Building Up The Body

TITLE: Building Up the Body

TEXT: Romans 14.13-23.

INTRODUCTION:

Question: How does it feel when someone around you is keeping you from progressing in something?

Whether it be in career development or pursuing personal goals, I think it is fair to say we have all likely encountered someone that just seems to stifle progress.

WORK: You are working hard in your position…navigating the rules and regulations of the company you work for…you may have a plan in place for yourself or a team…and then Carl (my default name) throws a wrench into the plan by quoting some random bureaucratic red tape no one has ever heard of, delaying your plan by months.

PERSONAL: You have set a personal goal…you have a plan laid out for achieving that goal in a certain timeframe…you have the resolve and commitment to put in the work needed to succeed…and then Carl (again my default name) steps in with intimate knowledge of the HOA regulations of your neighborhood, destroying your dreams of that hog farm you wanted to start in your back yard.

The point of this portion of Romans 14 is that just like Carl, we can easily become a hindrance to others around us, but more specifically our daily decisions as Christians can actually tear down others in their sanctification instead of building them up in love as they pursue Christlikeness.

Last Week: Romans 14.1-12.

V1-4, We welcome the weak in faith and do not judge others in their personal convictions (Jewish dietary laws, Observing certain holidays, etc)

V5, Regardless of your position on a matter, let it be based on the Truth and be confident, knowledgeable of your position, having a clear conscience in the matter.

V5-9, May our aim in all things be to honor the Lord in how we live, for we are His.

V10-12, Judgment belongs to the Lord, and we all will give an account of ourselves before the one true God who will judge perfectly, rightly without flaw.

This Week: Romans 14:13-23.

Today is very much a continued theme from the first part of Romans 14, but here Paul gives us quick glance into the impacts of exercising our Christian Liberty wrongly.

What is Christian Liberty?

Depending on context this can mean multiple things.

Freed from the penalty of sin by faith in Christ (Rom 6.23)

Freed from the power of sin by faith in Christ (Rom 6.5-6)

Freed from the Law of Moses, its regulations on daily living, and its power in only to reveal sin and not save (Rom 3.20)

“Christian liberty can mean that Christians are freed in respect to such activity that is not expressly forbidden in the Bible.”

Got Questions: Christian Liberty - What does the Bible say?”

MAIN IDEA

We must not let our exercise of Christian liberty lead others into sin, but in love we use our best judgment to build up fellow believers for the sake of Christ’s church.

Outline

We prioritize the building up of other believers (v.13-19)

We strive to maintain a clear conscience before God and man (v.20-23)

PRAYER

Romans 14:13–23 ESV

13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

1. We prioritize the building up of other believers (v.13-19)

“Therefore…”

What context from the beginning of Romans 14 is Paul building on here?

Do not pass judgment on others and their convictions. We should be confident in our theological and practical positions in the Christian life, but we never forget that we are the Lord’s and our aim as His church is to love the Lord with everything we have and love the world around us.

In Romans 14:1-12, we are instructed towards unity in Christ instead of passing judgment on others over less important practices.

In the latter portion of Romans 14, Paul takes his point to the next level. Not only should we not be passing judgment on others in their convictions, but we should also be considering how our convictions and the exercise of those convictions affects other believers.

(v.13)

Paul first tells the church in Rome that instead of judging other followers of Christ in convictions, to “rather decide” that your decisions will not be a hindrance to your brothers and sisters.

The Greek term here translated “rather decide” is actually the same term translated as judgment in verses 3 and 10. There, it is used in a negative sense (condemning), but here it is used positively.

In v13, it means to determine or make a careful decision. Paul means: It is not enough to just not pass judgment on others in their convictions, but even more let us determine that how we exercise our freedom in Christ will not hinder another believer.

“stumbling block or hindrance”

This Greek term actually means a snare or trap, a device used for catching birds or wild animals.

With the SNARE, we have the idea of being entangled by something. And the TRAP is something that usually springs shut suddenly.

Saul gives Michal to David

1 Samuel 18:20–21 ESV

20 Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 21 Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, “You shall now be my son-in-law.”

A stumbling block is simply something that would cause another believer to fall into sin.

(v.14)

Paul continues in the next verse with a confident statement concerning eating clean vs unclean foods.

We know this topic stems from the spiritual history of Israel, where the Law given prohibited them from eating certain foods that were determined to be unclean.

Those from a Jewish background knew these truths were from the Law of God, and thus their entire lives they were taught this. BUT NOW, they were saved by grace and seeking to make sense of this new life in Christ and the history associated with their people.

For the Gentile in the church, he/she had no such background in the Law, so naturally similar hangups concerning foods were likely not present.

