THE CHRISTIAN LIFE - UNITY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST (Romans 14:1-12)
INTRODUCTION:
We finished up chapter 13 last week where Paul taught us that the time was urgent. Christ could come at any time and we need to be ready. He ended by telling us to put on Christ and to give no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. In putting on Christ and putting off the deeds of darkness he was teaching us about sanctification, that life-long process of becoming more like Christ by the working of the Holy Spirit within us as we strive to live righteously giving no provision for the flesh, overcoming its influence in our lives by allowing the Holy Spirit to influence us. Paul understands that there are times when we give into the influence of the flesh and indulge in sin and this can affect the church, it can destroy the moral and spiritual health of the church as well as the individuals who are giving into the flesh and committing sin. Numerous places in the New Testament we are told to get rid of sin in the church. This is the purpose for church discipline and self-discipline. When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we are not only remembering the Lord’s death for us until He returns, but as Paul instructs in 1 Corinthians 11 this is a time of self-examination, each person is to look at his own life and if necessary confess, renounce, and ask forgiveness for sin.
Paul also understands that outright sin is not the only danger to the unity and harmony of the church. He also knows that there are attitudes and behaviors that are not sin in themselves, but if allowed to manifest themselves they to can destroy the fellowship and effectiveness of the church, crippling the work of the church, the witness of the church and the unity of the church. Every church consists of a diversity of people from different backgrounds and upbringings. Some have been in the church since childhood and have sat under biblical teaching for years, while others may have only recently heard the gospel and understand only the essentials. Some come with no church background or have been converted from a cult or some other religion. This diversity can strengthen a local congregation, reminding the church itself and witnessing to the world around them of the power of Jesus Christ to bind together such a diverse group of people in a fellowship of unity that can only be attributed to God’s power and purpose. But just as easily this diversity within a church can be used by sinful man and by Satan to create division, discord, and even hatred and jealousy, complete disunity. Paul’s constant concern was that every Christian would have a deep desire, as our Scripture reading said this morning, “…to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3, NASB95)[1]
As we come to this next section, which is Romans 14:1-15:13, Paul is speaking about unity, and the particular danger of conflict that comes between those, who as Paul puts it, are strong or weak believers. In other words, those who are mature in the faith and those who are immature. Those who understand their freedom in Christ and enjoy that freedom and those who still feel either bound or threatened by certain religious or cultural prohibitions or practices that were deeply rooted parts of their lives before coming to Christ. In this passage that we will look at this morning, Paul tells us that we are to accept each other in fellowship and then gives us four reasons that we are to do this. Let’s pray and then get into our passage for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Romans 14:1-12, our passage for this morning. Please stand if you are able, in respect and honor of the reading of God’s Word.
Romans 14:1-12,
“Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God.’ So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:1–12, NASB95)[2]
ACCEPT EACH OTHER (Romans 14:1)
As we come into this passage, we must remember that those who were in the church in Rome were either Jews or Gentiles. Many Jews who came to faith in Christ found it difficult to let go of the ceremonial laws and practices that they had been ingrained in them their whole life. After all it was God Himself who had instituted these rites and prohibitions under the Old Covenant. They felt that it was their duty to obey the dietary laws and to observe the Sabbath, and even offer sacrifices in the temple. These were all part of the Mosaic law given to them by the true God. For the Gentiles, they too had been trained in the pagan rituals and customs of the false gods they once worshiped and because of this they did not want anything to do with that former way of life and the wickedness of it. Because of this many Gentiles could not bring themselves to purchase and eat meat sold in the marketplace that possibly had first been offered to a false god.
Other believers, however, both Jews and Gentiles, understood and exercised their freedom in Christ. Mature or strong Jewish believers understood that under the New Covenant in Christ, the ceremonial requirements of the Old or Mosaic covenant were no longer valid. Strong or mature Gentile believers understood that idolatry was a spiritual evil but that it had no effect on anything physical, like meat, even if it had been offered to an idol.
