Romans chapter 14

by Keith Simons. Free online Bible course and commentary from the Useful Bible Study Centre.

Christians who are weak in faith

(Romans 14:1)

Paul has just explained how we should deal with our own weaknesses (13:14). His next subject is how we should deal with the weaknesses of other Christians.

He describes a man who is weak in faith. Faith means belief and trust in God; therefore, this man is not trusting God properly. The man is weak in faith, but he is not completely without faith; therefore the man does seem to be a genuine Christian. So, Paul tells Rome’s Christians that they should accept this man as a member of their church. God has accepted this man, so they should accept him too. The man is weak, so they must deal with him kindly, gently and patiently. However, they must not allow him constantly to argue with them, or to teach in their church. In these matters, they must be firm with him.

We ask how a Christian can be weak in faith. There are two main reasons. Some Christians are weak because they allow wrong desires and feelings to direct their actions (see Romans 6:12-23). So, they do many wrong things simply because they want to do those things (James 1:14-15). They are not trusting God properly; they are not allowing his Holy Spirit to direct their lives (8:5-9).

Other Christians are weak because of a wrong attitude toward the rules and traditions of their religion. To become Christians and to live in the manner that pleases God, we must trust God constantly (Galatians 3:1-5; Hebrews 10:35-38). However, these Christians are trying to please God by their efforts to obey his law strictly. That was the attitude of the man that Paul refers to in Romans 14:1. That was also why the man wanted to teach; he thought that he knew a better way for Christians to live. However, Christians should allow the Holy Spirit to direct their lives, and then they will not offend against God’s law (Galatians 5:16-26). That is how God wants his people to live.

Arguments about the foods that Christians should eat

(Romans 14:2)

It is interesting to compare the situation in the church at Rome with the situation at Corinth. In both churches, there were arguments about the foods that Christians should eat. The result was that, in both places, some Christians claimed to be superior to the other Christians.

Both churches included among their members some Jews (people from Israel), and some people from other nations. God had given rules to the Jews about the meats that they could eat (Leviticus chapter 11; Leviticus 17:10-14). The Bible’s rules for people who are not Jews are much simpler (Genesis 9:1-4; Acts 15:29).

In the church at Corinth, some Christians would not accept any of these rules. They believed that they had a right to eat any kind of food whatever. So, they acted very boldly. They even entered the houses of false gods, to eat the meat that people had offered to those gods. Paul had to warn those Christians that they must not do this. Their behaviour was spoiling the relationship that weaker Christians had with God (1 Corinthians chapter 8).

In the church at Rome, however, those Christians who obeyed God’s rules were acting too boldly. As in Galatia, they were trying to persuade the Christians to accept all the rules that God had given to the Jews (Galatians 5:1-12). They were talking as if Christ’s death had no purpose. Christ did not die so that all people could become Jews. He died so that people from every nation can have a right relationship with God (1:16).

Their relationship with God does not depend on food (14:17), but on faith: belief and trust in God (4:1-8).

Right attitudes when Christians disagree

(Romans 14:3)

Some people think that Christians should agree about everything. That was not Paul’s opinion. He understood that God has made each person differently (12:4-6). Christians have had different experiences in life. They may be from different nations. They have learnt from different teachers and they have understood different things. No person’s knowledge about anything is complete or perfect. So of course even the most sincere Christians will sometimes disagree.

For that reason, Christians should learn to have the right attitudes towards those people with whom they disagree. Perhaps they disagree with another Christian about a matter which is especially important. Even in such a situation, they must not allow the matter to become an excuse for hate or for bitter feelings. They must respect and love that other Christian as their brother or sister in God’s family (1 John 3:10-16). If God has accepted that person, they too should accept him or her.

That other person clearly has very strong reasons for his opinion about the matter. He truly believes that in this matter, he is obeying God. So it may not seem strong enough for him merely to disagree with Christians who oppose him. Rather, he would like to express God’s anger or to declare God’s judgement against Christians who believe that wrong idea. However, he must not do that (Matthew 7:1-2). Christians do sometimes believe wrong and foolish things; but God deals with them as their loving Father (Hebrews 12:5-11).

