Do Not Destroy the Work of God

Romans 14:1-23

Good morning!  We are closing in on the end of our series on the book of Romans.  In fact, the series will conclude on the last Sunday of this month.

Last week’s message talked about submission (always a popular topic) and clothing ourselves with Christ.  This week’s message is going to carry that thought forward giving us additional things to think about in how we relate to one another especially in the areas of personal conviction and conscience.

I realize that for me that is a pretty short introduction, but we have a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s pray and jump right in to Romans chapter 14.

Father God, we need Your insight continually.  Please help us to see our conduct rightly.  Please fill our hearts and minds with Your Holy Spirit as we look into Your Word.  Show us what You have for each of us.  We pray in Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Verse 1 in chapter 14 says …

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. – Romans 14:1

Who is Paul addressing with this statement?  Since the object of the command to accept is “the one whose faith is weak,” he is talking to the one whose faith is strong.  In verse 2, we will come to the first of several examples of what Paul means by strong or weak faith.  I think it interesting to consider that a person’s faith can be strong in one area, but not another.  Or maybe we could say that our weaknesses or fears are not uniformly the same.  In some areas, we have weaknesses and others not so much.

As we will come to see, Paul begins with relating “weak” faith to Jewish Christians in Rome who were unwilling to give up certain requirements of the Law, like dietary restrictions and observation of the Sabbath and other special days.  This passage is different than Paul’s address to the Galatians where Jewish believers thought they could earn favor with God by doing righteous works.  Not only that, those Galatians were then trying to push this clearly wrong teaching on to other members of the church.

That’s not what’s going on here.  We will not see the Jewish believers in Rome acting in a way that their observations about diet and other restrictions made them more righteous, nor do we see them pushing these ideas onto others.  In fact, it is quite the reverse.  Paul is warning the believers who are more free from those restrictions to accept their weaker brothers and sisters and not to quarrel with them.

Our passage is also going to demonstrate repeatedly that fellowship as believers in Christ is not to be based on full agreement on disputable questions.  We don’t all agree on all matters pertaining to the Christian life.  And, we won’t all agree.  Romans 14 shows us that God does not expect us to agree on all matters.

One person's faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. – Romans 14:2-3

Here we have a description of one whose faith is strong.  God has allowed this person to understand that diet doesn’t have spiritual significance (although it can have physical significance.J)

These verses remind me of Peter’s experience with Cornelius in Acts 10-11.  Cornelius was a centurion.  He was not Jewish.  However, he and his family were devout and God-fearing.  He was a generous man giving to those in need and he prayed to God regularly.

This Cornelius has a vision of an angel.  The angel tells Cornelius to send for Simon named Peter who is staying in the city of Joppa, specifically at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.  Cornelius summons two of his servants and a devout soldier, tells them of the vision and the angel’s instructions.  He then sends them off to Joppa to find Peter.

As this company of three is approaching Joppa the next day, Peter “happens” to go up on the roof to pray while lunch is being prepared.  Peter then has a vision where he sees a sheet being lowered down with all kinds of animals on it including ones which are unclean according to the ceremonial Law of the Old Testament.  He then hears the Lord’s voice telling him to get up, kill, and eat from these animals.  Peter objects saying he has never eaten anything impure or unclean.  God responds that Peter should not call impure what God has made clean.  This vision is repeated two more times at which point Peter awakes and is puzzled, trying to figure out what the dream meant.

At this point, the three men sent by Cornelius are at the gate to Simon’s house asking for Peter.  God then tells Peter that three men are looking for him and that he should go down and accompany them because they have been sent to Peter by God.

Peter invites the men into the house to stay the night.  These men are Gentiles, and it is a definite departure from the ceremonial Law to bring them in to eat and to stay.  The next day, Cornelius’ men, Peter, and some of the believers from Joppa travel back to Cornelius in Caesarea about 35 miles to the north.

They arrive the following day and Cornelius, his family, and his household are there.  Cornelius falls at Peter’s feet, but Peter lifts him up saying he’s only a man.  Peter explains to them what they already know that it is against the Jewish Law to associate with or visit a Gentile, but God has shown him that he should not call anyone impure or unclean.  Cornelius tells about his vision.  Peter responds that he is sure that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears God and does what is right.

