For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. But why dost thou judge thy brother? For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Paul reiterates that no one should judge or become a stumbling block to his brother on this issue.
Rom I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself : but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean , to him it is unclean. In other words, if we fast, we must do it in the way we are led to do it, rather than adhering something that you do not fully agree with.
Rom But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat , now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat , for whom Christ died. Yet again, we must dig into the original words of the Greek Manuscripts, to find the truth for ourselves. Rom Let not then your good be evil spoken of: For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink ; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. Paul continues his advise, asking them to not allow anyone to defame them because of this issue — whether you fast or not, whether you fast on a particular day, or not.
He asks to serve Christ in whatever personal decisions they take on the issue at hand, as this is the only criterion to be acceptable to God. Rom For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure ; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. All manners of Fasting, whether on a specific day or not, is pure.
But it is evil if someone eats and becomes a stumbling block to others through doubtful disputes. Rom It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth , or is offended , or is made weak.
The fact that he is speaking of fasting, is cemented by this verse as he speaks of refraining from meats kreas , wine and any other thing that makes others stumble, brings them displeasure or make them weak in the faith. Matthew I do not mean to come across as lacking affection in what I am about to write. Some brethren are limited mentally. I have known several over the years that frankly have the inability to learn beyond a perpetual babe in Christ.
It is not that they are unwilling, but that they are unable. This is not a weak brother or sister as we are going to address in this article. This is a mentally slow brother or sister.
They do not need us to bear with them in their weakness. What I want to address is that there are some weaker in the faith that end up being problems. Receive Them, But…. If we have someone who is capable of learning, willing to learn, honest, but yet weak in some areas of understanding we are authorized to receive them in the faith.
For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. The meanings of the words show us that we can receive the weak in the faith as long as their matters of weakness do not result in discussions likened to debates wherein we are having disputes. In other words, if the weak one is going to disrupt the unity and peace of the local church, they are not to be received. As the body of Christ, we are expected to be at peace Colossians We cannot have those among us whom hold differing views Revelation If someone begins to teach another doctrine, they must be dealt with swiftly I Timothy If we do these things, we are wrong, and the Bible as well as our conscience tells us that we are sinning.
Perhaps you are wondering, "When does a doubtful thing become sin? For example, men of the National Convention of Rescue Missions are convinced that all forms of alcohol are wrong for them because their culture demands it.
Perhaps they had moved into the area of asceticism, believing that the Christian life was a series of negatives such as "do not touch, do not taste, do not handle," etc. Or perhaps they were former pagans who could not dissociate eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols from idolatry itself compare 1 Cor.
In any case, this group had become legalistic and was judging everyone who did not conform to its standards. There were also in the assembly some who understood Christian liberty, but who were misusing this liberty and causing young believers to stumble in their Christian walks. The major appeal in Romans 14 is to the mature man to exercise his Christian liberty in love and to demonstrate restraint. These two extremes in the church at Rome were threatening the peace and harmony of the assembly.
So, Paul wrote this portion of Scripture to correct the situation. Apparently Paul thought the weak Christians had taken an extreme position, but he also felt they should be loved and accepted because they were true believers. This really says these Christians were weak in faith, not in the Faith. It is not a question of weakness in fundamental doctrines, but of weak practice. They believed the gospel, but did not have practical faith in facing taboos or doubtful things; they were Christian legalists because they did not understand Christian liberty.
Those who are more mature in the Christian life are to welcome those who are of a more legalistic persuasion on doubtful things because the weaker Christians are still Christians, having received Christ as Lord and Savior.
One s viewpoints on doubtful things are never a basis for fellowship with a local church, although they may become an issue for leadership in the church. If men have been "born again" through faith in Christ, this entitles them to fellowship in a local church. Christians have been known to say, "We don t want these people in our church because they are poor, or too legalistic, or a little worldly.
They just aren't our kind of people. We know they are Christians, but they are not like us. It is the Lord who determines the makeup of his church, not the people of the church. All those who have trusted Christ as Lord and Savior are to be extended the right hand of fellowship. We must welcome them because they love Jesus Christ. The strong or mature in the assembly are to accept the weak brothers who do not understand Christian liberty and the fullness of salvation in Christ, and they are to accept them without doubtful disputes or disputes over opinion.
In other words, the mature are not to try to argue the weak brothers out of their position, but rather to accept them as they are. Of course, this is not to say that the mature ought not to teach and instruct the weak in doctrine, faith and practice, but rather that they ought not to fight over matters of opinion or refuse fellowship over matters of opinion.
Therefore, the mature believer eats meat and it does not bother his conscience. The mature believer has the right to participate in questionable practices, but this does not mean that he exercises this freedom.
He had not come to the realization and appreciation of Christian liberty or of the grace of God in sanctification. This did not necessarily make the weak brother wrong; it simply showed that his own conscience forbade him to participate in what he considered to be a questionable practice.
Christians may have opposite views on points of Christian conduct not commanded against in Scripture, yet still fellowship together in love and harmony. For example, two women may feel differently about the use of cosmetics. If one wears lipstick and the other does not, that is their business. They are not answerable to the pastor or to the church in such matters. They are answerable only to God.
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