Romans 14.23-The Weak Who Doubts Is Condemned If He Eats Unclean Meat Because It Is Not His Conviction And Sin To Him
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday April 27, 2010
Romans: Romans 14:23-The Weak Who Doubts Is Condemned If He Eats Unclean Meat Because It Is Not His Conviction And Sin To Him
Lesson # 493
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 14:22.
This evening we will complete our study of Romans chapter fourteen by noting verse 23.
Romans 14:22, “The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.”
Romans 14:23, “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.”
The statement “he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith” teaches the spiritual principle that if the weak eat unclean meat despite the fact that they doubt they can do so, then their conscience will condemn them as sinning because by no means does he eat based upon his own conviction as a source.
This stands in contrast with the second statement in verse 22, which taught that the strong possess contentment because he does not condemn himself by what he approves.
“He who doubts” is the articular nominative masculine singular present middle participle form of the verb diakrino (διακρίνω) (thee-ah-kree-no), which means “to doubt” and is used of the mental attitude of the weak towards eating unclean meat that is the result of his conscience convicting him that this would be an act of sin.
It is used of the mental attitude of the weak towards eating unclean meat, who lacks the confidence or considers it unlikely or is uncertain in his belief that it is the will of God to do so since their conscience convicts them that it is an act of sin.
“If” is the conditional particle ean (ἐάν) (eh-ahn), which is employed with the subjunctive mood of the verb katakrino, “is condemned” in order to form the protasis of a fifth class condition that teaches a spiritual principle that if the weak Christian eats unclean meat, then his conscience will condemn him as sinning.
“He eats” is the third person singular aorist active indicative form of the verb esthio (ἐσθίω) (es-thee-o), which is used here of the weak believer eating unclean meat despite the fact that he doubts if he can do so.
“Is condemned” is the third person singular perfect passive indicative form of the verb katakrino (κατακρίνω) (kah-tah-kree-no), which is used of the weak believer whose conscience condemns them as sinning if they eat unclean meat because they have the conviction that it is sin to violate the dietary regulations in the Law.
The Holy Spirit is not convicting the weak believer for eating unclean meat but rather his conscience because the Holy Spirit’s teaching in the Word of God is that all foods are clean.
The conscience is the area of the soul where the norms and standards of a person reside and is that aspect of the soul that evaluates one’s actions and distinguishes between right from wrong.
Now, when the strong were fully convinced by the Spirit through the Lord and the apostles’ teaching that they don’t have to adhere to the ceremonial aspect of the Law, this conviction became a part of their norms and standards, i.e. their conscience.
They acquired this conviction because they were fully convinced by the Spirit through the Lord and the apostles’ teaching that they had died to the Law through their union and identification with Christ in His death and that Christ is the substance of the ceremonial aspect of the Law.
Thus, when they did not observe the dietary restrictions in the Law and did not honor the special days in Israel’s calendar such as the Sabbath or partook of wine offered in pagan rituals, their conscience did not convict them of sin.
However, the conviction of the weak is that they must adhere to the dietary regulations of the Law because this is what they have been taught by the teachers of the Law and has become a part of their norms and standards.
Therefore, if they eat unclean meat, their conscience will condemn them as committing sin against God.
Romans 14:23, “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.”
“Because his eating is not from faith” presents the reason for the preceding fifth class conditional statement.
“From faith” is composed of the preposition ek (ἐκ), “from” and the genitive feminine singular form of the noun pistis (πίστις), “faith.”
The noun pistis appears four times in Romans chapter fourteen, once in verses 1 and 22 and twice in verse 23 and in each instance, the noun pistis means “conviction,” which is a “strong persuasion or belief” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition).
A biblical conviction comes about in a Christian when he or she has been fully convinced or convicted by the Holy Spirit through the teaching of the Word of God with regards to the will of the Father regarding a particular subject and thus has decided to accept this teaching.
Consequently, this teaching becomes a part of their conscience, i.e. their norms and standards and thus governs their conduct.
A conviction is a decision concerning what it is true or God’s will for the Christian’s life, which in turn determines what the Christian should or should not do when faced with a particular situation or circumstance.
The preposition ek is used with the genitive form of pistis as a marker of cause with focus upon source indicating that if the weak eat unclean meat despite the fact he doubts he can do so, then his conscience will condemn him as committing sin because by no means does he eat “based upon conviction as a source.”
Romans 14:23, “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.”
“And whatever is not from faith is sin” advances upon and intensifies Paul’s statement that teaches that if the weak Christian eats unclean meat despite the fact he doubts he can do so, then his conscience will condemn him as committing sin because by no means does he eat based upon conviction as a source.
“Whatever” is composed of the nominative neuter singular form of the adjective pas (πᾶς) (pahss), which denotes the totality of all types and kinds of actions that the weak Christian performs that do not originate from their own personal conviction as a source.
“From faith” indicates that anything that the weak Christian does, which is by no means “based upon conviction as a source” is sin to them.
“Sin” is the nominative feminine singular form of the noun hamartia (ἁμαρτία) (ah-mar-tee-ah), which refers to the weak Christian committing sin in his own mind because of not doing something based upon conviction as a source.
To summarize, Romans 14:23 contains two statements.
The first is an adversative clause, which contains a fifth class conditional statement that teaches the spiritual principle that if the weak eat unclean meat despite the fact that they doubt they can do so, then their conscience will condemn them as sinning because by no means does he eat based upon his own conviction as a source.
This stands in contrast with the second statement in verse 22, which taught that the strong possess contentment because he does not condemn himself by what he approves.
Paul advances upon and intensifies this fifth class condition by teaching that anything that the weak does, which is absolutely not based upon conviction as a source of their actions is sin to them.