Romans 14

Paul Bukauskas

Romans • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago • Presented a month ago

0 ratings

· 87 views

Notes

Transcript

Handout

Sermon Tone Analysis

Emotion

Language

Social

View more →

The following material is adopted from John MacArthur’s commentary on Romans and his Study guide. Additional material taken from sources listed at the end

Read and summarize

Look for

— Prayers ( Blue )

— Promises ( Green )

— Warnings ( Red )

— Commands ( Purple )

The Unity of Strong and Weak Christians — Part 1: Receive One Another with Understanding ( 14:1-12 )

( 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 …”

— A major theme of the NT is the power of sin to destroy the spiritual and moral health of the church as well as the individuals who commit the sins

— The epistles are filled with injunctions regarding the need to continually eradicate sin in the church ( Matt 18:15-17 )

— That is the purpose of both church discipline and self-discipline

— The Lord’s Supper not only helps us remember Jesus’s sacrifice on our behalf but is a time for us to “examine ourselves” ( 1 Cor 11:28 )

— But outward sin is not the only danger to a church’s spiritual health and unity

— Certain attitudes and behaviors can destroy fellowship and fruitfulness and cripple the work and testimony of the church

— These problems are caused by differences over matters that are neither commanded nor forbidden

— The matter that Paul addresses in Romans 14:1-15:13 is the conflict that easily arises between those to whom he refers to as strong and weak believers

The liberated believer is tempted to look upon his legalistic brother as being too rigid and restricted to be of any use to the Lord. The legalist, on the other hand, is tempted to think of his liberated brother as being too free-wheeling and undisciplined to serve Christ effectively. This is the root of the disunity.

In the present passage (Rom 14:1-12 ), the apostle speaks to both types of believers and both attitudes, but his first counsel is directed to strong believers, for the very reason that they are stronger in the faith. Of the two groups, they are the better equipped both to understand and to be understanding. He therefore says to them, Accept the one who is weak in the faith.

— Paul gives four reasons why all believers should receive all other believers

— They should receive each other because God receives them ( vv 2-3 )

— Because the Lord sustains each believer ( v. 4 )

— Because the Lord is sovereign to each believer ( vv. 5-9 )

— Because the Lord alone will judge each believer ( vv. 10-12 )

God Receives them ( 14:1-3 )

( Romans 14:1–3 ) “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.”

— Reason #1: All believers should receive all other believers because God receives them

— Several years after he began his apostolic ministry, Peter was afraid to eat meat that was ceremonially unclean under OT law

— The Lord told Peter, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy” ( Acts 10:15-16 )

— The greater teaching of the vision was that Pater “should not call any man [that is, Gentile] unholy or unclean” ( v.28 )

The Lord Sustains each believer ( 14:4 )

( Romans 14:4 ) “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.”

— Reason #2: Every Christian should accept every other Christian because the Lord sustains them all

— The Christian who is “strong” is just as much in need of God’s strength as the one who is “weak”

— We are all weak in the sense that everything good and righteous we possess is a gift of God, never the product of our own wisdom or efforts

— Liberated believers think that legalists are so rigid and self-righteous that they sacrifice personal joy and usefulness to the Lord

— Legalists believe that liberated believers are self-centered and loose-living and therefore cannot serve the Lord effectively

— Paul confronts both groups with the rhetorical question, Who are you to judge the servant of another?

— It is to his own master, namely, Jesus Christ, that each believer stands or falls

The Lord is Sovereign to each believer ( 14:5-9 )

( Romans 14:5–9 ) “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.”

— Reason #3: Every Christian should accept every other Christian because Christ is sovereign to each believer

— Whether strong or weak, a sincere believer feels is motivated to please the Lord

— Neither one is more or less spiritual or faithful because of his strong convictions

— Being “strong” in this sense is not synonymous with being spiritual, and being ‘weak” is not synonymous with being carnal

— In matters that are not specifically commanded or forbidden in Scripture, it is always wrong to go against conscience, because our conscience represents what we actually believe to be right

— It is also sinful to try to impose our personal convictions on others, because, in doing so, we are tempting them to go against their own consciences — Neither the strong nor the weak lives for himself or dies for himself

— For this reason — both of them live for the Lord and both of them die for the Lord

— Christ is our mutual Lord, our mutual sovereign; and therefore everything we do, even in our dying, should be to please and to glorify our sovereign Savior and Lord

The Lord Alone will Judge each Believer (14:10-12 )

( Romans 14:10–12 ) “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.”

