Do Not Destroy The Work of God
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13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.
14 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
15 Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.
16 Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil;
17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
18 For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.
19 Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.
20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense.
21 It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.
22 Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.
23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.
In these last 3 chapters the theme has been love. Love for God, love for our brothers and sisters, love for strangers, and love for our enemies. Also how we demonstrate that love. Honouring one another showing hospitality, submission to governing authorities, owning no one anything except to love one another. And doing this, knowing that now it is high time to awake out of sleep because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. So we must cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.
Then in 14 Paul teaches us how we love one another when we have disputes. Particularly he uses the example of those who believe that they can’t eat meat and those who believe that they can eat and drink all things. Or those who believe that they must observe certain days i.e feast days and festivals and sabbath. And those who treat everyday the same.
This seems like it’s pretty trivial stuff. And like it shouldn’t be such a big deal. After all, Paul says himself that nothing is unclean of itself. So case closed, if you believe that you can’t eat meat and drink wine then you are wrong. Just eat meat and drink wine already and problem solved. But Paul doesn’t deal with it that way at all. If fact, Paul escalates this issue to some of the most weighty issues in the Bible. He says that if we don’t handle these seemingly trivial issue correctly then we might destroy the work of God. That is we could be working towards causing our brother or sister to perish. How we deal with these trivial issues can have eternal consequences.
All Things are Clean, But...
All Things are Clean, But...
Paul makes this strong statement in verse 14
Romans 14:14 (NKJV)
14 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
Maybe he gets this from the teaching of Christ
11 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
17 Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?
18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.
19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
20 These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
So perhaps Paul gets his confidence from this teaching. We should be concerned with what proceeds out of our heart producing evil thoughts that conceive sin. What we eat or what we drink is not what defiles us.
So if all things are clean then the problem is solved. We just educate those who think it’s wrong to eat and drink and show them by our eating and drinking that it is ok. But thats not what Paul does here. There is a big but in the middle of verse 14.
To him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
So Paul tells us here that whether or not a thing is unclean has everything to do with our conscience.
How is that?
If a person believes that they should not eat meat offered to idols or drink wine etc. then to eat that meat or to drink that wine presents a choice for them. I do what Christ wants me to do and abstain or do I indulge in meat and wine and disobey Christ. Either Christ is all I need and desire or I turn from Christ to this meat or wine. I am choosing between Christ and the meat and wine. Paul goes on to say that this is sin. What ever is not of faith is sin. So why and how we partake means everything. For a person to go against their conscience is never a trivial matter.
Do Not Put a Stumbling Block Before Your Brother or Sister
Do Not Put a Stumbling Block Before Your Brother or Sister
It says in vs 23 “he who doubts is condemned if he eats.” When a person acts against their conscience then they open the door to further violations to their conscience leading them further and further from Christ. So if a person offers a glass of wine to their brother who believes that it is a sin to drink alcohol then they have tempted him to sin against his conscience. If he partakes then he has crossed that line, he has chosen wine over Christ. That could then, set him on a course of choosing sin over Christ which could cause his destruction.
So Paul says in vs 15
15 Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.
So this is where this is no longer the minor issue of should you eat meat or drink wine, now it is a major issue with eternal consequences. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.
The word destroy here means to fully destroy so that they perish. It is the same word that Christ used in
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
So what does this mean? This brings up the question of whether or not it is possible to destroy one for whom Christ died.
We know that we cannot damn someone to hell anymore than we can save someone. And the Bible clearly teaches that those for whom Christ died will indeed persevere. We saw this in vs 4
4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
But this is where we sometimes leave off a very import point. God will make us endure to the end, God will sanctify us and glorify us. But he uses means.
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
We have been studying this very thing in our theology course. Our salvation, and our sanctification is God’s work 100%. In His sovereignty He chooses to save us and sanctify us. But we are 100% responsible. We must believe, we must sanctify ourselves, we must put off the work of darkness and put on the armour of light. So how does God do this in his sovereignty? He works in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure. He does this through the Holy Spirit, The Word of God and the Church.
The Holy Spirit
27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
The Word of God
17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
The Church
13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
So yes, we are involved in the perseverance of each other.
19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,
20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
So again, we know that we don’t technically save anyone’s soul, however, God does, and in his sovereignty He uses us in the process of causing His people to persevere.
So coming back to our passage...
15 Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.
So even though we cannot technically damn someone to hell if we become a stumbling block to our bother or sister we are work against their salvation. Instead of edifying and encouraging we are tearing down and destroying. So you can see that this is no light matter. Paul says to do this is to no longer walk in love.
To me the application of this principle is so relevant today. In the church there are so many different standards that people live by. Some things are very clear scripturally we know that stealing is a sin or adultery, murder, lying, etc. But what about watching TV or having a glass of wine on occasion, these are a bit more grey. If you have liberty in Christ then have it to yourself, and do not put a stumbling block before your brothers and sisters. Some have freedom in Christ to have the vaccine for others is goes against their conscience. If you can receive it in faith, if you can thank God and give the glory to Him then happy is the one who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned, it is a sin. This is not a light matter. Let us not destroy the work of God for the sake of a these grey areas. Do not cause your brother or sister to stumble.
The church is a place to be edified and stirred up to live godly lives. We are part of God’s sovereign plan to perfect or complete the work of salvation in one another. Let us not become a cause to stumble.
41 For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.
42 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.