Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans John Calvin (continued)
Commentary on Romans he now possesses is subject to no change, his dominion over us is to be eternal.
Romans 14:10-13
Romans 14:10-13
10. But why dost thou judge thy brother? 422 or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.
10. Tu vero quid judicas fratrem tuum? aut etiam tu, quid contemnis fratrem tuum? Omnes enim sistemur ad tribunal Christi:
11. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
11. Scripture est enim, Vivo ego, dick Dominus, mihi flectetur omne genu, et omnis lingua confitebitur Deo.
12. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. 12. Unusquisque igitur de se rationem redder Deo. 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.
13. Quare ne amplius judicemus alius alium: sed hoc judicate potius, ne lapsus occasio detur fratri aut offendiculum.
10. But thou, why dost thou, etc. As he had made the life and death of us all subject to Christ, he now proceeds to mention the authority to judge, which the Father has conferred on him, together with the dominion over heaven and earth. He hence concludes, that it is an unreasonable boldness in any one to assume the power to judge his brother, since by taking such a liberty he robs Christ the Lord of the power which he alone has received from the Father.
But first, by the term brother, he checks this lust for judging; for since the Lord has established among us the right of a fraternal alliance, an equality ought to be preserved; every one then who assumes the character of a judge acts unreasonably. Secondly, he calls us before the only true judge, from whom no one can take away his power, and whose tribunal none can escape. As then it would be absurd among men for a criminal, who ought to occupy a humble place in the court, to ascend the tribunal of the judge; so it is absurd for a Christian to take to himself the liberty of judging the conscience of his brother. A similar argument is mentioned by James, when he says, that "he who judges his brother, judges the law," and that "he who judges the law, is not an observer of the law but a president;" and, on the other hand, he says, that "there is but one lawgiver, who can save and destroy." (James 4:12.) He has ascribed tribunal to Christ, which means his power to judge, as the voice of the archangel, by which we shall be summoned, is called, in another place, a trumpet; for it will pierce, as it were with its sound, into the minds and ears of all. 423
422It appears from the order of the words {σὺ} {δέ} {τί}, and {ἣ} {καὶ} {σὺ} {τί}, that the address was made to two parties. "But thou, the weak, why condemnest thou thy brother? and thou also, the strong, why dost thou despise thy brother?" — Ed.
423The words "We shall all stand," etc., may be rendered, "We must all stand," etc. It is indeed the future tense, but this is according to what is often the case in Hebrew, for in