ROMANS Study Guide

2) God’s focus is to make us stand! The idea of “standing” in this passage

is God causing us to be able to stand in the day of judgement before

him - not by our works or convictions but the work of Jesus making us

able to stand in his righteousness.

Rom 14:5 One indeed esteems a day above another day; and another esteems every day alike. Let each one be fully assured in his own mind. Rom 14:6 He who regards the day regards it to the Lord; and he not regarding the day, does not regard it to the Lord. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, does not eat to the Lord, and gives God thanks. Rom 14:7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. Rom 14:8 For both if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, both if we live, and if we die, we are the Lord's. Rom 14:9 For this Christ both died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living.

Paul is driving home the fact that our personal convictions should be About what we believe draws us closer to the Lord. Whatever we do we do to please the Lord and build a more personal walk with Him. Our whole life is to be for God and to exalt his Lordship in and through our life. What we have to be careful about is making what is our personal devotion to God incumbent on all believers as the bases of our fellowship with them.

Rom 14:10 But why do you judge your brother? Or also why do you despise your brother? For all shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Rom 14:11 For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God." Rom 14:12 So then each one of us will give account concerning himself to God. Rom 14:13 Then let us not judge one another anymore, but rather judge this, not to put a stumbling-block or an offense toward his brother. Rom 14:14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing by itself is common; except to him who esteems anything to be common, it is common.

Jesus is the one who both died and rose again to be Lord of the living and the dead - so who are we to judge one of God’s servants. If we with a wrong heart judge another believer - be sure God will question your right to judge one of his servants. vss.9-12 (Refer also to Rom. 2:1-2; Matt.7:1) Only God can see the motive of the heart in why we restrict or don’t restrict what we do before the Lord.