Romans 14.1-The Strong With Respect To Conviction Are To Welcome The Weak With Respect To Conviction But Not For Arguing Over Opinions
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday February 23, 2010
Romans: Romans 14:1-The Strong With Respect To Conviction Are To Welcome The Weak With Respect To Conviction But Not For Arguing Over Opinions
Lesson # 461
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 14:1.
This evening we will study Romans 14:1 and in this passage Paul commands those who are strong with respect to conviction to welcome into their fellowship those who are weak with respect to conviction but not for the purpose of arguing over opinions.
Romans 14:1, “Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.”
This statement marks the transition from a discussion about the believer’s conduct in relation to the imminent return of Christ at the rapture in Romans 13:11-14 to a discussion back to the believer’s relationship with his or her fellow believer.
However, this discussion addresses specific problems that could crop up and have cropped up in the Christian assemblies throughout the Roman Empire and the solution to these problems.
“Accept” is the second person plural present middle imperative form of the verb proslambano (proslambavnw) (prose-lam-bano), which means “to welcome into one’s fellowship” and it is used of the Roman Christians who were strong in the faith welcoming into their fellowship those Christians who were weak in the faith.
The second person plural form of the verb proslambano refers to Paul’s Christian readers in Rome who are strong in the faith as indicated by his statement in Romans 15:1 that “the strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.”
The strong as we noted would be Gentile Christians and Jewish Christians like Paul who had been fully convinced that they no longer were under any dietary restrictions and no longer had to observe certain days or abstain from wine because they were convinced by the Holy Spirit of their new freedom in Christ.
The present imperative form of the verb is a “customary present imperative” indicating that Paul is commanding those among his readers who are strong in the faith “to continue making it their habit of” welcoming into their fellowship those who are weak in the faith.
Paul’s statements in Romans 1:8 and 15:14-15 indicate quite clearly that those among the Roman believers who were strong in the faith were in fact welcoming into their fellowship those who were weak in the faith, i.e. conviction.
Therefore, the present imperative form of the verb proslambano indicates that Paul’s command is simply giving a reminder to those who were strong in the faith to continue doing what they were doing and was designed to protect their fellowship with God and each other and their testimony among the unsaved.
“The one who is weak” is the articular accusative masculine singular present active participle form of the verb astheneo (a)sqenevw) (as-tha-nay-o), which is used in a figurative sense of those Christians who are in “weak” in conviction, which refers to the Jewish believers who still clung to the Law and Gentile Christians influenced by the Jewish tradition.
It denotes that a believer who is weak in conviction is someone who lacks spiritual strength and is not able to withstand pressure or attack upon that which they believe is true.
Their faith is easily upset and they are deficient in their knowledge of the Word of God.
It also can denote a believer who has not firmly decided on a matter of practice because he is not fully convinced by the teaching of the Spirit in the Word of God.
They are weak because they lack judgment and discernment because they are deficient in wisdom, i.e. the ability to handle problems and situations and adversity and prosperity with the Word of God.
Furthermore, this verb denotes that those who are weak in faith are those who are not practiced or familiar with appropriating the power of God in prayer or the power of the Spirit when faced with temptation.
A weak believer is not accurate in his understanding of the Word of God in relation to doctrine and conduct and they lack skill in applying the Word of God.
They are in a spiritually weak condition as a result of not being fully educated in the Word of God as to the implications of being under grace and in union with Christ and identified with Him in His crucifixion, spiritual and physical death, His burial and resurrection and session.
Or they have been taught but are not fully convinced by the Spirit with regards to the divine omnipotence and victory over sin, Satan and his cosmic system that is available to them through this union and identification with Christ.
Romans 14:1, “Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.”
“In faith” is the articular dative feminine singular form of the noun pistis (pivsti$) (pis-tis), which means “conviction,” which is a “strong persuasion or belief” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition).
Convictions are beliefs which govern our behavior.
The Christian’s convictions are to be based upon the teaching of the Spirit in the Word of God.
A biblical conviction comes about in a Christian when he or she has been fully convinced or convicted by the Holy Spirit through the teaching of the Word of God with regards to the will of the Father regarding a particular subject and thus has decided to accept this teaching.
Consequently, this teaching becomes a part of their conscience, i.e. their norms and standards and thus governs their conduct.
A conviction is a decision concerning what it is true or God’s will for the Christian’s life, which in turn determines what the Christian should or should not do when faced with a particular situation or circumstance.
Pistis does not refer to faith in Christ, which results in being declared justified by God but rather it is related to the believer experiencing his sanctification and salvation and fellowship after being declared justified and refers to a believer’s “conviction” that what he or she is doing is according to the will of the Father.
In Romans 14, Paul mentions that those who are weak in their conviction are those who regard certain days as more important than others and adhere to dietary restrictions and do not drink wine whereas those who are strong, like himself, do not adhere to these things.
The weak abstain from certain foods and wine and observe certain days whereas the strong do not simply because the former are not familiar with the teaching of the Word of God regarding these things or they have been taught but are not fully convinced yet.
The latter are educated in the Word of God with regards to these things and have been fully convinced by the Spirit’s teaching in the Word of God.
Romans 14:1, “Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.”
“Not the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions” indicates the purpose for Paul’s command to those who were strong with respect to conviction to welcome those who were weak with respect to conviction.
It instructs the strong believer that he is not to engage in a dispute or argue with the weak believer over his conviction with regards to his observance of certain days and dietary restrictions and abstaining from drinking wine.