THE CHRISTIAN LIFE - UNITY IN THE BODY - PART 3 (Romans 14:13-23)
INTRODUCTION:
Before Easter we finished up the first 12 verses of Romans 14 where Paul is teaching concerning the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace that should exist in the body of Christ. In that passage in particular he was speaking of the unity that should exist between strong and weak Christians, how they must mutually accept one another where they are in their understanding of the faith. Paul was particularly speaking of those areas in life that are not specifically commanded or forbidden in Scripture. In using the terms weak and strong he was not speaking of sin in the life of a believer, but those who are mature in the faith having studied it, having received sound biblical teaching, and taking that teaching and applying to their lives thus being strong in the faith and understanding the freedom that is theirs in Christ. A weak Christian is one who is immature in the faith, maybe a new believer or one who is still learning to apply the truth of the Gospel to their lives and still holding on to some traditions or shunning some traditions from their former life before coming to faith in Christ. Paul used for his examples the eating of meat or not eating it and the regarding of certain days over other days or treating all days alike. These were real issues in the early church with its mix of Jewish and Gentile believers. Some weak or immature Jewish believers still held to the dietary laws of the Mosaic law and only ate what was kosher not understanding that those laws had been superseded by the New Covenant. Some weak or immature Gentile believers who had come to faith in Christ out of pagan idolatry refused to eat meat that may have been offered to an idol before being sold in the marketplace, to them this meat was defiled, so instead they ate vegetables only. Some weak Jewish believers still celebrated and regarded the Jewish holy days as above other days and the immature Gentile believers did not want anything to do with the pagan holy days of their former life and regarded every day the same.
Last week we made a departure from Romans to look at those truths that as believers we cannot compromise on for the sake of unity. They are the basic truths of the Gospel that if agreed upon we can have fellowship with other believers that believe these same truths. We learned that we must love one another by being humble, meek, and patient with each other as we are all at a different place in the faith.
This morning we start the next section of Romans 14 and Paul continues to speak about the unity that must exist between strong or mature and weak or immature believers. When the Lord Jesus Christ instituted the New Covenant, He gave wonderful freedom or liberty to those who belong to Him by faith. Some of the most important freedoms that we have received is that we have been freed from the penalty of sin, we are freed from spiritual death and eternal damnation. These are of the highest importance, but besides these we have also been freed from the burdens of the ceremonial laws with its sacrifices and offerings and the dietary restrictions that were a part of the Old Covenant. Apart from sin, we are free to enjoy all the good gifts and blessings that God has poured out on those who believe in His one and only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. But although we are permitted to enjoy these freedoms we are not commanded to do so. We are not obligated to exercise every freedom that we have in Christ. The truth is that as our love for the Lord grows and as we mature in the faith those freedoms will become less important to us and we will be more willing to let go of those freedoms for the sake of better serving the Lord and for better serving others, especially other believers. As mature believers our concern should be especially for those believers who Paul describes as weak, those who have not yet fully understood the extent of their freedom in Christ and are still bound in some way to the external requirements, rituals, restrictions under which they lived prior to coming to faith in Christ. For the strong or mature believer, the issue is not whether we possess or do not possess certain freedoms or liberties but whether we should use them or surrender that freedom or liberty based on how it will affect others.
This responsibility does not fall only on the strong believer as I have already mentioned, and Paul has made clear in verses 1-12. Strong and weak believers have a mutual responsibility to love one another, to have fellowship with one another and to not judge the others’ convictions concerning issues that are neither commanded nor condemned in the New Testament. The liberty that we have as members of Christ’s body is vertical before the Lord, but the use of that freedom is horizontal because it is seen by others and affects others. Paul in this next section zeros in on this to warn us not to use our liberty in such a way that it affects our brothers and sisters in Christ adversely. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:23, “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.” (1 Corinthians 10:23, NASB95)[1] Paul’s purpose in life was for the advancement of the Gospel, to see men and women come to faith in Christ and then grow to maturity. In this new section he gives six principles that are for both strong and weak Christians, these are to serve as guidelines for all Christians. Let’s pray and then get into our passage of Scripture.
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Romans 14:13-23. We will read the passage and then begin going through these principles. Please, if you are able, stand in honor and respect for the reading of God’s Word.
