Chapter 14
Chap. 14:1–15:13––The other Jewish idiosyncrasy which converted Jews tended to bring with them into the fellowship of Christians was certain scruples concerning Jewish dietary laws and the observance of special holy days that were revered in Judaism. Two examples are given:
1. Jewish dietary regulations—kosher foods (vss. 2-4).
2. The observance of Jewish holy days—the Sabbath, etc. (vss. 5-6).
Romans 14, refers to our responsibility toward a weak Jew recently converted out of Judaism; whereas 1 Corinthians 8 refers to our responsibility toward a weak Gentile converted out of paganism. Both passages show that we have a responsibility toward such.
Vs. 1––Most Jewish converts in those earlier days were not entirely clear of Judaism (Heb. 13:13) and were holding on to certain Jewish customs and practises as a matter of conscience (Acts 21:20). What were the brethren to do when persons like this were saved and entered the Christian company? Were they to belittle their concerns and condemn them? This surely wouldn’t be love in action! Contrariwise, Paul says, “Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.”
A person “weak in the faith” is deficient in his understanding of the Christian’s position and liberty (Gal. 5:1), and consequently, has unfounded scruples over matters of secondary importance in Christian living. (As a rule, when the article “the” is used in Scripture in connection with “faith,” it is referring to the Christian revelation of truth (See Jude 3, etc.). When the article is not mentioned, it is referring to the inward energy of the soul’s confidence in God (See Acts 20:21; Rom. 14: 22, etc.).
Paul’s answer to this difficulty is that we should “receive” all such persons cordially. This does not refer to a person’s reception into fellowship at the Lord’s Table (assembly reception), but to his being received among the saints practically in social fellowship. (We mention this because this verse has often been taken out of context and misused to support the false idea that because a person has been received of God, being a believer on the Lord Jesus (vs. 3), we are bound to receive him at the Lord’s Table, without taking into consideration his associations and spiritual state of soul.) Thus, the over-scrupulous brother is not to be shunned among the saints. By adding, “Not to doubtful disputations,” Paul is cautioning us to avoid engaging such persons in arguments concerning their scruples. It could unnecessarily disrupt the harmony that should exist in normal Christian fellowship. This does not mean that they were to adopt those Jewish practises so as to not offend them. That would make the weak brother’s misunderstandings govern and dictate how the rest were to live. Rather, they were to be careful not to do things deliberately in front of the weak brother that could cause offense.
Vss. 2-3––He says, “For one believeth that he may eat all things: another who is weak, eats herbs.” In pointing this out, Paul would have us to realize that not all believers are at the same level of spiritual maturity and understanding; some are “weak” and some are “strong” (chap. 15:1). This being the case, we must make allowances and not force people against their consciences in these matters. He says, “Let not him that eats despise him that eats not; and let not him which eats not judge him that eats: for God hath received him.” This shows that we are to respect one another’s consciences and personal exercises, and not run roughshod over them. It could give offence. If a person is not clear on certain principles regarding these issues, we are not to judge him in the thing that he allows or does not allow. Each is responsible to walk before the Lord in the way in which he believes the Lord would have him to walk (Gen. 17:1). Paul says: “To his own Master he stands or falls.” That is, ultimately, he is responsible to the Lord for what he does. If he is mistaken on some issue, and if he is doing it in faith, believing that it is God’s will, God will honour his faith and will keep him from going off track—for “God is able to make him stand.” Hence, there should be mutual forbearance in these matters.
“He that regards the day, regards it unto the Lord; and he that regards not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it.” Some have taken this statement to be their liberty to do as they wish on the Lord’s Day, but this is not what Paul is referring to here. Since the passage is dealing primarily with weak Jewish converts, this would be regarding Sabbath days, etc. W. Kelly remarked, “For a Christian not to regard the Lord’s Day would be a direct dishonour put on His own special meeting with His disciples on that day, an open slight to that witness of grace.” Paul adds, “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” The problem in many cases is that when a person is really not sure of some exercise he has about Christian living, he will try to convince others of it—even to the pressing of that exercise upon them. They seem to think that if more people see it the way they do, then it would be a sign that it was right. Sometimes people will use their personal exercises to try to distinguish themselves among their brethren as being super holy and godly, but in reality it is the flesh at work. This kind of thing tends towards legality and spells disaster among the saints. It often polarizes brethren who “see” the exercise from those who don’t “see” it. And it is all because people have not done what Paul recommends at the end of the chapter—“have it to thyself before God” (vs. 22).
Four Guiding Principles
Chaps. 14:6–15:7—Paul mentions four principles that will guide us in connection with differences brethren may have in their personal exercises. These principles can be applied to all Christians, not just to converted Jews.
