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Romans 14:10
The Judgment Seat of Christ
Romans 14:13-23
Paul has begun to address a specific issue within the assemblies in Rome. The believers there were
manifesting a lack of love toward one another.
There was an unwillingness on the part of the brethren to accept each others differences mainly,
differences in the ability of each to understand the liberty, with which Christ had made them free (Gal 5:1).
This was tending to divide the Roman assemblies along cultural lines, between Jew and Gentile.
There was the Jewish brother, who was still weak in the faith; who had not yet apprehended the fullness of
his freedom from the ceremonial Law that had bound him, all of his life. And there were the rest of the
brethren, who had more fully entered into this freedom most of whom were Gentile brethren, who had
never been subject to the Law in the first place.
The freer Gentiles judged their Jewish brother to be legalistic, and so bound up in the Law that he was of
no use to God. The inhibited Jewish brother condemned the liberated brethren as committing out-and-out
sin. Neither was willing to receive the other in love, which was creating disunity, in the church in Rome.
And so Paul encourages the brethren in Rome, to do exactly that to receive one another; to lovingly
accept one another. God has received them all into fellowship with Him the fellowship of the Father and
the Son. They have all been accepted in the Beloved. Who were they, to reject one whom God had
accepted?
Apparently, they thought they were each others judges. They would never have said that; but they lived
with their eyes upon one another, scrutinizing each others walks. When you are watching someone else
walk, that makes it very hard to watch where you are going. Watching someone else, you might step into
something like sin.
And thats what these believers had done. Paul makes it clear that their despising and condemning attitudes
are no less than sin. Each of them has a Master, who redeemed them off the slavemarket of sin; who now
has the say, as to what is done in their bodies. Each of them lives to please their Lord, and the Lord will
show them what is pleasing to Him. No believer has the right to judge anothers progress, in his walk of
faith. That authority belongs to the Lord, alone.
Paul then showed the believers in Rome a view of their judgmental attitudes from a unique perspective
the perspective of the judgment seat of Christ, the One to whom the Father has given the authority to
execute judgment (Jn 5:27). We find this mentioned in verse 10 of chapter 14.
In the Greek, the word judgment seat is bema, which literally means footroom. It denotes an elevated
place, or platform. The term was used for the tribunal of a ruler or a magistrate, where he delivered his
judgments. In this context, the bema is the divine tribunal of Christ, where He will judge those who have
believed in Him. We will stand before the foot of his tribunal, or throne, and He will deliver His judgment
of us.
Scripture does not specifically indicate where and when this judgment will take place; but there are some
things that we can understand about it. First of all, notice what Paul says about this judgment in verse 12:
each of us shall give account of himself to God.

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The term each of us in the Greek means each one of any number, separately. The judgment of each
believer will be separate, personal; it will be between just you, and your Lord; face to face.
And you will give an account to Him; in the Greek, this means, by word of mouth; with your own words,
you will give your account, to your Lord and Master.
An account of what? As we read last week, an account of what you have done, in your body; whether good
or bad. That was from part of Pauls second retained letter to the assembly in Corinth. Lets look at that
verse a little more closely.
Turn to Second Corinthians chapter 5. This verse comes at the conclusion of a passage in which Paul was
speaking of persevering in the faith, by keeping before our eyes the unseen spiritual realities.
Paul spoke of the mortal body, being swallowed up in Life everlasting, when it is glorified. And we have
the Holy Spirit, here and now, as the guarantee, the assurance that this hope our hope will indeed be
realized. Because of this, Paul says, we are confident.
Well begin in verse 6.
[Second Corinthians 5:6-10]
v. 6-7 While we are alive on earth, we are still in these earthen vessels. We are not yet in heaven with our
Lord; but we still do walk with Him, in the spirit of our being, when we walk by faith. As we walk by
faith, we are assured that our hope, to be with Him in glory, will be realized. So we are confident, in this
life.
v. 8 And we are confident, if we die. If we die, we will depart this earthen vessel, and go right into the
presence of our Lord, to be with Him, forever. And when the time comes for the Lord to catch up the
church on earth to Himself, when He descends from heaven, we will go with Him, and thats when our
bodies, that we left behind on the earth, will be raised, bodies of glory, and we will dwell in them, with our
Lord, forever (1 Th 4:13-17).
