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Welcome back to the mighty letter to the Romans, the fullest exposition of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the Bible. After Paul declared “I am not ashamed of the gospel” in Romans 1:16, he described God’s wrath as revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness (chapters 1-2). Then in chapter 3 God’s wrath was endured by Christ as He bore our sins in His body on that cross. In chapters 4-5 justification is by faith alone, the great truth of imputation or God’s crediting Christ’s righteousness to the account of every believer. In chapters 6-8 believers are brought into union with Christ, there is no condemnation to those in Christ and they will never be separated from God’s love. In chapters 9-11 God sovereignly saves vessels of mercy by His gracious choice and He still has a plan for Israel. Then in chapters 12-16, Paul applies these great doctrines to your life, calling you to present your body and mind to God and to renew your whole way of thinking so you can discern God’s will, which Paul lays out in chapters 12 and 13. Now in chapters 14-15 Paul has one more thing to teach us: how Christians with different ideas and preferences about living the Christian life are to get along without being critical or despising one another.
Have you discovered that Christians differ in what they think are legitimate activities? We could give a long list of examples. Some follow the lead of popular teachers and what they allow. Many years ago, I came under the spell of one well-known leader and thought TVs should be booted from Christian homes. To make my point, I announced before the congregation I would give our TV to any “Egyptian” who wanted to come by our house and get it. Sure enough, one showed up! Just because John MacArthur doesn’t use a computer to prepare his sermons doesn’t mean every preacher has to follow his example. Christians differ over styles of clothing and hair length, tattoos, piercings, jewelry, makeup, what kind of movies are okay, using a credit card, taking out a loan, mowing your lawn on Sundays, what kinds of music can we listen to. Then you’ve got the translation issue. One says, “I think it’s okay to use the ESV.” Another responds, “I’m sorry, but the only legitimate version is the KJV. If it was good enough for Paul, it’s good enough for us!” Sometimes arguments and accusations erupt out of these differences and very quickly Christians can make mountains out of molehills and alligators out of ants.
We are not a cookie-cutter cult where everyone dresses the same, speaks the same, eats or drinks the same, or walks the same. No, we are a Heinz-57 variety saved by God’s grace for whom Christ loves and cares and is preparing for an incredible eternity together. So how do you handle differences? While we are committed to doctrinal and moral purity, there are areas of practice and even belief in which Christians differ; what we would call non-essential matters (also called adiaphora). There’s the danger of legalism, adding to what the Bible requires or allowing our liberty to slide into license to sin. In Galatians 5:13 Paul warned us not to use our freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.
In Romans 14 and 15 Paul gives us four major principles that God says must guide us when Christians differ over non-moral or non-essential issues.
- The principle of grace -14:1-12. God has accepted those with whom you differ.
- The principle of love-14:13-21. God calls us to walk in loving concern for others.
- The principle of conscience-14:22-23. God says if you don’t have a clear conscience, don’t do it.
- The principle of unity-15:1-13. God has brought all His people together in His Son to glorify Him with one voice.
This morning let’s look at the principle of grace in Romans 14:1-12.
GOD’S GRACE TEACHES US TO WARMLY WELCOME BELIEVERS WITH WHOM WE DIFFER ON NON-MORAL ISSUES
Romans 14:1-5, Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. 2 One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. 3 The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.
We are all saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). Paul refuted the Judaizers in Galatians for adding circumcision to justification by faith. That is a false gospel and not to be tolerated. Paul rebuked Peter for separating from Gentile believers in Galatians 2:11-14. We are all justified in Christ – no one is better than another. We all stand on grace-ground at the foot of the cross, regardless of whether you are a Jew or Gentile, eat ham, beef, mussels, and crawdads or Brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots, onions, and red beets. God has accepted every believer in Christ no matter what we eat. But there was a problem among the Roman believers.
The Weak and the Strong – God says accept the one who is weak in the faith. He’s a believer but doesn’t have a strong grasp on justification by faith alone. They knew they were not condemned by the law but struggled with matters of conscience over non-sinful issues like foods and special days. This is seen in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 where it speaks about whether we can eat meat sacrificed to idols. The weak felt guilty about it. But the strong knew the idols were nothing and the meat was just meat, so they enjoyed it without feeling guilty. The strong had a hearty view of doctrine and knew the dietary issues and special days of the Old Testament were fulfilled in Christ and irrelevant to their Christian lives. Some people think the Gentile believers were the strong and the Jewish believers weak, living all their lives before Christ under the Mosaic law and carrying their legal scruples into their Christian lives. They needed to keep growing in the freedom of the gospel.
But here’s the problem. The strong had no time for the scruples of the weak, even regarding them with contempt as nobodies. But the weak were convinced the strong were unspiritual because of their loose way of living, eating all kinds of meat and not paying attention to holy days. This was a real problem when they had their fellowship meals. Meat tables; Veggie tables. What does God say?
