But thou, why judgest thou thy brother? or again, thou, why dost thou make little of thy brother? for we shall all be placed before the judgment-seat of God.
Paul has been writing to believers who disagree over food and holy days. He now asks each side a blunt question, and answers both by pointing ahead to God's judgment seat.
The verse names two wrongs, one for each kind of believer:
When differences of judgment arise, our first natural impulse is to start interfering with one another. The one who eats will despise the one who does not eat. Such scruples look extremely narrow-minded to him. The one who does not eat will judge and condemn the eater. He can only see that freedom as going beyond what is allowed.
Both reactions are wrong because neither believer belongs to the other. Both belong to the Lord, who died and rose to be Lord of the dead and the living.
The truth is that we belong to Him, not to ourselves, either in life or in death... So He is Lord of all, dead and living. So one must beware of meddling with His rights. "Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother?" We are forgetting our place and His when we turn either to the right or to the left.
Some Bibles read "judgment seat of Christ" here. Others read "judgment seat of God." The difference comes from the manuscripts:
The best editions read in Romans 14:10, "judgment seat of God."
Either way, the two are not rivals. The next verse backs the warning with words from Isaiah. Notice who first spoke them:
When the prophet Isaiah refers to this period, he says, "I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance." But when an apostle brings it before us, he applies it to Christ. That is another example of Scripture's teaching on the deity of the Son.
So what is this seat for?
This is not a question of being brought into judgment for sins, or for sin. That was settled earlier in this letter... What then is meant here? Simply the question in hand. All of us will be placed before God, and He cannot make a mistake about what He approves. That should be a healthy check, preventing the damaging habit of judging one another.
If it is not a trial, what is it? One writer describes a scene where our own acts and God's grace are both laid open:
I believe our whole record of acts will be laid out there, before the judgment seat. It will not be laid out for us as if we were in the flesh, and so to our condemnation. It will be laid out to make clear to our own eyes the grace that occupied itself with us... The why and the how we did this or that will be made clear then. For us the scene will be declarative, not judicial... You will see how you gave way and how He preserved you, how your foot slipped and how He lifted you up again.
How wide is that "all"? One writer answers:
Romans 14:10 says that all will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Who are all? Everyone, saved or unsaved, in the world. It does not say that all will stand there at the same time, or for the same purpose. For believers, everlasting life is settled for eternity. Rewards will be settled at the judgment seat of Christ.
Whichever reading you take, Paul's point stands. Each of us will stand before that seat in person.
- One day — Paul settles a quarrel over food by pointing ahead to God's judgment seat. That thought is a healthy check on judging one another.
- Two accused — Two questions, two culprits. The strict believer judges; the free believer despises. Both are told to stop.
- Not yours — Judge a fellow Christian and you are handling someone else's servant. Christ died and rose to be Lord of you both.
- One seat — God's seat or Christ's, it is the same seat. Isaiah puts those words in God's mouth, and Paul applies them to Christ.
- Declarative — For the believer, that day settles rewards, not guilt. Your whole story is opened beside the grace that carried you through it.
For it is written, *I* live, saith [the] Lord, that to me shall bow every knee, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Paul is settling a dispute between believers over food and holy days, and he ends it with an oath from God Himself. Whose knees are meant, and what has that to do with two Christians arguing over dinner?
Paul wants believers to stop judging one another. The words from Isaiah back up the line just before them about the judgment seat. They turn each person's attention to his own account.
"For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God." To this end Isaiah 45:24 is cited… "So then each of us shall give account concerning himself to God." How out of place for one to judge and another to despise! We shall each give an account, and this about ourselves and no one else.
The words come from Isaiah. They are not a prediction but a decree, sworn by God — and the New Testament shows how far it reaches.
Then comes the solemn declaration, backed by a divine oath, "That to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear" — that is, Jehovah, the Creator-God, has decreed it… Two explanations are added that we could never have found unless God gave them. The first is that "every knee" applies to all in heaven, to all on earth, and to all under the earth. That means all intelligent beings, whether in heaven, on earth, or in hell — all demons, as well as all angels, saints, and men. Second, "every tongue shall swear" means confessing, to the glory of God the Father, that Jesus is Lord.
In Isaiah these are the Lord's own words. Paul quotes them where he speaks of the judgment seat.
But when an apostle brings it before us, he applies it to Christ, giving another example of Scripture's teaching on the deity of the Son.
One writer states why the Son receives this honour:
Jehovah has sworn that every knee shall bow to Him, and that every tongue will give account of himself to God. But it is at the name of Jesus that every knee shall bow. So although the Son gives life to whom He will, as the Father does, the Father judges no one. He has committed all judgment to the Son, so that all may honour the Son as they honour Him.
The bowing is certain. Only the manner is still open.
