Wednesday in the Word

what the Bible means and how we know

judging

21 Romans 14:1-20 The problem of Christian taboos

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Romans 14:1-20 The Problem of Christian Taboos | WednesdayintheWord.com
My husband has collected comic books since he was a young boy, long before Marvel begin making blockbuster movies.  When our kids were little, he read them comic books and they collected various ones.    Our involvement in the Marvel world raised quite a few eyebrows.  Several of our family and friends questioned our sanity and the sincerity of our Christian faith over the “comic book issue.”

How are we to handle that?  How should I  — the person who’s Christian ethics are questioned  — respond?  And how should the person questioning my ethics respond?  Assuming I’m right, should I feel free to read comic books in all situations, bringing them say to a Christian school or a church function?  Assuming I’m wrong, how should my friends point out the error of my ways?

That’s the issue in Romans 14: How and when should Christians meddle in each other’s lives?

Review

In Romans 1-8 Paul explained the glory of the gospel and the greatness of God — how no one can be saved by keeping the law. We can only be saved by trusting that God, because of the blood of Jesus Christ, will forgive us and solve the problem of sin in our lives.

In Romans 9-11, he argued that God did not fail Israel, nor reject them and that proves He will be faithful to Gentile believers as well.

In Romans 12, he turned practical.  He says, “It is only reasonable that we worship this God with our bodies.” The rest of the book then discusses how the gospel should make our lives different.

In Romans 13, he told us to submit those in authority, keep ourselves free from debt, and free from darkness, so that we are free to serve God.

In Romans 14-15, he discusses the favorite indoor sport of Christians: trying to change each other.

Outline

  • Romans 14:1-12 – What you should not do
  • Romans 14:13-24 – What you can do
  • Romans 15:1-13 – What happens when you handle it the right way

What you should not do

14:1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.  8For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.  10Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. – Romans 14:1-12 ESV
  • Accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of arguing with him.
  • The early church in Rome was a multi-cultural church, composed of both Jews and Gentiles.  Some Jews still followed strict dietary laws while some Gentiles avoided meat sacrificed to idols.
  • Their disagreement over who should eat what was a disagreement over who was offending the Lord by their eating practices.
  • What does it mean to be “weak”?  Paul claims the people with the most freedom are those who are farthest along in faith
  • We protect baby Christians, the same way we protect toddlers, with boundaries and limits, until they learn and mature enough to make responsible choices.
  • It is not the responsibility of the “strong” to change your “weaker” sister. She is not your servant. She is the Lord’s and He will change her.
  • God reads the heart and He sees what we cannot see.
  • Our relationship with each other is more important having the same lifestyle.

What you can do

13Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.  15For 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. 16So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  18Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. – Romans 14:13-20 ESV
  • If you want to judge, start with yourself:  Judge how your actions are affecting and influencing others.
  • Avoid exercising your freedom recklessly, such that it is destructive to another person.

For more detail and explanation please listen to the podcast

Next: 22 Romans 14:19-15:13 Handling Disagreement

Previous: 20 Romans 13:8-14 Freedom in Christ

Series: Romans: Justification by Faith

Study: Romans Resources

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05 James 2:1-13 What is on the inside counts

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05 James 2:1-13 What is on the inside counts - Bible Study | WednesdayintheWord.com

Judging by external appearance is at the heart of James 2:1-13.  But James is not concerned with whether we are nice to people or not. James is raising a more profound question: Are your actions consistent with the what you say you believe? 

Review

  • In chapter 1 James said to consider it joy when we face trials because trials test our faith. The process of testing our faith brings us to maturity and makes us into the kind of people we should be.
  • In chapter 2, James begins to apply that principle.

Passage

1My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.  2For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,  3and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,”  4have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?  5Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?  6But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court?  7Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?  – James 2:1-7

  • This is the same theme James raised in chapter 1.  People are treating the rich well and the poor badly. 
  • Notice the “IF-THEN” construction in James 2:2; James 2:3 and James 2:4.
  • In James 2:4, he asks a rhetorical question that grammatically expects an affirmative answer. In James 2:6-7, he switches to reality.
  • The rich have the power to help you or ruin you. The poor can do nothing for you and may need your time, energy and resources.
  • The question James is raising is: how are you looking at the world?  Does the gospel change your thinking or not? 
  • There is a single command in this section: James 2:1: “show no partiality”  or “do not show favoritism”.  The word means to treat people in different ways based on external factors, like outward appearance.
  • James 2:5-6 explains why partiality is forbidden.
  • Why treat the rich unbeliever as the better man?  In reality he is much worse off.  If he has no faith, he has nothing. 
  • Who is it that has proved to be your sister and who has proved to be your enemy?  In this particular situation the poor have proven faithful.  The rich have proven unfaithful.
  • James is not saying that poverty is a virtue in and of itself. 
  • Neither is James saying that rich people cannot have faith. 
  • It is tempting to butter up to the rich because the rich man can oppress me and make my life miserable.  But the rich man can do nothing to me that God is not involved in.
  • No partiality means no partiality.  There are many ways we can show favoritism.  James picks on wealth and poverty because his readers were facing that trial

8If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.  9But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.  10For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.  11For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.  12So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.  13For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. – James 2:8-13

  • James is quoting from Leviticus 19:13-18 which explains the flow of thought.
  • James is anticipating an objection from his readers that they are okay because they are keeping the law.
  • James answers that objection by saying, you have to keep the whole law not just part of it. 
  • You’re saying you’re in the right because you are keeping law A, but you can’t justify your behavior by keeping law A.  You can only justify your behavior if you are keeping ALL the laws A-Z.
  • “Royal law” like the golden rule = mosaic law; summed up by love your neighbor as yourself.
  • “Law of liberty” = gospel, the message that we will be saved by the blood of Christ.
  • You object that you are keeping the law because you’re loving your rich neighbor as yourself.  But I say you’re failing to keep the law because you are not loving your poor neighbor the same way.  What should you do?  You should live as one who believes the gospel.  You should live as one who as received mercy you did not deserve and show that mercy to others — all of them, rich or poor.  No partiality.
  • James is not telling us now go and do something to prove you’re a Christian. James is concerned with the underlying attitude of living out the faith you claim to believe.

Please listen to the podcast for more detail and explanation.

Next: 06 James 2:14-20 Do James and Paul agree?

Previous: 04 James 1:19-27 How to respond to the gospel

Series: James: The Gospel in Shoe Leather

Study: James Resources

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