Commentary - Romans 14:10-12

Bird's-eye view

In this short section, Paul brings his argument concerning Christian liberty and mutual forbearance to a sharp focal point. He has been addressing two groups in the Roman church: the "weak in faith," who feel bound by conscience to abstain from certain foods and to observe special days, and the "strong," who understand their freedom in Christ. The problem was not the practices themselves, but the sinful attitudes that accompanied them. The weak were judging the strong, and the strong were despising the weak. Paul's solution is to lift their eyes from their horizontal squabbles to a vertical reality. He reminds them of the final, ultimate judgment, the one that actually matters. Both parties have forgotten their place. They are fellow servants of the same Master, and one day they will each give an individual account to that Master. This future accounting before the judgment seat of God completely reframes their present disagreements over non-essential matters.

The apostle accomplishes this by asking two piercing rhetorical questions, one to each group, before grounding his argument in two profound theological truths. The first is that we will all stand before God's judgment seat. The second, buttressed by a quote from Isaiah, is that every knee will bow and every tongue confess to God. The conclusion is therefore inescapable: each of us will give an account of himself to God, not of his brother. This passage is a potent corrective to the perennial Christian temptation to usurp God's role as judge and to allow secondary matters to create sinful divisions in the body of Christ.

Outline

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you view your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

Paul now addresses both factions in the church directly. He begins with the "weak" brother, the one who abstains from meat. "But you, why do you judge your brother?" The word for judge here is krino, and it carries the sense of passing a verdict, of condemning. This brother, scrupulous in his own conscience, was looking at the brother who ate freely and was inwardly (or perhaps outwardly) declaring him to be licentious, worldly, and disobedient. He had set himself up as the arbiter of another man's conscience, which is a place he has no authority to be. God has welcomed this brother (v. 3), so who are you to condemn him?

Then Paul turns to the "strong" brother. "Or you again, why do you view your brother with contempt?" The word for contempt is exoutheneo, meaning to treat as nothing, to despise. The strong brother, confident in his liberty, looked down on the weak brother as superstitious, legalistic, unenlightened. He saw his brother's scruples not as a matter of a tender conscience, but as a mark of spiritual immaturity to be scorned. Both attitudes, judging and despising, are sins. They both tear at the fabric of unity in the church. And Paul says they are both rendered absurd by the same great reality.

"For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God." This is the great corrective. The reason you must not set up your own petty judgment seat in the church is that there is a real one, and you will be standing before it, not sitting on it. This is often called the bema-seat judgment, from the Greek word used here and in 2 Corinthians 5:10. This is not the Great White Throne judgment that separates the saved from the lost. This is a judgment for believers, an evaluation of our lives and works. Your focus is entirely misplaced. You are busy inspecting your brother's spiritual service record when you should be preparing your own for inspection by the Lord Himself. Before that throne, all our earthly distinctions and disagreements over things like diet will shrink to their proper, minuscule proportions. We are all fellow-servants, and the Master is coming to review our work.

v. 11 For it is written, “AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, TO ME EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL CONFESS TO GOD.”

To anchor this truth, Paul reaches back into the Old Testament, quoting from Isaiah 45:23. This is not some new idea; it is rooted in the character of God as the sovereign Lord of all. The quote begins with a solemn oath: "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD." This is God swearing by His own existence. What follows is therefore as certain as the fact that God is God. There are no exceptions, no loopholes.

"TO ME EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW." This speaks of universal submission. There is not a creature in heaven or on earth or under the earth who will not bend the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ. For some, this will be the glad and willing submission of a redeemed heart. For others, it will be the forced, resentful submission of a conquered rebel. But all will bow. The universe is not a democracy; it is a monarchy, and Jesus is the King. When you judge your brother, you are acting as though you are the one to whom knees should bow.

"AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL CONFESS TO GOD." This parallels the bowing of the knee. It is a universal, verbal acknowledgment of God's rightful authority. Again, for some this will be a joyful confession of praise, like Thomas crying "My Lord and my God!" For others, it will be the choked admission of defeat before they are cast into outer darkness. But every mouth will be stopped from its excuses and arguments, and every tongue will be compelled to state the truth of God's sovereignty. The point for the Romans is this: the tongue you are currently using to judge or despise your brother is a tongue that will one day confess to God. You should get it in practice now, by using it to praise Him and edify your brother.

v. 12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

Paul draws the sharp, practical, and unavoidable conclusion. "So then..." Because there is a judgment seat, and because God has sworn that all will bow and confess to Him, this is the necessary result. "Each one of us will give an account of himself to God." Notice the emphasis on individuality. "Each one of us." Not "we as a group," but each Christian, one by one. There is no hiding in a crowd at the judgment seat of Christ. Your pastor can't answer for you. Your spouse can't answer for you. The brother you were judging can't answer for you.

And what will the account be about? It will be an account "of himself." You will not be asked to give an account of the brother who ate meat. You will not be asked to render a verdict on the brother who only ate vegetables. You will be giving an account of your own deeds, words, thoughts, and motives. Did you walk in love? Did you build up your brother? Did you use your liberty to serve others, or to please yourself? Did you treat your brother's conscience with care, or with contempt? The accounting will be personal and thorough. Knowing this should instill a holy sobriety in us, and it should radically reorient our priorities away from the minor failings of our brothers and toward the state of our own hearts before God.

Application

The application of this passage is direct and strikes at the heart of much of the discord that troubles churches. We are commanded to stop acting as unauthorized spiritual auditors for our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we judge another believer on matters of conscience, we are climbing onto a throne that belongs to God alone. When we despise a brother for his scruples, we are mocking a servant who belongs to our own Master.

The central lesson is to cultivate a profound sense of our own accountability to God. The day is coming when we will stand before Christ to have our lives evaluated. This is not a cause for morbid fear for the justified believer, for there is now no condemnation. But it is a cause for sober self-examination. The rewards at the bema seat are for faithful service, and a key aspect of faithful service is how we treat our fellow servants. Are we building the church in love, or are we tearing it down with our critical spirit and our arrogance?

Therefore, when you are tempted to judge a brother over some secondary issue, whether it be diet, worship styles, schooling choices, or political opinions, stop and remember the judgment seat of God. Remind yourself that both you and your brother will have to give an account to the Lord. This perspective does not eliminate all discernment, but it does eliminate all sinful, self-righteous, and contemptuous judgment. It replaces our critical spirit with a spirit of humility, charity, and an urgent focus on our own walk with God. Mind your own business before the Lord, because one day you will have to give an account of it.