Therefore, Christians who disagree must always deal with each other in a gentle, kind and patient manner.

Christians are the servants of God

(Romans 14:4)

As Christ often did (for example Mark 13:32-37). Paul describes God’s people as the servants of God. His word for a ‘servant’ is not the general word for a worker, here. Instead Paul chooses the word for someone who carries out personal duties for his master, in the master’s house. (See also Luke 16:13, which uses the same word.)

Of course such a servant is responsible only to his master, and nobody else. Nobody else has the right to say whether that servant’s work is satisfactory. It does not matter whether or not the other servants approve of that servant’s work. Only the master’s opinion about his servant is truly important.

When Christians meet together, there are often disagreements between them, and sometimes arguments. Perhaps they become bitter against each other; perhaps they start to accuse each other. It is like the situation when the servants in a house begin to argue against each other. However, God is their master; and only his opinion about each of his servants truly matters.

It is wonderful for us to know that God approves of his servants. Of course he does not approve of their wrong deeds or their foolish actions. He approves of them because Christ died for them (5:8-9). He approves of them because of their faith (active belief and trust) in him (4:1-8). He approves of them because they truly are his people (8:28-34). He has begun a great work in their lives, and he will certainly complete it (Romans 8:15-19; Philippians 1:6).

Disagreements about holy days

(Romans 14:5)

Christmas day is a very joyful occasion for those Christians who choose that day to remember Christ’s birth. However, we cannot say that the origins of that day are truly Christian. Many of its traditions in fact come from ancient false religions. That fact sometimes causes disagreements between Christians.

Not all Christians agree even about the right day for church meetings. Most churches meet on Sunday, the first day of the week (see Luke 24:1; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2 and Revelation 1:10). However, God gave to Israel the seventh day, Saturday, as its Sabbath, a special day for rest and prayer (see Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11; Mark 2:23 to 3:5 and Acts 17:2).

God gave to Israel its sacred holidays (Leviticus chapter 23), and Paul considered them important (Acts 20:16). However, Paul had to warn the Christians in Galatia that some teachers were using those holidays as a means to control them (Galatians 4:9-11; compare Acts 20:29-31 with Galatians 5:7-10).

In Romans 14:5-6, Paul refuses to say whether he believes it right or wrong to have special sacred days. Christians give their whole lives to God, so, for them, every day is holy (Romans 13:11-14; Hebrews 4:1-11). They pray constantly (1 Thessalonians 5:17), so they need no special day for prayer.

However, many Christians still consider it helpful to have special holy days and sacred holidays. Paul refuses to argue against them. God can guide different people to do different things. Therefore different Christians, who have different opinions about these matters, may all be obeying God loyally. They do not have to agree about such things. Each person only needs to do what God has directed him to do.

Our meals and our holidays give us a reason to praise God

(Romans 14:6)

When Christians eat, they should thank God for his goodness. It is God who provides food, both for people and for every living thing (Psalm 136:25). We cannot in reality obtain food by our own efforts, however hard our work may be (Psalm 127:2). Rather, our food is the kind gift that God, our Father in heaven, provides for us (Matthew 6:11; Matthew 6:31-33).

Therefore, for a Christian, even a simple meal provides both an opportunity, and a reason, to praise God.

However, sometimes a Christian might refuse to eat certain foods because of his beliefs. He makes that decision because he cares about his relationship with God; he is doing only what his conscience declares to be right. Therefore, in that decision, that Christian is also giving honour to God. He must not make that decision with a proud attitude, but rather with a grateful heart. So, he too must thank God for his goodness. He may not eat the food, but he too has both an opportunity and a reason to praise God.

Christians should be careful to give honour to God in all their decisions, but especially in decisions about their religion. When they choose to have a special day, for example Christmas or Easter, it must not be just an opportunity for parties. They might have those happy activities, but the main purpose of the day must be to give honour to God.

It is possible for Christians to have different opinions about various matters. For example, they may not agree about holy days, or about which foods to eat. In their decisions about these things, Christians should be careful always to give honour to God. Often, that matters much more than the actual decisions that they are making.

