Who Are You That Judges Another Man's Servant? Romans 14:4

Paul the apostle told the believers in Rome, “Let not him that eats despise him that eats not;

and let not him which eats not judge him that eats: for God has received him”, and in chapter fourteen and verse four of Romans, Paul asked the believers, “who are you that judges another man's servant?” where we read:

Who are you that judges another man's servant? to his own master he stands or falls.

Yes, he shall be held up: for God is able to make him stand.

The verse begins, “Who are you that judges another man's servant? to his own master he stands or falls.” Paul began with the words, “who are you” which means “what person or status does any person who is a believer in Rome” “that judges” or “who puts asunder, esteems, thinks to be, determines, resolves and decrees” “another man's servant” which refers to “the person who is an other human being's fellow resident, menial domestic or those under the authority of one and the same householder whether male or female”? “To his own master” or “toward the person to whom that servant belongs about which he has power of deciding and is known as his master ” “he stands” which means “that person whether male or female who perseveres, persists and keeps their station” “or falls” or “descends from a higher place to a lower, is thrust down or falls under judgment and condemnation”. Paul questioned among the believers in Rome who has the “right” or “ability” to “put asunder and resolve themselves better” than another person's “servant” because that “servant” is accountable to their own “master and lord”.

The verse continues, “Yes, he shall be held up: for God is able to make him stand.” Paul added the word, “yes” which means “moreover and”, “he shall be held up” or “that person will be made to stand, put, set up, fixed and established”: “for God” which means “even as and indeed the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “is able” or “is capable and has the ability” “to make him” which refers to “to fashion and form that person to” “stand” which means “ persevere, persist and keep their station”. Paul recognized “another man's servant” would be “fixed and established” by God Himself.

When we meditate upon these words of Paul, we understand his exhortation not to “judge” the “servant” who belongs to another “master”. In other words, mind our own business. God is the ultimate judge who set the order of salvation which comes through belief and trust in His Son Jesus. After a person receives Jesus as their “Savior and Lord”, they become the “servants of God”, and no one but He should be their “judge”. As we consider Paul's words, let us examine ourselves to be certain we do not “condemn” others for their personal convictions, and may “loving one another” be our God-like theme.

Next time Paul tells the believers in Rome, “one man esteems one day above another”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.