Romans 14 - HAPPY IS THE MAN WHO DOES NOT CONDEMN HIMSELF
Romans 14 - ‘HAPPY IS THE MAN WHO DOES NOT CONDEMN HIMSELF”
Be Blessed with a Happy Conscience
Preached by: Pastor Carolyn
Sissom
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Romans 14:22: “Do you
have faith? Have it to yourself before
God. Happy is he that condemns not
himself in that thing which he allows.” (K.J.V.)
I will be deviating
from my usual teaching pattern of using King James Scripture. I have chosen to use the translation by C.S.
Lovett.
Romans 1: 1-3:”As for the brother who is weak in faith,
make him feel at home in your fellowship and don’t argue with him about his
scruples. You are not called to
straighten out his conscience. One man,
for example, has the faith to eat anything, while the weaker man eats
vegetables only. The man with the
freedom to eat meat should not despise the man that is not that free. The vegetarian, on the other hand, must not
judge the meat eater for God has accepted him.”
Salvation is not in
view here. Paul is comparing
Christians---the strong in faith with the weak in faith. The apostle is instructing them concerning
their attitude toward each other. Not
all believers have the same knowledge of the things of Christ nor the same
faith to appropriate liberty in the Lord.
Therefore, they do not have the same freedom from tradition. In every fellowship there are those whose
consciences will not allow them to do this or that. They have scruples. Then there are those who understand that
Christ has set them free from customs and tradition and they enjoy wide liberty
in the Lord. Their consciences allow
them to do anything they can do as “unto the Lord” (
In the early days of
the church, the matter of eating meat was touchy. Consequently it provided Paul with a good
illustration of what he means by the weaker Christian. A considerable amount of meat sold in the
market place had been slaughtered on pagan altars and offered in heathen
sacrifices. Therefore some Gentile
converts refused to eat it. They felt
it involved them with the idols. Only
those with strong faith in Jesus’ words had the liberty to eat it. Some of the converts from Judaism had similar
scruples about eating meats that were declared unclean in the O.T. To them it was outright disobedience
to do so. They feared it would injure
their fellowship with the Lord if they did.
Until they came to the place where they understood their former customs
and traditions were done away in Christ.
Jesus declared all
food clean. Mark 7:18-19: “And he
said to them, Are you so without understanding also? Do you
not perceive that whatsoever thing from outside enters into the man, it cannot
defile him; Because it enters not into his heart, but into the belly, and goes
out into the draught, purging all meats?
And He said, That which comes out of the man that defiles the man. For from inside, out of the heart of men,
proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness,
wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride,
foolishness: All these evil things come
from inside, and defile the man.”
There are many things a Christian encounters in the course
of a day for which he has only his conscience to guide him. The Bible does not tell us everything we can
or cannot do. Such matters as going to
movies, wearing lipstick, the length of skirts, the length of your hair, your
taste in clothing, etc. are not spelled out for us specifically. So the rule is this: when the Word of God is
silent on a matter, the conscience becomes the VOICE OF GOD to the soul and
acts with the full authority of God. If
a man goes against his conscience, he is rebelling against the rule of God over
his life.
In Paul’s illustration, the weaker brother is the one who
is a vegetarian by conscience. He is not
referring to the man who abstains from meat for health reasons. That is another matter. He is speaking of the man who believes that
eating meat would cause God to be displeased with him.
When a Christian thinks he is more spiritual because of
scruples, he is prone to condemn the brother who walks in liberty. Paul definitely labels him the weaker
Christian. He has yet to see that “every creature of God is good and nothing is
to be rejected.” (1 Tim. 4:4).
The man with liberty is not to despise the man with
scruples, the weaker Christian is not to judge his stronger brother. This is not to give license to unscrupulous
living, but being able to enjoy many things as “unto the Lord,” which the
weaker brother will not allow himself.
Romans 14:4: “Besides,
what right have you to criticize someone else’s servant especially when that
someone else is God? It is not up to you
to say whether a man stands or falls, that’s up to his master. In this case,
the man will stand because his Master has the power to make him stand.”
Paul says you have no right to make a judgment against a
servant of the Lord. Every Christian is
the Lord’s servant. Only Jesus has the
right to judge anyone. Then Paul adds
this fascinating word, “Yea, he shall be
helped up; for God is able to make him stand.” If a person’s master is satisfied with him,
what does it matter if others are not?
It is not only pointless for a weaker brother to pass judgment, it is
dangerous to do so.
In this verse, it appears the Lord is speaking that the stronger brother is guaranteed not to fall in the use of his liberty. The weaker brother has no such guarantee. He is not promised any support to stand in his scruples. He could fall and this verse is in effect, a warning. We see further that the stronger brother is responsible only to the Lord for His actions.
