more important in Rome. The two opinions on the point represented two tendencies of mind, which always exist; one more scrupulous, and one more liberal. Paul has been giving the former class the lesson they needed in the former part of this chapter; and he now turns to the ‘stronger’ brethren, and lays down the law for their conduct. We may, perhaps, best simply follow him, verse by verse.
We note then, first, the great thought with which he starts, that of the final judgment, in which each man shall give account of himself. What has that to do with the question in hand? This, that it ought to keep us from premature and censorious judging. We have something more pressing to do than to criticise each other. Ourselves are enough to keep our hands full, without taking a lift of our fellows’ conduct. And this, further, that, in view of the final judgment, we should hold a preliminary investigation on our own principles of action, and ‘decide’ to adopt as the overruling law for ourselves, that we shall do nothing which will make duty harder for our brethren. Paul habitually settled small matters on large principles, and brought the solemnities of the final account to bear on the marketplace and the meal.
In Rom 14:13 he lays down the supreme principle for settling the case in hand. No Christian is blameless if he voluntarily acts so as to lay a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in another’s path. Are these two things the same? Possibly, but a man may stumble, and not fall, and that which makes him stumble may possibly indicate a temptation to a less grave evil than that which makes him fall does. It may be noticed that in the sequel we hear of a brother’s being ‘grieved’ first, and then of his being ‘overthrown.’ In any case, there is no mistake about the principle laid down and repeated in Rom 14:21. It is a hard saying for some of us. Is my liberty to be restricted by the narrow scruples of ‘strait-laced’ Christians? Yes. Does not that make them masters, and attach too much importance to their narrowness? No. It recognises Christ as Master, and all His servants as brethren. If the scrupulous ones go so far as to say to the more liberal, ‘You cannot be Christians if you do not do as we do’ then the limits of concession have been reached, and we are to do as Paul did, when he flatly refused to yield one hair’s-breadth to the Judaisers. If a man says, You must adopt this, that, or the other limitation in conduct, or else you shall be unchurched, the only answer is, I will not. We are to be flexible as long as possible, and let weak brethren’s scruples restrain our action. But if they insist on things indifferent as essential, a yet higher duty than that of regard to their weak consciences comes in, and faithfulness to Christ limits concession to His servants.
But, short of that extreme case, Paul lays down the law of curbing liberty in deference to ‘narrowness.’ In Rom 14:14 he states with equal breadth the extreme principle of the liberal party, that nothing is unclean of itself. He has learned that ‘in the Lord Jesus.’ Before he was ‘in Him,’ he had been entangled in cobwebs of legal cleanness and uncleanness; but now he is free. But he adds an exception, which must be kept in mind by the liberal-minded section-namely, that a clean thing is unclean to a man who thinks it is. Of course, these principles do not affect the eternal distinctions of right and wrong. Paul is not playing fast and loose with the solemn, divine law which makes sin and righteousness independent of men’s notions. He is speaking of things indifferent-ceremonial observances and the like; and the modern analogies of these are conventional pieces of conduct, in regard to amusements and the like, which, in themselves, a Christian man can do or abstain from without sin.
Rom 14:15 is difficult to understand, if the ‘for’ at the beginning is taken strictly. Some commentators would read instead of it a simple ‘but’ which smooths the flow of thought. But possibly the verse assigns a reason for the law in Rom 14:13, rather than for the statements in Rom 14:14. And surely there is no stronger reason for tender consideration for even the narrowest scruples of Christians than the obligation to walk in love. Our common brotherhood binds us to do nothing that would even grieve one of the family. For instance, Christian men have different views of the obligations of Sunday observance. It is conceivable that a very ‘broad’ Christian might see no harm in playing lawn-tennis in his garden on a Sunday; but if his doing so scandalised, or, as Paul says, ‘grieved’ Christian people of less advanced views, he would be sinning against the law of love if he did it.
There are many other applications of the principle readily suggested. The principle is the thing to keep clearly in view. It has a wide field for its exercise in our times, and when the Christian brotherhood includes such diversities of culture and social condition. And that is a solemn deepening of it, ‘Destroy not with thy meat him for whom Christ died.’ Note the almost bitter emphasis on ‘thy,’ which brings out not only the smallness of the gratification for which the mischief is done, but the selfishness of the man who will not yield up so small a thing to shield from evil which may prove fatal, a brother for whom Christ did not shrink from yielding up life. If He is our pattern, any sacrifice of tastes and liberties for our brother’s sake is plain duty, and cannot be neglected without selfish sin. One great reason, then, for the conduct enjoined, is set forth in Rom 14:15. It is the clear dictate of Christian love.
Another reason is urged in Rom 14:16 - Rom 14:18. It displays the true character of Christianity, and so reflects honour on the doer. ‘Your good’ is an expression for the whole sum of the blessings obtained by becoming Christians, and is closely connected with what is here meant by the ‘kingdom of God.’ That latter phrase seems here to be substantially equivalent to the inward condition in which they are who have submitted to the dominion of the will of God. It is ‘the kingdom within us’ which is ‘righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.’ What have you won by your Christianity? the Apostle in effect says, Do you think that its purpose is mainly to give you greater licence in regard to these matters in question? If the most obvious thing in your conduct is your ‘eating and drinking,’ your whole Christian standing will be misconceived, and men will fancy that your religion permits laxity of life. But if, on the other hand, you show that you are Christ’s servants by righteousness, peace, and joy, you will be pleasing to God, and men will recognise that your religion is from Him, and that you are consistent professors of it.
