ROMANS 507                           Chapter 14:13-23                     How to use your liberty

13. Let us not therefore judge one another any more; but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.

14. I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him that esteemed any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

15. But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.

16. Let not your good be evil spoken of;

17. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

18. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.

19. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

20. For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.

21. It is good to neither eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.

22. Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.

23. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith; for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

 

(Vs 13.) We will each give account of ourselves to God, (vs. 10-12) therefore, instead of judging your brother, judge your own attitude toward him. Are you concerned about his spiritual well-being? The following verses give an example of how a person could put a “stumbling block” in the way of his brother’s spiritual walk. (I Cor 8:9)

 

(Vs 14.) Contrast the first half of this verse to Leviticus 11. See how essential it is to divide the word of truth. (II Tim 2:15) Both passages are truth, but cannot apply at the same time or they would be contradictory.

     When did this change occur? See Acts 10:15. It happened in Acts 9, right after God, through Stephen, declared Israel to be uncircumcised and set them aside. (Acts 7:51-53; Rom 11:11-15,32) Then God opened up a new dispensation through Paul for Gentiles and Jews equally. (Eph 2:11-15&3:1-6; Acts 26:14-18)

     One who doesn’t understand the change in dispensations may still consider it a sin to eat or do certain things that are specified Israel’s law. Verse 23 explains why something can be a sin for one person and not for another.

 

(Vs 15.) Don’t do anything that would “destroy” a brother, that is, ruin his spiritual walk. For example, many think it a sin to drink alcohol or to smoke. So if you do these things, be careful who you do them in front of. Likewise, some think it is a sin not to pray before a meal, or not go to church on Sunday. In Paul’s example, don’t flaunt your liberty to eat anything in front of a brother who thinks it’s wrong. (Gal 5:13; I Cor 8:7-13)

 

(Vs 16.) What is “your good” in the context of this passage? See similar passages in II Cor 6:3 and Titus 2:5-10. Our good is the wonderful, liberating knowledge of today’s doctrine, found in Paul’s epistles, (Col 1:25,26) and rightly divided from the truth of other ages. Let’s not do anything that would turn people away from it. (Phil 3:17-19)

 

(Vs 17.) Let’s teach and focus on what God is doing (things of the Holy Ghost), not on what people are eating, drinking, etc (things of the flesh. I Cor 8:8). That is how to enjoy righteousness, peace and joy, (Gal 5:22,23; Eph 5:9; Phil 4:8,9) and ….

 

(Vs 18.) …. how our labor will be acceptable to God (I Cor 3:7-15; II Cor 5:9,10 ; I Tim 2:2,3) and how to get along with our brothers. (II Tim 2:14-16; II Cor 4:1,2)

 

(Vs 19.) Let’s help each other understand and apply the scripture, keeping private opinions and religious traditions out. (II Tim 2:22,23; Titus 1:14) That is how to edify one another, and come into the unity of the faith. (Eph 4:12-16) If we patiently teach how to rightly divide the word of truth (II Tim 2:2,24,25), brothers will come to understand the liberty we have in this age, and then many things will no longer be sin to them, or a cause for strife.

 

(Vs 20.) Don’t use your liberty if it will “destroy (upset) the work of God” (your brother’s spiritual growth). “All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.” (ICor 10:23-33) “All things indeed are pure; (I Tim 4:4) but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.” See Titus 1:15 and I Cor 8:5-7.

Today God does not command every detail of life as in the Old Testament age. Instead He wants us to make good decisions for ourselves based on His thinking, (His Spirit, I Cor 2:12-16; II Cor 10:5). But not all brothers understand or believe this liberty, and so they still live under the condemnation of the old law system, (Rom 3:19; II Cor 3:9) and religious tradition.

 

(Vs 21.) Don’t use your liberty if it will lead a brother to sin by going against his conscience, or by causing doubt and dissention which turn people off. (I Cor 10:23-33)

 

(Vs 22.) “Hast thou faith?” If you have faith in God’s word for today, rightly divided from truth of other ages, then you have liberty. (Gal 5:1,13) You know you do not live under any of the laws of Exodus -Deuteronomy, (Rom 6:14; Gal 3:24,25) or any religious rules. Nothing is forbidden, but lots of things are not good for us. (I Cor 6:12) We have freedom to choose, knowing we will reap what we sow in life. (Gal 6:7,8)

But, that liberty is between you and God. Don’t expect everybody else to understand or share your freedom. (Rom 14:5b; Gal 6:4) Be happy and thankful if you can live without self-condemnation. (Rom 8:1,2)

 

(Vs 23.) “And he that doubteth is damned (counted wrong by God) if he eat, because he eateth not of faith”. This is talking about how to please God, not about being sent to hell. To please God, always do what you understand from scripture to be right, regardless of what others say or do. That’s walking by faith, and that’s what God is looking for. (II Cor 5:7; Heb 11:6)

     “For whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” This is a great definition of sin in our dispensation. (Notice how different it is from I John 3:4 in a future dispensation of the law! Jer 31:31-34) Sin is anything that is motivated by something other than faith in God’s word!! Whenever I go my own way, I sin. (Is 53:6) What a great need we have for His word, for that is how we learn His way. (Is 55:8,9) When we “walk in the Spirit” (Gal 5:16), we think with the mind of Christ. (I Cor 2:12-16; Rom 8:5-11). In other words, we think with a mind renewed by the word of God (Rom 12:1,2&10:17; Eph 4:22-24), instead of fulfilling the lusts of our flesh. (Eph 2:3)