Romans · chapter 14 of 16
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Romans 14 teaches how to live together in the church when believers hold different convictions about food and special days. Paul asks us to welcome the one who is weak in faith without quarreling over opinions, not to despise or judge a fellow believer, to live for the Lord and not to cause anyone to stumble. The kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, and whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
The church in Rome gathered believers of Jewish and Gentile background who did not always agree on what could be eaten or which days to observe. Chapter 14 applies the love of chapter 13 to those differences and is one of the most useful texts in the New Testament for handling disagreements over nonessential matters.
Paul asks that the one who is weak in faith be welcomed, not for quarrels over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. The one who eats must not despise the one who abstains, and the one who abstains must not pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls, and the Lord is able to make him stand.
One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each should be fully convinced in his own mind, and each acts in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself: whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For this purpose Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. We will all stand before the judgment seat of God, and each will give an account of himself.
Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but resolve not to put a stumbling block in a brother's way. Paul is persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. If your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love; do not destroy by your food the one for whom Christ died. The kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Let us pursue what makes for peace and mutual upbuilding. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Paul asks us to welcome the one who is weak in faith without quarreling over opinions. To welcome means to truly receive, not merely tolerate from a distance, and differences of conviction must not become a reason for division.
Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. The principle that holds up the whole chapter is that believers live for Christ, which puts personal preferences in perspective and feeds mutual respect.
The kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. What is essential in the Christian life lies not in secondary questions but in what the Spirit produces in the community.
Paul says to pursue what makes for peace and mutual upbuilding. Instead of winning an argument, the believer asks what helps his brother grow.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Welcome him, without quarreling over opinions. — Romans 14:1
Answer: The one who eats must not despise the one who abstains, and the one who abstains must not pass judgment on the one who eats. — Romans 14:3
Answer: For the Lord: whether he lives or dies, he is the Lord's. — Romans 14:7-8
Answer: Before the judgment seat of God, where each will give an account of himself. — Romans 14:10-12
Answer: Not food and drink but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. — Romans 14:17
Answer: Whatever does not proceed from faith. — Romans 14:23
Romans 14 is a very useful text for churches and small groups. Some convictions are central and others are debatable, and Paul teaches us to tell them apart: the gospel is not negotiable, but preferences about styles, customs or days can coexist. You can ask in which secondary matters we have treated fellow believers with contempt or judgment.
The chapter also encourages us to put love ahead of freedom. Sometimes giving up something permitted for another's good is a way of following Christ, who did not please himself.
Romans 14 teaches us to live with differences without judging or causing a stumble. Romans 15 continues the same theme, offers the example of Christ, who did not seek to please himself, and describes Paul's missionary plans.
The text does not name them precisely. The weak were probably those who kept scruples about certain foods and special days, perhaps of Jewish background, and the strong were those who understood that in Christ there is freedom. Paul identifies with the position of the strong but asks the strong to care for the weak.
No. It deals with secondary questions on which Scripture does not bind us. On the gospel and clearly taught conduct, Paul is firm in the rest of this letter and in his other letters. Wisdom consists in distinguishing the essential matters from the debatable ones.
In context it means that acting against one's own conscience is sin, even if what is done is not wrong in itself. Paul asks each person to be convinced before God and that no one push another to do something while doubting.