Romans 14:4, 9 question

[jbarcher]

I'll post it for those w/out access to it:

1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.
2 One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only.
3 The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.
4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.
6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.
7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself;
8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.
9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
11 For it is written,
"AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, (19) EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME,
AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD."
12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.
13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this--not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way.
14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

My question is, what does the word "judge" in v.4 and 9 mean?

 

[daveleau]

Judge means to decide or proclaim that a person is saved or that they are doing the Lord's work. Do not judge a person who has weaker, less-Bible based beliefs. Do not condemn or ridicule someone who beliefs something is wrong Biblically, when it is not. The context talks of eating meat sacrificed to idols. There seems to be a contradiction in some verses in which God condemns some who eat meat prepared to idols and this passage. But, everything is based ont he intent. Those God condemned were worshiping their idols by eating the meat. I you go into a house where their meat is sacrificed to idols, you can eat it as long as you are not practicing this same idolatry. The idolatry is not in the eating of the meat but the beliefs and in the spirit. We should not condemn, ridicule or pass judgment on those who will not eat the meat, even though Scripture is clear that nothing we can ingest will make us unclean. They mean good, and they simply do not understand that idolatry is not in the ritual, but in the belief in those that the ritual is being performed. Also, one day is not any holier than another for us. All days should be treated the same in regards to following Christ. This does not mean that we should not go to church, but it means that to Christians, the Sabbath is different than it was to the Jews.

So, to make a long story short, judgment = forming an opinion of their ability to follow the Lord; condemnation; a conclusion jumped to about the person

We can judge right and wrong, but we can not condemn a person or make judgments on the person, for that is God's doing, not ours.

 

[Macca]

I'll post it for those w/out access to it:



My question is, what does the word "judge" in v.4 and 9 mean?

Part of it, I feel is to look at a brother or sister and question their motives for doing something for God.
You or I might do something differently, but to say that he/she did it with a wrong heart is to judge them wrongly.
Macca.

 

[Harry the Heretic]

To determine a persons standing with the Lord.