THE CHRISTIAN LIFE - UNITY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST - PART 2 (Romans 14:1-12)
INTRODUCTION:
Last week we began a new section and a new chapter in our study of Romans. In this new chapter Paul continues speaking about the Christian life and how we live it out in the world in which we live. In this particular section, Romans 14:1-15:13, Paul is speaking about unity in the body of Christ. He is speaking specifically about the unity that needs to exist between strong and weak believers. A believer strong in the faith may be someone who has been a believer for a long time and has sat under good biblical teaching and has applied that teaching to his life as he reads and studies the Word of God on his own and seeks to live the life of a disciplined, obedient, Spirit-controlled Christian or it could be a believer who has not been a believer for a long time, but has really dug into the Word and has had mature Christians in his life who have invested their life in his life and have modeled Christ and discipled him in the faith. A weak believer may be one that came to faith in Christ just recently and has just begun to grow in the faith, has just begun to go to church regularly and sit under good biblical teaching and is just beginning to understand how to take that teaching and apply it to his life and is just beginning to read and study God’s Word and just beginning to learn about the Christian life and what the message of the Gospel fully means. Or the weak believer may be one who has been a believer for a long time but has never grown. He may go to church, but he does not apply the teaching he is receiving, he is not spending time reading or studying God’s Word on his own, he is not open to others coming into his life and discipling him in the faith and does not take the opportunity to get involved in other church functions or study groups but is basically just a Sunday Christian. Strong and weak refers to growth or the lack of growth. Paul begins by commanding those who are strong in the faith to accept those who are weak into fellowship, to accept and love them so that they have a chance to grow in the faith. Then he gives four reasons we are to accept each other, and he applies those reasons to the strong and to the weak, showing that we each whether strong or weak in the faith must accept our fellow believers so that the unity of the Spirit may exist in the church. I will give you a re-cap of the first reason and then we will look at the other three. Let’s pray and then get into our passage of Scripture for this morning.
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Romans 14:1-12, we covered the first three verses last week, but I will read the whole passage to pick up the context. 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)[1]
FOUR REASONS TO ACCEPT EACH OTHER (Romans 14:2-12)
God Accepts Each Believer (Romans 14:2-3)
Last week we looked at the first reason that we are to accept each other, and it is because God has accepted each of us. Paul used for his example the freedom that strong believers have to eat whatever they want but that some weak believers eat only vegetables because of religious or cultural beliefs that they have been trained in since youth. For the Jewish Christian this might include the dietary laws of the Mosaic law that they feel they must continue to follow. For the Gentile Christian the opposite might be true and their upbringing in the pagan rituals of the false gods that they worshipped is now so abhorrent to them that they do not want to possibly purchase and eat meat that could have first been offered to an idol before being sold.
This difference in opinion between the strong and weak might cause the strong to have contempt for the weak thinking they are narrow-minded and legalistic in their thinking. It may cause the weak to judge the strong because they seem to be undisciplined and free eating whatever they want without regard to the dietary laws or to the fact that the meat they are eating may be defiled having been offered to an idol before being sold. Paul says do not have contempt, do not judge because God has accepted them both, they are His children by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
God Upholds Each Believer (Romans 14:4)
Paul gives us that second reason that we as believers are to accept each other and it is because God upholds or sustains each believer. A strong Christian who is mature and secure in the faith needs God’s strength and sustaining power just as much as the Christian who is weak or immature in the faith. It is so important to remember that everything that we possess that is good and righteous is a gift of God, so in this sense we are all weak because those things that are good and righteous are never the result of our own wisdom or our own effort.
Paul uses this truth of all we are and all we have is from God to then ask both the weak and the strong the question posed for us in verse 4, Paul writes, “Who are you to judge the servant of another?” (Romans 14:4a, NASB95)[2] Remember that Paul is not speaking of judging sin in another’s life but judging where they are in maturity of the faith. Paul says whether you are strong in the faith or weak in the faith what right do you have to judge the servant of another? Especially when that servant is a fellow servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. How a fellow believer measures up in your eyes does not in any way affect their standing before the Lord.
Paul goes on to point out to us that only the master of the servant can judge whether this servant stand or falls. He writes, “To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” (Romans 14:4b, NASB95)[3] The servant of the Lord Jesus will stand because the Lord is able and willing to make him stand. It will not matter if that servant is weak in the faith or strong in the faith, it will not matter concerning issues of what we should eat or not eat, or other matters of religious tradition or preference that are not defined for us in God’s Word. If this person has come in repentance to God recognizing his sinfulness and his helplessness to do anything to change that sinfulness, but in faith he has believed that Jesus Christ died as his substitute on the cross, suffering God’s wrath against sin and paying the penalty for sin in His death and that He was buried and rose from the dead on the third day proving that sin was paid for and that death was conquered, then he is justified before God and he will stand because the Lord Jesus Christ is able to make him stand. He will uphold him by the power of His might.
Paul had asked a similar type of question earlier in this book, in Romans 8:33-34, “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” (Romans 8:33–34, NASB95)[4] In other words, no one can condemn the one who is justified by God. Paul had written in Romans 8:1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1, NASB95)[5] Then in the very end of that chapter he erupts with the wonderful words found in verses 38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39, NASB95)[6] Nothing can cause us to fall from God’s grace and love because we are upheld by our master Jesus Christ. Jesus said essentially the same thing in John 10:27-28, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:27–28, NASB95)[7] You have heard me say it many times in my benediction when it is taken from the closing words of the book of Jude, these words as well speak of the sustaining work of Christ on our behalf, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24–25, NASB95)[8] Over and over we read in the New Testament of the Lord upholding those who are His own. Who are we to judge, the Lord is able and willing to make His servants stand.
God is Sovereign Lord of Each Believer (Romans 14:5-9)
The third reason that every believer, whether weak or strong in the faith, is to accept every other believer is because Jesus Christ is the sovereign Lord to each believer. Whether weak in the faith or strong in the faith, a sincere Christian only has one motive in his life, to please his Lord. Remember again that being strong or weak in the faith does not mean that one is spiritual and the other is unspiritual, but instead it is about maturity and a full understanding of the message of the Gospel that comes with time, personal study, application and having others invest time in your life, discipling you.
Paul in these next verses goes back to using an example to illustrate his point that neither the weak or the strong Christian is more or less spiritual or faithful because of his convictions about certain practices. First, Paul speaks of the significance and observation of certain days. He speaks again to both the strong and the weak believer. He writes, “One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.” (Romans 14:5, NASB95)[9] The weak believer places significance on certain days, the strong believer does not and observes them all as being from God.
The church in Rome was made up of both Jews and Gentiles and just as with the eating of meat or things classified by the law as unclean, the weak Jewish Christian remained attached to the special days connected with the Mosaic covenant and felt that they had to be observed. The weak Gentile Christian, however, wanted to separate himself as far as possible from the special days of his former false religion because of the idolatry and wickedness attached to those days.
Paul writes that each person must be convinced in his own mind. When Paul speaks of the mind here, he certainly includes with that the heart and the conscience of man, he is speaking of our deepest convictions and motives. Why are we choosing to eat or not eat certain things, why are we choosing or not choosing to observe a certain day. In other words, it is all about the intent. If we are doing it for the Lord and giving thanks to God for it then by all means do it. Paul writes, “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.” (Romans 14:6, NASB95)[10]
In those matters that God’s Word does not speak about specifically, neither commanding it nor forbidding it, Paul admonishes us to go with our conscience, our conscience represents what we honestly believe to be right. When we go against our conscience, even if what we are doing or not doing is not sinful in itself, we will treat it as if it is sinful because our conscience tells us it is wrong, and we will feel guilty. However, it is sinful to try and force our own convictions on others, because when we do this, we tempt them to go against their own conscience. Paul in telling us to be convinced in our own mind is giving two commands. First, do not go against your own conscience, and second, do not try to force your convictions onto someone else leading him to go against his own conscience to conform to yours.
The greater responsibility of this command falls on the stronger Christian, they have a better understanding of the Word and are more mature in the faith and in their understanding. This is why Paul gives the stern warning to the stronger believer in 1 Corinthians 8:9-12, “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 8:9–12, NASB95)[11] Paul goes on in that same passage and says concerning himself in verse 13, “Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.” (1 Corinthians 8:13, NASB95)[12]
When Paul stood before the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin, in Acts 23 he said to them in verse 1, “Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day.” (Acts 23:1b, NASB95)[13] In making this statement Paul was declaring that he had not compromised his own conscience, but that he was also blameless because he had not caused other believers to compromise their consciences.
