What Will You Answer for God? | Bold Christian Guidance for Judgment Day— Romans 14:7–12

The Question We Avoid

0:03 Have we considered that one day we will have to stand before God? Previously, Paul urged us to recognize the urgency of the time. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believe. The night is nearly over and the day is almost here. Here in Romans 14, 7-12, Paul reminds us that none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. This is why Christ died and returned to life, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

0:47 Paul then asks a penetrating question. Why do we judge or look down on our brothers and sisters when we ourselves will stand before God's judgment seat? Scripture declares that every knee will bow before the Lord and every tongue will acknowledge God. Ultimately, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Stay with me as we analyze this powerful passage and internalize the sobering truth that someday each of us will stand before God and give an account for how we have lived the life He entrusted to us.

Disputable Matters And Christian Freedom

1:30 In Romans 14, the Apostle Paul is addressing questions that were being agitated in Rome. A. The observance of the seventh or first day of the week as a Christian Sabbath. B what principles should direct the use of food, that of Leviticus or that of common use. The Apostle Paul insists that these are not questions which affect either our personal salvation or our acceptance with God. These are matters for each individual Christian to settle and decide for himself. Here in Romans 14:7, the Apostle Paul assures us that the believer's whole life belongs not to himself but to his Lord.

2:19 The rule that governs the believer's conduct is always the will and the interest of his Lord. Neither in life nor in death can we escape the fact that what we do on our, we do on our before God. No man dies to himself. Death as well as life must be left in the hands of God to be directed by his will and for his glory. Paul's point is that a sincere believer feels free or not free to do certain things out of the same motive. That is to please his Lord. A Christian is a servant of Christ and therefore endeavors to live according to his will and for his glory.

3:08 Our Christian conduct is not gauged by the food spread out on the table, but by the fact that our lives are spread out before Jesus. If we are eating, then we ought to eat for him. If we are drinking, whatever we are doing, it is to him. If we mess up and do it wrong, he is the Lord, and he is a judge, and he will deal with us about it. In Romans 14 8, Paul states affirmatively that the believer lives and dies according to the will of Christ and for his glory. What we do for other believers, we do not only for their sake, but for our Lord's sake, because whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.

3:59 Since each believer belongs to Christ, it is out of place for the strong to despise the weak or the weak to judge the strong concerning non-essential issues or matters not central to our Christian faith. Christ is our mutual Lord, our mutual sovereign. Everything we do, even in our dying, should be to please and to glorify our sovereign Savior and Lord. The last phrase of Romans 14:8 is one of the greatest injunctions to holy living in all the Bible. We are the Lord's.

4:42 We live and die to serve Him, not to please ourselves. If we limit ourselves to live in a certain way, we do so because we believe we are pleasing him. If we enjoy our freedom in Christ, we do so because we believe we are pleasing him. Since those are matters of preference and not sin, believers should not cause a riff in the church over them. In Romans 14 9, the Apostle Paul states, For this very reason Christ died and returned to life, so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

5:23 Jesus by his death and resurrection established dominion over the grave. He destroyed him that had the power of death, Satan, and triumph over him. The dead refer to saints already in glory. By Jesus' death, he purchased them for his own. Those who die are not annihilated. Though their bodies turn to dust in the grave, the Spirit lives. Jesus also died to purchase redeemed believers that they might become his obedient subjects while they remain in this life. Believers are bound to yield obedience by all the sacredness and the value of the price which Jesus paid, his own precious blood.

Christ’s Lordship Over Life And Death

6:14 We are not our own but Christ's. Christ's lordship is the foundational truth for the unity of the church amidst diversity of opinion. Implementing this strategy of ignoring immaterial differences often leads to great spiritual harvests. In the early 1800s, John Williams was serving as a missionary in the South Pacific with the London Missionary Society. Wesleyan missionaries were also proclaiming Christ in that same area. The leaders believed that it would be a waste of resources if both organizations were to go after the same island by leaving another untouched.

7:01 Additionally, it was believed that two different missionary groups working in one area would confuse the islanders. It would be an unfortunate turn of events if the islanders were to be torn apart by small matters of doctrine after they had been saved from idol worship and eating each other. These leaders came up with a plan to get the gospel to every island as smoothly as possible and did so successfully for many years. As believers, we all agree on the truth that one day we will appear before God's judgment seat.

7:43 This leads Paul to act in Romans 14:10. You then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. This does not refer to judging our brothers over matters of sin or serious doctrinal error. In this context, it refers to not judging one another over non-essential matters where the Bible gives no commands. When it came to matters of days of worship and preparation of food, the strict Christian found it easy to judge his brother, writing him off as an unspiritual meat-eater compromiser.

