Romans 14:5-15:13

*note: I usually try to send out devotional thoughts that can be read in 10 minutes or less, but I have not had that luxury in this instance. If you have time to read this, it certainly proved helpful to me and I think you will be blessed. If not, please know that I completely understand.

 

    One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

 

    For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written:

 

  " `As surely as I live,' says the Lord, `every knee will bow before me;every tongue will confess to God.' "

 

        So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

 

    Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

 

    Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.

 

    So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

 

    We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

 

    May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

    Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written:

 

  "Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name."

 

        Again, it says,

  "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people."

 

        And again,

  "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and sing praises to him, all you peoples."

 

        And again, Isaiah says,

  "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him."

 

    May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Paul introduces another example of a disputable matter in Romans 14:5. Some believers regard one day as particularly sacred, while other believers live as though every day is equal. Presumably, those who regard one day as sacred would be the weaker-faith Christians because it was those with a more limited view of food who were regarded as having weaker faith in the first example. At this point, though, Paul incredibly states that “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind” (Rom. 14:5). Most people would try to solve disputes by entering their own positions into the fray, so we might expect Paul to tell us which belief is right and which is wrong. Paul, though, does not seem to be concerned with guiding believers into factual correctness. In disputable matters, Paul wants believers to hold a position, and to hold it firmly. He wants believers to have reasons for their disputable beliefs and to live those beliefs with firm conviction. But he is not concerned that all Christians follow the same convictions! He is much more concerned with relational correctness.

Relational correctness is again tied to the Lord. Paul writes that each believer lives as he does to serve the Lord, whether he regards one day as special, eats meat, or abstains from meat (Rom. 13:6); whatever behavior the disputable matter leads toward, believers are able to pursue lives dedicated to God. Paul proves this more firmly by comparing the responses of those who eat meat and those who eat only vegetables: both give thanks to God for their provision (Rom. 13:6). When Paul writes in Romans 13:7-8 about “us” and “we,” his words refer to believers. He includes all believers in these statements: no believer lives only for himself or even dies only for himself; every believer lives and even dies for the Lord. The reason is simple: every believer belongs to the Lord (Rom. 14:8). This is another way of saying that each Christian is accepted by God. In disputes over issues that are not clearly matters of righteousness and unrighteousness (this may be another and better way to describe disputable matters, since they may involve clear truth that is simply misunderstood), believers must keep hold of the truth that all who believe in Jesus belong to Him. Judging each other’s perceived flaws is, therefore, the same thing as judging Jesus’ choice of a particular believer to be His. When believers do not understand why or how Jesus would accept another person, and yet know that Jesus has accepted her, believers are bound to turn from accusations and judgments to harmonious mutual acceptance as they await the day they will finally and fully understand God’s gloriously inclusive acceptance of people with all kinds of “disputable” beliefs and behaviors. All of this is necessary because all believers belong to the Lord in all that they do. Jesus has laid claim to all believers despite all their imperfections.

Paul wants believers to understand how profoundly important it is that believers belong to the Lord. He writes that it was precisely so that Jesus could own all believers – so that He could be their Lord in life and in death – that Jesus died and rose again (Rom. 14:9). The one act in history that most profoundly demonstrates God’s love and power is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the reason Jesus manifested so much power and love was precisely so that He could be Lord, the one to whom all authority in heaven and on earth is given. It is Christ’s judgment seat rather than ours, therefore, that counts (Rom. 14:10). This is the explicit testimony of the Scriptures, as Paul demonstrates with a quotation from Isaiah 45:23 (Rom. 14:11). Paul’s Scriptural citation demonstrates that all people, including believers, will be called to give an account of themselves to God (Rom. 14:12); it had always been God’s expressed aim. So believers should understand that this is precisely why they must not judge each other; the greatest judge will one day hold court, and in His presence all His people will stand uncondemned. In view of that day, what can believers say against each other when their disputes involve disputable matters, even now before that great day arrives? There is no basis for such divisions and judgments (Romans 14:13).

Instead of judgments, Paul presses for an alternative way of living. This alternative way is to determine not to harm a brother (Rom. 14:13). To explain this more clearly, Paul becomes more explicit about his statements to this point. Before Paul had avoided taking sides in the debates over food and other matters; his focus had not been on resolving the debates, but on calling for unity. Now, however, Paul needs to give clear instructions on how to seek unity within a mixed body of believers, some having strong faith and some having weak faith. To do this, Paul has to be explicit about the truth in such situations. And the truth, he writes, is that “no food is unclean in itself” (Rom. 14:14). But before believers with strong faith rush to the conclusion that they ought not only to continue their eating habits, but also to urge weak-faith believers to join them (now with a loving, uncontemptuous attitude, of course), Paul quickly pens another truth: “But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean” (Rom. 14:14). In other words, Paul’s answer to the question, “Is it good to eat meat?” is, “Yes and no.” In reality, those who thank God for the meat they eat can and do eat freely, without fear of judgment. However, any person who were to eat meat thinking he was sinning and unable to thank God with a free conscience should fear judgment. For the one, eating meat is good. For the other, eating meat is bad. But this is merely at the personal level.

