Sunday School Notes: Romans 14:21-23

²¹ It is good not to eat meat, nor to drink wine, nor [to do anything] in which your brother takes offense. ²² The faith which you have, keep to yourself before God. Blessed is the one who does not judge himself by what he approves. ²³ But the one who doubts, if he eats, he is condemned, for [it is] not out of faith; and everything that is not out of faith is sin.

Paul has just reiterated his agreement with the “strong”: all thing are clean. In Christ, we have freedom to eat whatever food, to celebrate (or not celebrate) the Jewish feast days. In other words, Christian liberty allows us to do anything within the bounds of the Moral Law. However, Paul says it is evil–not just “bad”–to do something you know will cause unnecessary offense to a brother. With secondary issues, we need to be sensitive to the convictions of others.

Paul goes on in verse 21 to underscore this point: if it causes your brother to stumble, or take offense, then it’s good not to eat meat, drink wine, or… In the Greek, the list is open-ended, with the intention of including anything else the reader might think of that might cause offense to a brother. In our culture, eating meat may or may not be an issue, though drinking wine could certainly be a matter of conscience within the church. To that list we could add dancing, playing cards, watching movies, or any number of things that might present problems to other believers. This doesn’t mean we should allow the conscience of others to dictate what we do; the key part of Paul’s statement is “in which your brother takes offense.” As he stated before, if you know a certain practice offends your brother and you do it anyway, that’s evil.

The next statement from Paul is, I think, very interesting. The instruction to keep “the faith which you have… to yourself before God” applies to both the “weak” and the “strong.” I don’t think “faith” here (pistis in the Greek) refers to the gospel; if it did, Paul would be discouraging evangelism by telling his readers to keep it to themselves! Rather, I think “faith” in this context refers to their convictions–those things they believe strongly, even though they are of secondary importance. He’s saying that it’s fine to have your convictions, but it’s more important that you have those convictions before God than you flaunt them in front of weaker brethren. In other words, it’s better to keep your convictions to yourself than cause a brother to stumble. Again, it’s not that these convictions can’t be expressed or discussed; we just need to be mindful of those who have strong beliefs to the contrary, and make sure such discussions are respectful with a view to edification. Otherwise, it’s better to keep them between you and the Lord.

A sub-text to what Paul is saying here is, I think, that our convictions need to be biblically-based, such that we feel confident before the Lord about them. If we’re going to hold to a position that strongly, then we need to be sure that we’re not just relying on tradition or personal preference. So many church split happen over petty differences of opinion with very little reference to the Word of God. While Paul clearly advocates tolerance even toward those whose convictions are mere matters of tradition or preference, I think he is also admonishing those who hold their convictions based on such shaky ground to stop and think through what they believe.

“Blessed is the one who does not judge himself by what he approves.” By this I think Paul is saying that the one who holds to such a conviction, based on Scripture, shouldn’t feel brow-beaten into submission by his opponents. If he is convinced of his view, then he should hold that view and not feel guilty about it. If your sanctified conscience is at peace before God that the position you hold is thoroughly biblical, then don’t allow the name-calling, or mockery of others shake you. Certainly, let others try to convince you otherwise through respectful dialog and Bible study; but never feel compelled to change your view just because you are bullied into it. Indeed, a state of true “happiness,” or “blessing” comes when there is harmony and peace between brethren despite disagreements on secondary issues.

This, I think, ties in with verse 23: “But the one who doubts, if he eats, he is condemned, for [it is] not out of faith; and everything that is not out of faith is sin.” Taking the issue of eating meat as an example, Paul says that if the vegetarian eats meat, not out of a conviction that he is free in Christ to do so, but because he feels pressured into it, then he has sinned. He is violating his conscience before God. Again, I think “faith” here continues the sense of “conviction,” not gospel. He is not following his conscience on these issues, and by allowing himself to be coerced into going against his conscience, he brings condemnation upon himself. Notice Paul doesn’t let either side off the hook: it is sin both to provoke your brother to go against his convictions, and for that brother to allow himself to be provoked against his convictions.

When Paul says “everything that is not out of faith is sin,” is he saying that everything that doesn’t come from a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ is sin? In this context, again, I think “faith” refers to one’s personal conviction on these secondary issues. However, we should remember that Paul is addressing Christians, so he is assuming a common conviction that Christ is Lord, and he is the author and perfecter of their faith. Everything we do comes from who we are in Christ, and it’s only because we are Christians that anything we do has redemptive value. A non-Christian doing good works doesn’t earn him any favors with God. Indeed, he is merely pouring condemnation on himself by the fact that he is borrowing Christian morality (how else would he determine what a “good work” is?), while at the same time denying the God who gave him the ability to discern right and wrong! The Christian, however, lives to please God, and so whatever he does comes out of that relationship, whether it’s eating meat, or not eating meat; observing feast days, or not observing feast days, and so on. Paul touched on this back in verse 6: “The one observing the day observes for the Lord…”

Within the context of Romans 14, however, I think Paul is emphasizing the need for Christians to follow their sanctified consciences, and neither bully one another into conformity, nor conform because they are being bullied. Both are sinful. Our convictions need to be grounded in the Word of God, and we need not be ashamed to hold them. But we need to love and respect one another to allow for differences of opinion, and find ways to discuss these issues as brethren in Christ, for the glory of the Lord and the unity of the church.

Next time, Lord willing, we’ll start chapter 15!