In life or death, Christians belong to Christ

(Romans 14:7-8)

You might think that your life and death are private matters, for you alone. In life, your greatest desire is to please yourself. At its end, you alone and nobody else will suffer when you die. Other people may care about you but, in the end, these things only really matter to you. Such may be your attitudes.

It can be very different for a servant who carries out important personal duties for his master. Paul referred to such a servant as a word-picture for a Christian in verse 4. That servant cannot say that he has his own life, separate from the life of his master. Rather, he gives his whole attention to his master (Psalm 123:2). His only desire is to do what his master wants - and to do it well. At the death of such a good and capable servant, the master himself feels great loss - and his loss is real.

God knows and cares even when a small bird dies (Matthew 10:29-31). So of course God cares very much more about the people whom he truly loves (5:8). Nothing - not even death - can separate them from his love for them (8:35-39). God cares deeply about every part of their lives (Matthew 6:25-33).

In fact, God loves them so much that their own lives and deaths hardly seem to matter to them now. Their present troubles seem slight when they remember God’s plans for them (Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:17). In life or death, their desire is to please him (2 Corinthians 5:9). They use their lives to do the work that God directs them to do. They know that even death cannot defeat them. Its effect will only be to take them to be with God always (Philippians 1:21-23).

Christ's authority over both living and dead people

(Romans 14:9)

Christ passed through death into a life that can never end. By that means, he received authority over all things and all people, whether they are dead or alive (Philippians 2:8-11; Revelation 20:11-13).

Of course, all people die; and all God’s people will rise from death (1 Corinthians chapter 15; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). God’s people also receive authority from him (Matthew 25:14-30; 1 Corinthians 6:3); however, their authority is not like Christ’s authority (Matthew 28:18-20). Christ has complete authority as ruler of everything; they have the authority that he gives to them. Even in the New Jerusalem, when they will rule with him, they will still be his servants (Revelation 22:3-5).

Clearly therefore, the simple facts of Christ’s death and that he rose again did not give him this great authority. Rather, we need to understand what Christ achieved at that time. Hebrews 2:14-15 tells us that, by his death, Christ defeated both the devil, and the power of death itself. Romans chapter 5 explains that a new kind of relationship became possible between God and people because of Christ’s death. Christ suffered the punishment for their evil deeds so that they can receive a right relationship with God.

Then Christ became alive again (1 Corinthians 15:1-7 and 15:20). That shows that his work on the cross was complete, and successful. In other words, by his death, Christ had completed the work that God the Father had given him to do. That is why God the Father gave him the place of greatest honour and authority in heaven (Hebrews 1:3).

Christ was able to do these things because he is God the Son (John 1:1-2; Mark 1:11). He was able to suffer the punishment for our evil deeds because he is perfect (1 Peter 2:22-24). He rose from death because it was impossible for death to have any power over the perfect Son of God (Acts 2:24-36).

Why Christians should not accuse each other bitterly

(Romans 14:10)

In verse 10, Paul refers back to the situation that he described in verse 3. Christians were arguing with each other about a matter that they considered important. The argument became so fierce that they did not deal with each other in love, but in anger. In the end, their words became severe, and even bitter.

There are many subjects that cause disagreements between Christians. About all these matters, Christians should study the Bible carefully. The Bible is God’s word and it alone has the authority to guide us in these matters (2 Timothy 3:16). Christians should also pray about these things and they should listen to the opinions of more mature Christians (Hebrews 13:17). They should not decide too quickly about such matters. It can take a long time for them to know what God is directing them to do. However, when they do know, they must obey God.

Even then, Christians need to remember that they are all brothers and sisters in God’s family. That fact is also true about those Christians with whom they disagree. It is even true about a Christian who opposes them fiercely. So, they must deal with such Christians with an attitude of love (John 13:34-35; 1 John 2:9-11).

Christians cannot simply deal with other people in whatever manner they choose. They have accepted God’s authority over their lives (14:7-9); God is their master, their Lord. So they all must accept God’s judgements about these things. Paul uses the same word for the place of authority or judgement, BEMA in the Greek language, that he uses in 2 Corinthians 5:10. It refers, as in Acts 25:6, to the place where a ruler would sit to make important decisions.

