REBC Adult Bible Study - Romans 14
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Good evening church
Please turn your Bibles to
As we continue our study of the Book of Romans
This chapter’s will focus on not judging other believers regardless if they are strong or weak in faith
Especially in regards to fasting,
Paul reminds us that God alone is the judge and we have to be careful how we treat our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ
Paul here reminds us that the diversity of the church displays Christ’s power to bring together dissimilar people in genuine unity
However, Satan often works on man’s unredeemed flesh to create division and threaten that unity
As you may recall in our study of Paul discusses our struggle between our redeemed mind and our flesh that is still ruled by sin
Satan’s plan is to threaten unity and Paul addresses in this passage what will arise when mature (strong) believers—both Jews and Gentiles—conflict with immature (weak) believers
Paul, knowing that the mature Jews and Gentiles would be able to understand these struggles...
Likewise the mature Gentiles understood that idols are not gods and, therefore, that they could eat meat that had been offered to them
However, in both these cases the weaker believers’ consciences were troubled
They were even tempted to violate their consciences...
Something as we will see in this chapter is a bad thing to train oneself to do
Paul, knowing that the mature Jews and Gentiles would be able to understand these struggles...
Addresses most of his comments to them
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we dive into the text...Please join me one more time in prayer before we start
Reading:
Reading:
Verse 1: Now accept the one who is weak in faith,
“Weak in faith” means those believers who are unable to let go of the religious ceremonies and rituals of their past
And this applied both to Jews and Gentiles
For example the strong Jewish believers understood their freedom in Christ...
And they realized the ceremonial requirements of the Mosaic law were no longer binding
Likewise the mature Gentiles understood that idols are not gods...
And, therefore, that they could eat meat that had been offered to them
However, in both these cases the weaker believers’ consciences were troubled
They were even tempted to violate their consciences...
Something as we will see in this chapter is a bad thing to train oneself to do
As faithful followers of God, we are to accept all believers...
Regardless of the spiritual level they are at
So if someone in new to the faith...
Treat them with a welcoming attitude
If someone does not understand deep theological truths...
Treat them with patience
If someone
If someone has weak faith...
Treat them with respect
14 We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
Ultimately, the mature believer should not sit in judgment on the sincere but underdeveloped thoughts that govern the weak believer’s conduct
Verse 1 (continued): But not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.
By accepting a believer with weak faith...
Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.
That does not give us the right to pass judgement on their opinions
If someone is in sin them we are called to rebuke and correct...
But on matters that are not of sin and are really of opinion of preference...
Then do not pass judgement
Paul now gives us an example in the next verse...
Verse 2: One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only.
Paul now gives us an example...
“Vegetables only” refers to the strict diet weak Jewish and Gentile believers ate...
For the purpose to avoid eating meat that they considered unclean or may have been sacrificed to idols
Some may believe that avoiding certain foods is better for honoring God
A person with strong faith realizes that this is unnecessary
However, a person of weak faith may believe that they eat in a particular way
But look at what Scripture says in verse 3
Verse 3: The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats,
To “regard with contempt” is to consider someone as worthless
To “judge” means to condemn
What happens many times with believers is that the strong of faith hold the weak in contempt as legalistic and self-righteous
And self-righteous; the weak judge the strong to be irresponsible at best and perhaps depraved.
The weak in faith judge the strong to be irresponsible and sometimes go so far as to consider them depraved
Whether you are in the belief that some foods are unclean...
Or whether you see no sin in eating anything...
The message is clear that we are not to condemn each other in this...
Why?
If we continue in verse 3 it makes it clear...
Verse 3 (continued): For God has accepted him.
How can we criticize someones eating habits if God Himself accepts them
Do we assume our preferences are more important than God
If God accepts, who are we to reject
Or as Paul says it...
Verse 4: Who are you to judge the servant of another?
We must realize when we start judging someone based not on what the Word of God says...
But instead on our opinion...
Then we are acting prideful...
Falsely elevating our standard over God’s perfect standard
How Christ evaluates each believer is what matters at the end
His judgment does not take into account religious tradition or personal preference
Keep these passages in mind...
, ; ).
33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;
34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
3 But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself.
4 For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord.
5 Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.
Verse 4 (continued): To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
Paul makes this point clear...
It is the Master and not the fellow servant who decides whether a man stands or falls...
And if they are in Christ...
Then they will surly stand...
Because God will make them stand
Again, this is why all the credit, and all the merit, and all the glory, go to God...
And our human opinions we have with our finite minds can not override God’s perfect will
Questions or Comments?
Reading:
Reading:
Verse 5: One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.
Some people may set aside certain days to honor God based on the former requirements in Judaism...
Others who are mature in faith are unaffected by those concerns...
The important point that Paul is making is that...
