Are you better...think twice...Romans 14

[Oats]

Romans 14

1And him who is weak in the faith receive ye -- not to determinations of reasonings;
2one doth believe that he may eat all things -- and he who is weak doth eat herbs;
3let not him who is eating despise him who is not eating: and let not him who is not eating judge him who is eating, for God did receive him.
4Thou -- who art thou that art judging another's domestic? to his own master he doth stand or fall; and he shall be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
5One doth judge one day above another, and another doth judge every day [alike]; let each in his own mind be fully assured.
6He who is regarding the day, to the Lord he doth regard [it], and he who is not regarding the day, to the Lord he doth not regard [it]. He who is eating, to the Lord he doth eat, for he doth give thanks to God; and he who is not eating, to the Lord he doth not eat, and doth give thanks to God.
7For none of us to himself doth live, and none to himself doth die;
8for both, if we may live, to the Lord we live; if also we may die, to the Lord we die; both then if we may live, also if we may die, we are the Lord's;
9for because of this Christ both died and rose again, and lived again, that both of dead and of living he may be Lord.
10And thou, why dost thou judge thy brother? or again, thou, why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand at the tribunal of the Christ;
11for it hath been written, `I live! saith the Lord -- to Me bow shall every knee, and every tongue shall confess to God;'
12so, then, each of us concerning himself shall give reckoning to God;
13no longer, therefore, may we judge one another, but this judge ye rather, not to put a stumbling-stone before the brother, or an offence.
14I have known, and am persuaded, in the Lord Jesus, that nothing [is] unclean of itself, except to him who is reckoning anything to be unclean -- to that one [it is] unclean;
15and if through victuals thy brother is grieved, no more dost thou walk according to love; do not with thy victuals destroy that one for whom Christ died.
16Let not, then, your good be evil spoken of,
17for the reign of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit;
18for he who in these things is serving the Christ, [is] acceptable to God and approved of men.
19So, then, the things of peace may we pursue, and the things of building up one another;
20for the sake of victuals cast not down the work of God; all things, indeed, [are] pure, but evil [is] to the man who is eating through stumbling.
21Right [it is] not to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor to [do anything] in which thy brother doth stumble, or is made to fall, or is weak.
22Thou hast faith! to thyself have [it] before God; happy is he who is not judging himself in what he doth approve,
23and he who is making a difference, if he may eat, hath been condemned, because [it is] not of faith; and all that [is] not of faith is sin.





Based on this could Calvinist like myself be the stronger brother?


Doctrines are disputable....some of them are....so who are we to judge?




NIV----


1Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
9For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. 11It is written:
" 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord,
'every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will confess to God.' "[a] 12So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. 14As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food[b] is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
19Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
22So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

 

[Danus]

Good Job Oats!
Way to see through some of the narrowness that flies around these threads and use Great scripture to point it out! Awesome.!

 

[Oats]

Good Job Oats!
Way to see through some of the narrowness that flies around these threads and use Great scripture to point it out! Awesome.!

Thank you for responding....who would you see as the weaker brother....That was the most confusing part of this bible study

 

[Danus]

Thank you for responding....who would you see as the weaker brother....That was the most confusing part of this bible study

I think I like to always see myself as the weaker for-say, in that I have meet many a Christian who is strong in one area and perhaps weaker in another. I don't know if anyone subscribes totally to one line of doctrine purely anyway.

One of the reasons I attend a non-denom church is the variety of backgrounds that attend there. I grew up in the Methodist church as a kid. I have family who are Baptist and even Catholic, or as we might joke...still Catholic. But, don't get me wrong, I respect the Catholic church for many reasons.

We are all weak on our own without Christ. We are only strong in Christ, and if we could just focus on our love for God imagine how strong we could all be as the body of Christ throughout the world.

There are essential Christian doctrines that make us all one, and I think it's important to be together on those, but most of the things we argue over are nothing but little differences that really are not divisive to the body as a whole.

As for Romans, it's specifically addressing the matter of fellowship and divisiveness among Christians of that day, which surly applies in similar fashion to today. I think Paul describes the strong Christian as the confident in faith who realizes something perhaps higher than the weaker, but that the weaker is no less a Christian as well. In Contrast I'm not sure how the weaker looks upon the stronger as such.

In those days you had Jews who converted to Christianity along with Roman Christians for example, who simply had faith in the NT. It must have been very difficult for Jews to give up their practices totally. so who of them where stronger? Hard to say, but what is sure is that God is the master of both.

 

[Oats]

I think I like to always see myself as the weaker for-say, in that I have meet many a Christian who is strong in one area and perhaps weaker in another. I don't know if anyone subscribes totally to one line of doctrine purely anyway.

One of the reasons I attend a non-denom church is the variety of backgrounds that attend there. I grew up in the Methodist church as a kid. I have family who are Baptist and even Catholic, or as we might joke...still Catholic. But, don't get me wrong, I respect the Catholic church for many reasons.

We are all weak on our own without Christ. We are only strong in Christ, and if we could just focus on our love for God imagine how strong we could all be as the body of Christ throughout the world.

There are essential Christian doctrines that make us all one, and I think it's important to be together on those, but most of the things we argue over are nothing but little differences that really are not divisive to the body as a whole.

As for Romans, it's specifically addressing the matter of fellowship and divisiveness among Christians of that day, which surly applies in similar fashion to today. I think Paul describes the strong Christian as the confident in faith who realizes something perhaps higher than the weaker, but that the weaker is no less a Christian as well. In Contrast I'm not sure how the weaker looks upon the stronger as such.

In those days you had Jews who converted to Christianity along with Roman Christians for example, who simply had faith in the NT. It must have been very difficult for Jews to give up their practices totally. so who of them where stronger? Hard to say, but what is sure is that God is the master of both.

Thanks

I wish more people would respond to this

 

[Dennyh]

My take on Romans 14 is that it is referring to Christian believers with different levels of spiritual maturity, not differences on doctrine. Jesus said that when we repent and are saved we are born again, having to go through a spiritual maturity process similar to our physical maturing as we get older. So in light of that I see Romans 14 telling me that some things that are okay might be seen as sin by less mature believers. So we are being told that when we are with those less spiritually mature we should refrain from things that they feel are sin, even if they aren't sin in the eyes of God. If we continue to do these things that offend a weaker brother or sister then it becomes sin.
An example would be drinking alcohol. The Bible doesn't mention drinking alcohol as a sin. The Bible mentions over-indulgence(drunkenness) as sin. So if I choose to have a drink every now and then, and my conscience with God is clear about it, then that is fine. If however, I am with a new baby Christian or a Christian who feels all alcohol is sin then I shouldn't drink around them so I don't cause them to stumble or be confused. If I do drink around them and it offends them then it does become sin for me (according to Romans 14, I Cor. ch.8 and 10).