Romans Chapter 14– John Karmelich

1. My title for this chapter is, “It is not our job to fix them”.

a) The issue at hand is dealing with other Christians. If there is one thing to get out of this lesson, it is the idea that on “debate” issues (i.e., things that are not blatant sin issues), it is not the job of Christians to fix other Christians. That job is God’s and His alone.

b) If people have given their life to serve Christ, then that means God, and not us, have taken over their lives. We are to let God take over their lives, not us.

2. Now that I’ve just tried to fix you with that comment, ☺welcome to a study of Romans 14.

a) We are continuing our study of the third section of the Book of Romans.

b) The first part of Romans, which is chapters 1-8, deal with God’s unconditional promises to the believing Christian. The second part of Romans, which is chapters 9-11, deal with God’s unconditional promises to the Nation of Israel. Chapters 12-15, the third part, deal with our response back to God. It is the Christian saying, “OK, I believe all this stuff, about Jesus and my salvation. Now what do I do?”

c) The methodology for these chapters has to do with “turning things over to God”. Giving one’s life to Jesus is more than a single moment vow. It is a lifetime commitment. It is about telling God He is in charge of our lives, and not us. It is initially about accepting Jesus’ payment for our sins. Then it is a moment-by-moment decision to let God take over our lives. The secret of living the Christian life is letting the power of God work through us in order to live the life as described here in Romans.

i) Chapter 12 was the start of this section. It laid out the methodology for living the Christian life. The key sentence was “Present your body as a living sacrifice” (Ref.: Romans 12:1). It is the idea of regularly realizing God is in charge of our lives and we are not. It is about going forth and living a life that is pleasing to God based on obedience to His commandments. In a sense, the rest of Romans is commentary and examples of what it means to live a life pleasing to God.

ii) The remainder of Chapter 12 dealt with examples as such. As I stated in the last lesson, this ranged from loving one’s enemies to being hospitable to people around us. It is about being a good witness to those around us.

iii) Chapter 13 dealt with issues that are beyond our control. The prime example was dealing with government leaders. There are things we as Christians cannot change. The point is about having a good attitude about things that are beyond our control that we have to deal with in our lives.

3. All of this leads to Chapter 14: Dealing with other Christians. This chapter focuses on dealing with Christians who we may not like or simply disagree with at any given moment.

a) In some ways, this is the most difficult assignment for our ego. It’s one thing to love those we love around us (i.e., Romans Chapter 12). It is another thing to accept the things we cannot change (i.e., Romans Chapter 13). Now Paul is asking us in Chapter 14 to be loving to the person we can’t stand in church every Sunday. ☺

b) It is almost as if our ego is saying “Well, if I have to let go my control of my selfish desires to do the things in Romans Chapter 12, can I at least complain about things I cannot control like those listed in Chapter 13? For example, if I have to put other’s needs in front of my own (i.e., Chapter 12), can I (my ego speaking) still complain about those rotten politicians that run my government? The answer is no, as discussed in Romans 12-13.

i) Our ego is continuing into Chapter 14: “If I have to submit to the government as stated in Chapter 13, can I still complain about that Christian sitting in the next pew that lives differently than me? Obviously, I’m a more spiritual Christian than they are. Can’t I have to right to criticize them behind their back?” ☺

ii) The answer to the last question is no. That gets me back to my opening remark about “it is not our job to fix them”. If God has taken over their lives, it is God’s job to work on them as it is God’s job to work on you. We have enough of our own problems to work out without meddling into someone else’s problems.

4. Let me add a few additional thoughts here: The issue of the moment is not “sin”, but debatable Christian issues. Paul will give us several examples of such in Chapter 14.

a) When it comes to dealing with sin in the church, I like the “Matthew 18” model to deal with that issue. Jesus said when a fellow believer sins against you, privately bring up the issue to them. If they refuse to repent, then approach them again with two or three witnesses. That way, it is not your word against theirs. If they refuse to change at that point, then “tell the church”. If they refuse to change at that point, then that person should be kicked out of your church. (Reference Matthew 18:15-17, paraphrased).

i) Notice in this model, Jesus teaches us how to deal with sin in the church. It does not mean we are to be the “sin police”. Jesus is focusing on when someone sins directly against you. This model has nothing to do with meddling.

ii) I mention all of this because the focus of Romans 14 is “anti-meddling”. The focus is on debatable Christian issues and not sin itself.