Will we miss having a body, in the interim? Will we miss anything, being with the Lord? No. In His
presence is fullness of joy (Ps 16:11). So we are not only confident, if we die; it is well-pleasing to us; that
is, we think it good; for we know will be with Him, whom we love.
v. 9 Paul has in mind that our confidence is based on the fact that the Lord took us for His own, and that
His purpose for us will be realized whether were still in this earthen vessel or not, we will be with Him,
in glory. He is our Lord; so our purpose is to be well-pleasing to Him, meaning to have our Masters
approval. What is it He approves of? The doing of His will. That should be our aim, throughout our
earthly course.
Now we come to the verse we read last week. This is Pauls explanation of why we should aim to be wellpleasing to the Lord.
v. 10 You belong to the Lord; He purchased you, with His own blood (1 Cor 6:20). You recognized His
ownership of your body; you presented your body to Him a living sacrifice (Rm 12:1), that His will be
done, in your body.

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Thats the good, that was done in your body; your obedience to His will, as you believed the Lord, to live
your righteousness. That is of great value to the Lord, for it was a glorious reflection of Him. And Paul
says elsewhere, for that, you will be praised (1 Cor 4:5).
But what about the rest of the things that were done, in your body? That was your will, that was done;
when you didnt believe the Lord, to live your righteousness. That was the bad that was done in your body;
in the Greek, bad actually means worthless. Those things have no value, for they did not reflect the
glory of the Lord.
So will the Lord condemn the believer, on account of those worthless things, that he did? No; in Christ, the
believer has been freed from all charges of sin and guilt; there is no condemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus not now (Rm 8:1); not ever.
But only for that which was done in obedience to the Lord will the believer receive the things done in the
body. What will the believer receive? A reward. And notice that each one receives this reward,
according to what they have done, in their body. We again have the sense that this is an individual
judgment, and that the reward is not all the same; it is commensurate with what the believer did, in his
body; how he lived his life.
Turn now to Pauls first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 3. We had looked at the beginning of this passage
recently, as we considered the division within the Corinthian assembly, over their various teachers. Paul
then went on to show that each of their teachers had his unique part, in bringing the Word of God to
Corinth; and that the Corinthian believers were responsible for what they did, with the that Word.
[First Corinthians 3:5-15]
v. 5-7 The word minister means servant. Paul and Apollos simply served the Lord, their Master, as He
showed each to do. Paul planted the good Seed of the Word of God into the hearts of those in Corinth; he
was the one whom the Lord entrusted to first preach the gospel there.
Apollos then watered that Seed; he followed through after Paul, in some way reinforcing those gospel
truths, until the Seed burst forth into Life Everlasting, for those who would believe. There was the increase
sons of God, added to the Kingdom; a harvest of souls.
And to whom does the credit go? Was it Pauls great preaching? No. Was it Apollos fine rhetoric? No
again. It wasnt the preachers; it was the Word. God gave that Word; it is the good news of Jesus Christ,
His Son, whom God sent. God gave the increase; and the glory of it all goes to Him. This is His work, to
reconcile men to Himself.
v. 8 How are Paul and Apollos one? They are one in the work. They are united in Gods ministry of
reconciling men to Himself. They are one in the work, but Paul says, each one individually will receive
his own reward, accord to his own labor.
Paul is speaking of the reward which each one of them will receive, at the judgment seat of Christ; the
reward of the servant, who has done His Masters will Well done, good and faithful servant (Mt 25:21).
And it is according to his own labor; what each one has done, in the body.
Paul now brings the believers in Corinth into this picture, changing metaphors as he goes.

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v. 9-11 So Paul moves from agriculture to architecture, here, but with the same concept. The ministers of
the gospel are fellow laborers with the Lord, in His work of bringing in sons for His kingdom.