Christians are responsible to God for their attitudes and actions

(Romans 14:11-12)

Paul repeats the words from Isaiah 45:23 that he also uses in Philippians 2:10-11. Every knee must bend in front of God; in other words, every person must kneel. Every tongue, in other words, every person, must give honour to God. In Isaiah 45:24, they declare the goodness and the power of God. In Philippians 2:11, they declare that Jesus is Lord (God), in order to bring honour to God the Father.

These passages describe a future time after God has defeated every evil force (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). However, they also describe the attitude that God’s people should have now. They are the people who have accepted God’s rule over their lives (Mark 1:15). Therefore, they are the people who should give him honour, both now and always.

People would kneel down in order to give honour to a ruler or a great man (see Esther 3:1-4). Servants often have to kneel as they work. So, to kneel in front of someone was a way to express humble attitudes towards that person. In other words, you kneel to show that you accept his greatness and his authority over you.

Christians declare that Jesus is Lord (God) to accept his authority over their lives. It is only by that means that we can have a right relationship with God (10:9-10).

In the end, God will be the judge of all people (Genesis 18:25; Revelation 20:11-15). So, nobody is really free to do whatever pleases them. In particular, God’s people should live to please him and not to please themselves (14:7-9). They must not have bitter or cruel thoughts about those Christians with whom they disagree (14:10). They should remember that they are responsible to God. As his servants, they will have to give an account to him for their actions (compare Matthew 25:14-30).

Do not cause trouble for weaker Christians

(Romans 14:13)

In Rome, the Christians could not agree about certain matters, so they began to accuse each other. As previously (2:21-23), Paul says that it would be much better for Christians to accuse themselves. Their opinions may be correct, but those opinions are causing trouble for weaker Christians (compare 1 Corinthians 8:9-12).

We need to care for those Christians whose relationship with God is weak. So, we should not do anything that might spoil their relationship with God (Mark 9:42). In particular, we should not urge them to do something that they believe to be wrong.

The first Christians often used a word-picture for that kind of behaviour. They compared it to someone who places a stone on the path in front of someone else. The stone will cause that other person to fall; he may hurt himself badly. However, the person who put the stone there is responsible. What he has done is very wicked (compare Leviticus 19:14).

Whenever our opinion is different from someone else’s opinion, we believe ourselves to be right. We might consider that other person to be weak or even foolish. Perhaps that is why we choose to argue rather than to show love to that person. We may even think that, by our arguments, we are helping that person. However, the reality may be that we are urging them to act against their conscience. What is right for us to do may not be right for another person to do (Romans 14:14; 1 Corinthians 8:9). So we should pray for weak people, and we should deal with them gently. That is how Christ behaved (Matthew 11:28-30 and 12:18-21); that is how we must act too (John 13:12-17).

When a Christian acts against his conscience

(Romans 14:14)

Suppose that I believe a certain action to be wrong. In other words, I believe that it would offend God for me to do that thing. My opinion about that matter may, of course, be either right or wrong. However, if I then carry out that action, I have certainly done something wrong. Even if my action has not offended God, my attitude certainly has offended him. I would have done something on purpose that I believed to be wrong and evil.

God wanted to separate Israel’s people from the other nations, so that they would be his holy people. So, he taught them by his law to live differently from how other people live. For example, he gave them careful rules about various animals that they should not eat (Leviticus chapter 11).

People from other nations could eat those animals, and it would not offend God. The world and everything in it belong to God (Psalm 24:1). So it was not unholy or wrong to eat those animals. Rather, God was teaching Israel’s people that they should study how to live as his people. They must not desire to please themselves. That was the real lesson that God wanted them to learn from these rules.

When some Jews (Israel’s people) became Christians, they continued of course to obey these rules. They were simply following their conscience, and it was right for them to do that. However, Christ taught that a person’s food cannot, by itself, spoil a person’s relationship with God. Rather, the evil thoughts that come from inside a person ruin that person’s relationship with God. Those evil thoughts cause the person to do all kinds of wicked acts (Mark 7:14-23; see also James 1:13-15).