Paul’s alternative way of living takes the question, “Is it good to eat meat,” and all such disputable matters, beyond the personal level. These matters are beyond the personal level because Paul calls believers to live in community without judging one another, not to avoid judging one another by avoiding keeping away from each other. In other words, nothing is “just personal.” Everything affects others. Paul has already said that in a community setting believers are to think about each other in a new way; both parties should see each other as “Accepted by God” and “Belonging to Christ,” and should therefore stop judging each other. It is entirely possible that believers might do this by Christ’s grace; they might see each other as Christ’s and set aside their differences enough to stop judging each other. But seeing each other as Christ’s accepted people is not the same thing as seeing each other’s activities as good. So Paul moves the discussion at this point beyond the question of how to regard believers who live differently; the question is now how to behave around believers who live differently.

For Paul, believers’ behaviors should be marked by love for one another as much as their thoughts about each other should be marked by love. This is why the first behavioral principle Paul pens describes a behavior that is not loving: one believer distressing another by what she eats (Rom. 14:15). At this point, Paul’s instructions fall squarely on the shoulders of the strong-faith believer, not the believer with weak faith. It must be so; it cannot be the other way. The strong-faith believer is the only one who can distress a brother by what she eats, because the strong-faith believer willingly eats anything that the weak-faith brother eats. It is when the strong-faith believer eats food that another believes is sinful to eat that distress comes. It could be argued that it is distressing to the strong-faith believer to abstain from foods she enjoys. However, the distress is of a different nature: the weak-faith believer’s distress is bound up in the thought that a fellow-believer is sinning against the Lord; the strong-faith believer’s distress has nothing to do with sin, but only with missed pleasure and personal good. Paul is concerned here not with personal good, but with community good. So the behavioral responsibility Paul has begun to teach is and can only be for strong-faith believers to shoulder.

But so far Paul has not said what a strong believer is to do; he has only said that distressing a brother’s conscience by eating certain foods is unloving. He reinforces this point, almost ironically commanding the strong not to destroy brothers for whom Christ died by eating things that are, in fact, good to eat (Rom. 14:15). Again, Paul writes, “Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil” (Rom. 14:16). This is precisely what would happen if one believer destroyed another by continuing to eat what he pleased; he might well win the battle for factual truth and personal freedom, but his unloving, destructive behavior would be spoken of as evil by all who knew the devastation it caused.

These two commands against destroying fellow-Christians by eating certain foods are grounded again in God and His kingdom. God’s kingdom is not essentially about what people eat and drink; instead, its essence is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). Paul is charging strong believers with looking to the one they believe in and remembering their priorities. As servants in God’s kingdom, have they been charged primarily with getting people to eat and drink the right things, or with sustaining a kingdom in which all God’s servants live righteous, peaceful, and joyful lives that are united by the one Holy Spirit? The priority is clearly on living harmoniously, joyfully, and righteously in God’s kingdom with other believers. “Anyone who serves Christ in this way,” Paul writes, “is pleasing to God and approved by men” (Rom. 14:18). Such a person is pleasing to God because her priorities are straight. At the same time, she is approved by men because she does not live in such a way that they see her as sinful.

In light of this, Paul’s positive command is: “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (Rom. 14:19). This positive command is much more demanding than any of the negative commands he has expressed. To avoid one or two bad things requires only a little effort now and then; to obey this command requires effort around the clock. This command applies both to strong- and weak-faith Christians. But in the context it presupposes that weak-faith Christians are already making every effort to attain peace and mutual edification just by restraining themselves from making judgments against strong-faith Christians whose behavior they see as sinful. Just by obeying Paul’s command in Romans 14:1-13a to accept and not judge other believers over disputable matters, weak believers have begun to put more effort, ironically, towards peace and mutual edification than strong believers. So when Paul commands every effort to be made toward peace and edification, the command is primarily addressed to strong believers.

What does it look like for a strong believer to make every effort toward peace and edification? First, it means not destroying a fellow-believer, God’s work, for the sake of food (Rom. 14:20). Paul reiterates that all food is clean, but that eating food that harms someone else spiritually is evil (Rom. 14:20). By contrast, behavior that is good is to avoid causing a brother to fall into sin, whether it means not eating meat, not drinking wine, or anything else (Rom. 14:21). For a strong-faith Christian to fully obey Paul’s command to make every effort toward peace and edification therefore means to abstain from enjoying something in his life that is spiritually clean and personally beneficial because of a priority to help a fellow-Christian benefit from righteous, peaceful, and joyful life in the Holy Spirit. It is to obey the Golden Rule, doing to others what a person would want done to himself in the same circumstances (Matt. 7:12). It is to love a brother.

