Romans 14 – God Is the Judge, Don’t Cause Each Other to Stumble

Romans 14 – God Is the Judge, Don’t Cause Each Other to Stumble

Welcome the weak in faith but don’t quarrel over opinions. The one who eats shouldn’t despise the one who abstains, and the one who abstains shouldn’t pass judgment on the one who eats. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It’s before his own master that he stands or falls. One person esteems one day as better than another while another esteems all days alike. Be fully convinced in your mind. The one who observes days, do it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, in honor of the Lord. The one who abstains, in honor of the Lord. In all this give thanks to God. None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. We live to the Lord and die to the Lord. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Don’t pass judgment on your brother. We all stand before the judgment seat of God, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Don’t pass judgment on one another, but decide to never put a stumbling block in the way of a brother. Nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. If your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. Don’t let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. Pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Don’t destroy the work of God for the sake of food. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

We don’t live as Christians in isolation. The concept of a solo Christian is alien to the Bible, and if that’s what you claim, you are in spiritual danger. This passage shows that trusting in Christ colors how we interact with each other. We should be empathetic and sensitive to the consciences of other brothers and sisters in Christ. Don’t destroy relationships and don’t give up on relationships in the church because of food and drink. Let love color how you interact each other. And by love I don’t mean merely a subjective feeling, but rather a decided commitment to dying to your selfish desires for the spiritual benefit of others. Just because another person’s conscience is more sensitive than yours doesn’t mean that you should look down upon them and even torment them in what they believe is wrong for them. By all means help them to understand their decisions from a biblical framework – “all foods are clean” – but if they hold to that and still feel conviction when they partake help them out by abstaining because you love them and don’t want them to stumble. Whatever you do, do in faith, and let your faith in Christ work itself out in your love for your brother. Romans 12:10 is relevant again, “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” Or Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Do it from faith not from dead works from a dead legalistic heart. Do it from your trust in Christ.