Unity Despite Disagreements

Intro:

For the next few weeks we are going to be dealing with important principles that are to guide us in dealing with matter of secondary importance. And as it turns out these are usually the things that cause the most conflict among believers. We will see why such conflict is quite unnecessary.

Recap:

Before we get into our passage lets go over what we covered thus far. Chapter 12 tells us that we are to be living sacrifices being poured out for the glory of God. And by the grace of God given gifts to serve the body of Christ: prophecy, serving, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, and mercy.

Chapter 13 teaches us that we are to give the respect deserved to our governing authorities because they are placed there by God. This doesn’t mean that we are to agree with everything they say or do, but because God has placed them there we need to respect the office.

We live in a very difficult time. If you think our POTUS is bad, think about what Paul was going through with Caesar Nero. And if Paul stated that the believers were to respect Nero we have no excuse.

As believers we are obligated to love people. We have a debt to love, an infinite debt that we will never be able to repay. Love is a permanent obligation. You will never be able to say, “Well i’ve finally finished loving everyone… I’m done now.”

Jesus Christ was the perfect example of love. Washing His disciples feet, then dying on the cross for the sins of the world. The Love that we are talking about is Agape- sacrificial love. This love is a choice and we are commanded by God to love.

John 14:15 ESV

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

John 14:21 ESV

21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

John 14:23 ESV

23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

God commanded us to love the people in our lives, it won’t be easy but it will be worth it. Family we are to adopt Jesus’ lifestyle, living as He did, accepting Him as our Guide and Example.

If you are struggling with this concept of loving people, you are not alone, but we are to move and grow into maturity. There is no room for grumpy unloving Christians. People are going to hell, we have the good news and armor and weapons to battle the enemies of God (the world, Satan, and our flesh). The Belt of Truth, Breastplate of Righteousness, Helmet of Salvation, Shoes of the Gospel, Shield of Faith, and the Sword of the Spirit.

Be obedient to the ordinance of God. Submitting to His rule.

vv 1-2) Welcoming the weaker

[1] It is going to be very beneficial for us to have a good grasp on Paul means by a weak Christian.

In context of what he is trying to get across it would be one who stumbles over matters of secondary importance. For some believers of this time mostly converted Jews, had a hard time eating nonkosher foods or working on Saturday.

As believers we need to continue to grow in spiritual maturity. [[Example of a baby]]

There are some who have been believers for many years and haven’t matured. As it would be unnatural for a person to never grow up it is also unnatural for a Christian to never go further in their walk with God.

Ephesians 4:15 ESV

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

Paul is encouraging the family to accept those weak in the faith, not arguing over opinions. You see what Paul is getting at in these verses is that we cannot make spiritual maturity a requirement for fellowship.

Now we should distinguish between someone who is weak and someone who is rebellious.

There are many reasons why Christians might be weak:

They may be a baby in Christ, babies are weak.

They may be sick or diseased by legalism.

They may be malnourished by the lack of good teaching.

They may lack exercise and need exhortation.

I believe that there is a fine line between having a discussion and arguing. We may disagree on some topic of secondary importance, but that shouldn’t cause us to break fellowship. I have many friend that line up on either side of the Calvinism/ Arminianism debate. Having discourse and discussion understanding that topic of election is of that secondary importance.

something that we will get into more detail next week is how we are to live with our weak brothers and sisters:

Romans 14:21 ESV

21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

[2] Paul brings up an example of opinions. The refusal to eat meat for a spiritual reason is perhaps along the lines of 1 Corinthians 8 not wanting to eat meat sacrificed to a pagan God. Or maybe because the meat wan’t kosher.

Because there were some Christians on either side of this issue it was a burning issue among the believers in Paul’s day.

While the issue of not eating meat for spiritual reasons is no longer directly relevant to us today, there are still plenty of issues where some believers believe one way and others believe differently.

Paul’s perspective is that the weaker brother is the stricter one. They were not weak because of their diet, but because of their legalistic attitudes and lack of love toward others.

It isn’t hard to see that these weaker ones didn’t see themselves as weaker. It’s likely they thought themselves the stronger ones, and those that ate meat were the weak ones.

Isn’t it interesting that Legalism has a way of making us think that we are strong and those who don’t keep the rules the way we do are weak.

We are called to love our family despite our disagreements on secondary issues.

vv 3-4) We are not the master

[3] There is another principle here that we must apply to our lives and that is a need for mutual respect. The mature Christians cannot not despise his weaker brother. Neither should the weak brother judge as a sinner someone who enjoys their freedom in Christ.

It would be so easy to despise the hopeless legalist. And the flip side is true too that it is easy to judge those who have freedom.

God has received both into the family of God and they both are in good standing before Him because of Jesus.

[4] Family we need to understand that each believer is a servant of the Lord, and we have no right to sit in judgement, as if we were the master. It isn’t our place to pass judgement.

I can’t tell you how many divisions among the body of Christ there has been. There is a lot of useless, harmful divisions among us that are just silly.

Paul is by no means erasing their differences; he is telling them to rise above these petty things as the family of God.

If we are to look down upon someone else with condescension, so sure that they will wreck on the path they are on. Having that kind of attitude is so wrong and messed up.

God will sustain those on both sides of the question. His power to do so is adequate to say the least.

