Exposition of Romans 13-16, Exposition of Romans · Chapter 2 · Verse 4
VERSE 4. Who art thou that iudgeſt another mansſeruant?—
IN this Verſe is the ſecond Reaſon, bred out of the former: If the Gentiles be Gods fauorites, and receiued into his family, what hauehave we to doe to iudge them?
Here we hauehave the Argument, and the Amplification.
The Argument is taken from the common right or equity; which is, that eueryevery man hath the rule and ordering of his owne family; and that none ought to be ſo polypragmaticall, as to iudge other mens ſeruants.
He which arrogateth right ouer other mens ſeruants, is vniuſt:
But he that iudgeth another mans ſeruant, arrogateth to himſelfe ſuch right:
Therefore he is vniuſt.
The ſtrong Chriſtian is Gods ſeruant who hath receiued him.
The Amplification is double: 1. from the manner of ſetting downe the Argument: 2. from an Occupation, in the reſt of the words of this verſe.
In ſetting downe the Argument, the Apoſtle vſeth an Obiurgatory Apoſtrophe to the weake one: Who art thou which iudgeſt, &c.
He doth more grieuouſly taxe the weake ones, ne ſibi blandiantur, Pareu….ſaith one, leſt they ſhould flatter themſelues. Thus ſeuerity was neceſſary that they might vnderſtand they were in an errour.
Who art thou? as if he ſaid: Thou? who art thou? art not thou weake? and ſo much the weaker, that being weake thou preſumeſt to iudge the ſtrong: why doſt not keepe thy ſelfe within thy compaſſe? Conſider what thou art, and be not ſo raſh. The like ſpeech, Rom. 9.20.
Which iudgeſt: that is, condemneſt: as before.
Another mans ſeruant. The word is not foreign, but foreign, which ſignifieth a domeſticall ſeruant, which alwayes waiteth vponupon his maſter in ſuch ſeruices as are neareſt to his perſon.
The Gentile is taken into Gods family, not as a ſlaue, but as a free ſeruant; and therefore ſuch in old time were called familiares, noting their liberty: and indeed, Gods ſeruice is perfect freedome.
The Gentiles are receiued into Gods family with the Iews, not to be their vnderlings, but their fellow ſeruants, enioying all the priuiledges of the houſe as well as themſelues.
He ſaith not who art thou which giueſt good counſell, but iudgeſt; nor thine owne ſeruant, for that is lawfull; but anothers, this is vnlawfull.
It is againſt right that one Chriſtian ſhould iudge another: Doctr. Mat. 7.1.2. Iudge not that ye be not iudged, For with what iudgement ye iudge, ye ſhall be iudged, &c. Iames 4.11.12. He that iudgeth his brother, iudgeth the Law, but if thou iudge the Law, thou art not a doer of the Law, but a Iudge. There is one Lawgiuer, who is able to ſaue and to deſtroy: who art thou which iudgeſt another?
It is a great ſinne for a weake Chriſtian to iudge another for matters indifferent: it can be no ſmall offence, Vſe 1 as appeares by Pauls manner of ſpeaking, Who art thou, &c. he ſpeaketh with much indignation and heat: No Apoſtle ſo full of bowels ſo pitifull and tender towards the weake, as Paul, yet if they fall to cenſuring and iudging, hee cannot forbeare, but takes them vp as ſhort as he did the cauiller at Gods predeſtination, Cap. 9.20. So that as the fault is great, ſo weake Chriſtians are not to be ſoothed herein, but ſeuerely and with ſome acrimony to be reproued that they may amend.
Iulian the Apoſtata, taxed Chriſtianity, Vſe 2 as if it tooke away Magiſtracy, from this and the like places: So the Anabaptiſts alſo from ſuch places conclude that it is not lawfull for a Chriſtian to bee a Magiſtrate, becauſe hee is forbidden to iudge.
But they take things which are ſpoken ſecundum quid, after a ſort, as if they had beene ſpoken ſimply.
Neither is Iudgement forbidden to Magiſtrates, but to priuate men; nor all Iudgement to priuate men, but raſh.
Iudgement may be either of perſons or their deeds:
In perſons; their preſent or their future eſtate to be conſidered: To iudge finally of mens future eſtate meddle not; for God may call thy Neighbour as he hath called thee.
For his preſent eſtate: If I ſee a man walke in drunkenneſſe, common ſwearing, whoredome, &c. I may iudge him to be a wicked man in this eſtate; and that he ſhall be damned if he repent not: I may iudge the tree by the fruit: and this is not raſh iudgement, becauſe it is not mine, but the iudgement of the word of God.
