Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
Parallel translations
- WEB But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
- KJV But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
- NKJV But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
- NASB But as for you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you as well, why do you regard your brother or sister with contempt? For we will all appear before the judgment seat of God.
- NLT So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Since every believer will stand before God's judgment seat, no one is in a position to judge or despise a brother. God alone is the final Judge of His servants.
Overview
Paul confronts both the weak who judge and the strong who despise with the same sobering reality: all alike will give account before God. This levels every believer and forbids us from taking the Judge's seat over one another. The judgment seat here concerns evaluation of the redeemed, not condemnation, yet it demands humility and an end to censorious attitudes toward fellow Christians.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 2 Cor 5:10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.
- 1 Cor 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
- Eccl 12:14For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
- Rom 2:16on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.
- Rom 14:3–4The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him.
- Matt 25:31–32When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne.
- John 5:22Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son,
- Acts 10:42And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead.
- Jude 1:14–15Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them: “Behold, the Lord is coming with myriads of His holy ones
- Rev 20:11–15Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.
- Acts 4:11This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’
- Acts 17:31For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
- Luke 23:11And even Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked Him. Dressing Him in a fine robe, they sent Him back to Pilate.
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 14:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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