5. One thing that crossed my mind that I haven’t brought up since Romans Chapter 1 is, “Why are these issues brought up in this book?” Why would Paul write to the Romans on this issue in far greater detail than say, other churches?

a) Part of the reason is that when Paul wrote to the Romans, he had never been there. It may be that Paul taught these issues wherever he went. Because Paul had never visited the Roman church, he lays out far greater details as he has not had a chance to preach out these issues prior to writing a letter. In other words, Paul could have discussed these issues to other churches and never felt the need to write it all out in such detail.

b) Another issue is Rome is the center of the Roman Empire. Paul may have been motivated to go into greater detail in this letter as the church in that city has an opportunity to have a greater impact on the world than any other city of that time.

c) Given all of this, the Book of Romans not only spends a lot of chapters explaining Christianity and what “salvation” entails, but spends a lot of chapters explaining what we as Christians are asked to do in response to God’s love toward us.

d) Paul is asking the Roman-Christian to make an impact to the world around him. Paul is indirectly asking us as Christians to impact to the world around us.

i) The methodology is the key. It is about “presenting God our bodies as living sacrifices”. Once we “let go” for God, He can then work through us in order to have an impact on the world around us. That includes loving one another. That includes submission to government. In Chapter 14, that includes loving the fellow Christian we may not be too crazy about.

6. Jesus said non-Christians would know we are Christians by our love for one another. (Ref.: John 13:35.) If the outside world sees us bickering all the time, why would they want to join us?

a) “The problem with Christians is we organize our firing squads in circles.” Chuck Missler.

i) The point of that quote is we spend an inordinate amount of time infighting and hurting one another.

ii) Does this mean church problems should be swept under the rug? No. It means we deal with each other in a loving way. It means we are civil when we deal with debatable issues.

7. The main point to get across from this whole introduction is how to deal with Christians who we disagree with. Again, it is not about sin, it is about debatable issues. It is about seeing other Christians whose relationship with God is different from ours. The point is not to “fix” them.

a) Now I can get off my soapbox and start Chapter 14. ☺

8. Verse 1: Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.

a) Let’s start with the phrase “whose faith is weak”. I’ve yet to meet a veteran Christian who thinks their faith is inferior to others. It is “the other guy or gal” who has the problem. ☺

i) Paul is going to give a couple of examples of “weak faith” in this chapter.

ii) We tend to think of “weak faith” as having doubts about Jesus or God. That topic is never even mentioned in this chapter. Going through periods of doubts is normal even for the most devout Christian. They usually occur when the world around us is falling apart.

iii) The idea of “weak faith” as used by Paul has to do with our actions and attitudes on non-salvation issues. Paul’s first example, beginning in Verse 2 is about vegetarians versus meat-eaters. We’ll discuss that in a moment. My point here is that what we normally think of “weak faith” is different from Paul’s illustrations in this chapter.

b) The next point of Verse 1 is “without passing judgment on disputable matters”.

i) In a sense, much of Chapter 14 is commentary on this command.

ii) There are several examples in this chapter as to what is “disputable”. The focus on this chapter is our attitude in dealing with disputable issues.

iii) The problem is our ego wants us to “fix” those around us. Naturally, our view is right and everyone else’s is wrong. ☺ Therefore, we want to fix other Christians to conform to our view of Christianity.

c) There is a classical Christian cliché that I’ll paraphrase, “In essentials, clarity, in all other things, charity”. The idea behind that saying is that when it comes to Christian fundamentals, no debate is allowed. When it comes to debatable issues, we are to disagree, agreeably.

i) So, what are the essentials? Most versions of “The Apostle’s Creed” that one sees in a Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox Church would define the essentials. A creed is simply a list of beliefs. The main idea is the belief that Jesus is Lord, He is the Son of God, and He died for our sins and rose again. It is the belief in the trinity, the resurrection, and probably a few other obvious things I can’t think of for the moment. ☺ My point here is that other than the essentials, the rest is debate and Christians should debate it peacefully.

ii) To put it another way, we should not think other Christians are going to hell nor are inferior Christians because their views on non-essential issues are different than others. Just about every Christian believes the views of their denomination are the right one, or they wouldn’t belong to that church. The point Paul is getting at is to avoid spending time arguing over issues that are not solvable by debate.