Modern liberal-minded brethren can easily translate all this for to-day’s use. Take care that you do not give the impression that your Christianity has its main operation in permitting you to do what your weaker brethren have scruples about. If you do not yield to them, but flaunt your liberty in their and the world’s faces, your advanced enlightenment will be taken by rough-and-ready observers as mainly cherished because it procures you these immunities. Show by your life that you have the true spiritual gifts. Think more about them than about your ‘breadth,’ and superiority to ‘narrow prejudices.’ Realise the purpose of the Gospel as concerns your own moral perfecting, and the questions in hand will fall into their right place.
In Rom 14:19 two more reasons are given for restricting liberty in deference to others’ scruples. Such conduct contributes to peace. If truth is imperilled, or Christ’s name in danger of being tarnished, counsels of peace are counsels of treachery; but there are not many things worth buying at the price of Christian concord. Such conduct tends to build up our own and others’ Christian character. Concessions to the ‘weak’ may help them to become strong, but flying in the face of their scruples is sure to hurt them, in one way or another.
In Rom 14:15, the case was supposed of a brother’s being grieved by what he felt to be laxity. That case corresponded to the stumbling-block of Rom 14:13. A worse result seems contemplated in Rom 14:20,-that of the weak brother, still believing that laxity was wrong, and yet being tempted by the example of the stronger to indulge in it. In that event, the responsibility of overthrowing what God had built lies at the door of the tempter. The metaphor of ‘overthrowing’ is suggested by the previous one of ‘edifying.’ Christian duty is mutual building up of character; inconsiderate exercise of ‘liberty’ may lead to pulling down, by inducing to imitation which conscience condemns.
From this point onwards, the Apostle first reiterates in inverse order his two broad principles, that clean things are unclean to the man who thinks them so, and that Christian obligation requires abstinence from permitted things if our indulgence tends to a brother’s hurt. The application of the latter principle to the duty of total abstinence from intoxicants for the sake of others is perfectly legitimate, but it is an application, not the direct purpose of the Apostle’s injunctions.
In Rom 14:22 - Rom 14:23, the section is closed by two exhortations, in which both parties, the strong and the weak, are addressed. The former is spoken to in Rom 14:22, the latter in Rom 14:23. The strong brother is bid to be content with having his wider views, or ‘faith’-that is, certainty that his liberty is in accordance with Christ’s will. It is enough that he should enjoy that conviction, only let him make sure that he can hold it as in God’s sight, and do not let him flourish it in the faces of brethren whom it would grieve, or might lead to imitating his practice, without having risen to his conviction. And let him be quite sure that his conscience is entirely convinced, and not bribed by inclination; for many a man condemns himself by letting wishes dictate to conscience.
On the other hand, there is a danger that those who have scruples should, by the example of those who have not, be tempted to do what they are not quite sure is right. If you have any doubts, says Paul, the safe course is to abstain from the conduct in question. Perhaps a brother can go to the theatre without harm, if he believes it right to do so; but if you have any hesitation as to the propriety of going, you will be condemned as sinning if you do. You must not measure your corn by another man’s bushel. Your convictions, not his, are to be your guides. ‘Faith’ is used here in a somewhat unusual sense. It means certitude of judgment. The last words of Rom 14:23 have no such meaning as is sometimes extracted from them; namely, that actions, however pure and good, done by unbelievers, are of the nature of sin. They simply mean that whatever a Christian man does without clear warrant of his judgment and conscience is sin to him, whatever it is to others.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv10–12 But thou [O weak one], why dost thou judge…
But thou [O weak one], why dost thou judge thy brother? or thou again [O strong one], why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God . [The fact that each is so great a sinner that Christ must needs die for him, should prevent the one from judging and the other from despising. Since Christ, having died, is able to justify whom he will, what folly is it to attempt to usurp Christ's office so as to condemn any who trust in him? The believer is not even judged of Christ, but is called into judgment that he may be justified-- 2Co_5:10 ; Rom_8:33 ]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv10, 12 why do you judge your brother? And you, why…
why do you judge your brother? And you, why do you despise your brother?
By using these questions, Paul is demonstrating how he might need to scold individuals among his readers. AT: "it is wrong for you to judge your brother, and it is wrong for you to despise your brother!" or "stop judging and despising your brother!" (See: Forms of You)
Read full note →
brother
Here this means a fellow Christian, male or female.
For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God
The "judgment seat" refers to God's authority to judge. AT: "For God will judge us all" (See: Metonymy)
For it is written, "As
You can translate this in an active form. AT: "For someone has written in the Scriptures: 'As" (See: Active or Passive)
As I live
This phrase is used to start an oath or solemn promise. AT: "You can be certain that this is true" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
to me every knee will bend, and every tongue will give praise to God
Paul uses the words "knee" and "tongue" to refer to the whole person. Also, the Lord uses the word "God" to refer to himself. AT: "every person will bow and give praise to me" (See: Synecdoche and First, Second, or Third Person)
translationWords
judge
brother
written
lord
tongue
praise
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv10–11 14:10 we will all stand before the judgment seat…
14:10 we will all stand before the judgment seat of God: Paul reminds the Roman Christians that it is the Lord, not other Christians, who will ultimately judge all of us (cp. 2 Cor 5:10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.