Romans 14.14b-Paul Recognizes The Fact That In The Opinion Of Those Who Regard Anything As Unclean, As Far As They Are Concerned, It Is Unclean
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday March 31, 2010
Romans: Romans 14:14b-Paul Recognizes The Fact That In The Opinion Of Those Who Regard Anything As Unclean, As Far As They Are Concerned, It Is Unclean
Lesson # 480
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 14:13.
Last evening we began a study of Romans 14:14 by noting the first statement in this passage in which Paul states that he knows as a fact and holds the firm conviction through the teaching of the Lord Jesus that absolutely no land animal, bird, insect or marine life is unclean on account of the nature of itself.
This statement was position of the strong and was taught by the Lord Jesus Christ and was the conviction of Paul and other Christians because they were fully convinced by the Spirit through the Lord’s teaching that this was truth or corresponding to the facts or was the will of God for them.
This evening we will complete the verse by noting the adversative clause that follows this first statement in which Paul recognizes that in the opinion of those who regard anything as unclean, as far as that person is concerned, it is unclean.
Paul makes his readers aware that there are many other Christians who do not have the same conviction because they have not been fully convinced by the Spirit through the Lord’s teaching that all foods are clean and fit for their consumption.
They might not have had this conviction because they were ignorant of the teaching of the Lord concerning this matter or they heard this teaching and rejected it outright.
Or more likely, they understood what the Lord taught but it had not yet become a conviction because they had a difficult time disengaging themselves from the ceremonial aspect of the Law, which they were raised in from a young age.
Romans 14:14, “I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.”
“But” is composed of the conditional particle ei (ei)) (e) and the negative particle me (mhv) (me), which together present an exception to the preceding statement by Paul that he knew as a fact through the teaching of the Lord Jesus and held the firm conviction that absolutely nothing is unclean on account of the nature of itself.
These two words indicate that although Paul knew as a fact by the Lord Jesus’ teaching and held the firm conviction that absolutely nothing is unclean on account of the nature of itself, there were “exceptions.”
In other words, there were believers, i.e. the weak, who did not have this conviction concerning the dietary regulations of the Law.
The statement that these words introduce indicate that Paul was well aware and considerate of those weak believers who continued to observe the dietary regulations in the Law because they were not fully convinced by the Spirit, like himself, that these restrictions no longer applied.
“To him who thinks” is the articular dative masculine singular present (deponent) middle participle form of the verb logizomai (logivzomai) (loe-yee-zoe-ma), which means “to regard in the sense of holding a view or an opinion with regard to something.”
In context, it means that the weak Christian “regards” or “considers” or “holds the view or opinion” that some land animals, birds, insects and marine life are unclean.
The substantival participle form of logizomai functions as an “ethical” or “existential dative” or “dative of opinion” where the dative substantive indicates the person whose feelings or viewpoint are intimately tied to the action or state of the verb.
As an “ethical dative” the substantive participle form of the verb logizomai indicates that the Christian who holds the opinion or view that some terrestrial life, marine life and birds are still unclean is intimately tied to the state expressed by the verb logizomai.
It indicates that “in the opinion or” or “in the judgment of” some Christians who Paul describes as weak with respect to conviction and still clung to the ritual or ceremonial aspect of the Law of which Christ is the substance or reality, some land animals, insects, birds and marine life are still unclean.
Romans 14:14, “I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.”
“Anything” is the accusative neuter singular form of the indefinite pronoun tis (τις) (teece), which refers to the individual members of the animal, insect, bird kingdom and marine life that were ordained by God in the Noahic covenant to be food for the human race (Genesis 9:1-4).
“To be unclean” is composed of the accusative neuter singular form of the adjective koinos (κοινός) (key-nos), “unclean” and the present active infinitive form of the verb eimi (εἰμί) (ee-mee), “to be.”
Once again, the adjective koinos means “unclean” in the sense of being ritually unacceptable for consumption by the Israelites under the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 11; 20:15; Deuteronomy 14:3-21; cf. Leviticus 17:10-16; 19:26; Deuteronomy 12:15-25).
“To him” is the dative masculine singular form of the demonstrative pronoun ekeinos (ἐκεῖνος) (ek-ee-nos), which means “that person” and is used with reference to the Christians who still considered some land animals, insects, birds and marine life as unclean.
This is indicated by the preceding adversative clause ei me to logizomeno ti koinon einai (εἰ μὴ τῷ λογιζομένῳ τι κοινὸν εἶναι ), “However, in the opinion of those who regard anything to be unclean.”
Therefore, ekeinos refers to those Christians had the conviction that they still had to observe the dietary regulations prescribed for Israel under the Mosaic Law and are described by Paul in Romans 14 as the weak with respect to conviction.
Like the substantival participle form of logizomai in the preceding adversative clause, ekeinos functions as an “ethical” or “existential dative” or “dative of opinion” indicating that “in the opinion or” or “in the judgment of” some Christians some animals, birds, insects and marine life are still unclean.
Romans 14:14, “I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.”
“It is unclean” indicates that Paul recognizes that those Christians who continued to observe the dietary regulations in the Lawn and were weak with respect to conviction make the assertion that some land animals, birds, insects and marine life are unclean.
He recognizes that in the opinion of those who regard anything as unclean, as far as that person is concerned, it is unclean.
Paul wants the strong to recognize the fact that every believer is at different stages in their walk with the Lord.
Some struggle with the Lord’s teaching that all foods are clean and some do not.
Some take longer to accept by faith the Lord’s teaching that nothing on account of the nature of itself is unclean because this is what they have been taught in the Law by their parents and rabbis from a very young age or they failed to comprehend the implications of Christ’s death in relation to the ceremonial aspect of the Law.
Therefore, the implication is that the strong must be patient and considerate of the weak who have a difficult time disengaging themselves from the ceremonial aspect of the Law, whose substance is Christ Himself.