Do not please yourself: instead, act in love

(Romans 14:15)

Paul has a very beautiful way to describe a Christian who may disagree fiercely with him. He describes that person as ‘someone for whom Christ died’. God has shown such great love for that person (5:6-8). Therefore, of course Christians must also show love to that person; it is their duty to do that (Romans 13:8; 1 John 3:23).

However, in both Rome and Corinth (1 Corinthians 8:11-12), some Christians were not showing that love. Their reason astonishes us. They cared more about their choice of food, than about the people whom God loves so much. They wanted the freedom to eat any kind of food, and that attitude was upsetting weaker Christians. In Corinth, that attitude was even causing some weak Christians to do things that their conscience did not permit (1 Corinthians 8:10).

Cain tried to argue that he had no responsibility for his brother (Genesis 4:9). In fact, he had murdered his brother. That is like the Christian who refuses to care about other Christians (1 John 3:11-15). It is completely unlike the attitude of love that Christ showed (1 John 3:16). Christ gave his own life so that people could have a right relationship with God.

Those Christians in Rome and Corinth wanted to eat whatever foods pleased them. They cared very much about their own pleasure. It mattered much more to them than the things that worried weaker Christians. Paul urged them to change their attitudes. Christians should show the kind of love that 1 Corinthians chapter 13 describes. They should truly care about weaker Christians (Mark 9:42). They should be ready even to give up their own rights in order to help them (1 Corinthians 9:18-23).

Christians must think about the effect of their actions on weaker people

(Romans 14:16)

Often, the result of bad and evil acts by Christians is that other people say wrong things against God. So, God’s holy name does not receive the honour that is due to him (2:24).

We might not expect that anything good could ever have a similar effect. However, the freedom that Christ gives to his people is certainly something good (Galatians 5:1). If we use it for God’s honour, then that freedom will bring honour to God (1 Corinthians 9:18-23). However, if we use that freedom to satisfy our own desires, weaker Christians may suffer. We may have the knowledge to prove that our actions are right. Other people may copy our actions but act against their own consciences (1 Corinthians 8:7). That can ruin a person’s relationship with God (1 Corinthians 8:10-11).

It is not good enough for a Christian only to do what is right. He must also think about the effect of his actions on other, weaker people.

For example, a stronger Christian might go into a place where people do wrong and evil acts. He might do nothing wrong there, but in the same place a weaker Christian would be in great danger (1 Corinthians 8:10-11). The choice of food and drink was another important example for Paul as he wrote Romans chapter 14. Still today, the use of alcohol places many Christians in serious danger.

Paul sometimes had to warn Christians about their wild and foolish behaviour (1 Corinthians 11:13-16 and 11:22). Perhaps they were only expressing their joy. However, other people would see it, and they would say bad things about God because of it.

Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit

(Romans 14:17)

The ‘kingdom of God’ is a phrase that Christ used often. It means the place where God is king. There, God’s rule is complete and people are completely loyal to him. That is so in heaven now; Christians pray for it to happen on earth, too (Matthew 6:10). In fact, it has already begun on the earth, because God rules in the hearts and lives of Christians. Christians are the people who accept Christ as their king - in fact, ‘king’ is the basic meaning of the word ‘Christ’.

People have various ideas about what God’s rule on earth will mean. It is clear that it must be a time of great happiness. When God rules all things, evil forces will no longer have any power. Therefore, people spoke about great meals and happy parties in God’s kingdom (Luke 14:15).

In Corinth, some Christians were trying to live like that now. They loved to eat great meals; they drank too much wine (1 Corinthians 11:20-22); they even thought of themselves as kings (1 Corinthians 4:8). They had not understood that God’s rule on this earth is not yet complete. Also, they had also misunderstood the nature of the good things that God brings into his people’s lives. Of course God cares about the health of our bodies, and our food and drink (Matthew 6:25-34). However, these bodies are only temporary, and our lives on earth are short. Therefore, the work of God in our spirits is much more important to us. He gives to his people, by means of Christ’s death, righteousness: a right relationship with him. He gives them peace: true friendship with him (and often, with each other too). That peace helps them to be calm and content, whatever their circumstances. He gives them joy that does not come from their situation in this world, but from his Holy Spirit.