Those who were still deeply influenced by their former religious beliefs and practices were weak in the faith or immature because they did not understand their new freedom in Christ.
And it is because of these differences that disunity can take root. The mature Christian who understands his freedom in Christ may look at his weaker brother and think that he is too legalistic and restricted to be used by the Lord in any effective way. The weaker, legalistic Christian may look at the brother who enjoys his freedom in Christ and think that he is too free and undisciplined to serve the Lord effectively. Disunity has taken root.
Paul in verse one says don’t let that happen. In this passage Paul speaks to both types of believers and to both attitudes. In verse one he first speaks to the stronger Christian and he does so for that reason, because they are stronger in the faith. Because they have been taught and have grown and matured and they are better equipped to understand and to be understanding. Paul counsels them to “Now accept the one who is weak in faith…” (Romans 14:1a, NASB95)[3] The Greek word that Paul uses that is translated “accept” is a compound verb, it has a prefix which intensifies the root verb and makes it a command. In other words, Paul is not just suggesting to these stronger believers, but is commanding them to accept those who are weaker in the faith. The Greek word translated “weak” is a present participle which means that this is only a temporary condition. Also, in the Greek there is the definite article “the” before faith showing that Paul is not talking about spiritual trust or faithfulness, but about understanding the full truth of the gospel. A better translation or a more literal translation would be, “Now accept one who is weak in the faith…”
Understand that Paul was not speaking of those who were weak in the faith because of some doctrinal or moral weakness, or because of some sin in their life. He was not talking of those who were called Judaizers who would come into the church and would teach that you could not be saved unless you were circumcised and followed the Mosaic law. Paul is speaking of true believers, Jew or Gentile, who are weak in their understanding of their true faith in Jesus Christ and how that is lived out in everyday life. They need a place where they can be nurtured and taught so they have the opportunity to grow and mature in the faith.
As mature or strong believers we are to fully accept them and love them. Paul goes on that our acceptance of them cannot be with ulterior motives, we do not accept them so that we can pass judgment on their opinions. We don’t bring them into the fellowship of the church just to show them where their opinions are wrong, that will cause division and drive them away. That is not to say that we never talk about a believer’s freedom in Christ to someone who is still bound to some legalistic way of thinking and living, but we do so in love and through the teaching of the Word of God allowing the Spirit of God to break down these barriers that will allow this person to grow and develop and understand and enjoy their freedom in Christ. This is where Paul’s teaching to love one another is so important. It is easy for us who are mature in the faith and desire to see our brother become mature in the faith to pass judgment on his opinions, but remember maturity does not happen overnight, it took time for you to grow, give this weaker brother time to grow and accept and love him in that process.
FOUR REASONS TO ACCEPT EACH OTHER (Romans 14:2-12)
Paul in the remainder of these verses, Romans 14:2-12, gives us four reasons why all believers, strong or weak, should accept all other believers. That is what we will be looking at the rest of this morning and next week. In these verses he speaks to both the strong and the weak believers.
Because God Accepts Each Believer (Romans 14:2-3)
The first reason that we are to accept each other is because God accepts each one of us. Paul writes, “One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.” (Romans 14:2–3, NASB95)[4] Paul first mentions the strong, mature Christian who understands his spiritual freedom in Christ, who understands that under the New Covenant in Christ there are no ceremonial or dietary restrictions, so he eats what he wants. Even Peter struggled with this freedom to eat anything that was declared unclean under the Mosaic law. The Lord spoke to Peter in a vision that had to be repeated three times for Peter to be convinced that what God has cleansed is to no longer to be considered unholy or unclean.(Acts 10:9-18) Not only was God declaring all foods clean, but the greater truth of the vision was that Peter should not call any man (speaking specifically of Gentiles) unholy or unclean.
As I already noted it was not only Jews who struggled with the ceremonial and dietary laws of the mosaic covenant, but Gentiles who had been saved from idolatry struggled with eating meat that may have first been offered to a false god. They like Peter were spiritually weak in regard to such things and therefore chose to eat only vegetables, so that they would not by chance eat meat that they considered defiled having been offered to an idol.
