Romans – A Treatise
Chapter Fourteen
THE SOVEREIGN CLAIMS OF CHRIST
Scripture Reading: verses 8-13
FOR WHETHER WE LIVE, WE LIVE UNTO THE LORD; AND WHETHER WE DIE, WE DIE UNTO THE LORD: WHETHER WE LIVE THEREFORE, OR DIE, WE ARE THE LORD’S. FOR TO THIS END CHRIST BOTH DIED, AND ROSE, AND REVIVED, THAT HE MIGHT BE LORD BOTH OF THE DEAD AND LIVING. BUT WHY DOST THOU JUDGE THY BROTHER? OR WHY DOST THOU SET AT NAUGHT THY BROTHER? FOR WE SHALL ALL STAND BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST. FOR IT IS WRITTEN, AS I LIVE, SAITH THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL CONFESS TO GOD. SO THEN EVERY ONE OF US SHALL GIVE ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF TO GOD. LET US NOT THEREFORE JUDGE ONE ANOTHER ANY MORE: BUT JUDGE THIS RATHER, THAT NO MAN PUT A STUMBLINGBLOCK OR AN OCCASION TO FALL, IN HIS BROTHER’S WAY.
There seems to be a tone of pleading in the apostle’s voice. No servant of Christ ever had such an affectionate passion for the welfare of his brethren as the Apostle Paul. He suffered unspeakable things for their sakes. He went through innumerable trials to bring them the light of God’s truth for their guidance and their happiness. He suffered unspeakably from misunderstanding, envy and hatred of his own misguided brethren. Yet he unflinchingly went through it all, always seeking to be helpful, although constantly unrequited for his devotion. Perhaps in this way he has marked out a path for every servant of Christ who would be loyal to his Lord. Too frequently when we seek to do service for our Lord we expect to get recognition or expressions of gratitude from those around us. This is only natural and it is certainly gratifying if it comes. But the test of true loyalty to the One who has died for us and risen again, is to go through misunderstanding, envy, deceit, persecution, and yet remain unflinchingly devoted in our path of service.
In these verses the sovereign authority of the Lord Jesus is the keynote. It ought to give reassurance to every Christian heart to know that both in life and death we belong to the Lord. Many of us have seen loved ones go into the tomb. They have gone beyond the reach of our grasp. The moment their eyes close in death, there is nothing we can do to touch their consciousness. And who has stood by the deathbed of a departed beloved friend without feeling utter helplessness as the gates of death close in with unrelenting separation? How good to know that death cannot take the Christian out of the grasp of the Lord Jesus. He is Lord of both the living and the dead. The psalmist could say, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.”
A Christian has the assurance of not being alone in death. Having obeyed the Gospel of our Lord, A child of God is forever His, whether in life or death. It is easy to find a religion that is good enough to live by, but different indeed to find a solid foundation in the face of death. Every Christian may say, “Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.”
In verse 9 Paul gives the reason for this: “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living.” Man’s tragic need is so overwhelmingly great that the remedy required is supernatural. Any system of philosophy or religion that operates only during man’s mortal life is worthless. The distinction of Christianity is that the Savior is Lord of life and death, both alike lying totally within the perimeter of His omnipotent love and power. In such a sovereignty as Paul expressed here concerning Christ, He partakes of the godhead, as He Himself said, “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matt. 22:32), Paul’s words here in no wise contradicting that, because two different sectors of the same meaning are spoken of, i.e., Paul having in mind the Christians who have passed through death, and Christ’s reference being to the state of them that have passed through it, their state being in no sense one of annihilation but a state of abeyance awaiting the judgment. Both statements emphasize the sovereignty of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ over the totality of life and death. Thus, life and death are viewed in Holy Scripture as two states of existence, both of which are under divine authority and control. It is also evident that God’s purpose of demonstrating this authority and control was served by the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord.
