Paul asks two questions, one for each side. The first, "why dost thou judge," is aimed at the believer who abstains and condemns the one who eats. The second, "why dost thou set at nought," is aimed at the believer who eats and looks down on the one who abstains. Barnes reads it this way, with the Jewish convert as the one who judges and the Gentile as the one who despises. Both questions turn on the word "brother." Gill notes that the stress falls on that word in both halves: they are condemning and scorning family. Barnes sums up Paul's reasoning: "Since we are all subjects and servants alike, and must all stand at the same tribunal, what right have we to sit in judgment on others?"

Paul answers in the same breath: "for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ" (Romans 14:10). He backs it with Scripture: "every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God" (Romans 14:11). Then he draws the conclusion: "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12) and "Let us not therefore judge one another any more" (Romans 14:13).

Two different Greek verbs carry the two questions. The first is krino, to judge or pass sentence. The second is exoutheneo, to treat as nothing, to despise; Barnes says "set at nought" here means despise, the same word used in Romans 14:3. The "judgment seat" is the bema, the raised seat where a judge sat to give a verdict. The KJV reads "judgment seat of Christ," while the ESV reads "judgment seat of God"; both point to the same final tribunal before which every believer will stand. Paul supports this from Isaiah 45:23, where the LORD swears "unto me every knee shall bow."

Paul's two questions show that judging and despising are two forms of the same mistake. The strict believer condemns; the free believer scorns. Each one, in his own way, has made himself the measure of his brother. Paul does not take a side. He sends both of them to the same place: the judgment seat where every one of us will stand.

This is not a threat meant to frighten believers. It is a reminder of who the Judge is. Christ "both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living" (Romans 14:9). Because He is Lord, He alone gives the verdict. That truth humbles the one who judges and the one who despises, and it protects the brother they were both wronging.