Paul had been specifically graced by the Spirit to preach the gospel, in particular to those who had never
heard it before (Rm 15:20). And for anyone who was willing to receive those words of Life, Paul laid a
foundation in their lives; the only foundation that can be laid, in order to have Life everlasting; Jesus
Christ. Each one received that foundation, when they believed in Him.
The Corinthian believers are Gods building; each one who has believed has received the foundation of
Jesus Christ, in their lives. So now, they are in Christ; the foundation is sure; they are eternally secure.
They have become the righteousness of God, in Christ; they are justified.
But there is the foundation, and there is the building, which is built up on it. Paul laid the foundation,
through the gospel; but who builds on that foundation? Each believer does. What he builds on that
foundation is his life. And notice in verse 11 that Paul says, let each one take heed how he builds on it a
warning to the Corinthians, and to all believers to build carefully.
Here Paul is not looking at the building as the Body of Christ collectively, but as the building being the life
of each individual believer. Building is a process. You take your building materials, layering one upon
another, until your building is complete. Can you go back and change what you laid on the bottom? No;
its cemented in; and everything else is built up on top of it. Once its laid, it is laid.
And a life is similar. Living our lives is a process, its done through time. And time is like that cement;
once an opportunity is past, its past. What you did is cemented in place; you did it. Whatever building
material you chose, thats part of your building; its laid. So Paul says, be careful what you build with.
v. 12 Paul names some things that men build with. They fall into two basic categories. The first gold,
silver, precious stones are enduring materials non-combustible. These are all valuable, and they are
relatively rare; items of beauty and glory. They are found under the earth; much digging must be done, to
obtain them.
These are the precious, hard-won truths of Christ, that a man builds into his life, through faith. They
become a part of the believer, and so are manifested through the believer in righteous living; obedience to
the will of God; and the beauty and glory of the Lord can be seen.
The second set of materials wood, hay and straw are most notably combustible. They have little value,
as they are commonly found strewn all over the surface of the earth. They can be easily picked up,
anywhere.
Building with these materials represent a life built with the thinking of this world which is self-serving.
That thinking is easy to come by; no effort at all required to find it, and to take it in. But because that
thinking always serves self, it cannot serve God; in choosing this material, the will of God is not done, in
the believers life. No righteousness to be seen in that life the righteousness, that Christ died to give him.
No beauty or glory of the Lord, seen; all that is seen is self.
These are the materials with which a believer builds his life and he can choose one type, or the other, at
any given time. Pauls point here is not on how this affects his witness, in this present life although of
course it does his point is how it affects the believer himself, once that life comes to an end.

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v. 13-15 The day, in verse 13, refers to the day when each believer will give an account of his life, at the
judgment seat of Christ. What day is that? It would be different for every believer. It would be the day
each believer dies; when his earthly life is finished; when he finishes his building.
As we had read in Second Corinthians, when the believer dies, he is absent from the body, and present with
the Lord; he will go to be with the Lord in heaven, in his person; without a body, for a time.
In order to do that, he must leave behind all of the things that are not of God; the worthless things, that
were done by him, in his body; the wood, hay, and straw, with which he built his life. And the Lord will do
this for him; the Lord will consume those things, in the fire of His holiness.
The believer will suffer the loss of these things; this does not mean suffering, as in pain, but simply, that he
will forfeit those things. All gone!
The believer himself will not be lost; he is still secure on the foundation, Christ; but he will lose all of those
worthless things that he did, for himself. All of those things represent lost opportunities, when he could
have been serving His Master; when he could have been loving his brethren, and his fellow man. It is
indeed a loss.
But it is also a purification. Even as the fire of Gods holiness burns away that which is worthless, what
remains? The things of value. The things of God. The good, that was taken in and acted upon, in this
body, in obedience to the Lord. The righteousness, that we lived. The glory of our Lord, that we reflected.
With the dross burned away, these things will be clearly seen, to be of God. And that is our reward; what
we took in, and believed, and lived, of Christ, Himself. Our sanctification will be complete.
When the Lord returns to catch up His church, and our bodies are all conformed to His body of glory, then
that reward that outshining of the Lord, Himself will fill our glorified vessels; light, in a lightholder.
We will shine with the brightness of the firmament, like the stars forever and ever (Dan 12:3). We will all
reflect our Lord; and we will be content, in the extent that we do so.
But just as stars differ from each other in the radiance of their glory (1 Cor 15:41), so we will differ in how
splendidly we reflect our Lord based on how we built our lives, here. And therefore, we must also note
Pauls warning to take heed of how we build.
It is with this sobering thought of the Lords judgment that Paul continues in his exhortation to the
assemblies in Rome, concerning their lack of love for one another. Having touched upon their tendency to
judge one another, Paul now continues to address a different aspect of the problem they are having with
their liberty in Christ.
[Read Romans 14:13-23]
Paul is now addressing those who cause a brother to sin, because they are unwilling to limit the freedom
they have come to understand is theirs, in Christ.
Lets begin back in verse 13.

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v. 13 Paul is using a play on words as a transition, here. The word judge and resolve is the same word,
in the Greek; Paul is using it with a negative meaning first, speaking of the believers condemning one
another for their different practices. They are to no longer do that, especially in light of the fact that they
will be standing at the judgment seat of an infallible, all-knowing Judge!
Instead, they are to resolve this; that is, judge in their own minds that this is right not to put a stumbling
block or a cause to fall in their brothers way. They are to stop looking at how their brother is living, and
look at their own lives in the Light of the Lord.
Literally, a stumbling block is an obstacle; and a cause to fall, a trap. Both have the same meaning, in
the metaphorical sense; to be a hindrance. If you put a hindrance in your brothers way, what is it that you
are hindering? His walk. Paul is saying, dont hinder your brothers walk; his progress, in his life of the
faith. How would they do that? Paul continues.
v. 14-15 Now it becomes clear to us that Paul is speaking to those who have learned about their freedom in
Christ; the majority of these would be the Gentile brethren, in Rome. So who would be the brother, who is
being caused to fall? The Jewish brother, who is weak in the faith. Paul introduces the subject, with the
example of eating.
First Paul states his agreement with the brethren who recognize they are free to eat any food. Paul was a
Jew, and a Pharisee at that, who meticulously kept the ceremonial Law, especially regarding issues of
purification. Clean and unclean foods, were paramount, to the Pharisees, whose very name meant,
separated ones. They had to keep themselves separated from all that defilement out there!
But Paul had become convinced by the Lord Jesus this is very personal here, and suggests that Jesus
revealed this directly to Paul that no food is unclean, in itself. And Paul was persuaded by His Lord, that
this was true; he knew it to be so. Here Paul is strongly affirming the belief of the Gentiles as a former
Jew, who understood ceremonial defilement food, in itself, cannot defile a man, and therefore all foods
may be freely eaten.
But no sooner had Paul say this, then he adds a qualifying truth to it; that to him who considers anything to
be unclean, to him, it is unclean. What does Paul mean? He just said nothing is unclean, in itself. Paul is
speaking, not of the food itself, but of how a person regards the food.
The Jewish brother, who is weak in the faith, thinks that certain foods like those offered to idols can
defile him, before God. He believes that eating such a food would therefore be to dishonor God. In his
case, if he ate, he would be violating what he believed in his heart that God required of him; his own
impure motive would cause the defilement. So to him, the food would indeed be unclean because of what
he believed about it.
Likewise, if any other believer ate that food, offered to an idol, the brother who is weak in the faith would
believe that they had been defiled; that they had dishonored God. And this would grieve them; the idea is
that they would be hurt, or offended by this.
Now, remember that those who recognized their freedom in Christ were in the majority, in Rome. What
would it be like, for the Jewish brother, who was weak in the faith, to see brother after brother, defiling
himself, at least in this brothers eyes?

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Paul says that this would be no less than destroying the one for whom Christ died with their food! The
idea is not eternal condemnation here a believer cannot lose their salvation. The word destroy is being
used figuratively, with the meaning of bringing something to naught; to nothing.
Christ died for this brother, showing his great value, to the Lord. Paul is saying, dont bring that great
value to nothing, over something of such little value such as your freedom to eat a certain food. Is your
freedom in that worth ruining this brothers well-being, in the Body of Christ? Is it worth a serious setback,
in their progress, in the faith?
Here Paul is redefining what it is to be truly free, in Christ; what it really means, to be strong in the faith. It
is not only to be free to do something; it is to be free not to do it for loves sake.
When something that we are free to do is hurtful or offensive to another member of the Body, we are to
exercise our freedom to not do that thing. Love is willing to sacrifice its comfort, its pleasure, its own
interests, in order to promote the well-being of a brother.
Paul goes on to show that when a brother is unwilling to limit himself, it hurts more than just the weaker
brother.
v. 16-18 What Paul is bringing out is that liberty untempered by love can affect the witness of believers, to
those on the outside.
The term spoken of as evil in verse 16 in the Greek means to blaspheme; to revile, or hurt the reputation.
Whose reputation? That of Christs Body, and so, of Christ. Your good, which Paul is speaking of in the
same verse is referring to the liberty that believers have, in Christ.
In what way would that wind up hurting the reputation of Christ and His Body, among those on the
outside? Well, what will unbelievers see? Theyll see some members who are inconsiderate; others who
are offended; and probably, both disputing with one another, as to who is right. Will they see love? No.
Jesus said, By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (Jn 13:34).
Instead, no one will know. They will not know that they are looking at the sons of Gods kingdom.
Paul reminds the brethren that the kingdom of God is not eating or drinking. Those are just things you do
for yourself, for the benefit of your own body. And its temporal; one has to continually take them in, for
sustenance; and when the body goes back to the dust of the ground, so does everything it took in (1 Cor
6:13).
Instead, Paul says, the kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. These are
things that you do for others, for the benefit of the Body of Christ.
Righteousness here refers to right conduct toward others treating our brethren as they should be treated
in love; which promotes the bond of peace unity, among the members of the Body of Christ; and joy the
genuine well-being, of all. And these qualities of the Kingdom of God, perpetuated among the sons of the
Kingdom, will continue with them right on into eternity.
By serving Christ in this way, as the Holy Spirit reveals to each believer how to walk in love, the Christ
One is well-pleasing to God. And even men of the world will approve the believer.

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This term means approving something after a careful examination, like a jeweler examining a stone to
determine its quality and value, its genuineness. Christians are under the microscope of a skeptical world
that are constantly assessing how they live with one another, how they treat one another. Even the world
can grasp the goodness and genuineness of love, when they see it.
Paul concludes this with an encouragement to love.
v. 19-21 Paul is continuing to focus on the brethren who are appreciating their freedom here principally
the Gentiles. He is encouraging them to pursue peace with their weaker brother by loving them enough
to limit their freedom.
This will build up the weaker brother; build him up in the faith, giving him the opportunity to learn of his
own freedom, at his own pace, from the Lord.
In verse 20, Paul puts it in the negative dont destroy the work of God dont tear down what He is
building.
Here Paul is speaking of the church in the collective sense. What is God building? He is building a holy
temple, in the Lord; a dwelling place of God, in the Spirit; a place where He will abide, in the very midst.
That building is founded on the cornerstone, Christ. And what is this building composed of? Living
stones. And they are being fitted together, by the Master Builder.
Only God can build His building; but any member of the Body of Christ can act to tear it down. How?
Simply by refusing to love another; by refusing to be fitted, by the Master Builder; by causing division, by
creating disunity. It wont stop God from completing His work; man cannot thwart Gods plans. But God
will have to work around that unyielding stone.
In the case of the Gentile majority in Rome, the issue was food meat and wine, both of which were
offered to idols, which caused the weaker brother to stumble. But Paul expands this to include anything
anything which would cause another brother to stumble.
