"There is no necessity," says he, " for reading the first clause interrogatively; and it seems to be more agreeable to the structure of the Greek to render it, Thou hast faith; as if he had said: 'I own thou hast a right persuasion.' Perhaps they refused it because they feared it was meat sacrificed to a pagan god (as in 1 Corinthians 8). Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. But why dost thou - Christian Jew, observing the rites of the Mosaic law, judge - condemn thy brother - the Christian Gentile, who does not think himself bound by this law? Real happiness is found being closer and closer to Jesus, and by not being condemned by what we approve. ©2018 David Guzik – No distribution beyond personal use without permission. Another, who is weak, eateth herbs - Certain Jews, lately converted to the Christian faith, and having as yet little knowledge of its doctrines, believe the Mosaic law relative to clean and unclean meats to be still in force; and therefore, when they are in a Gentile country, for fear of being defiled, avoid flesh entirely and live on vegetables. We may offer advice to others about doubtful things, but should never judge them. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. c. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died: If Jesus was willing to give up His life for the sake of that brother, I can certainly give up my steak dinner. A and I, with upwards of 100 others, together with the Slavonic, the later Syriac and Arabic, add those verses at the end of the fourteenth chapter. For it is written: “As I live, says the LORD, Thou hast a right persuasion concerning thy Christian liberty; and I advise thee to hold that persuasion steadfastly, with respect to thyself in the sight of God. Or why do you show contempt for your brother? Amen. Do not condemn the man for what is indifferent in itself: if he keep these festivals, his purpose is to honor God by the religious observance of them. You can check these in your browser security settings. It may not be that the thing itself is clearly good or bad, but it is enough that God speaks to us about the matter. For meat destroy not the work of God - Do not hinder the progress of the Gospel either in your own souls or in those of others, by contending about lawful or unlawful meats. Paul speaks about the stumbling of a sincere heart, not catering to the whims of someone’s legalism. The clause και ανεστη, and rose, is wanting in several reputable MSS., and certainly is not necessary to the text. Each of us must ask: “God what is there in my life hindering a closer walk with You? b. Romans chapter 14 is a complex segment of scripture that frequently is both misunderstood and abused. © Copyright - Enduring Word | . b. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. i. Even if we have the personal liberty, we do not have the liberty to stumble, offend, or weaken a brother. And the observation of certain days, Romans 14:5, Romans 14:6. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. Check to enable permanent hiding of message bar and refuse all cookies if you do not opt in. To the same purport (Romans 14:21) he recommends it to our care not to give offence to any one by the use of lawful things: It is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine; these are things lawful indeed and comfortable, but not necessary to the support of human life, and therefore we may, and must, deny ourselves in them, rather than give offence. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. Particularly with respect to different kinds of food, Romans 14:2-4. Every one of us shall give account of himself - We shall not, at the bar of God, be obliged to account for the conduct of each other - each shall give account of himself: and let him take heed that he be prepared to give up his accounts with joy. For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. While the issue of not eating meat for spiritual reasons is no longer directly relevant to most Christians today, there are plenty of issues where some believers believe one way and others believe differently. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. None of us liveth to himself - The Greek writers use the phrase, ἑαυτῳ ζῃν, to signify acting according to one's own judgment, following one's own opinion. None of us should live unto himself, but unto Christ, who lived and died for us, Romans 14:7-9. a. I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself: Paul knew that there was nothing intrinsically unclean about meat that was not kosher or sacrificed to an idol. Both are sincere; both upright; both act according to their light; God accepts both; and they should bear with each other. Not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way: We might stumble or cause our brother to fall in two ways. -, One man esteemeth one day above another -, We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ -, Every one of us shall give account of himself -, Let us not, therefore, judge one another any more -, I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus -, Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died -, Let not then your good be evil spoken of -, Commentary Critical and Explanatory - Unabridged, Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible, Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures. 14:14-18 Christ deals gently with those who have true grace, though they are weak in it. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/romans-14.html. We should not do any thing by which a weak brother may be stumbled or grieved; lest we destroy him for whom Christ died, Romans 14:14-16. Click to enable/disable _gat_* - Google Analytics Cookie. b. There is a lot of useless, harmful division among Christians over silly, bigoted things. Romans 16:26; : But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith); Romans 16:27; : To God only wise be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. It is a great blessing to have a well-informed conscience; it is a blessing to have a tender conscience; and even a sore conscience is infinitely better than none. In a word, it is happiness brought into the soul by the Holy Spirit, and maintained there by the same influence. Let us not, therefore, judge one another any more - Let us abandon such rash conduct; it is dangerous, it is uncharitable: judgment belongs to the Lord, and he will condemn those only who should not be acquitted. The judgment seat of Christ: “This is the bema seat, equivalent to the judge’s seat in the Olympic Games. Some think that these words have a more extensive signification, and that they apply to all who have not true religion, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; every work of such persons being sinful in the sight of a holy God, because it does not proceed from a pure motive. i. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. What he says has application to more than just eating meat.