8:31 The free Christian found it easy to hold his brother in contempt, regarding him as an uptight, legalistic goody-goody. Paul is admonishing the believer to stop worrying about others. Whether we are thinking of the weak with all their tedious doubts and fears, or of the strong with all their brash assurances and freedoms, they are our brothers and sisters. We are not to shun or demean others if they are doing with sincerity what they are doing. For all of us live unto the Lord. The Greek word that is used here for judge primarily signifies to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong.

9:16 One of the most sinister aspects of judging a brother or sister is judging their motives. When we do so, we are saying in essence that we are omniscient and capable of reading their minds and discerning what has transpired in their life that might be impacting their words and deeds. We must remember that the one we are judging is our brother, not our enemy. There is no room in the family of God for one group to pass judgment on another. To regard with contempt means to despise someone and consider them to be worthless and of no value.

9:58 This is not in keeping with Jesus' commandment to love each other as he has loved us. Paul is stating that it is absurd to judge or condemn our brothers and non-essentials in light of the fact that we will all stand before Jesus. The Greek word that is used here for stand before was a technical term in the legal field, which meant to bring someone before the magistrate or judge. The judgment seat that the Apostle Paul is referring to here is the beamer seat. The beamer seat, in its most common New Testament use, refers to a raised platform on which an official is seated when rendering judgment on certain legal cases or athletic events.

10:49 Pilate sat on a judgment seat, beamer, in Christ's trial. In Paul's time, in the great basilicas, the colonnade porches around the forum, the magistrates would sit to dispense justice. The Bhima seat was also the stand on which the judges stood to observe and evaluate the actions of athletes in the Olympic contests.

Unity Without Fighting Over Preferences

11:15 If any athlete broke a rule, one or more of the judges' referees or umpires would point to him and cry, disqualified! This competitor would then miss the price, regardless of the place he finished in the race or contest. Likewise, when an event was completed, the contestant stood before the beamer to hear the judge's announcement of the results and to receive such reward as might properly be theirs. The early church fathers understood scripture to teach two judgments separated by a thousand years, each with a corresponding resurrection.

11:59 The first judgment, the first resurrection, is only for believers. It happens at Christ's return when he rewards them for their faith works. This Bhima seat judgment is not to determine who enter heavens, but to evaluate how believers lived and served after salvation. Christ has already paid the penalty for sin on the cross. So the Bhima seat is not a place of punishment or eternal condemnation. Like the finish line of a race, it is where Christ evaluates the believer's works, motivations, and faithfulness, distributing eternal rewards or crowns.

12:45 Paul wants us all to realize that we will stand before the righteous judge and give an account of our right and wrong judging of others' thoughts, words, and deeds. A bhassit mentality would cause us to choose not to despise, judge or criticize others wrongly. A traveller between flights at an airport bought a small package of cookies. Then she sat down and began reading a newspaper. Gradually she became aware of a rustling noise. From behind her paper, she was flabbergasted to see a neatly dressed man helping himself to her cookies.

13:32 Not wanting to make a scene, she leaned over and took a cookie herself. A minute or two passed and then came more rustling. He was helping himself to another cookie. By this time they'd come to the end of the package, but she was so angry she didn't dare allow herself to say anything. Then, as if to add insult to injury, the man broke the remaining cookie in two, pushed half across to her, ate the other half, and left. Still fuming, sometime later when her flight was announced, the woman opened her handbag to get her ticket.

14:12 To her shock and embarrassment, there she found her pack of unopened cookies. Sometimes we judge others very wrongly. In Romans 14:11, Paul places his judgment of the believer in the context of God being sovereign. Paul first cites a phrase from Isaiah 49.18, As I live, says the Lord. Paul then follows with this quote from Isaiah 45.23, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God. The point is God is the sovereign Lord of all, and as such he has a right to judge all, including believers.

14:56 For believers it will not be a determination of heaven or hell, but rather a judgment of our works. The expression as I live is an idiom that signifies the giving of an irrevocable oath. Paul goes on to state that the Lord says, every knee will bow before me. Borrowing the knees an act of reverence, respect and submission to the person in whose presence we drop to our knees. Every person will demonstrate homage to and worship God. There will be no exception. On judgment day, no human being will receive a pass.

15:38 This provides a strong motive for neither judging nor holding in contempt our brother for actions regarding which Scripture gives no clear instructions or commands.

Stop Judging Motives And Contempt

15:51 Paul says that every tongue will acknowledge God. In Philippians 2, 10 to 11, Paul uses the same language concerning Jesus, declaring that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Ultimately, heaven, earth, and all creation will acknowledge his sovereign lordship. If a person genuinely confesses Christ as Lord and believes in him in this life, that confession is unto salvation. But if a person refuses to acknowledge His Lordship now, the day will still come when every knee will bow before Him.