How can we do what is truly good?

(Romans 14:18)

True religion is not merely a matter of food and drink, as we saw in verse 17. In other words, it does not please God if we care only about the desires of our bodies. Nor do other people approve of that kind of attitude. They consider it selfish and greedy.

Rather, right religion is when we serve God in our spirits (John 4:24). We can only do that in the power that comes from his Holy Spirit (8:4-5). God is completely good (James 1:13-17); his Spirit causes us not to live for our own selfish benefit (Galatians 5:16-21) but to do what is truly good (Galatians 5:22-23). In other words, we cannot find in ourselves the power to do what is truly good in this world. Rather, we need to receive that power from the Holy Spirit.

So, Christians need to have an attitude that depends completely on God (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). They need his power to live in the way that truly pleases him. They need to show in this world the kind of love that only comes from him (1 John 4:7-11). Without that kind of love, their best efforts achieve nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

However, with that power and that love, Christians can achieve things that are truly good (James 1:27). They overcome their selfish attitudes and they are genuinely able to help other people (Luke 10:28-37). Everyone who thinks in a right and proper manner approves of that kind of Christian behaviour. Even their enemies can see that their acts are good (12:14-21).

Peace in the lives of Christians

(Romans 14:19)

By nature, people are in a state of war against God, and often against each other too (3:9-18; 5:10). They oppose God by their evil thoughts, words and actions; they oppose other people whenever they themselves act for their own selfish benefit. In those ways, their lives become the opposite of how God commands people to live (Mark 12:28-31).

Christ died to bring people peace with God (John 14:27), in other words, a right relationship between God and people (Ephesians 2:13-18). When people accept Christ into their lives, they learn to love and not to hate each other (John 13:34). So the result of a right relationship with God should be a right relationship with other people, too. A wicked person may of course still hate a Christian, but the Christian will even show kindness to that enemy (12:20-21). So, even the hate of evil people cannot spoil a Christian’s peace with God (see Matthew 10:12-15).

By means of the gospel (the good news about Christ), Christians bring God’s message of peace to this world (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). Their message is not a political message, although some Christians may work as politicians or as rulers. The Christian message is that, by the death of Christ, God has made it possible for people to receive a right relationship with him (5:6-11). So, they should turn from their evil deeds and invite God into their lives.

People who accept that message receive at once a right relationship with God (John 1:12; 2 Corinthians 5:17). However, it is often harder for them to have a right relationship with other people. They must learn to show love, and not to be bitter towards other people. They must learn to help and to encourage other people. They need God’s help to do these things; they must learn to depend on him.

Do not cause trouble for weaker Christians

(Romans 14:20)

It is a shock for us to read that some of Rome’s Christians were ‘destroying the work of God’. In other words, they were undoing the work that God had done. The situation there was similar to that in 1 Corinthians chapter 8, but not quite the same.

In Rome, it was some of the Gentile Christians who were responsible for the problem. (The Jews are Israel’s people; the Gentiles are people from other nations). Those Gentile Christians in Rome were eating meat which for some reason offended the Jewish Christians. Perhaps it was the meat of pigs, which the Jews do not eat (Leviticus 11:7). The first Christians often ate together before their meetings, so perhaps the Jewish Christians felt unable to attend those meetings. God’s work among the Jews was suffering because of the actions of those Gentile Christians.

In his reply, Paul recognises that the Gentile Christians have a right to eat that meat. In fact, they have a right to eat any food, and it does not offend God. He also recognises that the Jewish Christians were only worrying about this because of their own weakness (14:1-3). However, the Gentile Christians must still change their behaviour, because of the damage that it was causing to God’s work. Christians must never do anything that spoils a weaker person’s relationship with God (Mark 9:42; Romans 14:13-15).

This kind of problem often happens today, too, although the facts may be different. One group of Christians wants to do something that offends other people in their church. The problem may become so serious that those other people cannot attend church because of it. What that group chose to do may itself be good and right. However, it is never good or right to damage the work of God. We must always act in love; we must never cause trouble for weaker Christians.