“I know and am persuaded…”

There is great confidence in his position! In all of Romans 14, Paul is never exhorting the believer to lazily hold a position, but instead to join him in being fully convince of the position (v.5)

Paul’s confidence here (nothing is unclean in itself) is certainly not anchored in emotion or tradition, but it is rooted in the Truth, the infallible Word of God.

Peter’s Vision

Acts 10:13–15 ESV

13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”

Paul’s Instruction for Ephesus

1 Timothy 4:4–5 ESV

4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

Jesus Speaks to the Pharisees

Mark 7:14–15 ESV

14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”

Thus…Paul’s position concerning the cleanliness of food is based on the TRUTH.

“BUT…”

Romans 14:1 “1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.”

The focus here remains external to Paul and on the believer whose firm foundation is Christ alone, but is presently weak in their understanding of certain things.

Regardless, Paul says such things are unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. This means it is a matter of conscience for each person.

CONSCIENCE: a person’s internal awareness or sense of abiding by or transgressing moral standards given by God

ILLUSTRATION: Audio Books

I started reading for enjoyment, and not merely our of necessity in school or work, much too late in my life.

Often when discussing common movie series, someone will ask: Have you read the books?

At the beginning of my newfound enjoyment of reading, I often felt the need to clarify: Yes, but i listened to the audiobook.

I try to avoid doing this now based on the reactions I have experienced in the past from people who live and breath paper and ink. To listen to a book is borderline a crime to them!

Even somewhat jokingly, it violates their conscience. They would never “listen” through Lord of the Rings. What an insult to the author.

Here in verse 14, this means if a believer is convinced something is sinful, regardless if his/her position is correct, he/she should never violate conscience in doing it.

The violation of conscience produces guilt, which likely drives us more towards legalistic living instead of walking confidentially and freely in Christ.

ILLUSTRATION: Halloween

For some, celebrating Halloween with their family or just themselves is completely harmless. Dressing up as something fun and getting candy? It’s a no brainer, right?

For others, this is a violation of their conscience. People use this holiday to dress up as evil, wicked things or to do evil to other people, and they will have no part of it.

Example: Nepal conversation

Again, I believe there is Christian liberty here. Walk in accordance with you conscience, and be fully convinced in your position.

(v.15)

Romans 14:15 “15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.”

The context in the church in Rome here is certainly clean vs unclean food, but there is a more general principle here: If your daily decisions are causing your brother/sister pain, distress, or worse…leading him/her into sin, then you are not loving them well.

APPLICATION:

For COTV today, I want us to see specifically that Paul is not saying the seemingly more spiritually mature Christian is wrong biblically. He/she is fully convinced in their mind, and their position biblically might be correct.

I can hear Paul saying: “Okay, so you are right in this matter...… so what???”

According to God’s Word, being right here is not more important than walking in love towards your brother or sister in Christ.

Again.… this is not an exhortation to laziness in our knowledge or not prioritizing our sanctification. Of course we prioritize these things! But at this point in time, you exercising your Christian liberty in frivolously may do your brother/sister great harm spiritually.

Furthermore, Paul says in our flippant, self-focused decisions, we destroy the one for whom Christ died? What does this mean?

DESTROY: in the Greek, means to perish or to lose.

This term is used many times across the NT, but in different ways with different context.

PERISH (eternally)

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

LOSE (eternally) - Loving Jesus Supremely

Matthew 10:38–39 ESV

38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Is Paul teaching that our actions will cause another believer to lose their salvation?

Certainly Not!

Instead, Paul is saying that we are working against God’s sanctifying work in their lives, possibly leading them astray in violation of their conscience.

In Paul’s first letter to Corinth, he defines such behavior as sinful against both God and man.

1 Corinthians 8:10–12 ESV

10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

(v.16)

Romans 14:16 “16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil.”

I did not understand this verse in my initial study. it seemed contradictory to Paul’s main them for the text, but I am thankful for the council of my brother Joe and Dalton here.

Paul is saying that our convictions on what we eat, what we drink, what holidays we celebrate, how we lead our families,.… may be good in themselves. BUT they may be spoken of as evil in practice when we selfishly exercise our Christian Liberty with lack of concern for impact on others in the body of Christ.

ILLUSTRATION: Cultural Norms

Pradeep and RP are coming here in July.

Joe briefly mentioned last week the Nepal/Hindu culture where the COW is revered, even worshipped depending on who you talk to.

For them (both inside and outside the church in Nepal), exercising their freedom in Christ by eating beef would not only be unwise but against the law.

And not just in Nepal, but there are innumerable other cultural norms around the world where the church should prayerfully discern if their exercising of Christian Liberty would either lead others into sin or affect their proclamation of the gospel.

Southeast/Bible Belt: Taking your hat off for prayer (up for debate)

Your right or freedom in Christ does not give you a license to lead others into sin. Such a position lacks the perspective and heart of Christ for His church.

