Romans 14 Study Notes

14:14 This is one of Paul’s most amazing statements. His background as a Pharisee trained him to emphasize the distinction between clean and unclean, but Jesus persuaded him that this distinction was no longer valid. Thus Paul adopted a new stance, but he also recognized that some believers, especially those from a Jewish background, had not made this transition. Mature believers should not recklessly push “weak” believers (v. 1) into such a transition.

14:15 A strong Christian must live in love and not violate the conscience of a weak believer. The conscience is the moral faculty of the mind. It can be educated by God through the Holy Spirit, but we must never teach others to go against their conscience. Do not destroy means that we can cause a person’s spiritual ruin by teaching them to ignore or violate their conscience.

14:16-17 Christian liberty will get a bad name if love does not govern it. Food is never to be a major concern in our lives, but we are to promote righteousness, peace, and joy in the churches.

14:18-19 Our actions should serve Christ and help other Christians grow and flourish.

14:20-21 Objectively, everything is clean (“everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,” 1Tm 4:4). Yet some immature believers might stumble over meat or drink (1Co 8:7-11).

The Greek noun hamartia is the most common term in the NT for human violation of God’s moral standard. The related verb hamartano (43 uses in the NT, 17 in Paul’s letters) means to fail and to do wrong. Hamartano came to include the idea to sin, which is the meaning of the verb in the NT. Both hamartano and hamartia occur quite frequently in the Greek OT, mainly to translate the most common Hebrew words for sin.

In Rm 14 Paul said, “Everything that is not from a faith is sin” (v. 23). The essence of sin is unbelief, so every violation of God’s standard is a lack of faith in him. God doesn’t want superficial obedience to a standard; he wants us to trust him completely (see Heb 11:6).

14:22-23 A Christian’s sense of freedom in these matters should not translate into public behavior if another believer finds the freedom scandalous. For instance, a Muslim convert who never ate pork or drank wine might stumble if he saw a Christian doing either of these things.