Romans 14:13-23,
“Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.” (Romans 14:13–23, NASB95)[2]
DO NOT CAUSE YOUR BROTHER TO STUMBLE (Romans 14:13)
Paul begins this new section with the term “therefore” which my Dad used to always say, “When you see the word “therefore” you must look to see what it is there for?” This “therefore” refers back to the previous verses, specifically verses 10-12 where Paul had reminded us that we will all one day stand before the judgment seat of God and we will each give an account of our life. Paul was teaching us that God alone is qualified and has the sovereign authority to judge the minds and hearts of His children. Judgment concerning how we lived our life for Christ is reserved for God. We must judge when sin is present and correct a believer with gentleness. Paul put it this way in Galatians 6:1, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.” (Galatians 6:1, NASB95)[3]
Paul in this passage is not talking about sin in a believer’s life but about the maturity or immaturity of our faith which we are not to judge. So, by referring us back to the fact that we will be giving an account of ourselves before God’s judgment seat, Paul tells us not to judge one another anymore. Paul had already declared how it is that we judge one another, either by the unloving attitude of the strong believer who declares the weak believer to be too legalistic and self-righteous or the unloving attitude of the weak believer declaring the strong believer to be undisciplined showing no regard for those things that the weak believer seeks to follow. It is in this way that we judge each other and just as it existed in Paul’s day when he was writing this letter it has existed down through the history of the church, and it is these wrongful judgments made by Christians against other Christians that Satan has used to cause disrespect, disharmony, and disunity in the church.
It is not evident in the NASB but in Greek Paul uses a play on words in verse 13. The words translated “judge” and “determine” are the same Greek word. When Paul says, “let us not judge one another anymore…” (Romans 14:13a, NASB95)[4] we understand it to mean that we are not to condemn one another anymore, which is the same way it is used in the previous passage in verses 3, 4, and 10. The word “determine” is the same word in Greek and has the meaning of making a decision. In English we use the word “judge” in the same way. To be judgmental has the negative idea of condemning someone, but using your best judgment is positive and refers to making the best decision possible. Paul uses this play on words to show us that we should never be judgmental of fellow believers and where they are in their faith but instead, we should use our best judgment to help them to grow in the faith, to become the mature, strong believer that God wants them to be. To do this Paul says to use your best judgment to not put an obstacle or a stumbling block in your brother’s way. Paul gave this same warning to the strong believers in Corinth in his first letter to them, he wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:9, “But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.” (1 Corinthians 8:9, NASB95)[5] A stumbling block or obstacle in our brother’s way speaks of causing them to stumble into sin.
What might be a modern-day example? The New Testament does not forbid the drinking of alcoholic beverages, at best it says we are not to drink in excess, Paul even counseled Timothy to drink a little wine for his stomach ailment, even though it is not forbidden there are good reasons why a Christian should abstain. I only want to point out one reason and I believe it is a particularly important reason and it is the damaging effect it might have on a former alcoholic. He or she may see us drinking even in moderation and this could easily become a stumbling block in his or her path that might cause him or her to fall back into their former addiction. For this reason, I choose not to drink alcohol.
This principle given here by Paul must be applied if we are to be a loving, caring Christian. Any activity or practice that is not sinful but might prove to be a stumbling block for a fellow believer should be avoided. What that might be will differ from society to society and from person to person. The strong, loving, caring Christian must determine in his heart and mind that he will be sensitive to the weaknesses of his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and in so doing avoid anything that might cause them to stumble, even those things that he is convinced by God’s Word are not commanded or forbidden and therefore are permissible to participate in, to the glory of God. Do not judge your brother, instead use your best judgment to not place an obstacle or stumbling block in your brother’s way.
DO NOT HURT YOUR BROTHER (Romans 14:14-15a)
A second way in which we preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace is to be careful in what we say or do so that we do not spiritually hurt or grieve a brother or sister in Christ. Paul begins this second admonition by stating as far as nonsinful things are concerned that he was convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. Now understand that this was not just his opinion, but this was something he was convinced in the Lord Jesus, he had learned this from the Lord. The fact that Paul had been trained as a Pharisee would mean that he had been well-schooled in the ceremonial law and dietary restrictions not only from the Scriptures but also from the rabbinical writings and would have been extremely careful about what he could eat and what he could not eat. But since coming to faith in Christ and learning from the Scriptures and through divine revelation he had learned that nothing is unclean. Peter had also been taught this truth through a vision in Acts 10 where three times the Lord let down a sheet with all kinds of animals, reptiles, and birds on it that were unclean according to the mosaic law and God had told to rise and kill and eat. Three times Peter said he had never eaten anything unclean and three times the Lord told him, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” (Acts 10:15b, NASB95)[6] In this way God was teaching Peter that the dietary laws were fulfilled in Christ and even more importantly God was preparing Peter to understand that God was about to accept fully and impartially believing Gentiles into the church.