16:35 There is only one thing that is absolutely sure to happen to every person. Each one will have to face God someday. Not even debt and taxes are certain for everyone, but meeting God is. Paul then concludes in Romans 14:12, so then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. The expression so then means that in light of the scripture Paul has just quoted, and because God is a judge of all, each believer will stand before the beamer seat. There is no escape in this judgment. It will be to God, not to men, that believers will have to give this account.

17:21 Think about that for a moment. On that day I will not stand before God to give an account for your life. And you will not stand before God to give an account for mine. Each one of us will give an account for our own lives. That completely changes the way we should look at other believers. Instead of constantly examining their lives, Paul calls us to examine our own. Our responsibility is not to judge, to despise, to criticize, or in any way to belittle our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are to judge ourselves rather than sit in judgment upon others.

18:04 We will not be called on by our Lord to give an account of the sins and shortcomings of others. A pastor often gave the story of receiving a reward for his efforts. When he was fifteen years of age, his father put him in charge of their second farm, which was 20 miles from the home farm. His father told him to work hard and at harvest time he would return to inspect. The pastor labored arduously that summer. His father returned in the fall. The pastor tells how his heart was thrilled when his father, after inspecting the fields of beautiful waving grain, turned to him and smiled.

18:49 That smile, he would say, was all the reward I wanted. I knew my father was pleased. So will it be, dear Christians, if we are faithful to the trust our Heavenly Father has given us, his smile of approval will be our blessed reward. We started by asking if we have considered the truth that one day we will have to stand before God. As we analyze this passage, we realize that all believers live, die, and belong to God. Christ died and rose to be Lord both of the dead and the living. All believers are brothers and sisters, and we will all stand before God's judgment seat, the Bima seat.

19:37 There every knee will bow before God and every tongue will acknowledge Him. We will all also have to give an account of our thoughts, words, and deeds to God. One day each of us will stand before our Lord. The question we need to ask is, What will I have to answer for? Until then, let us avoid keeping an account of everyone else's life and faithfully live the life God has entrusted to us so that when we finally stand before Him, His smile of approval will be all the reward we need. Before you go, if this message spoke to you, like this podcast and subscribe so you don't miss what God is doing here at Catch on Fire Podcasts.

The Bema Seat And Eternal Rewards

20:29 If you are ready for real change, take a moment right now to pray with me. Jesus, I give you my life, lead me, forgive me, and make me new. If you pray that, welcome to the family. Follow along, stay connected, and let's walk this walk together. Growing scripture, discipleship, and Christian leadership through the online course found at Biblical Discipleship Academy.uscreen.io. Discover the covenant story and learn to see the Bible as one unified story. Go deeper with until Christ is formed in you and grow as a disciple of Jesus.

21:20 Explore leadership is discipleship and learn why true Christian leadership begins with following Jesus. Start studying, start learning, start growing. Join us at Biblical Discipleship Academy.uscreen.io. Join me as we confess words of life over all of our lives. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are still holding on to God's unchanging hand. We are still in God's holy plan. We declare and Decree in the name of Jesus that we are living holy lives as God requires. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, giving clothes to those in need, ministering to the sick and visiting those in prison, and we are doing so to the least of those among us, as when we do so we are ministering to Jesus.

22:28 We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we have received healing, as by his stripes we are healed. From the crown of our head to the soles of our feet, all of our bodily organs are working correctly. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that God is ordering our steps, that all weapons that are formed against us have been utterly and completely destroyed, and every tongue that is rising against us in judgment is condemned. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that all generational curses are cancelled.

23:03 Anything that runs in our ancestral bloodline that is not of God has no power over us, our children and our grandchildren, and is eliminated forever right now. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that angels are watching over and keeping our family, our children, our grandchildren, our loved ones safe. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that every negative word that has been and is be spoken over our lives and that of our family, children, grandchildren, and loved ones is cancelled and sent back to the pit from whence it came.

23:45 We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are the head and not the tail. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are not and will never be ashamed. Our enemies have not and never will triumph over us. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that anything that is not of God that has been dispatched to hinder our blessings, our progress, and our well-being is immediately destroyed. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are financially in line with God's word, and as such we are lenders and not borrowers.

24:21 As a result, all of our debts have been paid and are forgiven. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that the enemy of our souls has no authority over our finances and our funds, and that we are good stewards of the money that God has placed in our keeping. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus in the area of business and our carriers, that just as Isaac reaped a hundredfold, the blessings of Abraham are falling on us, and we are reaping a hundredfold from whatever we put our hands to.

24:57 We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are living under an open heaven in every area of our lives. Blessings are falling on us, our family and our loved ones. These blessings are being manifested in our lives, in the spiritual and in the physical. Let's repeat the 23rd Psalm together.

25:22 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restored my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 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. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

26:06 The Lord bless you and keep you.

Every Knee Will Bow

26:10 The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. Amen.