Each Christian must follow the dictates of his own conscience...
What is important is that each person must be convinced by their own mind
In matters not specifically commanded or prohibited in Scripture
So if you feel it is important to set aside a specific day to celebrate the Lord...
Conscience is a God-given mechanism to warn, and responds to the highest standard of moral law in the mind
Then go ahead and do that
If you want to celebrate God every day believing each day is equally a miracle...
Then go ahead and do that
We must remember this truth found in verse 6...
Verse 6: He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord,
The person that sets aside a special day for God is doing this for God
And likewise we continue in verse 6...
Verse 6 (continued): And he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God;
So the person who eats all manner of food...
Is giving thanks to God who has provided that person with food.
And likewise we continue in verse 6 again...
Verse 6 (continued): And he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.
The one who abstains from certain foods also gives thanks to God for the food given to them
So, at the heart of the matter, believers may do things differently...
Showing God honor in different ways...
But it all comes down to our motivation behind the action
Are you doing this action for yourself, for others or for God...
If our actions are done for God then we need to realize we are in unity with other believers in what truly matters
Verse 7: For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself;
For those who are in Christ...
Our lives are dedicated to Him...
And when we die...
We die for Him
Or in other words as Paul says...
Verse 8: For if we live, we live for the Lord,
Our whole life should reflect the life completely dedicated to Him
We live to do His will
We live to bring Him all the glory
We live as servants to Him
Our new life...
Our regenerated life...
Should be a model of the teachings found in Scripture
So we have to ask ourselves...
Do people see Christ in me?
Will others see my life as a testimony to gospel message?
Will others be motivated to come to Christ by my actions?
But Paul again reminds us...
Verse 8 (continued): Or if we die, we die for the Lord;
Even our death should be for the glory of God
As the Scriptures say,
31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Verse 8 (continued): Therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
Whether we live or die...
The one thing that is certain...
Is that we are His slave...
And He is our good Shepherd
We are His slave...
And He is our sovereign God
We are His slave...
And He is our Master
We are His sheep...
And He is our good Shepherd
And He is our Father
We are in every way...
The Lord’s
Questions or Comments?
Reading:
Reading:
Verse 9: For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
With Christ’s death and resurrection...
He proved to all that He is Lord of all...
Both living and dead
Christ died not only to free us from sin...
But to enslave us to Himself and to establish Himself...
As Sovereign over the saints in His presence and those still on earth
With this truth in mind...
Paul asks again...
Verse 10: But you, why do you judge your brother?
If Jesus is Lord over all...
Then who are we to judge our brothers and sisters in Christ?
Is this not the role of Christ and Christ alone?
Let us remember in contrast the words of the author of Hebrews who says...
24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,
25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Verse 10 (continued): Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt?
And again Paul makes clear...
Are we to think of our brothers and sisters who are weak in faith...
Do be beneath us?
Have we forgotten the reality that we see when we continue through the rest of the verse...
Verse 10 (continued): For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
So, we are in no position to pass judgement or to look at someone as beneath us...
Paul, then brings about the great equalizer...
To really drive home the message...
Verse 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.”
“AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME,
This is a quote from the Isaiah in the Old Testament…
23 “I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.
18 “Lift up your eyes and look around; All of them gather together, they come to you. As I live,” declares the Lord, “You will surely put on all of them as jewels and bind them on as a bride.
AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.”
What Paul is saying here by using Isaiah and the prophesied future judgement...
Is that the strong should not despise the weak...
A day that no matter what you believed on earth...
And the weak should not judge the strong, for everyone will stand before God...
You will be compelled to fall to your knees...
And it is God alone who will judge all on the last day
God, who will judge all on the last day. The future day of judgment is prophesied in . Every person will give an account of his life to God at the judgment. Though justification is by faith alone, what Christians do will affect God’s evaluation of their service to him and the rewards they will receive (cf. ; ).
And bow to the Lord
Every person will give an account of his life to God at the judgment
And there will be a day...
So, though justification is by faith alone...
A day where everyone will be compelled to praise God
What Christians do will affect God’s evaluation of their service to Him...
And the rewards they will receive
We see this in the letters Paul wrote to the church in Corinth
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.
11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.
14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.
15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Verse 12: So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.
So, every person will give an account of his life to God at the judgment
So, though justification is by faith alone...
What Christians do will affect God’s evaluation of their service to Him...
And the rewards they will receive
We see this in the letters Paul wrote to the church in Corinth
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.
11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.
14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.
15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Questions or Comments?
Reading:
Reading:
Verse 13: Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.
xx
Verse 13 (continued): But rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.
When we start judging other’s preferences or ways of honoring God...
We are in fact, putting a stumbling block in front of our brothers and sisters
So, why should we place an obstacle for those whom we should be uniting with?
