Daily Thoughts from Romans – Passing Judgment (14:1-12)

Daily Thoughts from Romans – Passing Judgment

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written,

   “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”

So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.  (Romans 14:1-12 ESV)

Some people have more freedom in their consciences to engage in the good things God has provided us but that is no cause to argue with or look down upon those whose consciences are more sensitive and try to get them to engage in those freedoms.  And the ones with sensitive consciences shouldn’t judge those with freedom for participating in something the sensitive ones feel is wrong for them.  Each one is a servant of God, so let God pass any judgment.

Believers live and die before God, our ultimate authority, so if we honor certain days (say, that the Sabbath must be on Saturday or Sunday) or eat certain foods or don’t, that is an issue between us and God.  We’ll all stand before God’s judgment seat, not to determine if we are saved but to establish our rewards or lack thereof.  Leave judgment to Him.

God will measure our success more accurately than anyone else. A missionary to China worked ten years and when he returned home for furlough his friends wanted to know how many converts he had made. When he said one they mentally wrote him off as unsuccessful. However, during that time he had also published a translation of the Bible which ultimately led countless to Christ. – John Walvoord –