Accept Believers Who Differ –Warmly embrace into your lives and fellowship believers who differ on these matters. Welcome them, love them, care for them without ridiculing their sensitivities and without starting an argument (passing judgment)– vs. 1. What translation do you use? Do you eat food grown with chemicals or organic only? Do you eat only free-range chicken? Is your church incorporated? Do you believe in marriage licenses from the state? Do you watch sports on Sunday? Do you believe it’s okay to drink coke out of a can and play cards and listen to anything other than hymns?
Here it is meat eaters or strictly veggie eaters. Here’s a guy who feels no qualms about eating fried pig brain, crawdads, blood sausage and anything else that lands on his plate. But over here this fellow believes the really godly people ought to eat veggies only, even though Christ declared all foods clean in Mark 7:19 and God told Peter to go ahead and eat unclean meats in Acts 10:13. Paul says respect the scruples of those who aren’t convinced. The principle of grace means enjoy your meat and enjoy your greens but watch your attitude toward other believers who differ in these non-moral issues. God has warmly received them in Christ; you do the same. You owe them one thing: love.
Let’s be sure we understand Paul is talking about non-moral issues. You’ve probably heard about Alistair Begg’s approving attending the wedding of a homosexual to a trans-sexual and giving them a gift. That’s a moral issue (see Justin Peters on Youtube discussing the issue). Paul laid out moral issues that require repentance in 1 Cor. 6:9-10. These people will not inherit the kingdom of God: fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, homosexuals, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, and swindlers for just a sampling of immoral sins that must be repented of. Paul isn’t talking in Romans 14 about these kinds of immoral behaviors.
You Are Not Their Master – Verse 4, Who do you think you are? “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” You is emphatic. You aren’t their master. You have no business being critical or looking down your nose at the Master’s other servants. He lives for the Master – he doesn’t owe you an answer for what he allows or doesn’t allow. Cults do this when they rule the lives of their followers with all kinds of extrabiblical rules. We aren’t called to be other people’s masters. As soon as we get our eyes off Christ and start picking nits, or gossiping or slandering others, stop right there and take it before the Lord. On the other hand, it doesn’t matter what others think of you. The real issue is what does Christ think of you. Don’t live for other people or try to please people. Live for Christ. He’s your Master, and your weaker brother’s Master.
Is there ever a time to judge others? We are to discern and reject false teachers and reach out and restore sinning brothers. But even then, be sure to take the log out of your own eye before you try to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye. And if someone comes to you critical of another believer, what should you say? “Have you talked to them?”
Then you’ve got the issue of special days in verse 5 – “One person regards one day above another; another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.” This was a problem in the early church and is still a problem today. The Roman Catholic church has loads of special days, including ten obligatory days when you must go to Mass, plus other days. The Seventh Day Adventist believe the Sabbath is still in effect and those of us who meet on Sunday are following the mark of the Antichrist.
Here’s the reality about the Sabbath: Christ is our Sabbath. He fulfilled the Old Covenant special feast days and Sabbaths and brought us our eternal rest. If you do a search of Sabbath in the New Testament, it’s amazing how all references to the Sabbath end after Acts except in these two passages.
Colossians 2:16-17, Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day– 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
Hebrews 4:9, So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
Since the Reformation and the Westminster Confession, many godly men have held to a Christian Sabbath. James Montgomery Boice, a Presbyterian, points out they just went beyond what the Scripture says there. There’s no chapter and verse for it. So, what about gathering for worship? There’s a chapter and verse for that. Hebrews 10:24 says don’t forsake assembling together, as is the habit of some. Gathering for worship is a command and it is not a non-moral issue. But why Sunday? We gather to worship on Sunday because Jesus arose on the first day of the week. In Revelation 1:10 John said he was in the Spirit on the “Lord’s Day,” presumably Sunday.
Be Convinced In Your Own Mind – Notice in verse 5b, whatever you allow in your life you must “be fully convinced in your own mind.” This must never be used to excuse sin. This takes prayer and love for Christ. But if you believe it’s okay to eat pigs’ knuckles or regard a day as special, give thanks and enjoy those knuckles. If you aren’t sure, don’t eat it and give thanks. Jay Adams called this the holding principle. Until you have a clear conscience about a matter, don’t do it. I recall my own conflict over a Christian going to war. I was raised as a pacifist and believed people who join the military couldn’t possibly be Christians. I had to come to grips with what the Bible says about God ordaining government and police and the military for the good and protection of the people. It “doesn’t bear the sword in vain” (Romans 13:4). Neither John the Baptist nor Jesus ever rebuked a centurion or soldier for being in the military.