9. Verse 2: One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.

a) Paul’s first example of “weak in faith” is someone who is a vegetarian.

b) It is best to explain this illustration historically: At that time, most meat that was sold in the marketplace was animals sacrificed to pagan gods. The “leftovers” of the animals were then sold in the marketplace. Given that, many Christians of that day would not eat such meat because it was offered to idols.

i) One could just hear the Christian of that day saying, “I’m a superior Christian to others because I wouldn’t touch that meat that was offered to a false God”.

ii) There is also the issue of the meat being “kosher” for Jewish-Christians. There were certain types of animals that were forbidden to be eaten by Jews and animals must only be slaughtered a certain way (removal of the blood). Paul might also have that in mind for the case of Jewish converts to Christianity.

c) Let me try to paraphrase Paul’s view on food here: Paul’s view is that we are saved by our trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin. We can’t be “more saved” by maintaining a certain type of diet. The purpose of food is to give us good nutrition so we can be healthy and live a good life. We can’t get more spiritual by avoiding certain food groups.

i) Does this mean Jewish people who become Christians can eat what they want? That is another debate issue. Many Jewish-Christians still obey the Old Testament food laws only to remember God’s unconditional promises to the Jewish nation. If they do it solely with that in mind, it could be acceptable. To eat “kosher” thinking they are more spiritual would be as Paul puts it, “weak in the faith”.

ii) Along the same line, if someone chooses to be a vegetarian for health reasons, that’s fine too. The issue is our attitude towards Christians who eat differently than us. Getting back to the opening theme, it is not our job to fix others.

iii) “But I want to fix the person next to me! Can’t you see how wrong they are?” ☺ The point is if they are seeking God, it is His job to mature them, not ours.

10. Verse 3: The 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.

a) Notice the two-sided-sword of this verse:

i) The one who eats everything must not condemn the Christian who does not.

ii) The one who is a “picky-eater” must not condemn the Christian who eats all.

b) Why? Look at the last phrase of Verse 3: “for God has accepted him.”

i) In other words, if God has accepted him or her, why have we rejected them?

ii) The mistake many Christian churches make is we ask people to “clean up their act” prior to joining the church. That is what Paul is preaching against. The food illustration is just an example. The main idea is that God works on maturing believers. It is not our job to fix people whose views are different from ours on Christian debatable-issues.

iii) How do we know God has accepted them? After all, they’re not behaving with the same style as you or me. How do we know they are ok?

a) The answer is to judge their behavior on the essentials. The question is do they believe the fundamental issues of Christianity and does their behavior follow those beliefs.

b) We might respond, “Well yeah, but if they were really Christians, they would act just like us. They would conform to our image, not God’s” ☺

c) This reminds me of a comic strip cartoon: Two Christians walk out of two churches and face each other. One is wearing a t-shirt, short pants and sandals. The other is wearing a three-piece suit. They both have bibles under their arms. They are both looking at the other and thinking, “There, but the grace of God go I”. The idea is that each of them think they are more spiritual than the other guy they are staring at.

11. Verse 4: Who 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.

a) Let’s start with the phrase, “someone else’s servant”.

i) The idea Paul is getting at is each Christian is a servant of God and not each other. The point is no Christian is above or below any other.

ii) If you re-read Verse 4 with that in context, it will make more sense. If you have any doubts that is what Paul is talking about, Verse 9 makes that more clear.

b) The second phrase says, “To his own master he stands or falls”. If God is our master (that is what “Lord” means) then we must be judged by God alone on our actions.

c) This verse is working its way up to Verse 12, where it states that each of us as Christians must give an account of ourselves to God. The point is we are all judged by God. God is more than capable of judging people all by Himself and doesn’t need our help.

d) This gets back to my introduction comment where our ego wants to say, “If I have to love those around me (Chapter 12) and I have to accept things I cannot control (Chapter 13), can’t I still be in charge of fixing other Christians? (Chapter 14). The answer is no. Christianity is all about turning every aspect of our lives over to God. That includes the desire to “fix” other Christians around us.

i) Wait a minute John. Didn’t you say in the last lesson that the main purpose of Christianity is to “build up the body of Christ”? Don’t we all have spiritual gifts to help mature each other? How can we help other Christians unless we fix them? That’s a good question. I’m so glad you brought that up! ☺

ii) There is a big difference between helping one who wants help and trying to fix someone not asking for help. Just as God gives us free will and doesn’t step in until we ask Him, so should our attitude be toward other Christians. Remember we’re dealing with non-sin issues, which are “debatable” issues. What one eats is a prime example of debatable issues.

iii) The issue at hand is to distinguish between helping and meddling.

e) This leads to the final phrase of Verse 4: “The Lord is able to make him stand.”