Live Under the Lordship of Christ
Chap. 14:6-9––The first principle that should regulate our conduct in these matters is that we should live our lives under the direction of Christ’s Lordship. This is seen in the fact that in four short verses, Paul mentions “the Lord” seven or eight times—depending upon which translation is used. It is clear, therefore, that Paul is emphasizing the Lordship of Christ here.
Paul’s point in this passage is that in matters where there is no direct disobedience to the Word of God, each is to be left free to act before the Lord as the Lord would direct, without the interference of others. The question each of us needs to ask is: “Is this thing that I allow (or refuse to allow) in my life, what the Lord would have me to do?” If we regard a certain day, or eat (or refrain from eating) a certain food, we are to do it as “unto the Lord.” That is, we should be doing it believing that He has directed us in the matter (Col. 3:17, 21).
Paul adds, “For none of us lives to himself, and no man dies to himself. 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.” This means that the believer’s whole life is not only open before the Lord, but also, that his life belongs to the Lord. In fact, one of the reasons why Christ died and rose again is that He might have the title and the right to be Lord over all (Acts 2:36). Thus, we are ultimately responsible to the Lord for everything that we do in life and death.
Live in View of The Judgment Seat of Christ
Chap. 14:10-12—This leads Paul to speak of a second thing that should govern how we conduct ourselves in matters pertaining to our conscience. He says, “Why dost thou judge thy brother? Or dost thou set at nought [belittle] thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” Thus, we should refrain from judging or belittling those who don’t see things as we do, because there is a day coming when our lives will be reviewed at the judgment seat of Christ, and all such personal exercises will be examined by the Lord. At that time, He will manifest whether they were according to His will or whether they were merely of the flesh.
The first of these two questions—“Why dost thou judge thy brother?”—is directed at the weak Christian whose tendency is to judge those who allow certain things which his own conscience will not allow him to do. He will likely see the liberties that his brother takes as being licence, and condemn him for it. The second question—“Why dost thou set at nought [belittle] thy brother?”—is directed at the strong brother whose tendency is to put down those who don’t have the light and liberty that he has. Paul reminds both of the fact that we are all going to “stand before the judgment seat of Christ” someday and will have these things manifested. Paul quotes Isaiah 45:23 to show (in principle) that “every one of us shall give account of himself to God” then for the things we allowed or didn’t allow in or lives.
It is significant that each time the judgment seat of Christ is mentioned in the New Testament it is viewed from a different standpoint. When we put these references together, we learn that the Lord will examine every aspect of our lives. These areas of review are:
• Our ways in general (2 Cor. 5:9-10).
• Our words (Matt. 12:36).
• Our works of service (1 Cor. 3:12-15).
• Our thoughts and motives (1 Cor. 4:3-5).
• Our personal exercises as to matters of conscience (Rom. 14:10-12).
Thus, there is a day of evaluation coming when the Lord will weigh the “whys” and the “wherefores” of our lives. This examination will bring to light the reality of the things that we have taken on as personal exercises. Some of these things may be manifested as being fleshly, and others may prove to be exercises that were truly from the Lord. Paul’s point here is that we ought to leave these things until then, because we don’t have the full picture now, and we are incapable of forming an accurate evaluation of those things in one another. Even if we did, we cannot weigh the motives of the heart as the Lord will (1 Sam. 2:3). Hence, we should cease and desist from making assessments of our brethren’s personal exercises now—we could be wrong. Also, by making unnecessary judgments of our brethren now, we run the risk of causing a rift in the fellowship of the saints.
Live in View of Not Stumbling Our Brethren
Chap. 14:13-23—Paul goes on to give a third thing that ought to regulate our conduct in these matters of personal exercise. We should walk “according to love” toward our brethren, and thus be careful not to do anything that would “put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall” in their way. Paul, therefore, suggests that instead of judging our brother, we ought to judge ourselves (self-judgment) in this matter, and forego taking liberties that would offend a weak brother. Since nothing material is “unclean of itself”—it is only what is esteemed such in the conscience of each (vs. 14)—if we know that something we allow in our lives grieves one of our brethren, the principle of “love” for our brother ought to dictate that we should forego doing that thing. We should do this so that we “destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died” (vs. 15). “Destroy,” in the sense that Paul uses the word here, is not referring to physical death or eternal judgment. It simply means to destroy a brother’s confidence in the Lord, whereby he gets confused as to what is right and what is wrong, and turns away from following Him in the path of faith. Thus, Paul mentions three kinds of judgment in this chapter:
• The judging of our brethren critically (vss. 3-4, 10a).
• The righteous judgment of the Lord (vss. 10b-12).
• The believer’s self-judgment (vs. 13).
