The Court of Conscience

Instructions

Will you take your Bible and turn to Romans 14:1–12? Please search the Scriptures with us. Don’t be afraid to use your index.

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Capture

Two Christian couples are at dinner.

Wine is served.

One couple accepts; the other declines—now both are visibly uncomfortable.

Tension fills the booth.

One side thinks: “Legalists. Don't they know we're free in Christ?”

The other side thinks: “How can they drink and call themselves Christians?”

Nobody says it out loud.

Who's right?

Significance

The church has always struggled here—

Alcohol. Bible Translations. worship styles. Halloween. Schooling. Vaccines. Yoga!

Here's the pastoral problem: once your conscience settles something, it stops feeling disputable to you.

Romans 14 teaches how to live together when you're absolutely sure—and someone else isn't.

Context

We've moved from God's mercies (Romans 1–11) to life together (12–13). Now Paul addresses fractures in the Roman church—a mix of Jewish believers shaped by ceremonial food laws and festivals, and Gentile believers saved from paganism without such rules. Jewish Christians said: "We shouldn't eat meat—it might be unclean or offered to idols. We'll eat vegetables and observe holy days." Gentile Christians responded: "Christ fulfilled the law! All foods are clean. Every day belongs to the Lord." Into this crossfire, Paul brings a word.

The Question

How do we maintain unity when we sincerely disagree on issues?

Bible Verse

Romans 14:1 CSB

1 Welcome anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about disputed matters.

Exposition

Paul gives three principles for church harmony:

1. Non-essentials exist—don't fight over them (vv. 1-3)

Paul says some things are disputable—whether you feel that way or not.

Scripture insists certain matters remain disputable even when your conscience speaks with certainty.

Paul is not talking about core doctrine or clear sin.

1 Corinthians 5:12 CSB

12 For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don’t you judge those who are inside?

These are areas theologians call adiaphora—from Greek a- ("not") and diaphora ("different")—actions or beliefs that are not grounds for division.

These are the spaces where Scripture leaves room for individual conscience while still not dividing the body of Christ.

How do you know the difference?

Here's a diagnostic framework:

How to Discern Indisputable vs. Disputable Matters

Four Diagnostic Questions:

Question #1: Does This Redefine the Gospel?

Does it change the definition of who God is, what Christ accomplished, or how we are saved?

Indisputable: Denying Christ's deity, works-based salvation

Disputable: Baptism mode

If the gospel remains intact → Move to Question 2

Question #2: Is Scripture Clear?

Can I point to specific books, chapters, and verses with clear commands or prohibitions? Or must I rely on biblical principles conveyed in Scripture?

Clear: "You shall not murder," "Flee sexual immorality"

Unclear: Social media use

Question #3: Is This Historically Variable?

Has the church affirmed this across generations as essential for Christian obedience? Or has it been peculiar to specific generations and places?

Essential: Trinity

Variable: Worship times and styles

Question #4: Is This Context-Dependent?

Does this apply to all Christians in all places in all times? Or does it depend on individual spiritual maturity, personal circumstances, or how the surrounding culture would perceive it?

Independent: Idolatry is always sin

Dependent: Meat sacrificed to idols

If all four questions point to "disputable," then Romans 14 applies.

Don't argue. Welcome the brother.

The verb welcome (proslambanō) means “receive into close fellowship,” not “tolerate at arms-length.”

Clarifying the “Strong” and the “Weak”

Romans 14:2 CSB

2 One person believes he may eat anything, while one who is weak eats only vegetables.

The "strong" (15:1) understand their freedom in Christ.

They know food is clean, days are irrelevant, Christ has set them free.

Their conscience is clear. Their knowledge is certain.

They eat all foods and treat all days alike.

The “strong” are confident in their liberty.

Paul calls the other group "weak in faith" (v. 1)—not weak Christians, but weak in this area.

Their faith is genuine, but their conscience remains bound by restrictions that the gospel has removed.

The "weak" believer sees the danger—certain practices feel compromising, certain freedoms feel reckless.

They abstain from certain foods and honor specific days because their conscience won't allow otherwise.

The “weak” are cautious with their liberty.

Now, both think their position is obvious.

Both wonder how the other can't see it.

And notice Paul condemns neither position.

