Romans Chapter 14 Vs. 13

 

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

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. Rom 14:13

let us not... It does no good at all for us to try to judge(condemn) another, because we are not the Judge, Jesus is. We are told to judge not, lest ye be judged and, also, with whatever judgment we judge another we will be judged. We find a very good Scripture covering this in (Jas. 4:11).

Jas. 4:11 “Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of [his] brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.”

The Greek word translated “judge” is here translated “determine”. (In verses 3, 10 and 13a), the meaning is negative: to condemn. (In 13b), the meaning is positive: to determine or make a careful decision.

but judge this... The point of Paul’s play on words is that instead of passing judgment on their brothers, they should use their best judgment (careful decision) to help fellow believers. Anything a believer does, even though Scripture may permit it, that causes another to fall into sin by his going against his conscience, puts a stumbling block in his brother’s way.

Without Hindering

Paul’s warning against judging relates to Christians’ attitudes and actions toward the convictions of other believers (Rom. 14:1-12). The other side of the coin is evaluating the impact of one’s own convictions and actions on other Christians. In this section Paul warned against causing other Christians to stumble (hindering their spiritual growth) by asserting that one is free to live in accord with convictions not shared by other believers.

Paul’s opening sentence is both the final charge on the previous subject and the introduction to the new one: Therefore, let us stop passing judgment on (krinōmen, “condemning”) one another (pres. tense subjunctive, “no longer let us keep on judging or condemning one another”). Instead a Christian should judge himself and his actions so that he does not place a stumbling block (proskomma, lit., “something a person trips over”; cf. 1Cor. 8:9 and comments on Rom. 14:20-21) or obstacle (skandalon, lit., “trap, snare,” and hence “anything that leads another to sin”; cf. Rom. 16:17) in his brother’s way (lit., “to the brother”).