Love thinks of others and will cause us to forego legitimate rights that we have in order to promote happy Christian fellowship. The statement, “For whom Christ died,” should not be taken lightly. It points to the incredible cost that Christ paid to save that brother. We, therefore, need to let this sink down into our hearts and give some serious thought as to our care for one another. If, on the other hand, I selfishly parade my Christian rights in these matters, I could very well do irreparable damage in the life of a weak brother. Flaunting our liberty before those who are weak in the faith manifests an unchristian spirit. We are really letting our “good be evil spoken of” (vs. 16). However, we should not let what is good and right to us become an object of criticism and misunderstanding and an offence (vs. 16).
Vss. 17-18—Paul states that the important things in Christian life have to do with “the kingdom of God.” These are moral things, not things that pertain to “meat and drink”—i.e. natural outward things of earthly religion. Hence, what really counts in the kingdom of God is not dietary regulations and religious observances of certain days, but things concerning “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Hence, it is not what a man eats that is important, but living a holy life for the glory of God. If we set this as a priority in our lives, and seek the good of our brethren, we will serve Christ in a way that is “acceptable to God and approved of men.”
Vss. 19-21—Paul, therefore, concludes that we should “pursue” those “things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.” Since meat does not destroy “the work of God” in a person’s soul, if we know that something we allow in our lives could offend our brethren, then the principle that we should live by is this: “It is good neither to eat flesh, nor drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.” This means that we are not to run roughshod over a brother’s conscience when he is not clear on a matter. For example, we shouldn’t invite to dinner a person recently converted from Judaism or Islam, and serve him pork roast.
Vss. 22-23—Paul’s advice, therefore, is that if we have “faith” to do certain things that are not directly prohibited in Scripture—but they are things that could offend and stumble someone—then, “have it to thyself before God.” That is, don’t flaunt our liberty, but do those things in private before God where and when we will not run the risk of offending someone. Paul adds, “Happy is he that condemns not himself in that thing which he allows.” In other words, it is good to walk in the full enjoyment of our liberty, not being bound by unfounded scruples.
Note: Paul does not tell us to try to lead those who are not clear on these issues beyond what their conscience dictates, by persuading them to partake in something which is doubtful to them. Having a conscience about that thing, “he that doubts is damned if he eats” for “whatever is not of faith is sin.” In pushing a person in this way, we could cause him to sin, and it could start him on a course of departure from God. We have taught him to go ahead and violate his conscience, and once he has done it, he could very well continue to do so in other more serious matters.
We Should Follow the Example of Christ in Everything
Chapter 15
Chap. 15:1-7—Paul gives a fourth thing that will help us to walk rightly in these situations—it is to follow the example of Christ in His life.
Vss. 1-2—He says that those who are “strong” in the faith should “bear the infirmities of the weak,” and thus, forego pleasing themselves in things pertaining to meat and drink, and consider their brother’s “edification,” rather than their own pleasure. He sets before us the most elementary Christian principle—put others’ welfare before ours! He says, “Let everyone of us please his neighbour (our fellow brother in the Lord) for his good to edification.” If “everyone” in the Christian community had this attitude and willingness, this whole matter of offending and stumbling someone with our liberties would be cleared up at once.
Vs. 3—The model he sets before us is Christ Himself, who “pleased not Himself.” If we emulate Christ’s self-sacrificing love for others, we will be glad to forego things in order to please our neighbour. The Apostle John said, “Hereby perceive [have known] we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). The attitude that says, “I have a right to do this, and I’m going to do it regardless of what others think; and they’ll just have to take me the way I am” is surely not Christ-like. The Lord Jesus was the only One on this earth who truly had a right to do as He pleased, and He elected to not please Himself. The lesson here is that we should be willing to refrain from some liberty that we legitimately have a right to, rather than risk stumbling someone. To go ahead with it is to violate the very spirit of Christianity.
Christ was so committed to the honour and glory of God that if any would reproach God, it was reproach that He bore. He could say to God, “The reproaches of them that reproached Thee fell on Me.” This is a quote from Psalm 69:9. Likewise, if there is some weakness in our brother’s understanding of Christian liberty, and it has led him to have unfounded scruples, and thus bring reproach and criticism on him, we should be willing to identify ourselves with him in the thing, and bear the reproach of it with him.
