Living by Faith - Romans

Judgments

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Living by Faith

Lesson: 56-64

Genre: Talk

Track: 056

Dictation Name: RR311ZC56

Location/Venue:

Year: ?

Let us worship God. Thus saith the Lord, ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Jesus said blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Let us pray. Oh Lord our God we give thanks unto Thee that Thou art ever mindful of us; that Thy grace and mercy never fails. We confess that all too often the pride of our heart and our vain desires deflect us from the work Thou hast called us to do. But we thank Thee that by Thy grace and mercy we are ever recalled to Thy side into Thy purpose; and that Thou art He who dost make all things work together for good to them that love Thee, to them who are the called according to Thy purpose. Bless us this day and always in Thy service, and grant that we may behold wonderous things out of Thy law. in Christ’s name we pray, amen.

Our scripture is Romans 14:6-13, and our subject: Judgments. Romans 14:6-13, Judgments.

“6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.

8 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.

9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

10 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.

11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

13 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 has been speaking of the jots and tittles of the law, the minor details of God’s requirements of us. He never says that these jots and tittles of the law are to be discounted or disregarded, but what he does say is that we are not to judge one another in these matters. When we read the law of God, we find that there are some areas where judgement is committed to men. There are other matters, some of them very serious, where God’s law calls for no human enforcement. One of these is tithing. God reserves judgement in many areas to Himself. So that we cannot take upon ourselves to judge all things; where we have a God given authority and a jurisdiction, there we have a duty to judge. In those areas which God reserve unto Himself, we have a duty to be silent.

Moreover, Paul is here talking about persons, who while differing, take their faith very, very seriously. The question at stake is with days and diets. All involved, on both sides of the issue, were very devout Christians. Paul is not talking about those who were indifferent, nor those who were simply conventional in their faith. All of these were a God centered people. Paul is not saying that they were both right; what he says in verse 6 is that: “He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.”

In other words, he says both sides are very earnest Christians. Both sides are trying to be very faithful, these are not indifferent believers, nor conventional ones. Now Paul, let me repeat, is not saying that they are both right, but simply, both are doing it to the Lord, a statement repeated four times in this single verse.

Unhappily, these people, on both sides zealous believers, represent also a fact still with us; zealous believers are often the most ready to fight, and Paul is commending them to another way, to be the most ready to love one another. Incidentally, this verse also gives evidence of the universal custom of prayer before meals. This of course was not new to the church, it came from the Old Testament practice.

Then he continues in verse 7: “For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.”

If we are Christians, we know we do not live or die for ourselves, we are the Lord’s, everything we do must be God-centered. And Paul is saying none of us who take our faith seriously are humanistic, man centered in our perspective. The test of Christian living for Paul is both living and dying for the Lord. We have a sovereign, and His name is not man.

Hodge sums up the meaning of this verse in these words, I quote: “No Christian considers himself as his own master, or at liberty to regulate his conduct according to his own will or for his own ends, he is the servant of Christ, and therefore endeavors to live according to his will and for his glory. The sentiment is that we are entirely His, having no authority over our life or death.”

Now that statement is particularly pertinent. If we have no authority over our life or death, we certainly do not have such an authority over the lives of our fellow believers except in so far as God gives it to us, and in the particular areas God requires it, and none other.

Verse 8 stresses this further; Paul says: “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.”

We are not the authors of life nor death, and our purposes cannot govern anything. It is God’s, His will, that must govern us. We are His property. Paul is emphatic on this point. This is why he begins this epistle with the words quoted from the Old Testament, that the just shall live by faith. Not by their own reasoning, not by their own will, nor by their authority, but by God’s grace and a life of faith which trusts the every word of God. As our Lord says, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

As Paul says in verse 9: “For to this end Christ both died and rose and revived, that He might be the Lord both of the dead and the living.” Christ came to be the head of the New Humanity, and as such He gives us the perfect example of one who lives and dies unto the Lord, and because of that, as the head of the new humanity, He is the victor over death and the grave, the conqueror of sin. And He is the Lord, therefore, of both the dead and the living.

So Paul tells us in this verse that Christ is the Lord. Christ in His incarnation had to gain lordship as the New Adam by His obedience. He did so by His life, death, and resurrection, as well as by His obedience. He gained thereby dominion over death, and over the dead and the living; He is therefore judge over all men, the judge of all creation, over all the nations.

As Godet wrote in his commentary on this verse and I quote: “To understand this saying rightly, Ephesians 4:10 should be compared, where the apostle after pointing to Christ descended into the lowest parts, the abode of the dead, then ascended to the highest heavens, that He might fill all things. Which signifies that by traversing all the domain of existence Himself, He has so won them, that by passing through them in our turn as believers, we never cease to be His, and to have Him as our Lord. Hence the inference expressed in verse 10.”

In verse 10, therefore, Paul says: “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.”

It is Christ who is the judge, not we. And both he, the person we disagree with, and we, are to stand before Christ.

In verse 11 Paul continues: “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”

This is a citation of Isaiah 45:23, it speaks of the universal rule of the Messiah. Paul sees the last judgement as an example of this universal power, as an open display of Christ’s dominion before all creation. Therefore, Paul denies us the right to judge one another, except where the Lord gives us a delegated jurisdiction.

