Romans 14:1-12, Weak and Strong, We Belong to the Lord
Read verses 1-4... Paul is speaking about a conflict that is common to all churches, to all settings where those who belong to God congregate and fellowship. Wrong attitudes about or toward one another can do great harm to the honor of
God, the work of the church, and the welfare of those who belong to God. The problems Paul is talking about in this passage are concerning matters that the Scripture neither commands nor forbids; these may be matters of tradition or personal preference, but they can surely bring about confusion, disharmony, hurt, disagreement and dissension.
Paul seems to be centering in on the tension that exists between those in the church who have a weak faith and those who have a strong faith; those who are mature in the Lord and those who are not.
Notice (v. 1) this is a reference to “disputable” matters [i.e., opinions, personal preferences], and is directed to the more mature believer, who is instructed to accept the brother who is weaker.
Then Paul cites (v. 2) the subject of diet, evidently there were those who only ate vegetables and those who also ate meat; those who ate meat (v. 3), the stronger believers, were not to look down on the weaker believers who abstained from meat; and the weaker believers, were not to judge or condemn the stronger believers who felt the freedom to eat meat.
So, what is going on here? Well, both Jew and Gentile who had come to God through Christ, came with past experiences and biases that had been formed by their religious practice prior to confessing Christ.
Many converted Jews still felt the need to hold to Mosaic dietary laws and would only eat certain meats; and many converted Gentiles had come from different forms of pagan worship where meat had been sacrificed to idols and then sold in the marketplace.
Because of past practices, it was difficult for Jew and Gentile to realize new freedom in Christ to eat anything God called good: Jews were not under the restrictions of the Mosaic law, and the Gentiles weren't to fear any kind of lingering evil in meat sold at the marketplace, no matter what deity it had been sacrificed to.
Many Jews were afraid of offending God by eating meat considered defiled under Mosaic law, and many Gentiles were afraid of eating meat that had been offered to a pagan idol; both of these were considered by Paul to be weak in faith, where as, those who understood that Mosaic dietary laws were no longer valid and that it did not matter if meat purchased at the marketplace had been offered to a pagan deity - were more mature understanding their freedom from dietary regulations.
For Christians to condemn or look down upon one another for reasons like diet or day of worship, was to go back into bondage under the law, and to forget that it is Christ alone who saves us, not law or ritual keeping (see Colossians 2:16-17; Galatians 5:13-15).
It is not about food or rituals or days of worship, it is not about one who does being better than one who doesn’t, or one who abstains being better than one who partakes; this is not talking about doctrinal or moral compromise, but the freedom we have in Christ, that must never disobey the clear teaching of the Word of God (see Romans 12:2; 2Timothy 3:16-17).
Look, if someone is tempted to abuse something or to be controlled by something, it is definitely better for that person to abstain from whatever it is; therefore, it is not loving for a brother or sister to look down on someone who doesn’t do this or that; any more than it is loving to wrongly judge someone who does something that we don’t do (we are not talking about disobeying God’s Word where it forbids certain practices or behaviors).
Does it really matter what version of the Bible a person uses, as long as it is an accurate version that doesn’t distort or falsify God’s Word. No!
Does it really matter if a person eats or drinks this or that, as long as it is not forbidden by God, dangerous to their health, or illegal? No!
1Corinthians 6:12, “‘Everything is permissible [lawful] for me’ — but not everything is beneficial [profitable]. ‘Everything is permissible [lawful] for me’ — but I will not be mastered by anything.’”
We have freedom in Christ, but more important than flaunting our freedoms, is to love, accept, and encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Each one of us is accountable to God (v. 4), He alone is our judge. We ought to be more concerned about how we are expressing our love for God and for one another, then we are about seeking our freedoms, lest we fall victim to our own pride, causing us to stumble and fall (see 1Corinthians 4:3-5).
Read verses 5-9... Whatever we eat or don’t eat, which ever day we choose to worship or not worship, no matter how we live our life and what we enjoy, whether we feel the freedom to do certain things or not (again, I’m speaking of those things that neither God’s Word, common sense, moral or civil law forbids), whatever we do or don’t do (v. 5), “we must be convinced in our own mind,” i.e., why are you doing this or that; why are you not doing this or that?
God has placed in our hearts the ability to judge right from wrong, and we should not go against our conscience; although, we live in a world that seeks to desensitize our conscience so that we will accept what is bad as good, and what is good as bad.
Clearly, on disputable matters, opinions, personal preferences, we should not allow our convictions to be imprisoned by another person’s conscience, neither should we try to liberate another person’s conscience from the prohibitions they are convicted of.
We should not try to force our religious liberties upon others, especially someone who is convicted to not do something that we feel the freedom to do; but neither should we allow others to force their religious-restrictions upon us, if we sincerely feel the freedom to do this or that which is not forbidden in God’s Word; but notice (v. 6), Paul says the stronger believer has greater responsibility before God not to lead weaker believers into anything that would cause harm to their conscience (see 1Corinthians 8:9-13).
Truth be told, however we treat or relate to other believers, is synonymous with how we treat the Lord (see Matthew 25:31-40).
Back to Romans 14 (vv. 7-9), neither the stronger nor the weaker believer lives only to himself or dies only to himself, because they both belong to the Lord. We are here to serve the Lord, not ourselves (Colossians 3:17) “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” 23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”
Read verses 10-12... Jesus Christ is both Lord and Savior, but He is also the Creator, Sustainer, and Righteous Judge over All. It is the Lord who will judge each and every person, it is not up to us, as Paul has already made clear; but he reiterates it here again (see v. 10, cf. v. 3); Paul is saying, how dare you, what reason do you [the weaker, less mature, brother] have to judge [condemn] your brother for eating meat?
And by what right do you [the stronger, more mature, brother] look down upon [show contempt for] the one who doesn’t eat meat?
Where do we sometimes get the idea that we are the final judge or authority concerning certain views or opinions, that in reality, are disputable, for they are based on personal opinions and preferences, not on God’s Word.
Notice (v. 11), it is to Christ that every knee will bow and every tongue confess. I’m pretty sure that God will not be asking any of us to give an account of someone else's sins, failings, or ineptitudes; but instead, (v. 12) we will each give an account of our own words and deeds when we stand before God.
Until that time comes (Romans 13:8), “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law,” and (1Peter 4:8), “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins,” (Jude 24-25), “To Him Who is able to keep you from
falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”
Pastor Mike <‘(((><