A LIBERTY THAT IS CHARITABLE
#066 A LIBERTY THAT IS CHARITABLE
Scripture Romans 14:1-23, NIV Orig. Date 11/25/62
Rewr. Dates 8/31/85
Passage: Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.’”[b]
12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.
19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.
22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.[c]
Purpose: Continuing the series from Romans, showing that true liberty is that that is based in love.
Keywords: Bible Study Law Liberty
Timeline/Series: Romans
Introduction
We today assume so much liberty from the dictates of others that we fail to realize what an issue this has been historically. Huldrych Zwingli, pre-reformation theologian of central Europe, left a thirty-page treatise (2 hours) on choice and free use of foods. He concluded with sixteen points of concern.
- The general gathering of Christians may accept for themselves fasts and abstinence from foods, but not set these up as a common and everlasting law.
- For God says, Deuteronomy 4:2, “You shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish aught from it.”
V. This is shown by the sanctification of both Testaments. The Old is sprinkled and sanctified by the blood of animals, but the New with the blood of the Everlasting God, for Christ thus spake: This is the cup of my blood of a new and everlasting [covenant]
VII. How dare a man add to the testament, to the covenant of God as though he would better it?
IX. Paul says, Romans 8:8: “Owe no man anything but to love one another.”
X. Again, Galatians 5:1: “Stand fast therefore in the freedom wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
XI. If he is to be cursed who preaches beyond what Paul preached and if Paul nowhere preached the choice of food, then he who dares command this is worthy of a curse.
XII. If we are not bound by any law but the law of love, and if freedom as to food injures not the love of one’s neighbor, in case this freedom is rightly taught and understood, then we are not subject to this commandment or law.
These points have forced me to think that the church officers have not only no power to command such things, but if they command them, they sin greatly; for whoever is in office and does more than he is commanded, is liable to punishment (20 Cen. IIp123).
Sadly, five years later Zwingli helped to find Felix Manz guilty, under penalty of death by drowning, for preaching against infant baptism and rebaptizing.
I. The Law of Liberty. V10 “But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” The Law of Liberty addresses various themes.
Substance—about food and drink. V2 “For one believes that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.” It is wrong to judge those who do more than we, or to hold contempt for those who do less. Matthew 15:17, “What goes in at the mouth defileth not the man.” I Corinthians 6:12, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient.”
Servants—To what degree do we deride other believers for being different?—the Amish for their clothing and buggies; Adventists for their understanding of the 7th day. Such considerations are extended to believers only. We don’t compromise belief.
Seasons—On what basis do we decide what days are special? Holidays, we sanctify. Special family days, we honor. Many disdain religious days. Colossians 2:16, “Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink, or in regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths.” Don’t worship a day, but don’t fail to exercise its worth.
The Law of Liberty reminds us that our first consideration is in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Colossians 2:6, “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” Eat out of regard for the Lord. Treat others as you would have them treat you. Use every day, Sabbath and otherwise, as an obedient servant. V8, “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.”
If preaching, do so with the Lord in view. If helping to rear a family; if cutting grass; if presiding over a Senate committee; or if canning a jar of preserves: Do all these things with the Lord in view.
The Law of Liberty reminds us that we will not be judged on the basis of substance, servants, and seasons. V10, “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, for it is written, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’” I45.
II. The Law of Love. V15, “Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.”
It testifies of relationship to those who behave differently. But from a Christian perspective, their difference is not a moral defect. In Paul’s day the issue centered around food (offered to idols). Today it is more around alcohol. The real issue is concern. The object of relationship issues more from love than belief. Paul advocates liberty, but only love can interpret it with meaning.
It testifies of resolution. V17, “The Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” The kingdom is spiritual, such pronouncements issued should be also. Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” It is a defined kingdom. Of righteousness, it is a kingdom with not just moral direction but with deliverance from sin, overt and covert. Of peace, it is a kingdom of peace with God; Romans 5:1, “. . . having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Carlyle Marney, in his book, Peace! Peace!, says: “The claims of our Lord set a man against himself, I discover. They split him down the middle. They make him schizoid. Once he faces up to the claims of Christ he is divided, he is at war, until surrender. He can never be justified by what he does: his new gadgets, his nursery rhyme creeds, his one-eyed philosophies, his mudpie civilization, his kindergarten councils. He can be justified only in himself, and his justification begins only when he is a man of peace, and his peace comes only when he surrenders to the Source of peace against which he fights.”
It testifies of responsibility. V19, “. . . let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.” The “things” were already mentioned in verse 17. The Christian life is to be conditioned on such assertions. Those who are strong in faith are to give ground, in spite of their liberty.
V22, “Do you have faith?” Is your faith in Christ sufficient for this kind of ordering? The word “damned” is misleading. The Greek word kekritai means “condemned” and implies faith was not a factor in decision. Thus, liberty will limit itself by love.
Conclusion
The simplest way to define sin is to explain it as any act that is contrary to the will of God. God said to Adam, “Thou shalt not eat of it.” The moment he did, he sinned. It was an act in direct contradiction to God’s revealed will. Jesus taught of sins of the heart: hate, adultery, etc. He taught that intention to sin is the same as the sin itself. Anything that hurts other people is sin. James wrote of it this way, “. . . to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” As a Christian, all we do is before the face of God. To act without consideration of his presence is sin. If the Lord would not give His approval to my conduct, then my action or my attitude is wrong.