John Calvin Commentary Romans 14:4

"Who art thou that judgest the servant of another? to his own lord he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be made to stand; for the Lord hath power to make him stand." — Romans 14:4 (ASV)

Who are you who judge, etc.? “Just as you would act discourteously, indeed, and presumptuously among people, if you were to subject another person’s servant to your own rules and judge all his actions by the rule of your own will, so you assume too much if you condemn anything in God’s servant because it does not please you. For it does not belong to you to prescribe to him what to do and what not to do, nor is it necessary for him to live according to your law.”

Now, although the power of judging both the person and the deed is taken from us, there is still much difference between the two. For we ought to leave the person, whoever they may be, to the judgment of God. Regarding their deeds, however, we may indeed form a decisive opinion—though not according to our own views, but according to the word of God; and the judgment derived from his word is neither human judgment nor another person’s judgment.

Paul, then, intended here to restrain us from presumption in judging, into which those fall who dare to pronounce anything concerning the actions of people without the warrant of God’s word.

To his own Lord he stands or falls, etc. It is as if he said: “It rightly belongs to the Lord either to disapprove or to accept what his servant does; therefore, the one who attempts to take this authority for himself robs the Lord.”

And he adds, he shall indeed stand: By saying this, he not only instructs us to abstain from condemning but also exhorts us to mercy and kindness, so that we always hope well for the one in whom we perceive anything of God.

This is because the Lord has given us a hope that he will fully confirm and lead to perfection those in whom he has begun the work of grace.

But by referring to the power of God, he does not simply mean, as if he had said, that God can do this if he wills. Rather, as is usual in Scripture, he connects God’s will with his power.

And yet he is not speaking here of perpetuity, as if those whom God has once raised up must stand to the end. Instead, he only reminds us that we are to maintain a good hope and that our judgments should lean in this direction, as he also teaches us in another place:

He who began in you a good work, will perform it to the end. (Philippians 1:6)

In short, Paul shows in what direction the judgments of those in whom love abounds incline.