When a church begins to
make rules affecting what believers can eat and drink or any moral trivia, it
is out of line. These matters are
settled between the Lord and the individual Christian.
14:5-6: “One man feels certain days should be set
aside for special worship of God, while another man doesn’t see any difference
between the days. To him, every day
belongs to the Lord. When it comes to
such things as these, let each Christian make up his own mind and settle it
between the Lord and himself. That way,
those who feel the day itself is holy, will keep it as unto the Lord, and those
who feel they can eat anything will eat unto the Lord, for they thank God for
the food. The same is true of the person
who abstains from meat. He too is concerned for Jesus’ Lordship, inasmuch as
he also gives thanks that he can forego certain foods for the Lord’s sake.”
The questions was raised at
Paul Himself had directed that offerings be gathered on the
first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:2). Now
some (weaker ones) said, we must keep the Jewish Sabbath. Others said it was ridiculous to invest any
day with special sacredness because every day belonged to the Lord. Paul said, “Let each Christian make up his own mind about it.” I hear this
argument from time to time now among Christians. The principle of observing one day in seven
as Holy unto the Lord still holds.
I have made up my mind personally and Sunday is the day I
choose for special worship and gathering with the Saints. Yet, I have entered the Sabbath rest of the
Lord and true all days are Holy unto Him.
Those in Christ are removed from the legal and external requirements of
the Law. They are guided by another
principle---the leading of the Holy Spirit.
This is opposite of the position of some institutional churches which
give all authority to the church.
Paul says for the individual to decide, when it comes to
eating meat and keeping days, those are minor matters. Such questions as, “Can I do this? Can I go here or there? How should a believer act in this situation?” All are matters of individual
conscience.
The Lord wants believers to make up their own minds about
such things. Why? So they will mature. The only way he can get us to grow up and be
like Him is to put us on our own for such things. That’s why we are guided by principles rather
than rules. That’s why he leaves so many
things to conscience.
Any parent, teacher, leader or pastor who tells someone
every little thing to do will stunt the growth of the person they are
responsible to disciple. The Lord has
provided us with everything we need for an enlightened conscience---the Word,
the Holy Spirit, and the example of Jesus. He places us in the “valley of decision” free
to follow our conscience. If people have
faith to appropriate their freedom in Christ, they will be free to do many
things.
Without that Faith, the believer will regard the bible as
rule book rather than a revelation. The Bible is a revelation of God’s person
and we should want to emulate Him of our own free will.
Christian liberty is limited to pleasing the Lord. We are not to please ourselves. However, no two Christians set about to
please the Lord in the same way. The
apostle illustrates this by saying, if one brother can eat meat as unto the
Lord, that’s his privilege. If another
brother cannot, that is his privilege.
As long as it is the aim of each to please the Lord.
14: 7-9: The fact is, not a one of us lives as his
own master and not a one of us dies as his own master. While we’re alive, we live as the Lord’s
servants. And when we die, we die as the
Lord’s servants. That’s why Jesus died
and returned to life again so that He could be the Lord of both the dead and
the living.”
As Christians, we don’t embrace a cut and dried faith that
fits us into an act-alike, think-alike, dress-alike, eat-alike, live-alike
model. We are free to think for
ourselves and approach God any way we live.
We can be what we want to be before the Lord and we don’t have to copy
anyone else’s prayers. Yet we learn from
Verse 7, that our individualism is to be regulated by the Lordship of
Christ. We are not the masters of our
own lives. We cannot arrogantly say,
“It’s my life” – “I did it my way”. The
fact is the Lord bought us with His own blood and we are His. He is the Master now, not ourselves. It is the clearly defined will of God that we
should be conformed to the image of His Son.
We are obliged to follow the example of our Master.
Our service to Jesus doesn’t stop when we die. It continues into the next realm. How did Jesus acquire this absolute
Lordship. He died to purchase (redeem)
us (1 Cor. 6:20). On that basis, He has
the right to demand whatever He pleases from us. He is Lord on both sides of the grave. By His resurrection, He proved that there is
no such things as death to the person.
Jesus’ resurrection guarantees His rule over us throughout
eternity. We are His servants now---and
forever! If Jesus is absolute Lord over
our lives, who but He has the right to tell us how to live? So, if a weak brother or a strong
brother, insists that their way of
living is the rule for all the rest of us, he trespasses the Lordship of
Jesus. He is assuming a privilege that
belongs to Jesus alone. Either the one
with liberty, or the one of the
law, transgresses into a religious
spirit if they judge and impose their beliefs on one another.
14:10-12: “You there, why do you judge your brother?
And you over there, why do you despise your brother? One day, every single one of us will
personally stand before the judgment seat of God. Then will be fulfilled what we read in
Scripture: As I live, says the
Lord, everybody will kneel before Me, and everybody will confess that I am
God!”