Are we not united as one body under the service of our Lord Jesus?
Anything a believer does...
Even though Scripture may permit it...
If it causes another to fall into sin...
Then we are in the wrong
Paul continues...
Verse 14: I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
xx
Verse 14 (continued): But to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
So, although, for example, there is no food now that is considered unclean...
But if a believer is convinced a certain behavior is sin...
Even if their assessment is wrong...
They should never do it
TIf a believer is convinced a certain behavior is sin—even if his assessment is wrong—he should never do it. If he does, he will violate his conscience
So, we should not force someone to go against their convictions if it is not breaking God’s law
In fact, Paul gives us a warning we need to consider strongly is verse 15...
Verse 15: For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love.
So, if we because of food, hurt our brothers and sisters over our preferences...
Then the reality is that we do not act in love
We are not being Christ-like but instead...
Acting more like the Pharisees
Keep in mind...
28 “So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
23 And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain.
24 The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
25 And He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry;
26 how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?”
27 Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
28 “So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Verse 15 (continued): Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.
That brother or that sister that we are causing to stumble...
That brother or sister that we are putting obstacles in their journey...
Christ died for them...
We must not forget this fact
Verse 16: Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil;
So, we shouldn’t speak of something as evil or blasphemous...
If it is truly intended as something for good or an exercise of one’s Christian liberty
We need to stop obsessing over opinions
We need to stop obsessing over traditions
We need to stop obsessing over cultural norms
To hold any of these over the commands of God is the true sin
Verse 17 makes this clear...
Verse 17: For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The Kingdom of God is not earthly...
The Kingdom of God is not wordly...
So we need to stop thinking in simple terms of things that are really of this world
We must keep in mind what the Kingdom of God is really all about...
Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit
For those who may differ from us in traditions...
It is imperative that this reality does not leave our minds...
Those who surrender to Jesus as Lord...
Those who surrender to Jesus as Lord...
Those who honor and worship God...
They are fully accepted by God...
And we have no right or no authority to disqualify the
Verse 18: For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.
So, when we practice righteousness, peace, and joy...
We are both accepted by God and approved by men
It is imperative that this reality does not leave our minds...
“Approved by men” refers to approving something after a careful examination...
Like a jeweler inspecting a stone to determine its quality and value...
So, Christians are under the microscope of a skeptical world...
That is assessing how they live with and treat each other
Those that practice righteousness, peace, and joy...
Questions or Comments?
7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Those who surrender to Jesus as Lord...
Those who honor and worship God...
They are fully accepted by God...
And we have no right or no authority to disqualify them
Questions or Comments?
Reading:
Reading:
Verse 19: So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.
Paul is instructing us on what should be our motivation...
We need to pursue peace with our fellow Christians
We need to build up our fellow Christians
Paul mentions elsewhere in his epistle to the Corinthians
10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
This is why fellowship is so important in the life of a believer
Keep in mind this from Proverbs
17 Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.
Let us take to heart the words of John in
7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Verse 20: Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food.
Sometimes we don’t realize how destructive we are being...
Imagine destroying the work of God over food
over food
So, I believe we have to evaluate our lives...
Are we holding on to traditions...
Traditions that are not based on commands by God...
Yet we treat it like commands
Are we destroying God’s work because of our preferences?
Are we destroying God’s work because we want everyone to be clones of us?
As if we are the standard?
No, Beloved, we are not the standard God is the standard...
And may we never get in the way of His good and perfect work
Verse 20 (continued): All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense.
The one who uses those God-given liberties carelessly and selfishly...
Will end up offending there weaker brother or sister in Christ
So we have to use discernment in our actions
Our freedoms we have with Christ should never be
Verse 21: It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.
So, our freedoms we have with Christ should never lead our brothers and sisters to stumble
Our first priority should be our fellowship with others in unity and peace...
And not doing something simply because “it is our right”
Even the strongest Christian can bring harm to himself...
In the area of Christian liberty by denouncing or belittling...
The freedom God has given him as it says in Galatians
()
1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
Likewise we should not be carelessly flaunting our liberty without regard for how that might affect others
(), or by carelessly flaunting his liberty without regard for how that might affect others
Verse 22: The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God.
We must stand firm in our convictions that we believe God is leading us in
God sees the heart and sees our motive
Verse 22 (continued): Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.
We will live a life in peace and happiness if we do not violate our convictions
And by this we are living for God
However, we must heed Paul’s warning in the next verse...
Verse 23: But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.
When the weak brothers and sisters violate their own conscience, they sin
Verse 23 (continued): And whatever is not from faith is sin.
xx
If we go against our convictions...
And we believe we are not acting to the manner God wants us to act...
We fall into sin even if the act itself is not a sin...
Questions or Comments?
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer