By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at verses 8-14 of chapter 13.
1.1.1. In that
section we saw that Paul made several admonitions to us as Christians as to how
we are to live our lives as Christians in this world, saying.
1.1.1.1. Owe no man
nothing.
1.1.1.2. Love your
neighbor.
1.1.1.3. Awake from
your sleep.
1.1.1.4. Lay aside
the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
1.1.1.5. Behave
properly as in the day.
1.1.1.6. Put on the
Lord Jesus and make no provision for the flesh.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at verses
1-12 of chapter 14.
1.2.1. In Paul’s
day, there were enormous problems in the churches that had been planted in that
first century of the church due to the various backgrounds and baggage that
people brought with them into the church after coming to Christ. The primary distinction was that between Jew
and Gentile, and I can imagine that in most churches that there was an isle
down the middle and the Jews sat on one side and the Gentiles sat on the other,
and neither group had much to do with the other.
1.2.1.1. There were
Jewish brethren in the church in Rome who had come to recognize Jesus as the
Jewish Messiah and believed upon Him for salvation, however because of their
Jewish upbringing and training they still held onto and practiced many things
from their Jewish heritage, and they had a hard time understanding why every
Christian did not practice these same things.
Plus, they had a hard time befriending Gentiles and accepting them as
brothers and sisters as equal heirs of God, especially because many of the practices
of the Gentiles were in violation to their Jewish heritage. Some saw Christianity as a Jewish-only
religion.
1.2.1.2. Likewise,
there were Gentile brethren in the church in
1.2.2. In our world
today, there are often problems that arise in the church due to the fact that
some people think that if a person is truly a Christian that he/she ought to be
living a certain way and forsaking certain types of worldly behavior that they
believe is a compromise of their faith and a denial of their Lord. There is a lot of judging and criticism of
each other in the body of Christ today.
1.2.3. Here are
some of the areas of conduct which Christians in
movies; ratings, going at all;
TV;
makeup;
dress;
tobacco;
alcohol;
cards & dice;
dancing;
Bible translations;
sports;
music;
1.2.4. Christians
who are genuinely and seriously following the Lord sometimes disagree about
what is right and wrong behavior in certain situations, and in this study we
are going to look at when Christians in love need to agree to disagree with
each other about certain things.
1.2.5. I think the
following poem C. R. Hembree is appropriate to be
read as we begin this study, it is called, “I dreamed of Heaven” :
I dreamed death came the other night:
And heaven’s gates swung wide.
With kindly grace an angel
Ushered me inside.
And there, to my astonishment,
Stood folks I’d known on earth.
Some I’d judged and labeled
Unfit or of little worth.
Indignant words rose to my lips,
But never were set free;
For every face showed stunned surprise …
No one expected me!
2. VS 14:1 - “14:1 Now accept the one who is
weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.” - Paul tells us to accept the brother or sister
in Christ whose faith is weak
2.1.
In chapter 12, Paul wrote about a believer’s
relationships in the church, in chapter 13 his relationships in society, and
here in chapter 14 Paul writes about how to handle disagreements of conscience
between people within the church. Even
the best of friends, even the most faithful of Christians, may at times find
themselves having sharp disagreements over matters regarding what is and what
is not acceptable conduct for a Christian.
2.2.
I know from my wonderful marriage to my wife of 26
years and counting, that there have occasionally been times when she and I
sharply disagreed about what should or should not be done in various
situations. At times my wife and I have
had to tell each other that though we respect the other’s opinion greatly, that
each of us must stand before the Lord individually, and that we must
individually do what we feel is right ourselves. There have also been a few times that I felt
that I had to act as the husband who is head over his wife and I have
overridden my wife’s opinion and made a decision contrary to her wishes
concerning our family. I have tried to
do this sort of thing only when it was what I felt was a very important
matter. I can’t say that those times
have been a lot of fun, but they also are a part of life.
2.3.
The areas Paul discusses in this chapter where we have
disagreements between ourselves in the church are areas of conduct where the
Bible is not black and white. The areas
in which the Bible is black and white are areas in which we as Christians
should also be black and white and should be in 100% agreement. What Paul writes about in this chapter is the
“grey areas.”
2.4.