Peter goes on to explain the gospel beginning with John the Baptist preaching repentance and baptizing and how God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power.  How Jesus went on to do good and heal and set people free from bondage to evil spirits.  He told them about the cross and how God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day confirming that many saw Jesus and some ate and drank with Jesus after the resurrection proving that Jesus was bodily risen from the dead.  He told about Jesus command to preach to the people and testify that Jesus is the appointed judge of the living and the dead.  Everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.

At that moment, the Holy Spirit comes on all who heard the message.  They witness Cornelius and his family and his household praising God in different tongues.  Peter then baptizes them in the name of Jesus, and spends a few days with them.

At this point, other Christians throughout the area of Judea, Jewish believers, heard that Gentiles had received the word of God.  Once Peter comes back to Jerusalem, they immediately start in on him.  “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them!”  Peter tells them the whole story from the beginning including how the Holy Spirit had been poured out on those brand new Gentile believers.  He concludes saying, “if God gave them the same gift He gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”  Once they heard this, they didn’t object anymore and instead praised God that even the Gentiles had been granted salvation in Christ.

God accepts all who come to Him regardless of their nation.  I know you’ve heard it before, but it is truly a wonderful thing.  God accepts us when we come to Him!

Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. – Romans 14:4

Just as the story about Peter illustrates, the Jewish believers could not reject the first Gentile believers.  Likewise, the Gentile believers in Rome shall not reject the Jewish believers, ones who are also servants of God.  Neither the “weak” believer is master over the “strong,” nor is the “strong” believer master over the “weak.”  It is the Lord who is master, and we are responsible to and dependent on Him alone.

Jude 1:24-25 is a praise to God.  It has also been put to music, and we sing it from time to time.  That praise of God begins with this declaration of what He has done … it is He “who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.”  God is able to make us stand.  He is able to make all who believe in Him to stand in His glory, blameless, with great joy.

One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

 – Romans 14:5-6

I think most of us when reading this will immediately think of the Sabbath.  One day of the week when work is set aside and the Jewish people rest.  It certainly includes that as well as other special or holy days according to Old Testament ceremonial Law.

It’s interesting to think about these verses in comparison to the way the tithe is sometimes described.  In the Old Testament, the tithe is 10% of what you profit or gather or harvest.  Many Christians try to observe their giving to God based on the concept of the tithe, meaning the 10% rule.  That 10% might come to be seen as God’s share while the other 90% belongs to us.  However, scripture is clear that all that we have comes from God.

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. – Acts 17:24-25

Likewise regarding observance of special days, it is not wrong to have special observances.  However, God is far bigger than certain days or 10% of what we earn.  All our days are from God and should be dedicated to Him through holy living and godly service.

One more thought before we move to the next verses.  This passage is incredibly strong in support of personal conviction.  Paul does not tell us to abandon our personal convictions on disputable matters.  Rather, we are told to respect and honor one another.  Our motivation, the motivation of all believers, should be to serve the Lord and give thanks to Him for His goodness toward us all.

For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. – Romans 14:7-9

These verses highlight that we do not live to please ourselves.  Let that sink in for a minute.  We, as believers, are not to live to please ourselves.  That is wholly, entirely, contradictory to American culture.  Advertisements tell us constantly, we deserve to be happy.  We deserve to have things our own way.  I’m not really active on social media, but I do have an account on LinkedIn.  That service is dedicated to showing you that you can have a better job, that the grass is greener somewhere other than where you are.  Of course, that’s how they make money, so they are very motivated to crank out that message.

I think this drive to put ourselves first is a challenge nearly everyone experiences, especially when we feel like others around us are “pleasing themselves.”  About 15 years ago, I was on a project where I had ended up with responsibility for a bunch of different things.  I went on a tour with my boss in an overseas factory where that project had already been introduced.  Our guide was showing us all the changes coming our way.  At each change, he would turn and ask my boss at the time who from our factory would be responsible for that change?  Afterward, my boss confided in me.  “Wow, that was kind of awkward.  He kept asking who was responsible, and I kept having to say you were.”  I thought it was awkward for a different reason.

Once we were in the middle of that project, I was overseas again attending a workshop and there’s a guy from our own factory with us.  This guy had no direct involvement in what we were doing.  He was literally in all those meetings not apparently doing more than drinking coffee and eating cookies.  One night on that trip, I remember telling my boss that I didn’t mind having a disproportionate amount of the responsibility, but I couldn’t stand seeing this other guy sitting there drinking coffee and eating cookies.