Matthew 7:1–2 ESV

1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

The Bible is very clear on what we are not to judge pertaining to our family: motives, appearance, their conscience, the service of others, or speaking poorly about other believers.

here in our passage we cannot judge those who have conscientious hesitation or a personal conviction about matters that are not in themselves right or wrong. Leaving the matter to the Lord. You might have found benefits in abstaining, but you are not God and you are not the Holy Spirit. Leave it to Them.

vv 5-6) The conscience

Paul brings up the aspect of observing certain days, and this is his way of letting us know that he is talking more about principles than specific issues. That the application has more to offer than just eating meat.

There are some Jewish Christians still looking on the Sabbath as a day of obligation. They had a conscience about doing work on Saturday. In that sense, they esteemed one day above the other.

While there were other believers who did not share these Judaistic convictions. They did not look upon six days as secular and one as sacred. To them all days were sacred.

You might ask though, “but what about the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week? does it not have a special place in the lives of Christians?”

We see in the NT that it was the day of our Lord’s resurrection, Luke 24:1-9. On the next two days, Christ met with His disciples (John 20:19,26). The Holy Spirit was given on the Day of Pentecost, which was on the first day of the week; Pentecost occurred seven Sundays after the Feast of Firstfruits (Lev. 23:15,16; Acts 2:1), which symbolized Christ’s resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20, 23). The disciples gathered to break bread on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). Paul instructed the Corinthians to take a collection on the first day of the week.

So the Lord’s Day does stand out in the NT in a special way. But rather than being a day of obligation, like the Sabbath, it is a day of privilege. Released from our ordinary employment, we can set it apart in a special way for worshiping and serving our Lord.

Nowhere in the NT are Christians ever told to keep the Sabbath. And yet at the same time we recognize the principle of one day in seven, one day of rest after six days of work.

Whatever view you might have on this particular subject, the principle is this: each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

Now it should be clear that such a principle applies only to matters that are morally neutral. When it comes to the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith, there is no room for individual opinions.

But in this particular area where things are neither right nor wrong in themselves, there is room for differing views. They cannot be allowed to become the breaking point of fellowship.

[6] The one who observes the day, is a Jewish believer who still has a bad conscience about doing work on Saturday. It is not that he looks upon Sabbath-keeping as a means of obtaining or retaining salvation; it is simply a matter of doing what he thinks will please the Lord.

And the other side of this is true too. that a person who does not observe the day does so to honor Christ, the substance, rather than the mere shadow of the fatih.

Colossians 2:16–17 ESV

16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

One who has liberty to eat nonkosher foods bows his head and gives thanks for them, but so does the believer with the weak conscience.

In both cases God is honored and thanked, so why should this be made the point of strife and conflict?

vv 7-9) We live and die to the Lord

[7-8] As believers ,the Lordship of Christ is saturated in every aspect of our lives. We don’t live to ourselves but to Christ. We don’t die to ourselves but to the Lord.

The statement, “No man is an Island” is true that what we do and say affects other, but that is not the thought here. Paul is emphasizing that the Lord should be the goal and object of the lives of His people.

What is the objective our your life? And are you living for the Lord?

Everything we do in this life is subject to Christ’s scrutiny and approval. We test things by how they appear in His presence. Even in death we aspire to glorify the Lord as we go to be with Him. Both in life and in death we belong to God.

I don’t know about you but that encourages my soul.

Family we must realize:

“One life twill soon be past,

Only whats done for Christ will last.” -Ct Studd

Don’t waste you life seeking to belittle our brothers and sister because they don’t exactly agree with you on all minor points. You serve God with everything you have to offer, and pray that they do the same.

[9] One of the reasons for which Christ died and lived again is that He might be our Lord… This is profound. He did this so that we might be His willing subjects, gladly rendering to Him the devotion of our grateful hearts.

His lordship continues even in death, when our bodies lie in the grave and our spirits and souls are in His presence.

vv 10-12) Inappropriate judging

[10] If we are to take our Bibles seriously it is foolish for the Jewish Christians to condemn their brothers and sisters who doesn’t keep the Jewish calendar and who doesn’t limit themselves to kosher foods.On the other hand, it is wrong for the strong to despise the weak the family members.

This is something that we deal with today. It is also so easy to judge or to despise. The strict Christian judging his brother, writing him off as an unspiritual compromiser. And the free Christians despising his brother, regarding him as an uptight-legalistic-goody-good.

At the end of the day, All believers are going to stand before the judgement seat of Christ, and that will be the only evaluation that will really matter.

This judgement has nothing to do with our sins, but our service.

1 Corinthians 3:11–15 ESV

11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

What we will experience here is a time of review and reward. This is the bema seat, equivalent to the judge’s seat in the Olympic Games. After each game, the winners came before the judge’s seat to receive crowns for first, second, and third places. Likewise, the Christian’s works will be tested by fire, and they will be rewarded for those which remain… The judgement seat of Christ is only concerned with a Christian’s rewards and position in the kingdom, not with his salvation” - Chuck Smith

This isn’t the Great White Throne Judgement:

Revelation 20:11–15 ESV

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

This judgement is the finale, the judgement to end of all judgements. Judging all the of the wicked who are apart from Christ.

[11] Paul reinforces the certainty of our appearance of standing before Christ and being judged on what we have said and done in our lives. Paul quotes Isaiah 45:23.

What this tells us is the fact that all will have to appear before God in humility, and give account of himself before God acknowledging His supreme authority.

[12] It is very clear that we will give an account of ourselves, not of our brothers, to God. We judge one another too much, and without the proper authority or knowledge.

Numbers 6:24–26 ESV

24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.