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.
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.
- BSB Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
- 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 every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
- 1 Cor 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
- Eccl 12:14For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
- Rom 2:16In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
- Rom 14:3–4Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
- Matt 25:31–32When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
- John 5:22For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
- Acts 10:42And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
- Jude 1:14–15And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
- Rev 20:11–15And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
- Acts 4:11This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
- Acts 17:31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
- Luke 23:11And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.