So
you see, each one of us must give an account of himself to God. He is the One to Whom we must all answer.”
In that day when we stand before the Lord your opinion of
me won’t make any difference, and neither will my opinion of you. All that will matter is what Jesus thinks of
us. At this judgment, the secrets of
men’s hearts will be laid bare. Then it
will be seen that only the Lord Jesus can render a proper judgment. Only He knows our motives and the secrets of
our hearts.
We are forbidden to regard one another with contempt. It is not even to be in our hearts. Contempt is the fruit of pride.
There are two thrones of judgment:
- Judgment Seat of Christ – Believers (2
Cor. 5:10)
- Great White Throne Judgment –
Unbelievers (Rev. 20:11)
A Christian’s sin is not judged at the Judgment Seat of
Christ. Sin is judged at
The Judge will be Jesus. (John 5:22) “The Father judges no man but has committed all judgments unto the Son.”
Verse 12: “So then every one of us shall give account
of himself to God.”
1 John 2:28: “And
now, little children, abide in Him; that, when he shall appear, We have
confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.”
14: 13-14: “In view of the judgment of God, let’s put
an end to judging one another. If we
must judge, let’s judge ourselves and make sure we don’t do anything to cause a
brother to stumble or fall in his Christian walk. And yet as I say that, I know and am
persuaded by the Lord Jesus Himself that there is nothing in all of God’s
creation that is unclean of itself.
Still, if a man believes something is evil and will damage his
fellowship with the Lord, he’s right---it will.”
In view of
the coming judgment, says Paul, Christians must stop judging one another for
such moral trivia as food and drink. But
there is something Christian’s should judge---that they don’t put a stumbling
block in the path of a weaker brother or cause him to fall. Believers should be stepping stones to
maturity, rather than hindrances.
Trouble makers look for a crack to cause trouble. Trouble makers enjoy the attention they get
from stirring up trouble.
A strong Christian may feel the liberty to do many
things. However, he is not to be guided
solely by his own thoughts in the matter.
He must also be guided by what his actions produce in the mind of his
weaker brother. Christianity did away
with the ceremonial requirements of Judaism.
The old distinctions between clean and unclean meats don’t exist any
more.
Jesus fulfilled all of the Law,
We can cripple weaker Christians if we cause them to
stumble or make him fall. A believer
stumbles when the sheer force of his brother’s example causes him to do what
his conscience tells him is wrong.
The apostle then states the truth that nothing is unclean
of itself. He arrives at this conclusion
–by knowledge (I know and am persuaded).
To walk in Christian liberty requires knowledge and conviction
(persuaded by the Lord). Paul is speaking
of ceremonial (religious) uncleanness, not moral uncleanness.
The apostle is referring to those neutral matters such as
customs and traditions, i.e. amusements, what is proper dress, etc.
14: 15-16: “Therefore if you know a brother feels that
way about something you are eating, and you go ahead and eat it anyway, you are
not acting out of love. How can it
possibly be right to use your freedom to damage someone for whom Christ died? If you do that, you are taking something that
is good, as far as you are concerned, and making it look like evil to someone
else.
In this church, women have the liberty to wear pants to
minister the gospel, stand behind the pulpit and preach the gospel as well as
minister to both male and female.
However, there are those churches that do not operate in that
liberty. When I go to one of those
churches, I submit to their rules. Nor
do I impose my liberty on their conscience.
We are to handle our freedom in such a way that it doesn’t become an
object of scorn.
We are obliged to display tender concern so as not to
injure a weaker brother. We are not to
flaunt our liberty to injure others. If
we do, our liberty becomes a religious spirit which is not any different that
those who are in bondage to the law, traditions, customs and rules.
14: 17-18: “After all the
So let’s set our hearts on those things which make for
peace in the fellowship and strengthen one another in the faith. What Christian really wants to tear down the work
of God in a brother over a dish of food?
While it’s true that everything is pure in itself, anything can become
evil when a stronger brother uses it to cause a weaker brother to stumble. Therefore it is a Godly thing to abstain from
meat or wine or anything else that would hurt a brother or sister.
Do you have the faith to do things which others can’t do
and still have a happy conscience? That
wonderful. But if you want to continue
in that blessedness, make sure your actions do not go beyond your convictions. And don’t flaunt your freedom before a
brother who doesn’t have your convictions.
Keep your happy conscience to yourself and God. On the other hand, the man whose conscience
questions the rightness of what he is about to do should stop at once. If he proceeds with doubt in his mind, he
will condemn himself. He is then acting
from a bad conscience and not from faith.
Any action not based on faith is sinful.
Preached by: Pastor
Carolyn Sissom
Paraphrased from C.S. Lovett’s Lights on Romans. Comments and conclusions are my own and not
meant to reflect the views of those from whom I glean.
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