Should Christians drink wine?

(Romans 14:21)

Paul is not saying that it is wrong for a Christian to eat meat or to drink wine. Some Christians do these things and some do not. The Christian message is not a message about food and drink (14:17); it is about how people can have a right relationship with God. Therefore, it is possible for Christians to have different opinions about food, drink and many other matters (14:2-3).

However, there are circumstances where it is wrong for a Christian to eat meat or to drink wine (1 Corinthians 8:13).

No Christian who believes these things to be wrong should ever do these things (14:14). Rather, he should do what his conscience directs him to do (1 Corinthians 8:10-11). He must do what he believes to be right.

That Christian may be weak in his relationship with God (14:1). He is worrying about things that belong to this world. Perhaps he also seems weak in other matters, for example, his knowledge of the Bible. However, stronger Christians must not accuse him, and they must not deal cruelly with him. Instead, they must be kind to him, and show love to him. They must do nothing to damage the work of God in his life (14:15). Perhaps they too should choose not to eat meat or to drink wine, if that decision would help him (1 Corinthians 8:13).

Christians must not be selfish. One Christian may like wine and it seems to cause him no problems. However, we all know about the troubles that alcohol causes. Perhaps if that Christian decided not to drink wine, he could help other people to be stronger. That would be a wise and good decision for that Christian to make.

A lack of wisdom among Christians

(Romans 14:22)

The Christian message is not a matter of private opinions and secret ideas (2 Peter 1:20). It is God’s message to the whole world (Acts 1:8; Romans 1:16). Therefore, Christians should explain the good news about Christ sincerely and honestly (2 Corinthians 4:2). People need to understand clearly the truth about Christ.

However, sometimes Christians show a serious lack of wisdom in both their words and their actions. They know that God gives freedom to his people (Galatians 5:1); however, they use that freedom in a way that upsets and offends people. Perhaps they speak proudly about their freedom; perhaps they act in a foolish manner to show their freedom. They are not acting wisely. Their behaviour may make it difficult or impossible for other people to trust God.

Some of Rome’s Christians wanted everyone to see the freedom that God had given to them. Their belief about that freedom was right, but their actions were wrong.

A Christian does not need to do everything that he has the right to do (1 Corinthians 9:15). The knowledge of his freedom brings him joy in his relationship with God. He thanks God who has been so kind and good to him. He does not need to prove to other people that he has that freedom. His greatest freedom is in his spirit, and nobody else sees that (8:2). He expresses that freedom both in his prayers, and by the way that he allows the Holy Spirit to guide his life (Galatians 5:16). Only God sees these things, but they are real.

The person who eats in doubt, and not with faith

(Romans 14:23)

Some Christians believe that it is wrong for them to eat certain foods. Perhaps their belief is wrong, and with a better knowledge of the Bible, their opinions may change. However, while they still have that belief, they should not eat that food.

People do not always do what they believe to be right. For example, a Christian with such a belief might accept that food simply because he wants to avoid an argument. He eats it because he is too afraid to refuse it.

In such circumstances, the Christian is not acting in faith (belief and trust in God). Instead, he eats that food with an attitude of doubt and fear. Christians should eat their food with grateful hearts, and with thanks to God (14:6). Instead, this poor, weak Christian is in a situation where he can expect to receive nothing from God (James 1:6-7). God does wonderful things when his people act in faith (Mark 11:22-24; Hebrews 11:6). However, an attitude of doubt and unbelief places people in great danger (Hebrews 3:12-19).

Paul tells us this, not to frighten that weak Christian, but to warn stronger Christians (15:1). Christians must not act in whatever manner pleases them. Instead, Christians need to think about the effect of their actions upon weaker Christians (Mark 9:42; Romans 14:15; 1 Corinthians 8:9). It is so easy for a weak Christian to copy the actions of another Christian, but to act against his own conscience. All Christians should help, and show love towards, other Christians (1 John 3:11-18). Stronger Christians, who often teach other Christians, have an even greater responsibility in this matter (James 3:1).

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