“But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: ‘As I live, says the Lord, ‘Every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God’” (Romans 14:10-11).
Paul’s recurring quotations of Isaiah in Romans is a significant reason why the son of Amoz (Isaiah 1:1) is often called the “Messianic Prophet”. Romans 14:11 is a quotation taken from Isaiah 45. Here, it is written: “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. He shall say, ‘Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him. In the Lord all the descendants of Israel shall be justified and shall glory.’” (vv. 22-25).
As Isaiah so plainly states, the one God (v. 22), i.e., the Lord/Jehovah (vv. 24, 25), is the One to Whom every knee shall bow and every tongue shall take an oath/confess (v. 23).
Paul connects Isaiah’s declaration to Christ and the fact that all shall stand before His judgment seat (v. 10; see also Acts 17:30-31).
The logic is simple, and the inference is plain.
All shall stand in judgment before Christ (v. 10).
All shall stand in judgment before God (v. 11).
Therefore, Christ is God.
The Messianic prophet teaches the deity of Jesus Christ explicitly (Isaiah 7:14) and implicitly (Isaiah 45:23).
