Romans 14: 1 – 23
The Vegetarian
1 Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. 2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. 4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.11 For it is written: “As I live, says the LORD, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way. 14 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. 21 It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. 22 Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.
Today’s key verse to look at is verse 2 “For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.”
A vegetarian is someone who doesn’t eat meat, including beef, chicken, pork, or fish and may or may not choose to eat other animal products such as eggs, dairy, gelatin, or honey.
There are different types of vegetarians:
Flexitarian: Flexitarians are also known as semi–vegetarians. They occasionally eat fish or meat, but generally avoid animal products most of the time.
Pesci–vegetarian: Pesci–vegetarians, or “pescatarians” eat fish, dairy, and eggs but don’t eat poultry or any other meats.
Lacto–ovo vegetarian: Lacto–ovo vegetarians don’t eat meat, fish or poultry, but do eat eggs and dairy products (ovo means eggs and lacto means dairy).
Some vegans (and some other types of vegetarians) choose not to wear clothes containing animal products, such as leather, wool, or silk, or use products such as lotion or makeup that may have been tested on animals.
People decide to become a vegetarian for many reasons. Some people choose to become a vegetarian for environmental, ethical (animal rights), or health reasons. You may relate to one or many of these or have different reasons altogether. Deciding to become vegetarian is a personal choice.
Vegetarian diets can be healthy and may even lower the risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and cancer. However, eating balanced meals and snacks requires some extra attention when you are a vegetarian. Because vegetarians take out certain foods from their diets, they often need to work to add in foods that will provide the same nutrients found in animal products. By eating a variety of foods including fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, soy products, and whole grains, vegetarians can get adequate nutrients from non–meat sources. Vegetarians, especially vegans, need to pay attention to ensure that they get enough protein, iron, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and omega–3 fatty acids.
Macronutrients:
Carbohydrates provide energy and vitamins for your brain and muscles. Grain products, especially whole grains, are very important because they provide the carbohydrate, fiber, and many vitamins and minerals that your body needs. Vegetarians should be sure to eat a variety of whole grains such as whole wheat bread, pasta and tortillas, brown rice, oats, bulgur, and quinoa.
Fat is needed by your body to stay healthy. Fat provides essential fatty acids and helps your body absorb certain vitamins. Excellent sources of healthy fats include nuts and nut butters, oils, and avocados.
Protein is needed for your muscles to grow. Vegetarians need to be sure to eat protein-containing vegetarian foods when avoiding meat. Nuts, seeds, nut butters (including peanut butter, almond butter, and sunflower seed butter), soy foods (such as tofu, soy milk, soy yogurt, tempeh, and edamame), legumes (such as beans, peas, hummus, and lentils), meat substitutes (such as veggie burgers or seitan), dairy foods (such as milk, yogurt, and cheese), and eggs all provide protein.
Minerals:
Zinc is important for growth and your immune system. Zinc is found in whole grains (refined grains such as bread or pasta made from white flour or white rice are not sources of zinc), fortified breakfast cereals, dairy products, soy foods, nuts, seeds, and legumes.
Iron is important for your blood and is found in beans, seeds, soybeans, tofu, fortified breakfast cereals, dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach, and dried fruit such as apricots, figs, or prunes. Plant–based iron is not absorbed as well as iron found in meat but adding vitamin C can help your body to absorb iron better. When you are eating plant-based iron foods, include foods rich in vitamin C such as citrus fruits and certain vegetables such as tomatoes.
Calcium is needed to build strong bones. Calcium is found in dairy products such as milk, yogurt (there is more calcium found in traditional yogurt compared to Greek yogurt), and cheese. You can also find calcium in broccoli, butternut squash, collard greens, black beans, white beans, soybeans, and tofu. However, plant sources of calcium have less calcium per serving and are more difficult for our bodies to absorb compared to dairy products. Some foods that aren’t naturally high in calcium have calcium added to them; these foods are called “calcium–fortified.” Soy milk, enriched rice milk, fortified orange juice, some cereal, and cereal bars are a few examples. If you choose to not eat dairy, eating calcium fortified foods is a great way to ensure you are eating enough calcium. Look at the Nutrition Facts Label to find out which brands are highest in calcium.
Vitamins:
Vitamin D is needed to absorb the calcium you eat and is necessary for strong bones. You can get vitamin D from foods, such as fortified dairy or soy milk products, fortified orange juice, egg yolks; or your body can make Vitamin D from the sun. If you live in a place that gets very little sunshine, especially during the winter months, it’s harder to get enough vitamin D from sunshine alone. To figure out if you’re getting enough Vitamin D from the sun, look at a map of the United States and imagine a line running between San Francisco and Philadelphia. If you live north of this line, it’s necessary for you (during the winter) to get your daily intake of vitamin D through food or supplements. When you are able to make vitamin D from the sun, you only need about 15 minutes of sun exposure to meet your needs for the day – after that, lather up with sunblock!
