Romans 14:1-12
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
The main thrust of this chapter is this: what can a believer do and not do socially and personally? From the forming of the question Paul asks, it is for the mature Christian the “strong in faith”. So the main question is, what IS acceptable for us, as Christians to do? Remember, there are the black and white written word of “do’s” and “don’ts” but there are also gray areas. What scripture does not actually say can or cannot be done. Are there cultural or regional objections that may not be seen as issues in other areas? Is our interpretation of scripture always 100% correct, or do we allow our denomination or traditional teaching impact our interpretation? Do we weigh it with the thoughts is it permissible vs is it profitable? Regardless, there will be things that we will question as to whether it is “okay” in the eyes of God, but also we are not to be a stumbling block to others. So, how do we co-exist in these situations? This is where Paul was headed - how do we get along with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ when maturity and understanding may conflict with each other?
We are to accept the weaker believer.
We should not look down upon or criticize others.
We should stand behind our own convictions (as long as they are scriptural) on right and wrong behavior.
Watch our personal actions.
Leave judgment to God.
Avoid for stumblingblocks.
Have a pure witness.
Strive for peace.
Do not destroy or ruin the word of God in another person’s life.
Do not cause another believer to fall.
Watch our personal actions so we do not condemn ourselves.
Verses 1-2
Verses 1-2
1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
Welcome - accept, take on (mentor).
Who? weak in faith - those who are babes in Christ and at lesser maturity levels of spiritual knowledge.
Do not quarrel over opinions - notice this does not mean we are to compromise God’s principles, but we are also to not argue over the gray areas.
We are to approach other in the same manner that God graciously received us. We should be more interested in mentoring and discipling that correcting and reproving IF there are not major doctrinal issues.
Our main goal should be to give less mature believers hope - a hope of being taken care of by the church.
In doing this, we should not criticize or argue over the believers weaknesses.
22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
We must ask ourselves, can the attitude we have over our maturity / knowledge be hindrance to new believers or the unsaved? Are we truly receptive enough that we are all things to all people?
What Paul was addressing here was not just the strong looking down on the weak, but also the weak looking at the strong as being weak. Have you ever encountered someone what was unbending in what they believed, but could not explain why they believed it? Ever heard the old saying “That’s just what we believe”? We should have enough maturity about us to be able to discuss basic doctrine AND deep spiritual matters with an open mind and heart so that we are not seen as “rigid”, “unapproachable”, and “unwilling” to consider applying questions with scripture for God’s answer, not our answer for God.
Verses 3-4
Verses 3-4
3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.
4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
The one who eats - if we look at scripture, we find all things created as food are permissible for Christians to eat.
18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him,
19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.
10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance
11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth.
12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air.
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.”
16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.
Why did Peter say by no means, Lord? Because of his prior teachings by the Jewish law.
1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,
2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,
3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
We are not to look down on or criticize each other, because both the weaker and the stronger are heading down the road of serious sin. To look on someone as weaker is to treat them disrespect. We must always remember:
God received the believer regardless of our views on legalism or freedom and liberty in the Scripture.
Neither the weaker or the stronger believer has the right to judge one another as we are BOTH sinners saved by grace.
We both are sustained by God.
15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Verses 5-6
Verses 5-6
5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
We must be firm in our beliefs, of what is right and what is wrong. Is it wrong to have the thoughts of all days as being the same in the eyes of God, or to say that the day we observe as Sabbath is more sacred than others? I do not think we will argue that all days are created equal in the eyes of God, and we are to continue to worship Him in the same capacity each day, but we are also told to remember (observe) the Sabbath and keep it holy. So which is more sacred? The days of the week or the Sabbath? This is the issue Paul was addressing between the Jewish and Gentile believers in the church of Rome. It was not an issue of commands and instructions, but one of legalism among man’s interpretation and application.
Whatever we do, we must be fully convinced in our own minds that what we believe, on questionable items (the gray area) is 100% right or wrong. No one else should make that decision for us. But we must be careful that it is a questionable matter, not something that is in black and white in scripture. We should humble ourselves to evaluate with open mind when compared to scripture so that we are honest in determining whether something is right, and we should be strong enough to hold ourselves accountable to do no wrong. We tend to forget, whether these Christians viewed all days as equal or one day as sacred for worship, they were both fully convinced what they were doing was right before God. So who is right? Does it matter??? We should be more worried about whether or not we are acting as “God” in another believers life through our motives and actions. We should not be arguing over things in which it does not edify and glorify God.
Verses 7-9
Verses 7-9
7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.
8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.
9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
We cannot forget that we are not self-made Christians. It is not what we do that secures our salvation but what Christ did for us on the cross. Our life and our death is all orchestrated and pre-ordained by God. If we look at a grave marker, we can see the time God ordained life, and the time God orchestrated death. But the person’s life occurs in the dash. The dash represents the amount of time God allows us to do His work on this work. I would suggest we should have a second date on the headstone which is the time of a believers salvation - because that is when true life begins. Again, we can not forget that Christ died so that we could have this second birth, and the life we live until our death should not be in vain. We are to live for Christ, and he should be Master and Lord of our lives. We cannot allow ourselves to feel as though we have “Mastered” Christianity as the only time a Christian will become fully sinless is when we leave this life and enter into eternity. We are purchased by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As a result of that we are free from the judgment we truly deserve because of sin. We should not allow Christ’s death to be in vain.
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Verses 10-12
Verses 10-12
10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;
11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Among believers, judgment is like vengeance to the unbeliever - it is the Lords. If that is the case, why to we judge each other and stand in opposition against other believers? Every one of us will be judged by God, and each action we commit against others will be judged by Christ - it is not our place to judge. Notice it says brother, this is meant we are not to judge other BELIEVERS if they are doing something from a sincere conviction that it is God’s will or acceptable by God. Think of it this way, by judging a fellow believer, it could be thought of as a tattling event, and I will offer this advice “If you would be more concerned over yourself and what YOU are doing, you wouldn’t have time to worry about what others are doing”. We must remember who the final authority is:
11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”
If it helps, think this way - we will give account of ourselves (our own actions) ONLY before God, not everyone else. God is not going to ask us what our opinion was about another believers actions.
So what would our world look like, or on a closer level, what would our CHURCHES look like if we were focused more on seeing the lost saved that whether or not someone stepped over the legalistic line or is meddling with our sacred cows? How would our witness change, both with other believers and with unbelievers, if we took more of a concern with our own salvation that with everyone else’s? I truly feel the ministry could explode if we could get over ourselves and focus on the salvation of the unbelievers.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Let’s get back to Paul’s exhortation to the church of Ephesus:
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.