The word offense in verse 20 and stumbles in verse 21 are the noun and verb form of the same word,
respectively. In verse 20, its a cause to stumble; for the brother who exercises his freedom and eats,
thereby causing his weaker brother to stumble, its evil; harmful.
In verse 21, the word ends the verse in the oldest manuscripts; the words or is offended or is made weak
are not in the original. So the emphasis here is on stumbling, as opposed to merely grieving the brother
who is weak in the faith, in verse 15.
The brother who is weak in the faith witnesses a stronger brother freely eating what the weaker brother
believes to be forbidden by God. And against his own convictions in the matter, this weaker brother goes
ahead and eats. Now he believes he has defiled himself and he has, because he went ahead and did
something that he truly believes dishonored God because he saw another doing it.
He feels unclean; guilty. And instead of being built up in the faith, he is more doubtful than ever. He is
hindered, in his walk; and all because his brother refused to let love temper his freedom. But the food is not
only unclean to the weaker brother; it is evil to the stronger brother, also, because his lack of love is sin.
Uncleanness, all around! And not because of eating the food, but because of what was in the heart.

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Paul puts it in perspective in his letter to the Corinthians: Food does not commend us to God; for neither
if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse. But beware lest somehow this liberty of
yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak (1 Cor 8:8-9).
And Paul makes it clear that it is more than just an offense against a brother: When you thus sin against
the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ (1 Cor 8:12).
But its not just about food, is it? Its about anything, which the Lord has shown us that we are free to do.
We must also recognize our freedom not to do it to let love temper our freedom should it be an issue for
a brother who hasnt recognized that freedom, yet.
But how are we to know if it would be an issue? The Lord knows, if its an issue; and through the Spirit
within us, He will enlighten us as to the needs of our brethren. Sometimes the harder issue is our
willingness to submit to His leading loving our brethren, more than ourselves.
Some may think that it would be hypocritical, for a believer to conduct himself one way, in certain
circumstances, and another way, in a different setting. This is not hypocrisy. Hypocrisy would be if our
actions do not match up to our words; and they certainly always should.
What this is different conduct, in different circumstances is not hypocrisy, but flexibility. To always
conduct ourselves the same way would be to live by rigid principle. We live by a Person our Lord who
reveals to us how to love the others that come into our lives, and that takes many different forms.
Returning to our passage, Paul now sums up his thoughts to the stronger and the weaker brother.
v. 22-23 So we have Pauls final word, first to the stronger brother, then to the weaker brother. Two key
words can be seen in common, between the two verses: faith, and condemnation. The idea is that each
brother must act upon, and within the scope of, the faith that they have.
Theres a note of humor in what Paul says to the stronger brother. We could rephrase it, The faith that you
have keep it to yourself, before God.
This is about the freedom that the stronger brother has discovered, by faith. Now, Paul is not saying, Keep
your freedom behind closed doors. Hes saying, Dont try to impose it upon others, who havent yet
realized that freedom, for themselves. Youre free to do it; recognize you are also free to not do it, for
Loves sake. Recognize the limit of Love.
Then the stronger brother will be happy the word is actually, blessed. Exercising his freedom properly, he
does not condemn himself; he has a clear conscience.
But what about the weak brother? Because he doubts; he is unsure that the action is right in this case,
eating meat he would be condemned if he eats. Of course, this is not speaking of eternal condemnation,
but is referring to more than a guilty conscience.
Because his motive for eating was impure he had doubt, and so did not really believe it was right to eat
then for him, it is sin. He has dishonored God, not because of the food, but because of the uncertainty in
his heart. Whatever is not from faith is sin; if you cannot trust God for something you may do, you
dishonor Him, if you do it.

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The key here is to have our eyes on the Lord, and not on each other; to let the Lord show us how to live,
and what is right for us; and what is right for us to do, in any situation. His ways are always the ways of
Love; and were learning to have His ways be our ways.
Reading: Romans 14, 15; Psalm 69.

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