Deeds are either good, or bad, or indifferent, or doubtfull. Of good and bad deeds, there ought to bee Iudgement in the Common-wealth, Church, priuate Family.
And that cenſure ſhould paſſe vponupon mens vertues, arts, faculties, offices, religion, words, deeds, geſtures, and whole behauiour, is of ſingular vſe.
Moſt well gouerned States hauehave had officers for the purpoſe; The Grecians had ſuch, whom they called foreign, Lawkeepers: The Aegyptians had their foreign, Preſidents of the Law: The Romanes had their Cenſors, cenſurers of manners who examined and puniſhed all diſorders: If a man tilled not his land, Aulus Gellius Noct. Attic. lib. 4. c. 12. & 20.dreſſed not his Vine; If a Knight kept not his horſe ſeruiceable, &c.
It were to bee wiſhed that we had ſuch Officers created among vsus, or that ſuch Officers as we hauehave already would more carefully ſee to their offices.
We ought to commend good deeds, and to reproue bad; to call a mattocke a mattocke, with Alexanders Souldiers, we need not feare.
But things doubtfull and indifferent are to be free from our cenſure: Charity authorizeth thee from the firſt; and Chriſtian liberty thy neighbour from the ſecond: and in theſe hath the Apoſtles obiurgation place: Who art thou that iudgeſt ſuch things?
A beleeuer is Gods ſeruant: Ʋſe 3 To be a ſeruant ſeemes to imply ſome baſeneſſe; but indeed there is nothing more honorable then to be Gods ſeruant: A mortall Kings ſeruant is honoured; much more is Gods.
Dauid gloried in that title; Pſal. 116.16.and ſo did the Apoſtles; Paul a ſeruant, Peter a ſeruant, Iames a ſeruant of God, as may be ſeene in their Epiſtles. Iuſtinian the Emperour, being the greateſt and firſt on earth, yet was wont to ſtile himſelfe in his Letters thus, Ʋltimus Dei ſeruus, the loweſt or laſt ſeruant of God.
Thou wert the ſlaue of Satan, thou art now by faith become the ſeruant of God: Thou haſt a good Maſter, bee thou a good ſeruant, heare his Word, attend vponupon him, obey him, and that cheerefully in this honour, who didſt cheerefully obey Satan in that baſeneſſe.
We cannot adde to the honour of our Maſter: let vsus not diſhonour him, by cauſing his Goſpell to be ill ſpoken of by our lewd conuerſation.
We are fellow ſeruants, ſeruing one Maſter; Ʋſe 4 let vsus not iudge one another; but referre all iudgement to the Maſter: let vsus liue in vnity and peace.
No man will endure a finde-fault in his houſe, much leſſe will God: Thou art but a ſeruant, and it may bee a weake one, the maſters houſe is not to be ordered by thy will, but by the Maſters; If he blame not things done, why ſhouldeſt thou? If the Maſter giuegive me liberty, why ſhouldeſt thou reſtraine?
If thou wilt be iudging and cenſuring, ſhake thine owne boſome; looke to thy owne ſeruants; looke to, and iudge thy ſelfe.
Iudas iudged the waſte, but not his owne conetouſneſſe; the Phariſees iudged their neighbours moats, but not their owne beames: Firſt iudge thy ſelfe, and then either thou wilt hauehave no leiſure, or be the fitter to iudge thy neighbour.
Why beholdeſt thou the moat in thy brothers eye, Mat. 7.3.4.5.and conſidereſt not the beame in thine owne eye? Thou Hypocrite, firſt caſt out the beame out of thine owne eye, &c.
Heare O thou that iudgeſt, and conſider ſtrange things:
It is ſtrange that thou ſhouldeſt hauehave a beame in thine eie:
It is ſtrange that a moat ſhould hurt thy neighbours eye, and not a beame thine owne.
Alſo ſtrange, that hauing a beame in thine owne eye, thou ſhouldeſt diſcerne the moate in thy neighbours eye: But indeed, onelyonly ſuch doe ſpy moats: for he that hath not a beame in his eye, hath Charity there, and Charity couereth a multitude of ſinnes.
The eye ſeeth not it ſelfe, but the eie of a righteous man being cured, ſeeth and conſidereth himſelfe more then others.
A iuſt man is the ſeuereſt Iudge of himſelfe.
Pray for thy brother, Iudge thy ſelfe.