2). CHRISTIAN FREEDOM AND CONSIDERATION FOR THE VIEWS OF OTHERS (14:1-15:6). Having laid down the principles of Christian living, Paul now moves on to what he clearly conceives of as a problem in the Roman church, the problem of disagreement on the question of religious observance. Such disagreement... [ Continue Reading ]
CHRISTIAN FREEDOM TO BE TEMPERED BY CONSIDERATION FOR THEIR BROTHERS AND SISTERS WITH REGARD TO FOOD FETISHES AND SABBATH OBSERVANCE (14:1-23). Paul now deals with the question of whether to observe a special day to the LORD, and what should be their attitude towards foods. Jesus had declared that H... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But him who is weak in faith receive you, (yet) not to disputes about scruples.' He calls on the Roman Christians to be ready to receive any who were ‘weak in faith', but not in order to argue with them about unnecessary scruples. What they were to do was seek to strengthen each other's faith in C... [ Continue Reading ]
‘One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats herbs.' He posits the case of two men, one of whom ‘has the faith to eat all things', and the other who eats only vegetables and herbs. The latter case might especially be true for those who wanted to ensure that they did not eat meat sac... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Let not him who eats set at nought him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats. For God has received him.' But the one who eats anything quite confidently, without a religious qualm, must not despise in any way the one who eats only vegetables, or abstains from certai... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Who are you who judges the servant of another? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for the Lord has power to make him stand.' And, indeed, if God has received someone, what right has man to pass judgment on him? For just as a servant is answerable only to his master... [ Continue Reading ]
‘One man esteems one day above another, another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind.' The second dispute was over whether it was necessary to observe a special day as being ‘holy', that is, as being something to be set apart wholly for God. In view of the make up o... [ Continue Reading ]
‘He who regards the day, regards it unto the Lord, and he who eats, eats unto the Lord, for he gives God thanks, and he who does not eat, does not eat unto the Lord, and gives God thanks.' What matters is not whether men observe a certain day, or whether they eat a certain food. What matters is tha... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself.' The underlying reason for his judgment in this case is now given. It lies in the fact that we do not live and die to ourselves. What Paul is signifying by this is indicated by what follows. We rather live and die to the LORD. This is a re... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For whether we live, we live to the Lord, or whether we die, we die to the Lord. Whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.' The meaning of the previous verse is here made clear. It is to the LORD that we live, and to the LORD that we die, for now that He is our LORD (Romans 10:9) our l... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ For to this end Christ died and lived (again), that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.' Indeed, this was one of the reasons why Christ died and lived again. It was in order thereby to become the LORD of death, which He conquered (‘I have the keys of Hades and of death' - Revelation... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you set at nought your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment-seat of God. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will confess to God.” Thus as both we and our brothers and s... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So then each one of us will give account of himself to God.' And at that awful judgment seat ‘each one of us will give account of himself to God'. The full transcripts of every moment of our lives will be opened, and we will be called to account. But those who are His will have One Who will confes... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Let us not therefore be judging one another any more, but rather judge you this, that no man put a stumblingblock in his brother's way, or an occasion of falling.' In view of this coming judgment-seat, we should not therefore any more ourselves sit in judgment on each other in regard to the detail... [ Continue Reading ]
‘I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself, except that to him who accounts anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.' Paul states his own position quite clearly. He knows in his heart, and is persuaded as a result of his experience with the LORD, Jesus, that... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For if because of meat your brother is grieved, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your meat him for whom Christ died.' Thus if the brother or sister who believed it to be wrong ate such meat they would be ‘grieved', (we might say, conscience-stricken and filled with a sense of... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Do not then let your good be evil spoken of,' Thus we are not to let our good (our knowledge that nothing in itself is unclean) become something that is evilly spoken of because of the harm it does as a result of our insisting that others believe as we do.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For the Kingly Rule of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.' However, in the ancient world eating and drinking were seen as very much a part of worship and celebration, and the popularity of much worship resulted from the fact of its religious feas... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For he who in this serves Christ is well-pleasing to God, and approved of men.' So the one who serves Christ in this way, by having a regard for the tender consciences of others, is well pleasing to God. And he is also approved of by men because he does not persuade people to act against their con... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So then let us follow after things which make for peace, and things by which we may edify one another.' In consequence of this, says Paul, let us follow after the things which make for peace and harmony, and most importantly, the things by which we can edify each other and build each other up. For... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Do not overthrow for meat's sake the work of God. All things indeed are clean, however it is evil for that man who eats with offence. It is good not to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor (anything) in which your brother stumbles.' In contrast to the building up of one another up by our loving conce... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The faith which you have, have you to yourself before God. Happy is he does not judge himself in what he approves.' So Paul completes his argument by urging the strong believers to have their faith which allows them to eat or drink anything in the presence of God as something to be enjoyed in priv... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because (it is) not of faith, and whatever is not of faith is sin.' But if someone who wavers over whether it is right to eat meat, on the grounds that it may be unclean, does eat of such meat, he brings himself into condemnation. And the reason why he do... [ Continue Reading ]