Romans 14:1-12--Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another

Romans 14:1-12
English Standard Version

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another
14 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 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. 4 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.

5 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. 6 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. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 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. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

10 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; 11 for it is written,

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

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

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This passage speaks volumes to me because I've been guilty of violating this many times in my life.  There is a time for training and discipleship for those who are "weak in faith," but the point is not to be quarrelsome or to win arguments.  Paul is specifically taking about issues of conscience here that are not necessarily "black and white" issues in the Scripture.  Specifically, Paul addresses the issues of meat sacrificed to idols and the celebration of the Jewish Sabbaths (not just worshiping on the seventh day, but also their holidays that had special meaning to the Jews because these days were to help them remember what God did for them and who God is).  The Gentiles had a hard time connecting with the Jewish Kosher laws or the Jewish feasts and festivals because that wasn't who they were.

There was some real question about if the Gentiles needed to first become Jewish before they could become Christian so that they could see the fulfillment of the gospel in all of these areas.  Paul has already addressed that issue and said that was not necessary--also God had His say in the matter when the Holy Spirit came upon Cornelius and his household in a similar, but different way than he came to the Jews at Pentecost.  There was no need to first become Jewish before becoming a Christian.

We are not to pass judgment on each other because some of us don't eat meat sacrificed to idols (many Jews did not do this because of the Law) and choose to eat only vegetables instead (like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah in Daniel 1).  God is the only one who has the right to judge His servants, and if He chooses not to judge them in this area, then who are we to try to supersede His authority and stand in His place to pass judgment where He has not?

Again, with the Sabbath days, Paul says for each man to be fully convinced in his own mind--he does not say either is right or wrong.  Everything that is done should be done in a way that is honoring to the Lord (and not to gain the applause or honor of men).  Everything we do should be unto Christ because He is the one who gave us life, He is the one who redeemed us, so we belong to Him, and He is the one who is the judge of both the living and the dead.  In the end, we will not judge each other, but all of us will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and we will all bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.  We are accountable to God for how we live as children of God.

A note here that this passage is not to stop us from being discerning.  Not everyone who calls themselves "Christian," "brother" or "sister" belongs to God.  There is also a proper place for judgment of sin in the Church--we see that in 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians especially, but other places as well.  Do not abuse this passage to say that we are never to give a defense of our faith--that's not the same as quarreling.  The big takeaway here is to make sure that everything which is said and done is said and done in a way that points people to Jesus and gives Him glory.  We are to remember to extend grace to our brothers and sisters with the same measure with which we want it to be extended to us (both right now by them, and by God when He judges us).  Be patient with those who are "weak" in faith and instruct them and disciple them, but do not judge them or quarrel with them.