Perhaps we can understand this verse a little better if we go back to the Lord’s pathway here on earth. Remember the day when He stood outside the rocky cave that entombed the body of Lazarus? Martha and Mary and their friends stood around weeping bitterly and Jesus mingled His tears with theirs in sympathetic sorrow. Then He commanded that the stone be rolled away and He spoke with a loud voice saying, “Lazarus, come forth.” Promptly the dead man came forth from the tomb. It is interesting that the Lord then said, “Loose him, and let him go.” He was still bound with the grave clothes but he was liberated. Then we see him sitting at table with Jesus. This teaches us a great lesson. In a very real sense the Christian is spiritually a resurrected person. We were dead in trespasses and in sins. We have been quickened together with Christ. We have been “let go” from the bonds of death. In other words, we have been given liberty to move according to our own inclination. Perhaps we should ask ourselves in what direction have we gone since being spiritually resurrected – saved by God’s grace? Our so called modern society produces far too many Christians who seem to think they have been saved in order to do as they please. The fact is, we have been liberated in order to do as the Lord pleases. Lazarus was set free to go and he went directly into the company of the Lord Jesus, where we find him in the beginning of John 12. He acknowledged that he owed everything to the One who brought him out of the tomb. That is the thought in this Romans 14 passage. As Christians, we were dead spiritually. By the operative power of God we have been quickened and now we are set free, and we must acknowledge that we owe everything to the Lord Jesus Christ. How instant should be our obedience to His Word. How much we should desire to be in communion with Him, sitting at table with Him.
It is with this background of thought that the apostle says, “Why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother?” The plaintive manner of Paul’s question shows not merely disapproval, but wonder and incredulity that people could be so oblivious to their own need of mercy in the impending judgment, and so unreasonably conceited as to busy themselves with judging their fellow Christians. Thus in this, another instance, looms the large problem which is never far out of sight in this entire epistle, namely, that of human pride and conceit. In fact, careful study of Romans shows clearly that practically all of it bears on this. In the early chapters, the inclusion of all under sin, and the great emphasis throughout that salvation may not be deserved or earned by any, and the efforts in Romans 10 through 11 to remove the emerging conceit of the Gentiles, the blunt warning against it in Romans12:16 and bearing on it throughout that entire chapter, as well as the outcropping of the problem here – all these things show how full the apostolic awareness was of this universal human trait and how thoroughly Paul strove to destroy it. We are responsible to Christ: we shall appear before Him. Therefore, there is no place for uncharitable judgments or self-righteous exclusiveness between Christians.
“For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” What an antidote for conceit. This is the same as “the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Cor. 5:10). The direction of thought from here through the twelfth verse is this: stop judging your brother, for God will judge him an you.
Since all believers have literally been resurrected from spiritual death there should be a mutual sympathy with one another, and a great sense of forbearance, acknowledging together that we are each “another Man’s servant.”
Further, we must keep in mind that we are going to give an account to the Lord for the way in which we treat each other. If one is weak in the faith and we sit in judgment on him, then we must realize there is a day coming when the Lord will Himself sit in judgment on us. We shall be gathered at the judgment seat of Christ to review the deeds done in the body. “To him that overcorneth will I grant to sit with me in my throne.” The manner in which we have treated our brethren will have much to do with our place of distinction in the coming kingdom. So in verse 13 Paul says, “Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.”
Paul here included himself, not as a confession of guilt in the matter of the judgments he was condemning, but in order to make a more delicate and persuasive appeal to his readers (just as he doubtless did in Heb. 2:1-3).
In this, and to the end of the chapter, Paul spoke of the proper use of Christian liberty. Having shown that it is sinful to judge fellow Christians concerning things immaterial and unessential, he proceeded to show how the governing principle in such forbearance is that of love for men who are beneficiaries of the blood of Christ, who have been redeemed from sin and made to stand in the body of Christ Himself.
It is no trivial matter to cause a brother to stumble. We believe that the “falling” here means falling from God’s grace, falling away from the eternal inheritance, and falling so as to be lost eternally. However, many today do not believe that a child of God can actually fall from grace and be lost. Whatever the meaning, it is evident that dire consequences follow the contemptuous “setting at naught” of a weak brother. Paul, speaking through inspiration, is clear: the disaster recoils upon the head of the “strong” offender. Let us never doubt God’s Holy Word – “Setting at naught” is a dangerous and deadly sin.
Futher comment is not needed on this because no doubt it touches us all intimately.