i) In other words, God is more than capable of fixing the person sitting next to you in church. God is big enough to handle their issues as well as yours.

ii) If God has called us into the Christian family, then God loves us too much to leave us alone. He wants to mature us and prepare us for eternity with Him. That is why the word “salvation” is sometimes used as a synonym for Christian maturity. Growing in our faith toward God is about trusting Him more every day and turning our will over to His will in every aspect of our lives. One of those aspects is to trust God with the person next to us who also is a Christian.

f) This is a good chapter for Christian couples to study. The biggest problem we all have with our spouses is we want to fix them and have them be more like us. We think our personal model of Christianity is the ideal and theirs is wrong.

i) One of my teacher-mentors told of his martial problems. He credits his wife with single-handedly saving their marriage. She did it by honoring and cherishing her husband as the bible commanded and stopped trying to fix her husband. She said to God in effect, “He is Your problem”. My job is to love Him and I’ll let You deal with Him.” The husband then said, “God and my wife ganged up on me through prayer. I never stood a chance”.

ii) The point is God is big enough to handle the Christian standing next to you. It could be your spouse, a relative, a friend or that obnoxious so-called Christian that you see every Sunday. The point of this sentence in Verse 4 is God is big enough to handle the problem. Our job is to love others and God commands and let God deal with them. If we “gang up on them in prayer” with the right attitude, they don’t stand a chance! ☺

12. Verse 5: One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

a) In Verse 5, we now have the second example of non-essential Christian issues: The first example was meat-eaters versus vegetarians. The second example, here in Verse 5 has to do with one Christian considering one day of the week more sacred than others, while other Christians consider every day special.

b) Before I get into specific debate issues, notice the last phrase of Verse 5. It says, “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” What does that mean? It means you won’t solve this debate by studying the bible. It means that if one Christian thinks, “Sundays are more special than others”, than that view is acceptable. If another Christian thinks, “every day is special to God”, than that view is equally as acceptable. You can’t study the bible supporting an argument that either view is more correct than the other is.

c) This leads to the debate over “when” one goes to church.

i) Many Christians have heard of the denomination called “Seventh Day Adventists”. To summarize their view, they believe that Sunday is a day of rest. One should go church on Saturday and then rest on Sundays. I remember driving past a marquee listing their church service times. The listed three service times on Saturdays and proudly (or jokingly) said, “Sunday service times: Never!”

a) The argument is based on the 10 commandments. One of the commandments (not suggestions!) is that six days we shall work and one day we shall rest.” (Reference: Exodus 20:9-10).

b) The view of that denomination is “resting” includes not going to church.

ii) Another view is that “resting” means going to church and not work. The idea of the Sabbath is to not work when one could. The classic joke is, “Can I mow my lawn on the Sabbath? My response is, “Do you make a living as a gardener?” ☺ The concept of the Sabbath to “rest in God” as opposed to lying in bed all day.

iii) In the book of Acts, there is a single reference to Christians meeting “on the first day of the week” (Acts 20:7). That would be Sunday on a Jewish calendar. It is the idea that Christians get together on the same day Jesus rose from the dead.

iv) My point is one can make an argument for Saturday church, or Sunday church. As for a weekday church service, Paul says here in Verse 5, “another man considers every day alike.” Some Christians have to work weekends (e.g., medical people, policeman, fireman etc.) I don’t have a problem with those who choose to go on another day of the week or even every day of the week.

v) In summary, I want to show some of the reasons why certain Christians choose different days to go to church. The point is what is right for you is not right for me. Another point is we are accountable to God for our actions. If God has put it on our hearts to go on Saturdays instead of Sundays, or vice-versa, it is not our job to “fix” other people. On that issue, they are accountable to God, and not us.

13. Vs. 6: He 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. ⁷ For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. ⁸ If 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.

a) Here, Paul ties both illustrations together. Paul takes the “meat versus vegetarian” debate issue and the “when should we go to church issue” and says in effect, “it is just debate.

b) Notice the phrase that is repeated over and over again in these verses: “to the Lord”.

i) He who regards one day as special does so to the Lord (Verse 6).

ii) He who eats meat, eats to the Lord (Verse 6).

iii) We live to the Lord (Verse 8).

iv) We die to the Lord (Verse 8).

v) We belong to the Lord (Verse 8).

vi) Hopefully you see the pattern. ☺ The issue is not so much what we do in these debatable issues, the key is do we focus our efforts to glorify God in all that we do.

c) Let me explain further the concept of living “to the Lord”.

i) It is like Paul’s illustration of “Present your body as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1).

ii) The idea is that all we do is designed to glorify God. That not only includes “religious things”, but sleep, family time, hobbies, etc.

iii) If we are attempting to live a life pleasing to God, then it doesn’t matter which side of these debate issues we choose. If one believes Jesus died for their sins, and then lives one’s life in gratitude to God based on that belief, then we don’t have to worry about which “route” they chose to follow God on these issues.

d) This comes back to my opening theme of “It’s not our job to fix them”. If we see a committed Christian, then we must let God get the glory for maturing them, and not us.

