Got Questions? - Week 4

How Do We Handle “Grey Area” Issues?

Romans 14

There are many things in Scripture that God explicitly says are sinful actions, and therefore there really is no argument over whether or not a Christian should partake of those things (thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill, etc). There are basic fundamentals that every Christian should agree upon. But what about things the Bible doesnt explicitly talk about? Is everything that isnt mentioned free for us to do? How do we know what things we are free to do and which ones we arent?

Disunity has been a common problem among God’s people since the very beginning. Even the children of Israel had disputes among themselves that led to civil wars and pretty much each New Testament church Paul wrote to had some kind of disagreement that was causing division. Disagreements have always been here, and they always will be until Jesus comes.

In Paul’s day it was the issue of eating meat, and observing certain holy days. In today’s day and age its things like music, certain types of clothing, and what tv shows you can and cant watch.

In Reality, these are silly things to be fighting over, but it happens nonetheless, and Satan loves to see it. But thankfully, the Holy Spirit caused Paul to address this issue in Romans 14. Paul here explains how believers can disagree on non-essentials and still maintain unity.

I. Receive One Another (14:1-12)

Paul here is addressing the ones who were “strong in the faith” that is, those who understood their liberty in Christ and were not enslaved to dietary restrictions or holy days. The “weak in the faith” refer to immature believers who felt obligated to obey legalistic rules concerning what they ate and when they worshipped.

Many people have the idea that those who follow more strict rules are more mature believers, but that is not necessarily the case. In the Roman church, the weak Christians were those who clung to the law and did not enjoy their liberty in Christ. The weak Christians were judging and condemning the strong Christians, and the strong Christians were despising the weak Christians.

“Welcome one another!” was Paul’s cry to these believers. He gives us 4 reasons why we should

God Has Received Us (1-3)

It is not our responsibility to decide the requirements for Christian fellowship in the church; only the Lord can do this.

Setting up man-made restrictions on the basis of personal convictions is to go beyond the Word of God, and thus is wrong.

St Augustine said it best “In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity”

Paul’s rebuke of Peter (Galatians 2:11-13)

In every church there are strong and weak Christians. The strong understand truth and practice it, but the weak have not yet grown into that kind of spiritual maturity and liberty.

The weak must not judge the strong and call them unspiritual and the strong must not despise the weak and call them immature. God has received them both, so they should receive eachother!

2. God Sustains His Own (4)

the strong Christian was judged by the weak Christian, and Paul condemned this because it meant that the weak Christian was taking the place of God in the strong Christians life

God is the Master; the Christian is the Servant. It is wrong for anyone to interfere in this relationship.

We are servants, meaning we ought to be busy working for the Lord. People who are busy in God’s work have more important things to worry about than investigating the lives of other Christians

3. Jesus Christ is Lord (5-9)

The word “Lord” is found 8 times in these verses. No Christian has the right to “play God” in someone else’s life. Let Christ be the One Who is their Lord, not you!

What is it that makes a dish “holy” or a day “holy”? It is the fact that we relate it to the Lord. The person that regards a special day as “holy” does it unto the Lord. The person that regards every day as “holy” does it unto the Lord.

“Let every man be fully persuaded” = let every man see to it that he is really doing what he does for the Lord’s sake, and not merely on the basis of some prejudice or whim.

Much of the church of Jesus Christ is divided today because they wont let Jesus be Lord!

John 21:15-25 “what is that to thee, follow Me!”

Jesus was saying to Peter “Peter, you make sure that I’m the Lord over your life and worry about yourself, let Me worry about John”

4. Jesus Christ is Judge (10-12)

Both strong and weak Christians alike will have to stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and answer for their own lives. They will not be judging eachother - they will be judged by the Lord.

The Judgment Seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:10-15; 9:24-27)

How does the Christian prepare for the Judgment Seat of Christ? By allowing Jesus to be the Lord of his/her life and faithfully obeying Him. Instead of judging others, we had better make sure we are ready to be judged at the Bema Seat.

Let Jesus be the Lord of your life and let Him be the Lord of everyone else’s life too!