— Reason #4: Every Christian should accept every other Christian because the Lord alone will judge each believer

— Our responsibility is not to judge, to despise, to criticize, or in any way to belittle our brothers and sisters in Christ

— We will not be called by our Lord to give an account of the sins and shortcomings of others, but rather each one of us shall give account of himself to God

The Unity of Strong and Weak Christians — Part 2: Build up One Another without Offending ( 14:13-23 )

( Romans 14:13–23 ) “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. 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. For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother …”

[ref Secondary Doctrines - Triage - MacArthur Center Podcasts]

— In His New Covenant, Christ has granted us marvelous freedom

— But although we are permitted to enjoy this freedom, we are not commanded to do so

— We are not obligated to exercise every freedom we have in Christ

— In fact, the greater our love and spiritual maturity, the less important those freedoms will be to us and the more willing we will be to relinquish them for the sake of best serving the Lord and others

Our Christian liberty is vertical, before the Lord. But the exercise of that liberty is horizontal, because it is seen by and affects others. To rightly understand and use our freedom in Christ brings great satisfaction. But the satisfaction is multiplied when we willingly surrender the exercise of a liberty for the sake of other believers. More importantly, it greatly pleases our Lord and promotes harmony in His church.

— Paul continues his instruction on Christian liberty and mutual obligation of strong and weak believers to accept each other in Christ without being judgmental or causing offense

— He provides six principles which are closely related and sometimes overlap

— Our liberty should never cause a brother to stumble ( v. 13 )

— to grieve ( vv 14-15a )

— to be devastated ( v15b )

— it should never forfeit our witness for Christ ( vv 16-19 )

— tear down His work ( vv 20-21 )

— or be either denounced or flaunted ( vv 22-23 )

Q: In what sense should be not judge? Is that a blanket statement?

Don’t Cause your Brother to Stumble ( 14:13 )

( Romans 14:13 ) “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.”

— Judgment is God’s exclusive prerogative

— We must not judge one another (cf. Matt 7:1-5 )

As reflected in the text of the New American Standard Bible (used here), Paul uses the same Greek verb (krinō) with two different connotations in verse 13. In the first phrase, let us not judge one another, the verb carried the idea of condemnation, as it does in verses 3, 4 and 10. But in the following phrase, the same verb is translated determine, which refers to making a decision. Those two connotations are also found in the English word judge. “Being judgmental” carries the negative idea of denunciation, whereas, “using your best judgment” refers to making a careful decision, with no negative connotation.

Paul’s play on words demands that we should never be judgmental of fellow believer but instead should use our best judgment to help them. In relation to the second meaning, we should determine … not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. He gives the same warning in his first letter to Corinth, saying, “Take care lest this liberty of yours [the strong] somehow becomes a stumbling block to the weak” ( 1 Cor 8:9 ). This carries the idea of stumbling to sin.

Don’t Grieve your Brother ( 14:14-15a )

( Romans 14:14–15a ) “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. For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love.”

— It is likely that every Christian has a weak spot

— Paul probably had one or more

— He did not claim to be free of every spiritual deficiency, but he testified before the Roman governor that he did his “best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men” ( Acts 24:16 )

Don’t Devastate your Brother ( 14:15b )

( Rom 14:15b ) “Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.”

— To destroy…him for whom Christ died, is not to cause his damnation, but to seriously devastate his spiritual growth

Don’t Forget your Witness ( 14:16-19 )

( Romans 14:16–19 ) “Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.”

— A strong and weak Christian would sometimes go to dinner at the house of an unbelieving Gentile

— When the meal was served, he might mention that the meat was used in a pagan sacrifice

— The weak believer would be immediately disturbed and tell the other believer that he could not in good conscience eat such meat

— Out of love for his weaker brother, the strong believer would join in refusing to eat the meat

— It is better to offend an unbeliever than a fellow believer (but is it okay to ask for a dogie-bag?)

— The loving and selfless Christian who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men

— Humility, selfless love, and compassion for the needs of others are among the things which make for peace

Don’t Pull Down the Work of God ( 14:20-21 )

( Romans 14:20–21 ) “Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.”

— The fifth reason for building up rather than injuring a weak believer is not to tear down the work of God for the sake of food

— In the early church many offenses against the conscience of weak brothers involved food

— Paul’s warning about food and drink relate to anything not sinful in itself that might be said or done that would cause a weaker Christian to be offended and spiritually harmed

Don’t Denounce or Flaunt your Liberty ( 14:22-23 )

( Romans 14:22–23 ) “The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 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 sixth and final reason for exercising our liberty with great care is that we can harm even ourselves when we do not view our liberty from God’s perspective

— Verse 22 is obviously directed to the strong Christian, the one who understands his freedom

— The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves

— When we by sincere faith and a correct understanding of Scripture we have a conviction before God that a custom, a practice, or an activity is worthwhile and good, we dare not denounce it as sinful

Additional Resources

MacArthur, Romans. Romans 1-8. Moody Press, 1987.

MacArthur, Romans. Romans 9-16. Moody Press, 1991.

MacArthur, John. New Testament Commentary. Moody, 1985.

William Hendriksen. Exposition of Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995.

Sproul, R.C. Romans: The Righteous Shall Live by Faith. Romans an expositional commentary. Ligonier Ministries. 2019.

Related Media

Related Sermons