Here's the danger for Paul:

Romans 14:3 CSB

3 One who eats must not look down on one who does not eat, and one who does not eat must not judge one who does, because God has accepted him.

Paul confronts both camps:

The confident despise the cautious as legalistic.

You see a sister's caution and roll your eyes.

“Get over it already!”

Do you see yourself here? Are you the one who looks down on the overly cautious?

The cautious judge the confident as worldly.

You see a brother exercise liberty and you condemn him.

“How can you do that!”

Are you the one who condemns the confident, certain that their liberty is license for worldliness?

Paul condemns both responses. Why?

Notice that phrase: God has accepted him.

God.

The same Greek verb for "welcome" in verse 1 now describes God in verse 3—He received them, so you must receive them.

If the Lord has accepted your brother, who are you to overrule His acceptance?

The church was never meant to be a club of exact-minded people.

As Leon Morris said, "Christians are not clones."

God desires a family of diverse convictions because families must learn to love each other.

2. Christ purchased exclusive rights to each believer’s conscience in the non-essentials. (vv. 4–9)

Romans 14:4 CSB

4 Who are you to judge another’s household servant? Before his own Lord he stands or falls. And he will stand, because the Lord is able to make him stand.

Paul shifts with a devastating question: "Who are you to judge another's household servant?"

This is ownership language.

In the Roman world, only a master could evaluate his own servant.

To criticize someone else's servant was to overstep authority entirely.

You are evaluating a servant who doesn't answer to you.

Christ bought him. Christ owns him. Christ judges him.

Your brother's conscience doesn't answer to your standards in disputable matters—it answers to Christ.

And critically, "the Lord is able to make him stand."

Often, when you speak up passionately about alcohol, schooling, music, translations, or vaccines, the concern stems from not wanting another believer to fall.

But Paul declares: if your brother's conviction differs from yours yet comes from a biblically informed, prayerful conscience before Christ, the Lord Himself will keep that person from falling.

That should give great relief.

God preserves His own.

Romans 14:5 CSB

5 One person judges one day to be more important than another day. Someone else judges every day to be the same. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind.

This is shocking: Paul doesn't settle the dispute!

He doesn't tell the cautious to stop observing days or the confident to start.

Theodoret clarified that Paul never says this about core doctrine, only about disputable matters.

Instead, he establishes a principle: in matters where Scripture leaves freedom, each believer must act from conviction.

This isn't modern relativism: "you do you."

"Fully convinced" means convictions formed under Christ's lordship by Scripture—not peer pressure or tradition, but what pleases your Master.

Christian liberty isn't individualism—"I get to do what I want."

It's Christ-expression—whether one partakes or abstains, he does it "in honor of the Lord."

That’s why Paul continues:

Romans 14:6–8 CSB

6 Whoever observes the day, observes it for the honor of the Lord. Whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat it, and he gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

Notice the refrain: for the Lord… to the Lord… for the Lord… to the Lord.

Both the confident and the cautious act for the Lord's honor.

Both give thanks. Both seek to glorify God. Both belong to Him.

Either position wasn't the issue—it's the motive.

Not "What did you do?" but "Why did you do it? Was it for Christ?"

And in verse 9, Paul tells us how Christ earned this right:

Romans 14:9 CSB

9 Christ died and returned to life for this: that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living.

Why did Christ die?

To cancel our sins, yes.

To reconcile us to God, yes.

But here Paul emphasizes another purpose: to establish His absolute lordship over His people—including your conscience.

Christ died and rose to secure this authority.

Your brother's conscience doesn't belong to you; it belongs to Him.

When you judge your brother's conscience, you attempt to usurp authority Christ alone died to secure.

You cannot control by opinion what you didn't purchase.

We're not to use pressure, traditions, or internet tribes to form convictions.

I want to teach the gospel clearly enough that consciences are informed, then trust the Holy Spirit to apply conviction.

To Deacons and Teachers:

Shepherd both sides.

We're called to shepherd both the confident and the cautious believers.

Our calling isn't enforcing uniformity but cultivating unity.

Watch out for two extremes:

If confident: you may not bait the consciences of the cautious.

Don't trigger sensitive consciences.

If cautious: you may not bind the consciences of the confident.

You can't say, "That is immoral. God says not to."

Matthew Henry noted, "A distinguished minister once remarked, 'The weak brother is the biggest bully in the universe.'"