Paul in verse three speaks to both the strong and the weak believer giving each a command. To the strong who eats all, he is not to regard with contempt the weak one who does not eat everything like he does. This phrase “regard with contempt” is one word in Greek and the word can mean to consider someone to be totally worthless, as if the person is nothing or less than nothing. It does not refer to simply disliking or disrespecting a person, but instead it refers to absolute hatred or contempt. Now it is doubtful that many genuine Christians in the early church, whether in Rome or elsewhere had such contempt for other believers. But it only takes one person who is extreme in his belief to damage an entire church and bring about disunity. Down through the history of the church, congregations have been afflicted with one or two people who consider themselves to be spiritually superior to everyone else. It only takes one like that to sow seeds of disunity.
Paul turns now to those who are weak in the faith and writes, “…and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.” (Romans 14:3b, NASB95)[5] Paul uses a Greek word translated “to judge” here that basically means to separate and isolate. In the legal sense it is used of finding an accused person guilty of the crime for which he was accused. When we judge someone for something that they do which is not sin, we do so out of our lack of knowledge of the truth and a good dose of self-righteousness on our part and in judging them we are trying to make ourselves better than they are. Again, seeds of disunity are sown and begin to take root and grow.
Paul uses the phrases “regard with contempt” and “to judge” to show that it can go both ways, whether strong or weak it only takes one person to disregard or despise the other and in either case both are wrong. The strong believer scornfully and with contempt regards the weak believer to be to legalistic and self-righteous and the weak believer judges the strong believer as being free and irresponsible at best and undisciplined and reckless at worst. Paul tells both not to be this way and the reason being is that God has accepted him. This refers to the one who eats (the strong) but the context makes it clear that it refers to both the strong and the weak, to the believer who freely eats all and the believer who does not and who only eats vegetables.
Paul’s point to us in these verses is that if God does not make an issue of whether we eat meat or only eat vegetables, by what right do we do have to make an issue out of it? If as the Lord’s children, whether strong or weak we are accepted by God and have fellowship with the Lord, then it is sinful pride for either of those believers to not accept the other as God has accepted both. It is only as we accept one another that we preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
I want to share a story to illustrate Paul’s point. Steven Runge, a Bible scholar and commentator writes, “As a new believer in my 20s, I came into the church with a fair amount of baggage—lingering sin issues that needed to be addressed. I was doing my best to spend time with God daily, to get involved in ministry, and to share my newfound faith with others, but I still had rough edges that needed smoothing out. Not surprisingly, the folks at church figured this out as well, and it was interesting to see the differences in how various people addressed my “weaknesses.” Some boldly pointed out the areas they believed I needed to change. Others brought me under their wings, invited me into their homes, and spent time with me. The first group told me about their faith and what they thought of mine, whereas the second modeled their faith by sharing their lives with me. Over time, issue after issue, God continued the process He had begun the day I confessed my sin and accepted Jesus as my Savior. And you can guess which group of folks proved most helpful as I sorted through these issues.”[6]
CONCLUSION:
I am going to end with this illustration this morning. From the life example given by Steven Runge we understand the point that Paul was trying to make when he told those strong, mature Christians to accept those weaker Christians into fellowship without passing judgment on their opinions, that baggage as Steven described it that came with him when he came into the church. We are to accept them and love them, and that is what happened when some in the church described above took Steven under their wings, they invited him into their homes, spent time with him and modeled their faith by sharing their lives with him. They accepted him into fellowship because God had accepted him. They understood that strength and maturity does not happen overnight, but that it takes time by spending time together, by the teaching of the Word of God and the working of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life he will grow into the strong, mature Christian that God wants him to be. I pray that we can be this type of church, that welcomes in the weak and pours our life into them with love. Next week, Lord willing, we will look at the other three reasons that Paul gives us for accepting each other where we are in our faith and helping each other grow in the faith.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]Runge, S. E. (2014). High Definition Commentary: Romans (p. 243). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.