Over the centuries, there have been many churches
which have had major battles and conflicts over matters which are really
trivial in nature. For instance, I have
heard in my lifetime of churches splitting over the color of the carpet or
which side of the church the organ should be placed on. I even personally know of one church that
split because some were incensed that a person had the audacity as to change
the font type that was used on the church bulletins. But this type of behavior has caused
incredible heartache and the work of God has suffered greatly as well. So, in the church all Christians need to be
very careful not to major on the minor inconsequential matters.
2.5.
Likewise, the church must not waver in the least
concerning matters which are primary in importance and consequence.
2.6.
Since all people have lots of opinions about what is
right and wrong, Christians must obtain principles from God’s word in which to
make decisions as to what they shall or shall not allow in their lives and
relationships with others. Paul writes
chapter 14 in order to deal with what Christians should do when they find
themselves disagreeing as to matters of conscience and conduct. These are called a person’s “scruples.”
2.7.
To begin with, I must tell you that we as Christians
have been given great freedom in Christ.
Freedom from the law, and freedom to walk in love as a higher standard
of righteousness than law-keeping...
Paul wrote about this in 1 Cor. 6:12, “12 All things are lawful for
me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will
not be mastered by anything.” So, a
Christian is not one who lives his life trying constantly to keep God’s laws,
rather he is supposed to live in the power and under the leading of the Holy
Spirit in all areas of his life.
2.8.
It is also the case, that often in the Christian life
that those who appear to be more spiritual are not really so. Those who are the most stern and austere and
try to tow the line with God the most are often doing so in the energy and
influence of the flesh. Thus, in this
chapter Paul describes two kinds of Christian brothers, one who is a “weaker
brother,” and one who is a “stronger brother.” Contrary to what we might initially have
guessed, the one who is described as a “weaker brother” is actually the
one whose conscience is more sensitive to certain kinds of conduct and
behavior.
2.9.
Likewise, the “stronger brother” referred to by
Paul is the one whose conscience is less sensitive to certain kinds of conduct
and behavior because he realizes the freedom that he has in Christ.
2.10.
Have you ever heard someone say that it is important
to pick your battles wisely?
This chapter reveals similar wisdom regarding what we as Christians
allow in our own life as well as how we treat others in the church who do not
have our same convictions.
2.11.
This chapter is very similar to 1 Corinthians chapter
10, and both chapters are a commentary to the other. Both deal with how a Christian should use the
freedom which he has in Christ. In
Corinth, and Rome and probably most of the other churches in Paul’s day, there
were sharp disagreements between different people and factions within the
church, with both carnally judging and condemning the other.
2.12.
When Paul wrote this book, in Rome there were “weaker
brothers” who were saying that if a person were really serious about his walk
with Christ he would worship on Saturday (this group had a Jewish background),
and there were other “weaker brothers” who were saying that if you
wanted to be serious in your walk with Christ you would be a vegetarian since
so many of the meats in the market were sacrificed to idols before entering the
market. The “weaker brothers”
were judging the “stronger” ones who understood more clearly the freedom
we have in Christ, and the “stronger brothers” were despising the “weaker”
ones for being legalistic and a thorn in their side.
2.13.
The first exhortation that Paul writes in this verse
is to ‘accept the one who is weak in faith.’ Believers are to ‘accept’ one another
in the church, and what a blessing it is when brothers and sisters in Christ ‘accept’
you into their fellowship. Everyone
loves to be accepted.
2.14.
Paul previously wrote in chapter 12 that we are all to
have the same love for each other in the church, and therefore we should never
despise another brother/sister because of either his/her convictions or lack of
them, even if the person rubs us the wrong way trying to get us to live his
interpretation a more righteous life (as evidenced by what a person “does
not” do). To not ‘accept’ a
brother or a sister is to show “distinctions” in the body, which as I
have previously written, James in his epistle condemns.
2.15.
The exhortation to ‘accept’ a “weaker
brother” or sister is given to the “stronger brother” who
understands and walks more in the freedom which he has in Christ. Whether or not we as Christians agree with
someone who is condemning us for our actions, we still must accept that brother
or sister.
2.16.
