There are two cautions in this verse. Firstly, we are warned to avoid judging others. This
is not without reason. On the one hand, the scripture makes it plain that Jesus is the
only one appointed by the Father to be the judge of both the living and dead. Judging
others makes you a usurper, taking on the role of Jesus as your own. That will be
presumptuous, to say the least. In addition, you do not have the details of other people’s
thoughts, intentions and contexts to make an informed judgment. It is therefore safer to
avoid judging others.
When the judgment seat of Christ is set, we will all appear one by one to give account of how we have fared in our
brief sojourn here on earth.
The second warning reminds us that we shall all stand before the judgment seat of
Christ. Here on earth, people may stand for you on several occasions, but there would
be no room for a middleman when we will account for our lives. As far as the judgment
seat is concerned, everyone will bear their own burden. When the judgment seat of
Christ is set, we will all appear one by one to give account of how we have fared in our
brief sojourn here on earth. Family members will not be allowed to answer for one
another. Borrowing a line from Peter we can say, seeing that we will all stand at the
judgment on the last day, what manner of life do we need to live here? Wise people use
their time on earth to invest in eternity.