Romans chapter 14 verses 10 through 13." Do not judge your brother."" So why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." With Judgment Day in mind, Paul asked the Romans," So why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother?" He asked this because Jesus says," For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged.
And with the measure you measure out, it will be measured back to you again." So indeed, why do we judge or show contempt for our brother? We condemn ourselves when we do so. Cyprian writes," Jesus says," If you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive you your sins." Matthew 6:14." So there remains no grounds for excuse on the day of judgment.
For on that day, you will be judged according to your own sentence, and whatever you have done in judging that you will also suffer." Theodoret adds," Having pointed out the tribunal of the Lord, Paul most appropriately exhorts Christians not to judge one another. Rather, they should await the judgment to come." When He was on earth, Jesus had declared that we will all stand before His judgment seat.
He said," Nan, 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 the nations will be gathered, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." On another occasion, he said," The hour comes in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and will come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment." The coming day of judgment was a new concept for the pagan Romans, and most of them scoffed at the idea.
Tertullian writes," We get ourselves laughed at for proclaiming that God will one day judge the world." Although the world may laugh, we Christians should take the matter very seriously. Polycarp, a personal disciple of the apostle John writes," We must all appear at the judgment seat of Christ, and we must each give an account of Himself. Therefore, let us serve Him in fear and with all reverence." The early Christians did not subscribe to the doctrine of easy believerism or unconditional eternal security.
They believed the passages of Scripture that say we will all stand before the judgment seat, where our eternal destiny will be determined. Tertullian writes," When the outward fashion of the world passes away, then the whole human race will be raised again." This is so that each one will have his recompense meted out to him based on what he has merited during his life as to good or evil. Romans 2:6 through 10.
Romans chapter 14 verses 11 and 12," For it is written, as I live," said the Lord," Every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will confess to God." So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. Paul quotes from Isaiah 45:23," To show that the entire world will one day acknowledge Jesus as both Lord and as the Son of God." However, for most of mankind, they will be recognizing His lordship far too late.
On Judgment Day, we will not be giving an account for what others have done, but for what each of us has done. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. This ties in with what Paul had said in chapter 2 of Romans," God will render to every man according to his works eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek for glory, honor, and immortality.
But to those who are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be indignation and wrath. Yes, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man who does evil, the Jew first and also the Gentile. But glory, honor, and peace to every man who works what is good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. So now as he draws near to the end of his letter, Paul returns to the warning he gave at its beginning.
He wants to make certain that no one misunderstands or twists what he has said about works in certain chapters of his letter. At the time of our initial salvation, we do not need to bring any good works with us to be saved. However, once we have been saved, we are expected to walk with Christ, produce holy fruit, and live a life of godly works. Verse 13," Therefore, let us not judge one another anymore. Rather, let us make this resolve that no one will put a stumbling block or a hindrance in the way of his brother.
Let us not judge one another anymore." Jesus had said," Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not consider the beam that is in your own eye?" Chrysostom writes," Do you wish to judge? Then judge your own sins. No one will accuse you if you condemn yourself." Tertullian adds," Remove the speck or rather the beam out of your own eye so that you will be able to extract the speck from the eyes of others." In other words, amend your own life first.
To be sure, we should be concerned about the welfare of our brother. However, focusing on the minor faults of our brother does not show concern for his welfare. At the same time, we should remember that the context of this entire chapter concerns food and similar things that are lawful for Christians. When Paul says," Let us not judge one another anymore," he is not talking about correcting a brother for a serious sin.
Chrysostom writes," You ask, if someone commits fornication, may I not say that fornication is a bad thing? May I not correct someone who is behaving wantonly?" Of course. Correct him, but not as an enemy. Do not do it as though you were exacting a penalty from an adversary. Rather, correct him as a physician providing medicine. For Paul did not say," Do not correct him who is sinning, but let us not judge, that no one will put a stumbling block or a hindrance in the way of his brother.
If we are truly concerned for our brother, we should make certain we do not put a stumbling block, Greek Proskomma, or a hindrance Greek skandalon in his way." Origen explains the meaning of skandalon, which is also sometimes translated as stumbling block. He says it means something lying on the road on which people travel. The people who walk on the road may strike their feet against it. As a result, they stumble and fall. The same thing can happen spiritually.
Our English word" scandal" comes from this Greek word since scandals in the church stumble others. However, we can stumble others through many means other than scandals. As was the case in the Roman church, we can even stumble others by doing something that is perfectly lawful for Christians. Regardless of the reason, Paul says that if we stumble our brother, we will answer to God for it. Therefore, we should concentrate on giving no cause for stumbling to anyone.
He who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no occasion for stumbling in him.