Paul writes to ‘accept’ the brother or sister,
however ‘but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.’ The exhortation here is that there is a place
for keeping your opinions to yourself, for there is a much more important
motive for living than spouting opinions, and that is to walk in the love of
Christ. Though disagreements are sure to
occur wherever two or more are gathered, the Christian has a higher calling
than that of passing judgment upon people through his opinions. The Christian is to walk in love and love
those around him with the agape love of Christ, unconditional love.
2.17.
Often times in the church we can find ourselves not
working together with each other, being disjointed, and actually undoing what
good our brother or sister has done. We
can be judgmental, unloving, contentious, and all in the name of Christ. We in the church need to look carefully at
what Paul writes about in this 14th chapter of Romans so that we can be sure
that we are working together with each other and being of one mind, one
purpose, under one Lord.
2.18.
We Christians need to be warm and friendly with
people, especially our brothers and sisters, accepting each one in love. We need to reach out to our brothers and
sisters in love and show them our genuine love and concern. We need to help build them up in their faith,
and do whatever we can in order to not be a source of causing them to stumble
in their faith.
2.19.
We Christians need to be careful not to argue
unnecessarily with one another, for arguing often separates friends and
distances acquaintances. We should not
look at our conversations in the church as opportunities for us to spread our
opinions, but rather look at them as opportunities for real fellowship and
building up of each other in love.
2.20.
When we Christians go to other countries, we often
discover that there are very real cultural distinctives
which the churches in the various countries have turned into rules of conduct
expected of all who are spiritually mature.
We also can see that many things that churches in
3. VS 14:2 - “2 One man has faith that he may
eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only.” - Paul tells us that some brothers and sisters
have faith to eat all kinds of foods but that the one who is weak eats
vegetables only
3.1.
I would have you to consider for a moment what the
scriptures tell us about whether we can or cannot eat meat, for we know that
just as was the case in Paul’s day, in our day there are some Christians who
believe that it is wrong to eat meat of any type :
3.1.1. In the book
of Genesis, Gen. 1:29-30, God told Adam and Eve that everything which He had
created was good for food, “29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you
every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every
tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every
beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves
on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it
was so.”
3.1.2. God repeated
the same directive as above to Noah after the flood in Genesis 9:3, “3 “Every
moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave
the green plant.”
3.1.3. Likewise, at
the first Jerusalem council of the church in Acts 15:20, it was decided by the
apostles and James, the pastor of Jerusalem, that there should be no extra
burden added to the Gentile Christians who had come to know God through faith
in Christ than “...that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and
from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.” There were no Jewish dietary laws which were
tacked on to the list of things that all Christians were to abstain from.
3.2.
So, if you as a Christian do not desire to eat meat or
believe that it is wrong for you to eat meat, that is your own personal decision,
and no one should judge you for it.
However, you should also realize that the scriptures themselves do not
condemn the one who is not a vegetarian, and thus you should not condemn
someone else who eats meat.
3.3.
Paul writes in this verse ‘one man has faith that
he may eat all things,’ meaning that one brother or sister believes that it
does not damage his relationship with God if he goes ahead and eats meat, even
if the meat had previously been sacrificed to an idol. This is the “stronger brother” who can
do this. The “weaker brother” may
have come out of heathen idolatry, and for him to eat meat that had been
sacrificed to an idol would be to actually enter into worship of that idol.
3.4.
So, Paul writes here that the “weaker brother”
is one who ‘eats vegetables only’ since for him he could not eat any
meat which has been or may have been sacrificed to an idol. The “weaker brother” feels that if a
person wants to be really spiritual, then he must be careful about abstaining
from external matters of conduct. He
probably feels that it would be a damning sin for him to eat food if that food
had been sacrificed to an idol.
4. VS 14:3 - “3 Let not him who eats regard
with contempt him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him
who eats, for God has accepted him.” -
Paul tells s that the one who eats meat should not regard with contempt
him who does not and visa versa
4.1.
In this verse, Paul exhorts the Christians not to
judge another brother or sister who does not have the same scruples of
conscience concerning foods which you have, and also not to have ‘contempt’
for one who has passed his judgmental opinion upon you. Both responses are damaging and wrong, and
both are a violation of walking according to God’s agape love.
5. VS 14:4 - “4 Who are you to judge the
servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will,
for the Lord is able to make him stand.” -
Paul tells us that we are not to judge the servant of another
5.1.
