Romans 14 Commentary
The world teaches strength, resilience, and resolve. The weak guys fall off. There is no club for the weak. The winner takes all.
A well-tutored individual survives but will definitely find this chapter bony! The world’s lessons aren’t scriptural and the saint must unlearn many of them to flow in the Spirit. In an argument at church, the winner (the right one) must curve in and take the place of the loser.
You don’t walk away with a trophy, rather, you take the slave’s position and begin to massage the looser. They shouldn’t be stumbled by your excellence!
Of course, the subject here has nothing to do with sin. There are items we argue about that have little substance in them to warrant fear for one’s position in Heaven. Paul has previously presented us with more serious items. They all constitute a failure to come under the lordship of Jesus and His rule by the Spirit. You immediately know you are out there alone and out of Heaven’s guest list.
Arguments about food and observance of certain rituals don’t have to be sources of conflict. If however any one of us feels strongly about these useless items, we are commanded to let the weaker brother win the battle. Christ paid a huge price for their freedom.
The scripture also makes the point that none of us reports to any other human. We all have one Master, the LORD Jesus Christ. It shouldn’t be our business to flog the erring brother for supposed or imagined sins. Yes, don’t flog them but also don’t behave in a way that makes your brother feel judged and ‘flogged’.
“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.” Verse 14. This is where context becomes everything! The scripture has a list of things in mind. “Nothing” in the verse above refers to the list of items under discussion. It is never a reference to all things, including greediness or sexual immorality! The thought that an individual decides what is right or wrong based on their feelings is both sinful and blasphemous. You aren’t your own God. The Holy Spirit is the STANDARD!
A world that is driven and governed by feelings is dangerously wicked. “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” “Eating and drinking” are matters of emotions – what we like. It is all about righteousness. The LORD God determines what is right and what is wrong by His Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Jesus.
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