Jesus had declared this same truth during His earthly ministry in Mark 7:18-19, “And He said to them, ‘Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?’ (Thus He declared all foods clean.)” (Mark 7:18–19, NASB95)[7] Paul had taught this same truth to his disciple Timothy, he wrote in 1 Timothy 4:3b-5, “…God has created [all foods] to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.” (1 Timothy 4:3b–5, NASB95)[8]
Understanding this truth, the strong Christian is completely correct in his conviction that he has the freedom to enjoy anything that Scripture does not condemn as sinful. The weak Christian’s understanding is wrong, wrong in the sense that he does not have a complete and mature understanding of the freedom that is his in Christ which in turns causes him to be unnecessarily sensitive in his conscience. Paul says concerning this weaker brother that “to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” (Romans 14:14b, NASB95)[9] At least in his mind and in his limited understanding it is unclean to him.
Paul explained it this way to the believers in Corinth, concerning this same issue of the freedom to eat meat sacrificed to idols. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:4-7, “Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.” (1 Corinthians 8:4–7, NASB95)[10]
Paul’s admonition in these verses is to direct our attention to how our words or practices affect the spiritual wellbeing of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul uses food as his example, but it could be any other issue as well, if our brother is hurt by what we do or say we are no longer walking according to love. The word translated “hurt” has the basic meaning of causing pain, or grief, or distress. This same word is used by Paul in Ephesians when he writes that the Holy Spirit is grieved when we sin.
When we hurt a brother in Christ especially when it is over something that is not sinful it can be tragic. A weaker brother can be hurt or grieved by watching a fellow Christian say or do something that he considers sinful, such as eating meat offered to an idol. This hurt can go even deeper if it is done by someone the weaker brother respects and admires. This hurt can also occur when whether by word or example a weak brother is led to go against the convictions of his conscience and do something that he considers sinful. Being upset by what another Christian does can hurt, but that hurt is not nearly so deep and damaging as the hurt of a believer’s conscience over what he has done. When this happens, that weaker brother feels betrayed, he loses much of his peace, not to mention his joy, he feels guilt and possibly even loses his assurance of salvation. Paul says that when we hurt a brother over a matter of freedom then we are no longer walking according to love.
Paul goes onto say in 1 Corinthians 8 where I quoted from earlier that a stronger brother who hurts a weaker brother by causing him to stumble by going against his conscience not only is unloving as Paul says here in Romans but has also sinned against that brother and against the Lord. He writes picking up where I left off in verse 8 and going through verse 12, “But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.” (1 Corinthians 8:8–12, NASB95)[11]
When Paul writes that they are ruined he is not saying that they have lost their salvation and headed for hell, Paul has already been clear that believers are eternally saved from damnation. They are ruined in the sense of what is lost when this happens, they lose their peace, their joy, their assurance. What are we to do to make sure that we do not hurt or grieve our brother in Christ and so sin against him and against Christ? Determine to do the opposite of what the insensitive and unloving person does, be willing to give up a freedom, so that you always walk according to love.
CONCLUSION:
I am going to stop here this morning. Being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace truly is about loving one another with the same selfless love that Christ loves us. Unity in the body of Christ cannot exist without love. Do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ enough to sacrifice some liberties, to give up some of the freedoms that you have in Christ so as not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in their way, so as not to hurt and grieve their spirit because what you call freedom, they call sin because of their lack of understanding. Are you willing to give it up so that you walk according to love and to help them grow in the faith to the maturity that God wants for them? I said in my introduction this morning, apart from sin, we are free to enjoy all the good gifts and blessings that God has poured out on those who believe in His one and only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. But although we are permitted to enjoy these freedoms we are not commanded to do so. We are not obligated to exercise every freedom that we have in Christ. The truth is that as our love for the Lord grows and as we mature in the faith those freedoms will become less important to us and we will be more willing to let go of those freedoms for the sake of better serving the Lord and for better serving others, especially other believers.
[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]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. [Clarification added]
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.