CHAPTER 14
14:1-5 - Tolerance
14:6-8 - We are the Lord’s
14:9-13 - Do not judge
14:14-23 - Nothing is unclean
1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.
2 One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only.
3 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.
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.
In the this section of the letter (from 13:8 to 15:14), Paul discusses how we live together with other believers.
Paul continues on inter-personal relationships which was started in Rom. 13:8, 10, see: “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another... Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law”. This might seem like a stretch: the behaviors listed in 13:11-14, above, are human relational - e.g., carousing, promiscuity, jealousy. Wake up, Christians! Loving each other does not involve abusing each other in sinful activities.
This is a significant portion of the letter focusing on food issues (mostly), but highlight a principle of what it takes to live together in peace and love. In these verses, 14:1-15:3 Paul gives principles for living with other Christians who come from different backgrounds, cultures, and countries. These principles are not doctrinal in nature - nothing to do with Jesus Christ’s life, death on the cross, burial and resurrection, or ascension.
Let me take a step back. When I said 'nothing to do...' I did not mean devoid of any connection with Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection. Paul is addressing the practical issues of living together as Christians. He would totally agree with James who wrote "Faith without works is dead". (Jam 2:17) Our lives and the way we live them should be changed by our conversion and faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. "Good works follow saving faith. Salvation is not gained through works but rather good works are the fruit of saving faith in Jesus Christ." (see Note 1)
V. 1 - “Now accept the one who is weak in faith” - Do you suppose that everyone is at least as mature as are you in the faith? Or, perhaps, everyone seems far more grounded and spiritual. (Sounds contradictory - “grounded” and “spiritual” - doesn’t it? But you know people so confident in their belief they cannot be shaken, or seem to have a direct line to God.) On the other hand who says to another, “Boy, you are spiritually weak.”?
Paul is acknowledging that our backgrounds - our pre-Christian life - has a strong influence on how we react to activities or deeds we do as Christians.
“But not for the purpose of passing judgement on his opinions” - You may not have had any trouble or dealings with alcohol, so going into a bar, or having drinks served at a party. Someone else may have been a drinker and knows that Jesus saved him from destruction by alcohol - that person will be concerned the temptation to drink will be stronger than the ability to resist. The same holds true for pornography, or sexual encounters - movies, strip clubs, Super Bowl half-time shows (the half-time show for Super Bowl 54 was R-rated), etc.
You may disagree with another Christian about certain seemingly innocuous activities - going to a movie, playing cards, drinking glass of beer or wine. These matters are mostly not doctrinal in nature, and your opinion of them should not be elevated to doctrinal levels - i.e., life-and-death issues.
Remember, Paul was writing to people who came from a plethora of religious backgrounds, both Jewish and pagan, worship of Roman and Greek gods, etc. In America, the background fabric is, or was, mostly Judeo-Christian, so perhaps we don’t comprehend the competing old belief systems.
Paul is teaching them to remain focused on the clear doctrines: Jesus Christ came from God in heaven to die for our sins. He took all our sins on Himself to meet God’s justice. He died. He rose from the dead to newness of life so that we too, believing in Him might have that new life. Our life is in Him. All else matters little - unless that ‘little’ causes someone to doubt their salvation and fall back into the sinful life from which they were saved.
V. 2-3 - “One man has faith that he may eat all things” - I guess that arguments about which foods could or could not be eaten was one of the hot issues. The first churches had many Jewish members, and food was one of the areas of disagreement. The Jewish religion had (maybe, still have) some of the most restrictive or detailed dietary food laws of any in the world.
However, any time a person changes from one faith to another, means there will be conflicting understandings regarding practices in the old system and those in the new.