Be convinced in your own mind. You may be convinced of certain liberties but won’t practice them for various reasons. We don’t want to make anyone stumble. Charles Spurgeon notoriously smoked cigars. He was rebuked for it by a holiness preacher. Spurgeon assured him, “If I ever find myself smoking to excess, I promise I’ll quit entirely.” “And what would excess be?” asked the fellow preacher. Spurgeon replied, “Why, smoking two cigars at the same time.” But there is surely no redeeming value in smoking. MacArthur wrote humorously about smoking, “Why, first of all, does anyone want to put a pile of leaves in their mouth, set it on fire, and blow smoke out their nose? What is the point?” Then he added, “And then you stop and realize, man, the king of the earth, man, the epiphany of creation, man, the very image of God is controlled by a pile of weeds. Absolutely unbelievable!” Five of the Marlboro Men promoting smoking in those old commercials died of cancer. While there’s no chapter and verse, wouldn’t wisdom say, “Lose the smoking habit.” Not to mention a pack of cigarettes costs $8. In Australia they’re $20! That’s over $7000 a year going up in smoke.
So, in verses 1-5 we’ve seen that grace teaches us to warmly welcome believers with whom we differ over non-moral issues. Now we move on to verses 6-9.
GOD’S GRACE REMINDS YOU FOR WHOM YOU ARE LIVING
Romans 14:6-9, He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. 7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; 8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
For the Lord – Here’s how to live your Christian life – for the Lord. Look at verse 6, “Observes days for the Lord…eats for the Lord…gives thanks to God.” God didn’t save us to live for ourselves. We aren’t here to indulge ourselves but to live for the Lord. There’s this tendency to pile up rules and regulations for a better Christian life. True, you should discipline yourself to read the Word and pray and meditate, but the Bible doesn’t tell you when and how long. Amazon is full of Christian self-help books giving some regiment that helped one person so they want to throw it out there for the rest of us to follow. That could be good, but if it isn’t inspired by God, it isn’t authoritative. Christianity isn’t like the Pharisees with their list of self-righteous practices. Christianity is a relationship with the God and Lord of the universe, a heart relationship of obedience, love, grace, and beauty. All these piddly things like whether I eat sizzling ribeye steaks and you eat only Brussels sprouts are answered this way.
1 Corinthians 10:31, Whether then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
You Follow Me – Someone said when the sheep have their eyes on the Lord, they are happy and content. But when they start looking at each other and nitpicking, that’s when the trouble starts. Being a faultfinder is not a virtue, unless you’re a mechanic. Verses 8-9 pinpoint where our focus should be – on the Lord, because we are the Lord’s! Christ came to purchase us to Himself with His death and resurrection. Our purpose in life is not to get others to conform to our favorite preferences but to keep our eyes on Christ and live for Him. He is our Lord. That means He is our authority and in charge of our lives. When Christ told Peter how he would die, Peter looked back at John and said to Jesus, “What about him?” Jesus said, “What is that to you? Follow me.” What we should always say when we are tempted to criticize or look down on another believer, “Don’t worry about him. Follow Christ!”
GRACE REMINDS YOU TO WHOM YOU WILL GIVE AN ACCOUNT
Romans 14:10-12, But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written, “AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.” 12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.
This is great. Paul points his finger at this guy and says, “Look, buster, who do you think you are, judging your brother?” The guy over there is smiling smugly until Paul turns to him and says, “And you, why are you looking down your nose at your brother?” Basically, Paul says, “Stop it, both of you!” Paul warned the Galatians: “Stop biting and devouring one another, lest you destroy one another” (Gal. 5:15). Gossiping and slandering your brother reveals a self-righteous spirit and hurts others.
Now Paul brings us right up to the moment when we will stand before Christ and give an account. Do we give an account of our brother? No, only of ourselves. Verse 12, “So then, each one of us” – that’s personal, one by one. Each one. None escapes this gripping moment. We will give an account to God for how we lived for Christ day by day in this life. This account is not for salvation – Christ paid fully for that. But this account is a sobering reality that we’ll reap what we sow. Somehow God will review our lives and how we used our God-given gifts and time and opportunities in this life. Did we lay up treasures in heaven? Were we faithful to God’s Word? But in this context, remember, we won’t give account for others. No, this is personal accountability between you and God – “each one will give account.” Second Corinthians 5:10 confirms this fact.
2 Corinthians 5:10, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Finally, notice verse 11, “Every tongue will give praise to God.” We won’t be looking at others when we bow our knees to our glorious, awesome, gracious God. We will be giving praise to Him. That’s how God wants us to live our lives. Let’s not judge or hold others in contempt, but always look to Christ, focusing on His grace poured out to every believer through the cross. We are all corrupt, depraved sinners in need of God’s grace in Christ. Grace means instead of being critical or judgmental of others we will use words driven by truth, by love, by compassion, by kindness, by forgiveness, by humility. And remember Christ’s words to Peter, “Don’t worry about him. You follow Me!” Look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith!
This judgment is for believers, but there is another judgment for unbelievers. If you are not a believer in Christ as your personal Savior from sin, you will stand before another judgment. It is called the great white throne judgment in Revelation 20:11-15. There you will be judged according to your works and exposure to God’s truth and will face the eternal lake of fire. You don’t want that for eternity. Turn today to Jesus. God says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.”