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What does the Bible say about accepting others?

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The Bible teaches that believers should receive others with humility, patience, and love, leaving final judgment to God while holding fast to truth. Romans 14:1-4 calls Christians to welcome those whose consciences differ on disputable matters, refusing contempt and judgment because God is able to uphold his servants. Romans 15:5-7 grounds this welcome in Christ, who received us for God's glory. God shows no partiality, as Romans 2:11 declares, and Jesus warns against self-righteous judgment in Luke 6:37 and Matthew 7:1-2. Yet accepting people does not mean approving sin; it means loving them honestly, examining our own hearts, and trusting Christ to receive all who come to him, as John 6:37 promises.

Top passages, ranked by readers

Rankings: OpenBible.info Topical Bible (CC BY) · Scripture: World English Bible

  • Romans 14:1-4

    [1] Now receive one who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions. [2] One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. [3] Don't let him who eats despise him who doesn't eat. Don't let him who doesn't eat judge him who eats, for God has received him. [4] Who are you who judge another's servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him stand.

  • Romans 15:7

    Therefore receive one another, even as Christ also received you, to the glory of God.

  • Romans 2:11

    For there is no partiality with God.

  • Luke 6:37

    Don't judge, And you won't be judged. Don't condemn, And you won't be condemned. Set free, And you will be set free.

  • Romans 15:5-7

    [5] Now the God of patience and of encouragement grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus, [6] that with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. [7] Therefore receive one another, even as Christ also received you, to the glory of God.

  • Leviticus 5:1

    "'If anyone sins, in that he hears the voice of adjuration, he being a witness, whether he has seen or known, if he doesn't report it, then he shall bear his iniquity.

  • John 6:37

    All those who the Father gives me will come to me. Him who comes to me I will in no way throw out.

  • Luke 6:42

    Or how can you tell your brother, 'Brother, let me remove the speck of chaff that is in your eye,' when you yourself don't see the beam that is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck of chaff that is in your brother's eye.

  • Matthew 7:1-2

    [1] "Don't judge, so that you won't be judged. [2] For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.

  • 1 John 3:15

    Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.

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