Ironically … when I say ironically in a message like this it means I now see God’s a sense of humor … that guy munching on cookies and drinking coffee has become a dear brother in Christ who since that time I have seen “laying down” his own life for others many times.  So just be thankful on the days you get to eat cookies and drink coffee and be thankful on the days where you feel like you’re doing a disproportionate amount of the work and be thankful on the days in between because we belong to the Lord.  Christ died for us.  What we go through we go through for the Lord.

In life or in death, we belong to the Lord.  Christ’s death and resurrection have demonstrated, proven that he is Lord over this earthly life and the life to come.

You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written: " 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.' " So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. – Romans 14:10-12

Paul is warning those Roman believers on either side don’t look down on your brother or sister.  All of us, every Christian, will stand before God.  Another warning.  Be careful.  Each of us will give an account of ourselves.  II Corinthians 5:10 talks about this.  We’re not talking about salvation.  We’re talking about our lives after we have believed in Christ.  What did we do with those days or months or years?  Paul and Timothy said there that their goal was to live in such a way to please God.  If then we are to give an account of our Christian life …

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. – Romans 14:13

Rather than putting something into one another’s way which would cause them to sin, we should make up our minds to avoid this.  I think there are lots of different kinds of stumbling blocks or obstacles.  Sometimes a disapproving look is an obstacle.  You can also get into a feedback loop like a microphone and a speaker where the sound keeps getting louder and louder as the get closer and closer.  One person disapproves of someone, then that person feels judged and disapproved, then they disapprove of the first person.  Sometimes, it gets even more complicated.  It’s not great, but there is a metaphor that says “to kick the dog.”  We’ve talked about roles in an honor-shame culture some.  When you have a hierarchy where someone above in a social structure disapproves of someone below, it may not be meaningful or even possible for the person below to disapprove of the person in a higher position, so instead, they then disapprove of someone below them until the lowest status person has no more recourse than to simply kick the dog who has no idea what he did wrong because he didn’t do anything wrong.  How can we escape either case?  The first one where two people are passing judgment on one another, or the second one where judgment is cascading from one person to another.  The solution is forgiveness.  Someone has to break the chain.  Someone has to overlook the offense and not put out another stumbling block or obstacle.  Or, the one who has put out an obstacle, when they understand it, should repent and ask for forgiveness.  It’s my guess that we all get the chance nearly daily to be a peacemaker.

It is important to reflect on the truth that there are going to be times and situations that require us to act, times when judgment is required.  So, how do we know when correction or intervention is needed and when we should not judge? 

We’ve talked about it before using the analogy of jars regarding doctrinal differences.  These figurative jars are used to separate that which is most essential from less essential things.  The first jar encompasses the most essential truth including the basic gospel (what is essential for salvation).  This would include the deity of Christ that is Jesus is God.  It would also include salvation coming by faith and not by works. 

Over in the last jar maybe the fourth one, you would find personal beliefs like when the end times will occur or details about election, predestination and free will.  Things on which the Bible does not give a definitive answer.  Obviously, items in first jars would be items that should be judged and discussed and corrected.  Items in later jars would be open to differences.  In particular, Paul is talking in Romans 14 about items in jar 4, personally held convictions.

Earlier this week, I heard Marvin Olasky discussing Biblically-centered journalism.  He has another method for analyzing events for the sake of communicating on them from a Christian perspective.  His analogy is rapids, like white water rapids.  White water rapids have 6 levels.  Level 1 is a little bit bumpy but clear passages, gentle curves and only a few sand banks.  Level 6 is like going over waterfalls, the international classification for level 6 says navigable only under favorable conditions by paddlers of Olympic ability.

“Class one or class two rapids are those where the Bible is either explicit or implicit. Murder, adultery, theft, abortion.  As you go up the rapids, there’s less clarity. A biblical view of human nature or knowledge of history helps. But by class six, no wise person can say, ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ For instance, the Bible doesn’t tell us whether the Federal Reserve should raise or lower interest rates. On a class six, Biblical understandings will help us ask good questions, but people of good will can disagree about conclusions.”

We all need wisdom.  God promises to supply it when we seek Him.  (James 1:5)  There will also be points which allow for different preferences and even different convictions.  Let us be careful about our own convictions and not allow them to cause others to stumble.