14. Verse 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 why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.

a) Paul’s next point can be paraphrased as follows: “Look folks, Jesus died and rose again. Part of His role will be to judge all people, saved and unsaved (“dead and the living”). It is Jesus’ job to judge people and not ours. Get off your holier-than-thou horse and let Jesus deal with the judging issue. Last time I checked you have enough problems. “ ☺

i) Jesus said, “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son”. (Ref.: Matthew 5:22a, NIV).

ii) Paul is using the point that Jesus will judge everyone one day as an argument against judging one another.

b) It is important that one understand there are two Greek words for “judgment” being used here. Each is translated differently in this text.

i) One is just translated “judge”. It means to believe one is going to heaven or hell. It is the idea that we, not God decides who is saved and who is not.

a) The other word means to look down upon another person for their behavior. That is the idea conveyed in Verse 10.

ii) The argument against us eternally “judging” is that we can’t read minds. We don’t know who is sincere and who is not. God reads minds, which is why we can pray silently. Therefore, it is fair that God alone decides who gets into heaven.

c) Notice the word “brother” is used two times in these two verses.

i) The word is generic. The idea is that all Christians are equal in God’s eyes. It means that no one Christian is any more or less superior to any other.

d) Another way to look at these verses is to consider the following: When we are being judged by God, do you think He is going to say to us, “By the way, nice job ten years ago when you put down that guy in church for not being spiritual enough?” ☺ Do you think God will say, “I like the way you insulted that person who I love dearly. I’ll just add on an extra bonus room to your mansion for that one!” Of course not. The point is we only are going to give an account for our lives, not for fixing the people around us.

e) It’s time to discuss the concept of “Christian judgment”.

i) There are references throughout the New Testament on this one.

ii) The idea is that the believing Christian gets rewarded based on our behavior on earth. Is that fair? I don’t know. God’s in charge and He makes the rules!

a) If anything, it is an incentive program to live a life pleasing to God.

iii) As to specific’s, the bible is vague on this issue. My personal view is that God holds us accountable based on what information we do know about Him and what gifts, talents and resources He provides for us. We are then rewarded based on how we use all of those assets for God.

iv) If you want further research on this topic, study the word “reward” in the New Testament. There are dozens of references on this issue.

v) Understand that there are two separate judgments in heaven. There is one for believers and one for “everyone else”. Revelation Chapter 20 deals with this issue. These two judgments are a thousand years apart in time. (Ref.: Revelation 20:5)

vi) Believers are judged based what resources and talents God has given us. Our eternal rewards are then based on that judgment. If we are part of this judgment, we cannot go to hell. This judgment is only about one’s eternal rewards.

vii) A thousand years later, nonbelievers are judged on what knowledge they did have about God and how they reacted to that knowledge. (Ref. Revelation 20:11-15).

a) The text does not say whether anyone or everyone goes to heaven or hell in this judgment. The idea of these verses is that every human will be accountable to God based on how they lived their lives.

15. Verse 11: It is written: "`As surely as I live,' says the Lord, `every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.' " ¹² So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

a) Paul is quoting Isaiah 45:23 in Verse 11.

b) Notice the word “every”: It says every knee will bow down before God. I am convinced that when we get resurrected, those without knees will get a pair just to bend them! ☺

i) I don’t know if we will do this simultaneously, or we get in line. ☺

c) The point is everyone will bow before God one day and give an account of ourselves.

i) The next time you want to criticize somebody in church, keep this in mind.

ii) Not only do we have to do this, but the person next to us will be bowing as well.

iii) It’s also not our job to say to that person, “Look, you are going to be accountable to God, so you might as well be more like me and do “x” my way.

d) Notice the word “himself” in Verse 11. We have to give an account of ourselves to God.

i) In other words, we are not going to give an account of the person next to us when we get to heaven. We have to give an account of our own life.