Paul gives a very practical exhortation in this
verse. He writes and asks a rhetorical
question which is in essence really stating that a person has no right to ‘judge’
another Christian because that person does not belong to you as your servant or
slave, but rather that person is the servant or slave of someone else, namely,
the Lord.
5.2.
Each of us as Christians must give account of our own
life before the Lord. We are not going
to give account for anyone else’s life or works on the day of judgment for
believers, we will only give account for our own life.
5.3.
It is interesting that Paul throws it into this verse
that even the brother or sister whose conscience is greatly different than ours
is a person to whom the Lord will make able to stand in his walk with
Christ. I have noticed over time that
some of the people that I once though would never make it in ministry have
ended up serving and doing great things beyond my wildest imagination. God is committed to building up and to using
each of His children, even though we may not have the ability to see their
potential.
5.4.
One person has said that when Christ is Lord of our
life, then we aren’t too worried about what some other Christian is or is not
doing, we are more concerned about what our life looks like to the Lord. Likewise, the more mature a person becomes in
his Christian walk, the more he points the finger at himself and not at other’s
actions.
5.5.
We Christians must always realize that whenever we
judge someone else, we do not know the whole story about them nor all the
difficulties that they have gone through.
Longfellow once wrote, “If we could only read the secret history of
our enemies, we would find in each man’s life, sorrow and suffering enough to
disarm all hostility.” The Indians
have a saying that you should not judge someone until you have walked two miles
in his moccasins, and I think that proverb establishes a good principle.
5.6.
Only God is qualified to judge anyone. There is really even no possible way that we
can understand what it would mean to walk in someone else’s moccasins, since we
don’t really even know what anyone else’s life is really like. Therefore, its best to leave all of the
judging up to God, and keep our eyes on our own faithfulness in our walk with
Christ.
5.7.
If someone lays some guilt trip on you, you should
search the scriptures prayerfully and see what God’s Word says on the
subject. Then, when God has spoken to
you, follow what you feel He has spoken to you.
But, don’t despise or condemn your brother who doesn’t follow in your
footsteps.
6. VS 14:5 - “5 One man regards one day above
another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in
his own mind.” - Paul tells
us that one person will regard one day above anther, yet someone else will
regard all days alike, but each of us must be convinced in our own minds
6.1.
Here, Paul writes about the fact that there were some
in the church who thought that Christians were commanded to worship on the
Sabbath, or seventh day, which was the day designated in the Old
Testament. This would again be the “weaker
brother.” However, the “stronger
brother” says that it wouldn’t matter if church were held on any day of the
week, for he would still commit to worship on that day, and have no qualms in
his conscience.
6.2.
This debate over which day the church ought to worship
is still going on today. The Seventh Day
Adventists, for instance, believe that a person should worship on Saturday, and
many from that church have felt that if you do not worship on Saturday that you
will lose your salvation.
6.3.
When
I first became a Christian I didn’t have any Christian follow up as the guy who
led me to Christ was a brand new Christian himself and he wasn’t involved in a
church yet. I had obtained a Bible and started to read it but had lots of
unanswered questions. How I came to understand what the Bible teaches was
very different than most. Whenever any
group came and knocked on my door telling me about their church organization I
invited them in and studied with them. JW’s,
Mormons, Church of Christ, Seventh Day Adventists, you name it. After
about a year and a half I had started going to this open gym night at a S
Baptist church and one night the youth pastor asked me if I might want to
attend the church. I told him that I wasn’t sure if a Christian should
worship on Saturday or Sunday and therefore I didn’t think that I could do
that. He simply quoted Col. 2:16-17 to me, “16 Therefore no
one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a
festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— 17 things which are a mere
shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ,” and
the Holy Spirit spoke so strongly to my heart through that verse that I
couldn’t even speak for a few minutes. The Lord revealed to me the truth
in that verse that what day you worship on is not of great importance, what is
important, or as Paul calls it, “the substance,” belongs to Christ. That next Sunday I was in church and the next
week I was rooming with a couple of guys from the church, and the rest is
history so to speak.
6.4.
Paul gives the exhortation to each Christian to ‘let
each man be fully convinced in his own mind.’ A Christian should search the Word of God and
be prayerful regarding what he does and does not accept in his life.
6.5.