“The one who eats... the one who does not eat“ - Food, a hot button issue? Peter had a strong dream or vision in Acts 10:9-16. Although the vision lead to the conclusion that Gentiles were able to become Christians, the vision (with three references to foods) clearly shows everything is suitable for food. The “unclean” animals were no longer unclean. I came to that conclusion on the basis that God would not command Peter to perform an unclean act - He just would not instruct Peter to eat an animal or substance that God considered unclean. The paradigm changed with Christ’s death and resurrection.
Paul deals with food issues in at least three other letters. See 1 Cor 6:12-13: "All things are lawful for me - but not everything is beneficial. All things are lawful for me - but I will not be controlled by anything. Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both.” Paul, previously a very conservative Israelite, a Pharisee, had no food issues upon his conversion. He realized others may not be as confident as he.
In Colossians he urges the believers there to not be pushed around by others. “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day--“ (Col. 2:16)
On the other hand, Paul is not going to insist on going his own way if will possibly cause another believer to falter in faith. “Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.” (1 Cor. 8:13)
V. 4 - “Who are you to judge the servant of another?” - You have no right, no authority, to tell me I am sinning because I drink coffee, and will end in hell because of it. Does that sound extreme? How about eating bacon? Drinking wine or beer? That is exactly what Paul is addressing here, with following exception. The Jewish Christians’ background included exacting food restrictions. It is hard to leave behind the basis of spiritual life in which you have grown up.
What is the difference between the Ten Commandments (Deut. 5:7-21), the Shema (Deut. 6:4-5)and the Book of Leviticus? Leviticus is a list of rules - Do’s and Don’t’s - to be followed. The Ten Commandments and the Shema are principles on which to base your life. The Ten Commandments can be considered 'rules', but they are not 'how to obey, e.g., how to honor your father and mother, or how not to murder. Or, "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deut 6:4-5) is not a step-by-step method for loving God.
Does drinking coffee (or not), does eating pork (or not) have any bearing on the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross? Do those activities impinge at all on His resurrection and ascension to heaven to be seated at the right hand of God? God’s grace and mercy to us is based solely on Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Since you and I have done nothing to save ourselves for our sin, nor can do anything to merit salvation, we have no authority, power, or ability to make any judgements - on what is life or death, heaven or hell. There is only One who can make that decision.
There is another ‘level’ of judging by Christians (not exclusively Christians, but the others don’t really matter for this discussion except for the realization that humans do this regardless of religion, race, nationality, etc.) - which is denigrating the life and actions because they don’t meet their standards. It is an attitude that says, “Well, you may be saved, but you sure aren’t living it...” This attitude tries to shame others into acting the way you think they should act.
“To his own master he stands or falls” - I do not answer to you, but to Christ. You do not have justify yourself to anyone but to Christ. You and I will try to rationalize our behavior. Humans have been doing this from the beginning. (See: Gen. 3:10-13) There is only one standard that matters - that of the Lord Jesus Christ. We do not get to make up our own acceptable standards, to determine ‘our truth’. However, God did not make us automatons, each identical little robots rolling off an assembly line. The Lord in His grace and mercy deals with us as the individuals He created.
God does not care if you eat meat, or don’t eat meat. The issue, if it is an issue, is that if your conscience is bothered by an activity then perhaps you should not do that activity. This is not necessarily a matter of sinning against the Lord. The matter is the abuse of your conscience. If your heart and conscience is convicting you, and you do it anyway the conscience begins to be dulled. Violating your conscience may be traumatic the first time. It is not so traumatic the second time. The sharp edges get worn down. The activity - e.g., eating meat - dulls the effect, and it becomes more difficult for you to recognize wrong behavior.
This will be like a moral virus that attaches itself to you, and the warning signs lose their effect. If God wants you to eat meat, He will let you know. If He wants you to stop eating meat, He will let you know. It is to God we must answer, not fellow Christians, or non-Christians. Be confident that you are living for Jesus, not for the approval of people.
***Note 1: "Faith and Works", essay in Holman Christian Standard Bible by Mark DeVine; p. 2139; HCSB Study Bible; Holman Bible Publishers; 2010.
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