(v.17-19)

Romans 14:17–19 “17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”

When considering the Kingdom of God, what is most important? Some things like these (food choices, holidays, alcohol, etc.) seem very important in the moment, but according to the Holy Spirit through Paul here, there are things that are far greater that deserve our attention and consideration in this life as believers.

143   What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. A. W. Tozer Knowledge of The Holy (1961)

A. W. Tozer

When we consider God and His kingdom to come, let us be more concerned with righteousness (upright living according to the Word), peace and joy (fruit of the Holy Spirit as we seek to live peaceably with all, Rom12.18) in our living.

We are servants, slaves to righteousness in Christ, and in this we the approval of both God and man. The fruit of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us is evident to those around us, and by our love for one another the world will know we are disciples of Christ.

APPLICATION:

The entire focus of Romans 14 is a call to be less self focused people, where we are more concerned to show love to our brothers and sisters than to boastfully exercise our position. Paul says this well in many places across 1 Corinthians.

Paul Surrender’s His Rights for the Gospel and Others

1 Corinthians 9:12 ESV

12 If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:23–24 ESV

23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.

1 Corinthians 10:31–11:1 ESV

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. 1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

In the practice of your faith, imitate Christ as you love your brother/sister in the same way that Christ loved them we He came and dies for them.

Philippians 2:4–8 ESV

4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

GOSPEL

What if..… we made decisions in this life and in the church that were less concerned with us and more concerned with the building up of the body and the proclamation of the Gospel in our neighborhoods and to the nations?

In my opinion, this is what the American church is missing when it comes to answering the important question: What is our purpose.

2. We strive to maintain a clear conscience before God and man (v.20-23)

In these verses, Paul somewhat rehashes what we have already covered this morning. We will run through these highlights quickly, but then I hope you will see two primary take-aways.

(v.20-21)

Romans 14:20–21 “20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.”

As a member of the body of Christ, your decisions and my decisions as individuals have a much greater impact on those around us than we likely realize most of the time. Paul’s focus here for the sake of the church in Rome is focused on the dietary laws from Israel’s past, but this idea is expanded in verse 21.

It is not good for us to do anything that causes our fellow believer to stumble.

It is clear from Paul’s teaching here and in Galatians that we can easily abuse the freedom we have in Christ, potentially, leading them to violate their conscience.

Christ Has Set Us Free

Galatians 5:13 ESV

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

This freedom we have been given in Christ is not a license to self-service and indulgence at the expense of others around us. Instead we are free to walk in faithful obedience to Christ and his commands and in loving service to His body, the church.

A Strong Caution Against Leading Others to Sin

Luke 17:1–2 ESV

1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

This is how seriously Christ takes this matter: It would be better if we were dead than to lead others into sin. This is how seriously we should consider the exercise of our freedom in Christ. More focused on others than on ourselves.

(v.22)

Romans 14:22 “22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.”

We have heard something similar here in our conversations during Reach HG: My belief/faith is personal between me and God (an unwillingness to discuss things regarding faith).

Is Paul exhorting the church to be silent and not discuss matters of faith? By no means!

Instead, Paul says blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.

Take-Away #1

Work hard daily to have a clear conscience before God and Man.

Paul before the Jerusalem Council

Acts 23:1 “1 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.””

Paul before Felix in Caesarea

Acts 24:16 “16 So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.”

1 Corinthians 8-10.

CONSCIENCE is mentioned 7 times across these chapters

Each time, the focus appears to be striving to walk in a manner worthy of the calling for which we have been called.

APPLICATION:

Our conscience is a gracious gift from God that we should not ignore.

Our conscience can either be weakened by consistent rejection or strengthen by the Spirit of God through the Word of God.

We will have no reason to pass judgment on ourselves if our aim is to walk humbly with our Lord and love our fellow believer and our neighbor as our self.

(v.23)

Romans 14:23 “23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”

Take-Away #2

If we are striving to maintain a clear conscience before God and man (Exercising our freedom in Christ to both honor the Lord and in service of other believers around us), then we can confidently say we are walking in good faith, instead of the flesh.

Paul says that whatever does not does not proceed from faith is sin, meaning working in the flesh actually looks like the following.

Quarreling over opinions (Rom 14.1)

Despising/Judging others in their convictions (Rom 14.2-3)

Living unto ourselves (Rom 14.7)

Causing another to stumble into sin (Rom 14.13)

Violating our conscience (Rom 14.14)

Destroying the work of God (Rom14.15,20)

Galatians 5:16 ESV

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

If we determine each day to walk in this manner towards one another (Romans 14), I believe the following will happen:

Christ will be honored

The Kingdom of God will grow through the Gospel

The body of Christ will be built up. All for our good and for His glory.