R. C. Sproul wrote: "Paul makes clear that though we are to be sensitive, loving, and kind to the weaker brother, we ought never allow him to exercise tyranny over the church."

3. Your brother or sister answers to Christ in the non-essentials, and so do you. (vv. 10-12)

Romans 14:10 CSB

10 But you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

For the believer, this is not a judgment of condemnation—

that was handled at the cross.

It is a judgment of evaluation. A day of accounting.

We will all stand before Christ's judgment seat—

not to determine salvation, but to assess the quality of our lives.

Notice: Paul addresses both groups.

To the weak: "Why do you judge?"

To the strong: "Why do you despise?"

Both sins are equally offensive to God, and both will be answered for.

You're not each other's judge.

Every brother will stand before the same Judge—

not to your brother's opinion, not to tradition, but to Christ.

And to prove this, Paul quotes Isaiah 45:23:

Romans 14:11 CSB

11 For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God.

Paul quotes Isaiah 45:23—Yahweh's declaration of exclusive sovereignty.—and applies it directly to Christ's judgment seat.

This is a profound statement of Christ's divinity.

Matthew Henry observed: "Here is a proof of Christ's Godhead: he is the Lord and he is God, equal with the Father."

The judgment seat of God is the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10).

One day, the arguments will cease.

We will all—confident and cautious—bow before Christ.

Romans 14:12 CSB

12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Leon Morris wrote: "'Each' makes the judgment universal, and 'of us' makes it personal."

You will not give account for your brother's wine or your sister's music.

You will give account for yourself.

You can sit there with glee saying, "The Lord's given me liberty!"—then go abuse it—only to stand before the Lord of Liberty and hear, "I never told you to use it that way."

Or you can clutch your scruples, insisting everyone share your caution, and stand before that same Lord as He asks, "Who told you to bind what I left free?"

Either way, you'll give an account.

Summons: Stand Before Your Own Master

To Unbelievers

To the one here today who is not a Christian.

You've heard talk of "strong" and "weak"—religious disputes.

But know this: You will bow the knee to Christ.

Every person will.

The question is whether you will bow in worship now, or in terror later.

Paul says Christ died and rose "that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living" (v. 9).

He is Lord whether you acknowledge it or not.

One day you will stand before Him and give account.

If you've never repented and believed in Christ, you are storing up wrath.

Today is the day to bow the knee.

Today is the day to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

To Believers

This text demands we stop looking sideways at each other and start looking up at our Master.

To the "Confident":

Stop treating cautious believers as unenlightened.

God has received them.

Their caution may come from battles you've never fought.

Honor their conscience even when you don't share it.

To the "Cautious":

Your caution is commendable.

But don’t judge those who exercise freedoms you don't embrace.

God has accepted them.

Don't put yourself in His seat.

To All:

Matthew Henry said: "We have an account of our own to make up, and that is enough for us."

Stop building cases against your brothers and sisters.

Examine your own heart.

You have enough work there.

Repent, Believe, and Be Baptized

If you've never bowed to Christ, today is your day. The same Judge who evaluates believers will condemn unbelievers. But Jesus died to take that condemnation in your place. He offers forgiveness, life, and the freedom to stand before Him clothed in His righteousness.

Spurgeon said: "Ungodly man, if thou art ever to be saved, thou must draw nigh to God in prayer. Go to him at this moment, just where thou art sitting, and confess all thy sin to him; there is no need for thee to utter a word that any of us can hear, for God can read the language of thy heart."

"Dear Jesus, I confess I'm a sinner deserving judgment. I've lived in rebellion and cannot save myself. But I believe You died for my sins and rose to give me eternal life. Forgive me, come into my life, and grant me everlasting life. Help me live for You. Amen."

Baptism is the visible side of faith and a public confession of your commitment to follow Christ. To sign up for baptism, text BELIEVE to 706-525-5351 or visit www.mtcarmeldemorest.com/baptism.

A Prayer for Unity

Almighty God, our righteous Judge and merciful Savior, forgive our harshness and disdain. Give us wisdom to know what is essential and grace to give charity in what is not. Make us quick to welcome and slow to quarrel. Fix our eyes on the judgment seat of Christ, that we might live with holy fear and humble love. Unite this church around Your cross and empty tomb. In Jesus' name, Amen.