Romans Bible Study Series: 31. Christian Liberty 1 – Romans 14:1-13 1

31. Christian Liberty 1

Romans 14:1-13 Keeping before us the general principle stated in Romans 12:1 and 2, the apostle Paul continues to explain the implications of the gospel for Christian living. In these next two chapters Paul is seeking to explain these implications in the realm of the church, through exercising love without hypocrisy (12:9). This he does with reference to those that are ‘strong,’ (or able to grasp the meaning of Christ’s death for daily living) and those that are ‘weak’ (or unable to grasp the meaning of Christ’s death for daily living). NOTE: If you are able to view a copy of Stuart Olyott’s commentary on Romans, attention is drawn to his excellent comments on Christian Liberty at this point in his commentary. Please Read Romans 14:1-13

Verse 1: To be weak in faith is to be not fully persuaded as to the full implications of the gospel for Christian living. Such people would include some Jewish converts who had difficulty in letting go of the ceremonial aspects of the law, and this therefore affected the way they lived, believing that as Christians they must still practice the ceremonial law. They didn’t understand the freedom of the gospel, believing that they were still bound to keeping certain laws and traditions. In this sense, being weak in the faith is not inconsistent with a true and living relationship with Christ, and therefore such weak brethren are to be fully accepted as having such a relationship. However, such brethren must not be received simply in order to set them right on doubtful things. These doubtful things are matters that are not spoken against in the Scriptures. These weak brethren are not to be admitted to the church in order that the strong might pass judgment on their opinions, and therefore seek to settle these doubtful points, but are to be received as brethren in the Lord without exception. QUESTIONS: Who determines those are to be admitted to the church? Upon what basis do we make such decisions of acceptance?

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How should we react to a person that comes into the church and teaches that a person needs to keep aspects of the law in order to be saved? What is the difference between such a person and a weak brother? Verse 2: The thought conveyed here is that the strong one has confidence that he may eat all things, for he fully understands the liberty he has in the gospel. The strong brother recognizes that there are no longer any valid restrictions on the kinds of food he eats (Rom 14:14; 1 Cor 10:23,26). The weak brother however finds it difficult to enter into the full liberty of the gospel, being still bound in his conscience. The particular difficulty in this passage that Paul is drawing attention to was probably in the area of eating meat that had been offered to idols, or that had not been killed according to strict Jewish Law (Dan 1:8,12). Because it may have been offered to an idol, or because he could not be sure as to whether it had been offered to an idol, the weak brother could not bring himself to eat meat for fear of breaking aspects of the ceremonial law and therefore sinning if he did. Verse 3: Those that eat, recognizing their liberty in the gospel, must not despise those that do not eat. In other words the strong are not to look down upon the weak as though they were some lesser form of Christian, and those that do eat must not pass judgment on, or condemn those that do eat. QUESTIONS: Is it always wrong to pass judgment on the position of a brother? Explain the circumstances when it is not wrong? Eating or not eating foods has nothing to do with being accepted in the Kingdom of God, and therefore eating food or not eating food must not be made the grounds for accepting someone a s a Christian or not. If God has accepted the person, whether he eats or does not eat, then who are we to not accept him? Verse 4: This verse appears to apply primarily to the weak brother who may judge their stronger brother, but the principle applied here is still applicable to both the weak and the strong. The one who eats (14:3) does not have to give an account of himself to the weak brother. It is the role to God to Judge and not another Christian (Mt 7:1; Lk 6:37; 1 Cor 4:3ff). If God has accepted the person, then we certainly have no right to judge him otherwise, or pass condemnation on him. Indeed, the eater will be accepted, for God has saved him. A Christian is answerable to God alone, for He is the Lord of the conscience. The Christian is ultimately answerable to God and not to a fellow Christian, especially over such matters of conscience.

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Verse 5: Another area of contention between the strong and the weak is that of keeping special days. The Mosaic ceremonial legislation called for the keeping of certain religious festivals, and the weak were convinced in their conscience that they must continue to observe these unto the Lord. These days did not include the Christian Sabbath, but the Jewish festivals (gal 4:10; Col 2:16). Both the weak and the strong needed to be fully convinced that what he was doing was right and unto the Lord. They were not to do something in order to be in bondage to another’s conscience. The response of a Christian to these days was something that he needed to be clear about before the Lord, and then to live accordingly. Verse 6: This verse brings the motives of both the strong and the weak to the fore. Both strong and weak seek to live as unto the Lord, thereby indicating a right standing before God, and therefore a right motive also. Because of this both the weak and the strong must be seen as having a right relationship with the Lord, with both seeking to please Him with their lives. Verse 7: The Christian recognizes the Lordship of Christ and his rightful obligation of submission to Him. Because of this the Christian seeks to regulate all that he does as unto the Lord. This carries through in both life and death, doing all as unto the Lord (Philip 1:21). Verse 8: The Christian doesn’t live to please himself, but his Lord. It is upon this principle that the Christian regulates his life, whether he be strong or weak. This is so because both weak and strong belong to the Lord (1 Cor 6:19,20), whether dead or alive. Verse 9: This verse shows the Lord’s right to Lordship over both those believers that have died and those that still live. Because of His death and resurrection, Christ has purchased His people for Himself, and regardless of what they state they might be in they are His. So regardless of whether we are alive or dead, He is still our sovereign Lord unto whom we live and submit ourselves. Such is true of both the weak and the strong brother. Verse 10: These questions should strike to the heart, both of the weak and the strong. Why should we judge or despise a brother in the Lord? No Christian has a right to exercise the prerogative of God by judging or despising one who is accepted in Christ. In fact, both the weak and the strong will appear before God, for it is He who is the Judge, not another Christian brother. We will appear before Him for an assessment as to whether we have submitted to His revealed will. Verses 11,12: Verse 11 quotes a combination of Isaiah 49:18 (cf Num 14:28; Deut 32:40; Ezek 33:11) and Isaiah 45:23 to prove the teaching of the previous verse. In the end every person will submit to God as Judge (Philip 2:10,11) and not to another human being. Therefore, since both the weak and the strong are to give an account to the Lord,

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we should wait for His verdict and not presume to give one for Him. NOTE: INDIVIDUAL DISCOVERY QUESTION HERE: What practical implications flow from Romans 14:13? Verse 13: Because of what has gone before, the conclusion to be drawn here is to leave the area of judging to God. We need to be careful therefore, to not be continually criticising the weaker or stronger brother. Rather than being concerned about passing judgment on others, we should be determined to not become hindrances to other believers in the practice of our liberty. This of course applies especially to the stronger brother. We should be making sure that we do nothing that may bring about the stumbling of our brother, whether he is weak or strong. This again implies the centrality of love to Christian living. What we are to avoid doing for the sake of our brethren, is to place something in their way that trips them up in their Christian life. In other words we must not encourage someone by word or example to violate their own conscience before God. Paul further investigates this area of concern in the remaining part of Romans 14. INDIVIDUAL DISCOVERY What does Paul mean by Romans 14:23?

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