Then in verse 12, he says: “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”

Our concern should be the fact that all of us will stand before Christ. He is the Lord, not we. Now it is a serious error to see these verses as banning all judgement. Paul makes clear that God has established a variety of authority, and where we have authority, our Lord Himself says, judge righteous judgement. Our common sin is to avoid exercising authority and judgement in our proper sphere, and to insist on judging one another where we have no authority. I could cite many examples of this, but let this one suffice: I knew a man some years ago who went to a great deal of expense to avoid exercising due authority in his own home. Because he could not control his children, from a very early age he sent them to boarding schools and to summer camps. At office, he delegated all difficult decisions to others, and whenever there was a serious problem in the company, he found reason to take a business trip somewhere. At the same time he had problems also with his own wife, a ducked every issue. But, he was very quick to voice an opinion and a judgement where he had no jurisdiction. This is the kind of cheap and lawless judgement which Paul is talking against.

Thus, Paul requires of us that we judge where we have authority, and that we keep our mouth shut where we have none.

Verse 13 is a summation: “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.”

This verse both sums up the passage we have been considering, and is a preface to the next section. Paul is saying: Let us stop judging one another, except for this simple judgement. No obstacle or stumbling block is to be placed in our brothers way. Judgement is required, but a God centered, Christ centered judgement.

The beginning of wisdom in judgement is to abandon personal or social standards for Godly ones. We are not to use the standards of our time, or of our circle, in judging others; but the word of God. We are not to be censorious, but helpful to God’s kingdom and to God’s people.

When the Lord taught us to pray, He said: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” This was to be the focal point of our prayer, and of our lives.

Now both sides in this controversy Paul is dealing with, were interested in being judges over each other. Paul makes clear that those who observe the days and a vegetarian diet or questions about the drinking of wine, had no right to judge one another; but ever since Adam, man has been in revolt against being a creature of God, against the moral responsibility of freedom under God. He has wanted to play God, and ultimately we have to face this fact.

Every creature is responsible to those above him, and ultimately to God. God alone is responsible to no one. And this is what man in his sin strives for, to be responsible to no one, but to judge everyone. God is all-perfect, there is no one higher than God, that God should be responsible to, and man seeks to imitate God in his sin by being free from accountability to anyone.

People play God, but at the same time, they demand that God do everything for them. Man’s idea of God is totalitarian. The sinful man thinks: “If I were God, I would do thus and so, and I would tolerate none of these things. Those I hate I would take care of, and I would do everything for those I love.” And we as individuals make that mistake very often, commonly as parents. We try to do ‘everything for those I love.’ The whole generation of depression youth and young couples created the man-centered generation, the child centered culture that followed World War 2, because they were determined to show their love for their children by doing everything for them, determined that their children were not going to have to go through what they went through; and we can see the results all around us.

When the Israelites were freed from slavery, their demand was likewise. They wanted to play God, and yet they wanted God to provide everything for them; and so God left them to die in the wilderness. They were ready to judge God, and to judge Moses; but unwilling to be judged by God, or Moses. Hence they deserved the judgement they received.

Paul is writing to Christians, very fine people as he tells us later on, who were more (free?) to judge than to obey God or to help one another. Now this is a failing to which Christians have been prone over the centuries. We forget that we are neither our brothers keeper nor his judge, simply his brother in Christ. It is easier for us to judge than to obey, and thus we are ready to judge.

The church in Rome that Paul was writing to, was directing its energies towards matters of concern to God, not to themselves. And too often, people in every age have been prone to do that. They have something to say about everything that is none of their business, and are ready to do too little of their own business. Churchmen, elders, political leaders, people in every walk of life, young and old, excel in usurping God’s prerogatives while failing in their own.

It is to this problem that Paul is addressing himself here, and so he 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.”

This is why scripture is so timely. It speaks to problems that man is very prone to. It is interesting that this problem is not limited to those Paul came into contact with; the epistle that James wrote, a general epistle, deals with similar problems. James comments on the fact of mans unrestrained tongue. Man’s readiness to judge everyone, and to be sharp in condemning others, and he spoke of it as an untamed fire. He also spoke of the cheapness of language when he said that people were ready to say to someone who was in need, that: “God bless you brother, go in peace, we will pray for you.” When they were not ready to help them when it came to reaching into their pocket, or taking time to do anything for them. So James condemns the cheapness of faith as it manifested itself in speech.

And of course this is something that the Old Testament speaks often about. There is much about it in Proverbs, as well as throughout the Old Testament. A persistent problem, a problem that has its roots in Genesis 3:1-5. Man’s desire to play God, and the easiest way to play God and the cheapest way, is with speech, passing judgement on everyone around us.

As a result, scripture takes this matter seriously because it sees the roots of it, and sees the fact that it is a stumbling block. It does occasion trouble between believers, and it does place us in a sinful relationship to God, in that when we play God, we most certainly not only hurt our brother, but anger the almighty. Let us pray.

Our Lord and our God, Thy word is truth, and Thy word speaks to our every condition and our every need. Give us grace to hear and to obey, to set a watch upon our lips, to make them instruments together with our lives, our hands, our feet, in Thy service. We thank Thee our Father that Thy word to us is filled with truth and grace, wisdom and mercy; and give us wisdom, truth, grace and mercy, as we speak one to another. Guide us in Thy service, and prosper us for Thy names sake.

And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, this day and forever, amen.