Judgment Belongs To God Alone

May 30th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Romans 14:9-12 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? 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 give praise to God.” 12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

The phrase “to this end” is a reference to v. 8 where believers are said to belong to the Lord whether in life or in death. Whether in the believer’s life or death, Jesus Christ Himself both died and lived again “that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” John Stott comments, saying, “It is wonderful that the apostle lifts the very mundane question of our mutual relationships in the Christian community to the high theological level of the death, resurrection, and consequent universal lordship of Jesus. Because He is our Lord, we must live for Him. Because He is also the Lord of our fellow Christians, we must respect their relationship to Him and mind our own business. For He died and rose to be Lord.”

This brings up the ever-present debate on Christ’s lordship, for to deny the lordship of Christ –His reign over all true Christians—in the life of any believer is to challenge what Christ accomplished at the cross and what His subsequent resurrection means for Christians. How utterly preposterous it is that some can call Christ their Savior and yet fail to submit to Him as Lord! After all, Christ died not only to save those who would believe in Him but also to rule as King in place of the sin that once enslaved them. So, if Jesus is Lord, then submission to Him is the fruit of one’s salvation. If there is no fruit, can there really be salvation? Paul said, “Thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness… But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life” (Rom. 6:17-18, 22).

Now in v. 10 Paul sarcastically asks why any Christian, in light of the fact that Jesus is the Lord of all, would think to judge behaviors that are not theirs to judge. Of course Christians are to judge immoral behavior inside the church (cf. 1 Cor. 5:9-13) but not amoral actions based on conscience. Since the Lord God is our Master, then it is His right alone to judge us. Other Christians cannot usurp what belongs to the Lord God Almighty, and weak-strong issues are only for God to judge. So, when believers judge their fellow Christians for drinking/not drinking, eating/not eating, or observing/not observing, they cross a line they are not meant to cross. Judge immoral, sinful behavior, yes, but not quirks. All will stand before the judgment seat of God (Gr. bema), and then “each man’s work will become evident, for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:13-15).

Food For Thought
Note the similar use of titles and names of God from v. 3 to v. 9. They present one of the clearest teachings of the deity of Christ. In v. 3, Paul speaks of God, in v. 4 of the Lord, in v. 6 of both the Lord (three times) and God (twice), in v. 8 of the Lord (three times), and in v. 9 nine times, specifically of Christ as being Lord. Because of this, every knee will indeed bow to Christ, and every tongue will “confess” that He is Lord (v. 11, from Isa. 45:23). ALL will “confess” Jesus as Lord, but “confess” in Greek really means “praise.” So, even atheists and Satanists will one day sample the sweet taste of praise for God, then they will be cast away forever from Him.