I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. – Romans 14:14-15

Just as we saw in the story about Peter and Cornelius, the old food taboos are no longer applicable.  Jesus, too, said this in Matthew 15:10-11, 16-20; Mark 7:14-23.

Paul sets up a bit of a challenge for us here.  If the ceremonial Law about eating or drinking is no longer applicable.  How then can it be unclean for some people?  Does their belief about it being unclean mean that it is sinful for them?  Can sin really be a matter of subjective opinion or conscience?  We’ll come back to this in the final verse of the chapter.

I think many may be familiar with this quote from Susanna Wesley.  She wrote, “Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off your relish for spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of the body over the mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may seem in itself.”

Last week, Tim mentioned Peter’s statement to the Sanhedrin in Acts 5.  The disciples had been told not to teach in Jesus’ name but they had continued.  Peter’s response when confronted this second time, “We must obey God.”  Romans 14 tells us again that we must be careful not to misapply obedience in areas which are matters of conscience rather than clear Scriptural commands of God.  We should not put ourselves above the command of Christ to love one another (John 13:34).  “For God so loved the world” … love is the key to settling disputes.  Since Jesus has died for all who believe, “weak” and “strong,” the “strong” can make adjustments to their own behavior for the sake of their brother or sister.

Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. – Romans 14:16-18

The “therefore” here is a bit of a surprise to me.  And yet, “therefore” is the most common way the corresponding Greek word is translated.  Yes, it is translated a few other ways but in the end the meaning is similar … in view of or following from the thoughts that came before.

Freedom is an interesting thing.  Freedom without respect for others is a dangerous thing.    Exercising freedom without responsibility can lead to evil results.  My favorite comic book character is Spiderman.  His guiding principle is that “with great power comes great responsibility.”  Freedom is a great power.  We should not be hostile, but we can present ideas that we know are good including not letting those ideas be spoken of as evil.  It doesn’t mean that we will always agree on everything, but we should not let personal conviction about things which are not otherwise clarified in Scripture to drive us to division.

Putting trivial matters, such as eating or drinking, to be of first importance (I Corinthians 15:3) misses the core of Christian living.  What is the core of Christian living?  Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

When it says “anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God,” what way does Paul mean? By responding in love, in gentleness, without placing obstacles, without judging these personal convictions.

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

  – Romans 14:19

The goal then is to build up individual Christians and the church as a whole.  Paul nearly starts this entire letter with this thought.  He says, “I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong, that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” (Romans 1:11-12)

Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.  – Romans 14:20-21

God is still working in all our lives.  Though someone may struggle with a weakness today, it does not mean that they will struggle with it forever.  In the meantime, we should not burden one another.  We should not act in a way that causes someone else to stumble.  It is sometimes better to simply refrain.  It is better to give honor and respect.

So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. – Romans 14:22-23

In these areas of personal conviction or conscience, a “strong” Christian is not required to change their understanding about the freedom that they have.  At the same time, they should not flaunt it but to be discrete.

Again, we are not talking about following the commands of Christ.  It would be out of context to use this verse to say that being a follower of Christ is totally personal and individual and should not be publically discussed.  The gospel is intended to be shared and shared widely even to the uttermost parts of the earth.  It should be done with respect and with kindness earning the opportunity to be heard, but the good news should be shared and not “kept between yourself and God.”

We are all on a journey of faith.  There was a point in each believer’s life when they were saved by faith.  That is the starting point of the journey of faith.  As believers, we walk by faith.  Our faith is in part a willingness to put all of life before God for His approval.  If we have doubt concerning a course of action, then it should be removed from the “acceptable” category.  This is helpful for gray areas.  If something is gray to you, then it is wrong.  It is not necessarily wrong in and of itself, but it is wrong for you.  As Paul has explained sin for a believer in Christ is everything that does not come from faith.

We come to God’s Word.  We seek counsel from one another.  We come to a certain understanding by faith and we should walk in it until God reveals, renews, or transforms our understanding.

Let’s pray.

God, we all stumble in many ways. (James 3:2)  We are not perfect.  We say the wrong things sometimes.  Please help us to walk by faith.  Help us to repent when we are wrong.  Help us to forgive when asked.  Help us to live as You intended.  (Luke 17:1-10) May You be glorified through us.  We pray in Jesus’ Name.  Amen.