Each of us as Christians have the responsibility to
search out God’s Word and be in prayer about what we do and do not accept into
our life regarding these controversial issues, and having come to the
convictions concerning what we feel that the Lord has shown us, we must follow
our conscience. I tell people not to
take my word for anything I teach but to search out the scriptures prayerfully
themselves. Each of us need to be
persuaded in our own minds by the Lord as to what we are to believe.
6.6.
What Paul is stating in this chapter is that we should
not go out and try to bug everyone else around us to accept our opinions and
what we feel our conscience dictates to us, for this would not be walking in
love.
7. VS
14:6-8 - “6 He who observes
the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for
he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and
gives thanks to God. 7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies
for himself; 8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for
the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” - Paul tells us that the person who is
observing a day and the one who eats is doing so for the Lord
7.1.
In these verses, Paul expresses the fact that whatever
a Christian does he is to be doing it for the Lord and because he feels that
the Lord wants him to be doing it.
Whether it is eating meat or not, worshipping on the Sabbath or not,
etc., each Christian is to do what he does for the Lord and because he feels
that he is doing what the Lord wants him to be doing.
7.2.
In verse 8, Paul writes that a Christian is to not
only live for the Lord, but he is to be obedient to the Lord to the point that
if he must die for the Lord, that he will do it. Whatever a Christian does in his life, it is
to be done for the Lord, in obedience to the Lord, and under the Lord’s
leading.
7.3.
We Christians must realize that even our opinions must
be given over to the Lord. We must seek
the Lord about everything that we do in life, and we must be obedient to what
He shows us, for our life belongs to Him, and it is to be lived for Him.
8. VS 14:9 - “9 For to this end Christ died
and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” - Paul tells us that Christ died and lived
again that He might be the Lord of the dead and of the living
8.1.
We Christians have hope beyond the grave, and Jesus
will be our Lord and master even after this temporal earthly life is over.
9. VS
14:10-12 - “10 But you, why do
you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with
contempt? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is
written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every
tongue shall give praise to God.” 12 So then each one of us shall give account
of himself to God.” - Paul asks
the rhetorical question of why we would judge our brother or treat our brother
with contempt since each of us is going to stand before the judgment seat of
Christ and give an account of ourselves to the Lord
9.1.
In these verses, Paul exhorts the Christians again not
to judge their brothers and sisters in the church since each of us has enough
to worry about in the fact that we shall each give account of ourselves to the
Lord on the judgment day of believers.
We would do well to really concentrate upon our own walk since this is
the case, for if we would spend our energies in that pursuit we will reap the
consequences for eternity.
9.2.
The Christian’s judgment day of standing before the
Lord will not be a judgment of condemnation for sins, for those have already
been paid, but rather a judgment day of rewards for works done after
salvation. Paul talked about the
judgment day of rewards for believers in 2 Cor. 5:9-10, “9 Therefore also we
have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. 10 For
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be
recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether
good or bad.”
9.3.
We Christians must realize the fact that what we do in
this life will reap consequences which will affect us for eternity, for
zillions of years and even more. We
ought to be people who are storing up treasures in heaven which we will be able
to enjoy for eternity. Paul knew that he
had been given eternal life, and that to spend eternity with God would be a
tremendous blessing, yet after the experience he relates in one of his letters
of being taken up to the third heaven and being in God’s very presence, he
spent the rest of his life trying to lay up for himself eternal treasures and
crowns.
10.
CONCLUSIONS :
10.1.
As we consider this study and how that we ought to
apply it to our lives, it is important for us to consider whether or not we are
guilty of judging people unfairly and by appearances. There is a Russian proverb that states, “When
you meet a man, you judge him by his clothes; when you leave, you judge him by
his heart.” Lets not be found guilty
of judging someone whom we really haven’t even tried to understand and
know. If we will try to understand our
brother or sister we will find that we agree upon much more than we disagree
upon.
10.2.
It is OK for you to have convictions that are not
black and white from the scriptures, in fact we are told to each be persuaded
in our minds about these sort of things, however lets not then judge others who
do not hold the convictions that we hold.
10.3.
If you find that you are being judged by another
because of not meeting up with his own convictions of conscience, don’t then
turn around and despise that brother/sister.
Instead, love him/heri and pray for him/her
and try also to understand and accept them as a brother/sister.