The faithful, we know, will confess Him Saviour and Lord with loud and joyful praise… But the fallen angels, with the lost of every name and age, are "under the earth," in the regions of sorrow. They too must confess that "Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Yes, dear reader, willingly or unwillingly, your knee must bow with the rest, and your tongue must confess. How terrible to be forced under the rod of judgment, to confess the glories of the Saviour in whom you have no share.
And this bowing must be real, not a gesture:
To bow to Him now brings blessing for evermore. But this bowing to Christ must not be merely an outward profession; there must be a bowing of the heart. Lip profession only is hypocrisy, and hypocrisy is hateful to God.
Giving account is not the same as being condemned. Everything turns on whether a person has a Saviour to confess.
The believer does not come into judgment, but will be manifested there and give account. When those who do not believe give account, it is judgment for them, and so condemnation. They confess no Saviour, so they can no longer hide their sins… The believer does not need judgment to vindicate Jesus. The unbeliever does, because he refuses His grace.
The same judgment seat appears twice in Scripture, and each time for a different purpose:
I am not aware that this expression, "the judgment seat of God" or "the judgment seat of Christ," is found anywhere except in Romans 14 and 2 Corinthians 5. It appears in the first passage to prevent individual judgments, and in the second to stir us up to do good.
There, being right is not the whole story:
He may have been mistaken in his thoughts, and we may have been right. Yet he may receive more approval than we do. He honestly sought to obey the Lord — sought to keep a good conscience — while we in effect trampled on his conscience.
- Sworn. The verse is God's own oath, quoted from Isaiah — not a forecast, but a decree.
- Universal. That oath reaches every intelligent being in heaven, on earth, and under the earth — angels, saints, men, and demons alike.
- Christ's. Paul gives Jesus the honour Isaiah gives to Jehovah. The Father has committed all judgment to the Son, so that all honour the Son as they honour the Father.
- Now or then. Every knee bows. Bow today from the heart, not the lips only — or bow under judgment, with no Saviour to confess.
- So, stop judging. Each of us gives account for himself alone. So leave your brother's conscience to God.
So then each of us shall give an account concerning himself to God.
The words "so then" tie this verse to the argument before it: believers were judging and despising one another over food and holy days. Paul does not settle the menu. He points every reader to a coming hour where each answers for one person only — himself.
The same scene appears in two of Paul's letters, and one writer notes that each mention has its own purpose.
I am not aware that the expression "the judgment seat of God" or "the judgment seat of Christ" is found anywhere except in Romans 14 and 2 Corinthians 5. In the first it is used to prevent individual judgments. In the second it is used to stir us up to do good... We read in Romans 14 that "each of us will give an account of himself to God." Here Scripture names the judgment seat alongside the call to believers not to judge one another over days, food, or anything of that kind.
The weight of the verse rests on one small word. Each person gives account of himself.
In that solemn hour, "each of us will give an account of himself to God" (verse 12)... Each will give account of himself, and not of another. Our responsibility is direct and personal, solitary and alone. On this rests the exhortation, "Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother" (verse 13).
Being right in a disagreement is not the same as being approved. One writer applies the verse to the person doing the correcting.
We are clearly not to judge or belittle our brother in these personal matters of conscience. For we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and so will he. He may have been mistaken in his thoughts, and we may have been right. Even so, he may receive more approval than we do. He honestly sought to obey the Lord and to keep a good conscience, while we in effect trampled on his conscience. A solemn thought for our souls!
Giving account is not the same as being condemned. One writer shows where the line falls.
How out of place for one to judge and for another to despise! We shall each give account, and this about ourselves and no one else... The believer does not come into judgment, but will be fully revealed there and give account. When those who do not believe give account, it is judgment for them, and so condemnation. They confess no Saviour, so they can no longer hide their sins.
The account covers more than what other people could see.
The gospel gives abundant testimony to the solemn fact that all men must have to do with God... It is not only the open acts, which men might be able to take account of. The hidden motives from which the actions spring must all be brought to light too, for "all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account" (Heb. 4:13).
For the believer, that hour brings gain, not loss.
What immense gain it will be to us to be fully revealed! We will know as we are known... It will greatly increase and deepen the Christian's appreciation of what God has been for him. He will see more of His patient, perfect grace and purpose of love. It is a solemn thing, but of immense worth and value to us. It is all worked out in the conscience, as we learn from Romans 14:12. Notice the true effect on a right state of mind: no thought of judgment about righteousness has any place at all.
- Purpose — Paul raises the judgment seat here for one reason: to stop believers judging each other over food and days.
- Himself — Each one answers for himself, not for another. Responsibility is direct, personal and alone. So stop judging, and clear stumbling blocks out of your brother's way instead.
- Conscience — Being right is not the same as being approved. The honest but mistaken brother may receive more approval than the man who trampled his conscience.
- Account — For the believer this hour reveals, it does not condemn. For the one who confesses no Saviour, giving account is itself judgment, because he can hide his sins no longer.
- Everything — Hidden motives come to light, not just visible acts. The hour is solemn, yet it will deepen the believer's sense of what God has been to him.