Romans 14

One more thing needs to be said on the subject of condemning and judging. The condemnation and judgment that goes on among Christians is an almost unconscious habit; we are hardly aware we are doing it. For example, whenever we say about someone else, “He’s not a good fellow,” we are really judging him. We say, “I’ve not judged anyone.” But the fact is that we do it all the time. Even if we don’t say a word, we judge others by our critical or disapproving look. And even if we make no outward sign, we still judge the person in our thoughts. We need to pray constantly that God will guard our tongues and thoughts.

11-12 Here Paul quotes from Isaiah 45:23 (see Philippians 2:10-11). Every man—both Christian and non-Christian—will bow down before God on the day of judgment. On that day every one of us will have to confess his sins to God. That is, each of us will give an account of him-selfto God (verse 12). And we won’t be giving an account of one another’s sins; we’ll be giving an account only of our own!

13 The main teaching of Chapter 14 is summarized in this verse: Both the Christian who is weak in faith and the Christian who is strong in faith must stop judging each other. We must not judge either in word or in thought (see Matthew 7:1-5 and comment). From now on let us stop concentrating on whether it is right or not to eat meat, whether it is right or not to observe special days, or other such matters. Rather, let us concentrate on not putting a stumbling block or obstacle in our brother’s way. That is the most important thing (see 1 Corinthians 8:4-13; 9:22-23; 10:23-33; Colossians 2:16 and comments).

14 The Jews regard many kinds of food to be ritually unclean, and in the Old Testament many laws are written about what the Jews can and cannot eat.

But Christ canceled all of those food laws. Therefore, even though he was a strict Jew himself, Paul says here that he is convinced that no food is unclean in itself (see Acts 10:9-16; 1 Timothy 4:4). Jesus taught that it’s not what goes into a man’s mouth that makes him unclean, but rather it’s what comes out of his heart that makes him unclean (see Mark 7:14-23 and comment).

Paul here teaches another thing. If anyone whose faith is weak thinks that some particular food is unclean, then for him it is unclean. This means that that person should not eat that particular food, because according to his conscience, to eat it would be a sin. We must never go against the promptings of our conscience. If something seems like a sin to us, then we must not do that thing. Even though it is, in fact, not a sin, we still must not do it if we have any doubt about it. That is why Paul says that each person should be fully convinced in his own mind what is sinful for him and what is not (verse 5).

15 Paul now mentions the most important thing determining our relations with each other: we must act in love. For example, suppose that a brother believes in his conscience that he should not eat meat. And you believe in your conscience that it’s all right to eat meat. Then suppose that you invite that brother to a meal and offer him meat. Not only that, suppose you pressure him into eating it—perhaps by making him feel bad if he doesn’t eat it. Afterward, of course, that brother will be distressed in his conscience; his conscience will accuse him of having sinned. Because he believed it was a sin to eat meat, for him indeed it was a sin. Therefore, because of what you eat, you have caused your brother to sin. You have put a stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s path (verse 13). If you continue causing him to sin in this way, you will certainly by your eating destroy your brother spiritually.

If we love our brother, how can we act this way toward him? Not only that, Christ died for our brother! Are we going to destroy one whom Christ has saved? Heaven forbid! if Christ has given up His own life to save our brother, can we not give up a little meat for him? (see 1 Corinthians 8:13).

16 To be strong in faith is a good thing. To be free from the regulations of the Jewish law is also a good thing. But Paul writes here: Don’t let what is good be spoken of as evil. That is, do not, by your good, do harm to your brother. If we do harm to our brother, then our “good” (our freedom, our strong faith) will be called evil. When this happens, both we and Christ are dishonored.

We know that no matter what we do, there will always be some people who will speak evil of us. However, let’s not needlessly provide them with opportunities for doing so!

17-18 Here Paul gives another essential principle. It is not our outward behavior but our inner desires and motives that are most important to God. Whether to eat meat or not to eat meat isn’t a very important matter. What is important is whether or not we love our brother. Our outward behavior arises from our inner mind, our heart, our character. If our mind, our heart, remains under the control of the Holy Spirit, both we and our brother will be led into righteousness, peace and joy (verse 17). This is pleasing to God (verse 18). God doesn’t care what we eat or drink; what He cares about is whether there is righteousness, peace and joy in His church!

19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace (see Romans 12:18; Ephesians 4:3 and comments).

Make every effort to do what leads to mutual edification. “Mutual edification” does not mean rebuking and accusing one another. Rather, it means teaching, advising, and strengthening one another, all for the purpose of building each other up in the Lord.

There can be no peace or mutual edification when there is quarreling, accusation, and judgment going on among us.

20 Here Paul repeats the thought of verse 15. The work of God mentioned in this verse is “us”—mankind. We are God’s creation, His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). Therefore, let us not destroy our brother, who is a work of God.

To eat meat (for example) is not in itself a sin. But if by eating meat we might distress our brother or cause him to stumble, then to eat meat in that situation would be a sin (see 1 Corinthians 8:9-13 and comment).

21 To eat meat and drink wine are just examples of many activities that can cause our brother to stumble. Let us be constantly on the watch, not only in our own lives but also in the church, for any other activities which could cause [our] brother to fall.

22 The person who is strong in faith and is convinced it is all right to eat meat should eat his meat quietly in his own home. His eating meat should be a matter only between himself and God. In this way, he will not condemn himselfby what he approves. That is, if his eating meat is approved between himself and God and gives no of fense to others, his conscience will not condemn him for eating meat. But if, by doing something he approves of, he causes others to stumble, then he is committing a sin—and his conscience will indeed condemn him for it.

23 The word faith in this verse does not mean “faith” in Christ, but rather a deep certainty or conviction, about which one is fully convinced in one’s mind (verse 5). One example would be the faith or conviction that it is all right to eat meat.

The man who has doubts is the man with weak faith, who believes he should not eat meat. Because he does not have the faith or conviction that it’s all right to eat meat, he must not eat it. If we don’t have the faith or conviction that something is all right to do, then we shouldn’t do it. Even when something is not a sin in itself, if we have doubts about it and don’t have faith that it’s okay, then we must not do it—or for us it will be a sin.