Romans 14:1 ¶ Him that is
weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. 2 For one believeth that he may eat all things:
another, who is weak, eateth herbs. 3
Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him
which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. 4 Who art thou that judgest another man’s
servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up:
for God is able to make him stand. 5 One
man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike.
Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. 6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it
unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not
regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks;
and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
7 For none of us liveth to himself, and
no man dieth to himself. 8 For whether
we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord:
whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose,
and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. 10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why
dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment
seat of Christ. 11 For it is written, As
I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall
confess to God. 12 So then every one of
us shall give account of himself to God. 13
Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather,
that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s
way. 14 I know, and am persuaded by the
Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that
esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 But if thy brother be grieved with thy
meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom
Christ died. 16 Let not then your good
be evil spoken of: 17 For the kingdom of
God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost. 18 For he that in these things
serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. 19 Let us therefore follow after the things
which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. 20 For meat destroy not the work of God. All
things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth
with offence. 21 It is good
neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy
brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. 22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself
before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which
he alloweth. 23 And he that doubteth is
damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is
not of faith is sin.
Here, Paul foresees the interminable arguments that Christians
will have over their own convictions. It is likely that early Jewish Christians
wanted to hold onto some of the dietary restrictions of the Law as some
Christians do today, to create a sense of spiritual superiority and
separateness from others in the faith. These people who put restrictions on
their diet, not for health purposes but for purposes of taking a stand on their
faith, are referred to as weak. Remember what Christ showed Peter in Acts?
Acts 10:9 ¶ On the morrow,
as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon
the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: 10
And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made
ready, he fell into a trance, 11 And saw
heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great
sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: 12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts
of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
13 And there came a voice to him, Rise,
Peter; kill, and eat. 14 But Peter said,
Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is
common or unclean. 15 And
the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that
call not thou common. 16 This was done
thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
Christians are under no religious dietary restrictions except for
one. See Acts 15 that we are not supposed to drink blood. This is forbidden
before the Law, during the Law, and after the Law is in force.
To mankind after the Flood;
Genesis 9:4 But flesh with
the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
To the Israelite;
Leviticus 3:17 It shall be
a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye
eat neither fat nor blood.
However, that being said, we are not to rub our convictions in
another Christian’s face. If you have a guest who objects to eating pork why
would you deliberately serve pork to them? What kind of a Christian would you
be if you did that?
You might think that having a glass of wine once in a while is
okay but if you have a brother or sister over to your house and you offer them
wine or drink it in front of them knowing that they believe that all alcohol
must be abstained from then you are being quite a jerk.
Paul shows a Christian to be concerned not only about their own
rights and privileges but about the sensitivities of others. A Christian who
has the attitude that I do or say what I want and you’all just need to get over
it is hardly a Christian. He or she is more like an ill-mannered child, a
bully, or just an awful person. Paul’s point of view is that we must remember
that the kingdom of God is more than just what we can do or can’t do in this
flesh that is pleasing to God. It is righteousness, peace with God, and joy in
God’s Holy Ghost. It is not about our noses up arrogance.
Paul here explains that we should not try to force another to go
against their convictions as if they do eat or drink and do not believe they
should they are then sinning by their own violation of their conviction. We are
not to be a part of that for any reason. I would say if someone is really weird
in their convictions and you cannot get them to see in the Bible their error
then you probably shouldn’t fellowship with them.
I convinced a family member from the Bible why they should not
drink and they agreed with me but I failed in convincing them that gambling of
any kind was forbidden so I lost one and won one. In any event, the family
member knows not to gamble around me or to invite me to a card game. I know he
wouldn’t do either.
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