Paul’s next word likely applies to both weak- and strong-faith Christians: “So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God” (Rom. 14:22). This does not seem to be an absolute prohibition like the command not to destroy God’s work for the sake of food. Paul himself has just stated plainly what he believes about whether all food is clean to eat or not (Rom. 14:14, 20). When such disputable matters arise, therefore, it is at least somewhat important that a person who understands the truth should speak the truth. Still, the prohibition here has force. Paul is writing to believers who have already aired their opinions, and have probably done so more than once. Both weak and strong believers know that to open their mouths and speak their minds will tempt someone else to argue or will reinforce a division that should not exist. In a situation like this where everyone knows what issues get debated hotly, Paul’s command of silence is another practical application by which both strong and weak believers can “make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (Rom. 14:19). Both strong and weak believers can be content with silence, because neither of their opinions approves of actual sin; both of them are approved by God for seeking holiness through Christ and through obedience to Him, and therefore both receive God’s blessing (Rom. 14:22).

Paul also pens a stern message, a warning for weak believers and a reminder for strong believers: although none of them is condemned by his opinion on the matter so long as he does not cause division, the man who condemns eating meat does face judgment if he eats it (Rom. 14:23). This is not a warning for the strong because they cannot face this judgment; they both approve what is good and can partake of it with a clear conscience. But it is a reminder to them that enjoying something clean could lead to a brother’s downfall. On the other hand, this is more than just a reminder for the weak; it is a warning to him, because deliberately choosing to do what he condemns is sinful and worthy of judgment. It is worthy of judgment because such behavior by him does not come from faith (Rom. 14:23). Faith is first of all a belief that Jesus is the Lord (Rom. 10:9; cf. Acts 2:36), and for a believer to act in a way that he believes would displease the Lord is a behavior than denies Jesus’ sovereignty. It is an act of rebellion, which is why Paul can write, “Everything that does not come from faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23). So this is a warning for the weak. Weak though they may be, they should not violate what they believe to be Jesus’ will, even when they see other believers doing so. Such actions are rebellious and lead to judgment.

Paul has another message for strong believers, too: “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves” (Rom. 15:1). This is just a repetition of what Paul has already said, but it has been stated in a new way that reinforces their call to active compassion for weaker brothers. Bearing with weaker brothers clearly means more than simply accepting them without contempt, because Paul writes that he and other stronger brothers are “not to please ourselves.” Paul issues a call to behavioral change that takes the form of self-restraint in terms of the choices made when selecting food or a drink or some other aspect of life. In addition to the self-restraint, Paul offers a goal: “Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up” (Rom. 15:2). This self-restraint has a higher purpose than mere lack of offense; that higher purpose is to build up fellow believers in the kingdom of God whose essence is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

To encourage the strong believers, Paul again appeals to Christ and to Scripture. Christ set the example of behavior that was not designed with His own pleasure in mind (Rom. 15:3). The Scriptures had said He would do just this, taking insults intended for other people on Himself (Rom. 15:3). Paul points the strong believers to this passage because it was written to teach them, and its purpose is to give them hope through its encouragement as they endure the pain of self-restraint (Rom. 15:4).

Paul concludes with a prayer that God would grant the Romans a spirit of unity to glorify Him together (Rom. 15:5-6), a repeated call to mutual acceptance (Rom. 15:7), a picture of Christ serving Jews for the sake of Gentiles confirmed by the Scriptures (Rom. 15:8-12), and a prayer that God would fill the Romans with joy, peace, and hope. Clearly, a united kingdom and family is important to God. And in Romans 14, Paul taught how God intends for such unity to be accomplished. The first step is for all parties involved in a disputable matter to accept one another as people accepted by their mutual King. The second step is for all parties involved to do everything possible to seek peace and mutual edification. For both strong and weak believers, this means keeping one’s mouth shut in situations where opening it will cause division. For strong believers, this additionally means abstaining from personal benefit for the sake of corporate benefit. For all, there is a King who has led the way, and He has left Scriptures behind to encourage His people. He promises a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy for those who endure and keep their hope in Him.

 

Father, thank You for teaching us our priorities. Help me when I am among the weaker brothers to discern when an issue is debatable. Help me both to accept as fellow servants in Your kingdom those who seem to be sinning and to keep my mouth shut to avoid divisiveness. Help me also when I am among the stronger brothers. Help me when I learn that weaker believers believe I am sinning to accept them, treating them with respect and not contempt. Help me to keep my mouth shut to avoid division, and help me to quickly and joyfully accommodate my brothers, abstaining from things I personally enjoy to pursue community life together with them in Your kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy. Please give me the endurance I will need, and continue to encourage me through Your Scriptures – and not only me, but all my fellow believers, too. Give us hope as we look to Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior, and our example.