“I have learned that God blesses people I disagree with!” - unknown

Charles Spurgeon and Joseph Parker’s disagreement

II. Edify One Another (14:13-23)

The emphasis in these verses are on brotherly love. If we love each other, we will seek to edify each other - build each other up in the faith.

Christians Affect Each Other (13-15)

Note the possible ways we can affect each other. We can cause others to stumble, grieve others, or even destroy others. Paul was speaking of the way the strong Christian affected the weak one.

He dealt with a similar issue in 1 Corinthians 8-9. There he pointed out that knowledge and love must work together. The Strong Christian has spiritual knowledge, but if he does not practice love, his knowledge will hurt the weak Christian. Knowledge must be balanced by love.

Often, little children are scared of the dark and think there is something hiding in the closet. Of course, the mom knows it is safe, but her knowledge alone cannot comfort the child. You can never argue a child into losing fear. When the mother sits at the bedside, talks lovingly to the child, and assures him that everything is secure, then the child can go to sleep without fear. Knowledge plus love helps the weak person grow strong.

“there is nothing unclean of itself” Nothing in and of itself is unclean. It is what something does to a person that determines its quality. One man may be able to read certain books and not be bothered by them while another man is tempted to sin by reading them. In that case the person who is tempted to sin should avoid reading that certain type of book.

But the issue is not, “How does it affect me?” so much as “If I do this, How does it affect my brother?” will it make him stumble, will it grieve him, or will it even destroy him by encouraging him to sin? Is it really worth it to harm my brother just so I can enjoy this thing???

2. Christians Must Have Priorities (16-18)

We Christians have a tendency to major on the minor things. We argue and bicker over stuff that is really insignificant when compared to the vital things of the Christian faith. This is what Paul means by verse 17. The Kingdom of God is more than just meat and drink! Theres more important things at stake!

The eternals, not the externals must be first in our lives; righteousness, peace, and joy. These come from the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. Itf we would all focus on these things, we would not fight over trivial things.

Spiritual priorities are essential to harmony in the church.

3. Christians Must Help Each Other Grow (19-21)

Both the strong believer and the weak one need to grow. The strong believer needs to grow in love, while the weak believer needs to grow in knowledge. So long as a believer is weak in his faith, we must lovingly deal with him in his immaturity. But we must also help him grow.

When a new child comes into the home, everything has to change. Mother and Father are careful not to leave scissors on the chair or anything dangerous within reach. But as the child matures, it is possible for the parents to adjust the rules of the house and deal with him in a more adult fashion. It is natural for a child to stumble when he is learning to walk, but if an adult constantly stumbles, we know something is wrong.

Young Christians need fellowship that will protect them and encourage them to grow, but we cant treat them like babies their whole lives. The older Christians must exercise love and patience and be careful not to cause them to stumble. But in the same vein, the Younger Christians need to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Savior (2 Peter 3:18)

4. Christians Must Not Force Their Opinions on Others (22-23)

There are certain truths that all Christians must accept because they are the foundation of our faith. But areas of honest disagreement must not be made a test of fellowship.

If you have a sincere conviction from God about a matter, keep it to yourself and do not try to force everybody else to accept it. Even if a person’s convictions are immature, he must never violate his conscience. This would do great damage to his spiritual life.

For Example, a mature believer knows that eating at a restaurant that serves alcohol is nothing. But a person who just got saved out of an alcoholic lifestyle may avoid eating anywhere that serves it for his own sake. If the Mature believer forced the weaker one to eat at a restaurant that served alcohol, he would be damaging the weaker brother’s conscience and thus would be in sin. “For whatsoever is not of faith is sin”

Conscience is strengthened by knowledge. But knowledge must be balanced by love; otherwise it tears down instead of building up. Believers may hold different convictions about many matters, but they must hold them in love.

Conclusion

Romans 15:1–3 “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.”

For the strong brother - dont dispise your weaker brother. Love him. And dont cause him to stumble. You may need to sacrifice some of your liberty when you are around them in order to help them

For the weak brother - dont be judgmental and think your brother is unspiritual for partaking in things maybe you wouldnt. It is not wrong to carry personal convictions, but it is wrong to force those on others.

“In Essentials, Unity; in Nonessentials, Liberty; In all things, Charity”