Vs. 4—We also have the “patience [endurance] and comfort [encouragement] of the Scriptures” wherein we can learn from the attitudes of saints of other eras whose lives manifested a selfless care for others. The Scriptures that Paul is referring to here are the Old Testament; the New Testament had not been written yet. Note: he does not say that those Old Testament Scriptures were written “to” us, but rather, “for” us—that is, for our learning. This shows that the majority of the Scriptures have not been written to us Christians, but all Scripture has been written for our “instruction” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The Old Testament is written to Israel; whereas the 21 epistles in the New Testament were written to Christians. It is in them that we find Christian doctrine and practise. Those who want to blend Israel and the Church into one company of believers (Reformed “Covenant” Theology) object to this. They (in their mistaken teaching) think that Israel is the Church in the Old Testament and that the Church is Israel in the New—and therefore, believe that all Scripture is written “to” us. However, that is not what Paul says here. The kind of learning (“instruction”) we are to get from the Old Testament has to do with moral and practical principles. The result is that we are given “hope” which helps us to carry on in the path of faith.
Vss. 5-7—Paul concludes his exhortations on Christian liberty by reminding us of the divine support that we have in God. He says, “Now the God of patience [endurance] and consolation [encouragement] grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus.” Thus, we gain “endurance and encouragement” from the Scriptures (vs. 4), but also “the God of endurance and encouragement” helps us in the way (vs. 5). And, the divine aim in all this is that we would walk together in practical unity, being “likeminded one toward another.” By adding, “according to Christ Jesus,” Paul is giving us a word of caution; this like-mindedness is to be in accord with the Lord and the relationship that we have been called into with Him. This is because it is possible to be likeminded according to the flesh. Ananias and Sapphira are an example of this. They were likeminded in an evil thing (Acts 5:1-11).
His desire is that we would have a unified testimony before the world, glorifying God with “one mind and one mouth.” This is quite amazing; the mouths that were once full of bitterness and cursing (chap. 3:14) are now seen full of thanksgiving and praise! If this exhortation is heeded, saved Jews and saved Gentiles would be found together praising God with “one mouth.” What a picture this is—a triumph of God’s grace! Thus, this brings us to a full circle from where Paul started in chapter 14:1, namely that we are to “receive” one another. The model for us in this is Christ—“as Christ also received us to the glory of God.”
Scripture Teaches that Converted Jews and Gentiles Will Be Blessed Together Under Christ
Chap. 15:8-13––In chapters 1-3, we have seen the Jews and Gentiles in quite different positions––in fact, poles apart, naturally speaking. But having failed in their responsibility toward God, their sins have reduced them to one common denominator as sinners. In chapters 3:21–8:39, we have seen believers from among the Jews and Gentiles blessed together through the righteousness of God. Then, in chapters 12-15:7, believing Jews and Gentiles have been exhorted to walk together in practical unity, not allowing former prejudices and lifestyles to interfere.
Vss. 8-12––To help them with this, in the next five verses, Paul shows that the ministry of “Jesus Christ” to “the circumcision” actually includes Jews and Gentiles. In fact, it has always been His intention “that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy” and thus be blessed in connection with Israel. Four Scriptures are quoted from the three main parts of the Old Testament––the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets (Luke 24:44)––to prove this.
Vs. 9—In Psalm 18:49, David anticipated a day when the Lord will “sing” praise to God in the midst of a host of Gentile believers.
Vs. 10—In Deuteronomy 32:43, Moses announces that there would be a time coming when the converted Gentiles would “rejoice” in the blessings of salvation “with His people” Israel.
Vs. 11—In Psalm 117:1 we hear Israel calling on the Gentiles to “praise the Lord” with them.
Vs. 12––In Isaiah 11:10, the prophet speaks of the inclusion of the Gentiles in the reign of Israel’s Messiah.
These Scriptures do not teach that believers from among the Gentiles would be part of the Church—which is disclosed in the Mystery. But they do show that God intends that converted Jews and Gentiles should rejoice together in trusting Christ. In stating this, Paul implies that our hearts, therefore, ought to be large enough to include both in matters of practical fellowship. Since many of the differences of believers in the early Church had stemmed from their former lives as Jews and Gentiles, he desired that this fact would encourage them to use diligence to walk together in practical unity. This formally ends the exhortations of the epistle.
Vs. 13—Paul concludes with a benediction commending the Roman saints to the “God of hope” who would fill them with “joy and peace” and confident “believing” to the end that they would “abound in hope.” Essentially, his desire for them is that they would be found in a good spiritual state of soul, and thus they would be able, “through the power of the Holy Spirit,” to put the exhortations that he had given into practise.
Summary of Practical Righteousness Demonstrated in Christian Living
This practical section of the epistle has shown that there are now entirely new motives and attitudes in the believer, and they are manifested:
• Chap. 12:1-8—Toward God.
• Chap. 12:9-13—Toward fellow-believers.
• Chap. 12:14-21—Toward the world.
• Chap. 13:1-14—Toward the civil authorities.
• Chaps. 14-15:13 Toward those weak in the faith.