This is his point in the next verses in Romans, he writes in verses 7-8, “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.” (Romans 14:7–8, NASB95)[14] These verses clearly call us to holy living and complete surrender and submission to the sovereign and unconditional lordship of Jesus Christ in the life of every believer. Paul says it does not matter what our maturity is in the faith, strong or weak, if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ you do not live for yourself nor do you die for yourself, your life and death are not about you, they are about the Lord. We live for the Lord and we die for our Lord. What we do and how we treat other believers is not only for their sakes, but ultimately it is for the Lord, because whether we live or die it is for the Lord. He is the sovereign Lord of you and your fellow brother or sister whether weak or strong. With that said, everything that we do, even in our dying is to please and glorify the sovereign Savior and Lord of our life. The Lord Jesus Christ bought us at a great price, the price of His own blood poured out for us. We belong completely and absolutely to Christ; we are His in the fullest sense. Paul writes in verse 9, “For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” (Romans 14:9, NASB95)[15] If we deny the lordship of Christ in the life of any believer then we do not understand the work, or the power, or the purpose of our Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection. The Lord Jesus Christ died and lived again not only to save us but to own us as His own, to free us from our slavery to sin to enslave us to Himself. Paul had already declared this truth back in chapter 6:17-18 he wrote, “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:17–18, NASB95)[16] He says it even more clearly a few verses later in Romans 6:22 where he writes, “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.” (Romans 6:22, NASB95)[17]
Jesus Christ is Lord of all and when He returns this recognition of His lordship will be universally confessed by all because as Philippians 2:9-11 proclaims, “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9–11, NASB95)[18] Understand Jesus Christ will not become Lord at that time, He is already Lord, He is as Paul confessed in 1 Timothy 6:15, “He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,” (1 Timothy 6:15b, NASB95)[19] We who belong to Christ already recognize Him as our sovereign Lord and we accept each other because Jesus Christ has accepted us, He upholds us, and He is the sovereign Lord of each of us.
God is Judge of Each Believer (Romans 14:10-12)
The fourth reason that Paul gives us for why we must accept every believer into fellowship is because the Lord and He alone will judge each believer. Paul again speaking to both the weak believer and the strong believer writes, “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.” (Romans 14:10, NASB95)[20] It is not our role to judge a fellow believer for following his conscience if he is doing it for the glory of God. Neither is it our place to show contempt for one’s opinions which are not our opinions if what they believe does not go against God’s Word and they are doing it for the glory of God. Again, I am not speaking about sin, that must be rooted out of the church, but concerning those things which God’s Word does not speak about, neither forbidding nor commanding we are not to judge our fellow believer. What we should be more concerned about is the fact that we will each stand before the judgment seat of God, we will each be judged by our Lord.
The judgment seat that Paul is referring to here is the judgment seat of Christ before which all believers will stand. Again, this is not a judgment concerning sin, that was dealt with when we put our faith in Christ and were justified by God. This judgment is for rewards and is based on how we lived our Christian life. Paul wrote concerning this judgment in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:11–15, NASB95)[21] Paul says later in the next chapter of 1 Corinthians in chapter 4:5 “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.” (1 Corinthians 4:5, NASB95)[22]
Returning to Romans 14 Paul reinforces what he is saying concerning the believer’s judgment by quoting from Isaiah 45:23, he reminds his readers of the Lord’s own words, “For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God.’” (Romans 14:11, NASB95)[23] Our responsibility is to serve the Lord, it is not to judge our brother or sister in Christ, it is not to regard them with contempt, we will never be called upon by the Lord to give an account of someone else’s life, but as Paul ends this chapter, “So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12, NASB95)[24]
CONCLUSION:
In these opening verses of Romans 14 Paul is speaking about his concern that each believer is diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Again, this concerns the Christian life and how it is lived out, in this case, how it is lived out in the church. Paul zeros in on a situation that often brings about disunity and that is judging a weaker or stronger brother in Christ because their belief or practice of the faith is not the same as yours. They do not have the same liberty that you do because they have not grown much in Christ yet or they have more liberty than you because they are mature in the faith. Paul says that we are to preserve the unity of the Spirit by accepting each other at whatever maturity level we are at and serve one another and allow the weaker brother the time that is needed to grow as he fellowships with you and sits under good biblical teaching and applies that to his Christian life through his own reading and studying of God’s word and through discipleship.
Paul then presented to us four reasons we are to accept one another. The first reason is that God has accepted each of us, He has justified us and made us His own children through faith in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. The second reason we are to accept each other and not judge one’s faith is because that person like yourself is a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ and it is before the Lord that he will stand or fall, and the Lord Jesus is able and willing to make those who are His to stand. The third reason that we are to accept one another is because the Lord Jesus Christ is the sovereign Lord of each of us who belong to Him. He has purchased us with His own shed blood, and we are no longer our own, but we have been bought with a price, freed from our slavery to sin and enslaved to our sovereign Savior and Lord. The fourth reason is that we each will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of ourselves to God. We need to concern ourselves more with serving Christ and our motive for doing so, rather than with judging others concerning their service and motive.
[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. (emphasis mine)
[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.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[15]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[16]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[17]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. (Emphasis added)
[18]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[19]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[20]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[21]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[22]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[23]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[24]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.