Vitamin B12 is needed for your brain and nervous system to function. Vitamin B12 is only found in animal foods, so vegans must eat food fortified with B12. For vegetarians who are not vegans, examples of foods with B12 include cow’s milk and eggs. For individuals who follow a vegan diet, foods like fortified-nutritional yeast flakes, fortified soy milk, and fortified cereals are good sources of B12. Your health care provider or dietitian may also recommend taking a B12 supplement to make sure your body gets enough of this vitamin.
Omega–3 Fatty Acids are essential fatty acids; “essential” means you need to eat these fats from your diet since your body is not able to make them on its own. Omega-3 fatty acids help to control inflammation and help to prevent heart disease. Vegans or vegetarians who don’t eat eggs or fatty fish like salmon must include other sources of omega-3 fatty acids such as walnuts, flaxseeds, chia seeds, canola oil, soybeans, or tofu.
Iodine is a mineral that helps your body’s metabolism. Plant–based diets can be low in iodine, so vegans should try to use iodized salt in recipes that call for salt. Seaweed (the type that wraps up sushi) is also a good source of iodine. Check the label of your salt before you buy it to make sure it is iodized. If you choose to use sea salt, be sure to look for brands that specify they are iodized.
It’s important to remember that while vegetarian diets can have health benefits, it is also possible to make unhealthy food choices as a vegetarian or vegan. For example, a diet that consists of grilled cheese, pizza, pasta and candy is technically vegetarian, but not necessarily healthy. To get all the great vitamins and nutrients listed above, make sure to incorporate fruits, vegetables, whole grains and plant-based protein sources such as beans, tofu or nuts into your diet. Be mindful of meat or dairy “substitutions” because there are many substitutes you can buy at the supermarket that are high in fat, sugar, and/or sodium. To to ensure you are being healthy as a vegetarian, try to limit your intake of processed foods.
Relatives may be worried that you are choosing to follow a vegetarian diet without knowing how to do it in a healthy way. If you can explain your plan to stay healthy and your reasons for wanting to become a vegetarian, your parents may be more likely to understand. You still might need to give them time to accept your new diet. Read vegetarian cookbooks or nutritional information with your parents and offer to help with the shopping and cooking.
So, the apostle Paul having laid down the principles of Christian living, now moves on to what he clearly conceives of as a problem in the Roman church, the problem of disagreement on the question of religious observance. Such disagreement was inevitable. The Roman church was very much a mixture of people from many religious backgrounds, who had brought with them certain ideas about religious observance, and it especially included many Jews and Jewish sympathizers, many of whom were probably still connected with the synagogue. That this latter meant that relationships between Christians and Jews in Rome were reasonably cordial, so that Christians were not necessarily seen as contrary to Judaism, comes out in the fact that later the leading Jewish elders were quite content to meet with Paul on his arrival in Rome so as to hear what he had to say (Acts 28.17-24, 29). They still saw Christianity as a sect of Judaism (Acts 28.22). But it did mean that the Jewish Christians conformed to the norms of Judaism with respect to clean and unclean foods, and with respect to the Sabbath and to feasts.
The certain consequence would be that many Roman Christians considered the observance of the Sabbath and the observance of Jewish feasts as binding on them, together with the Jewish food laws in respect of cleanness and uncleanness. It was true that the gathering of leading Jewish Christians in Jerusalem described in Acts 15 had given concessions on these matters to Gentile Christians, but these had not been given to Jewish Christians, and even then for Gentile Christians they had stipulated abstention from eating things sacrificed to idols, from eating blood, and from eating things strangled (Acts 15.29). Thus, it appears that in Rome there would be many carrying out Dadaistic practices.
That the minority involved in what he is describing were of some considerable size comes out in the importance that Paul places on the subject. He clearly saw it as something that could divide the church. This again points to Jewish practices being in mind. While it is perfectly true that on top of this there might be others, such as Pythagoreans, who had their own reasons for vegetarianism (the avoidance of eating what they saw as having a living soul), and converts from other religions who saw certain days as ‘unlucky’, there can really be no doubt that it was aspects of Judaism which were mainly in mind. They themselves saw the laws of uncleanness and the Sabbath as marks of distinction, distinguishing them from the rest of mankind, and Paul the former Pharisee could hardly have referred to unclean meat and the observance of a special day to a church containing as many Jewish Christians as the Roman church did without either signifying them, or making a careful distinction between them and what he was describing. As he did not do the latter we must assume the former. We should in regard to these things recognize that ‘the church of the Romans’ was, like churches in all the big cities in those days, divided up into groups meeting in various parts of the city. And they would have had many different flavors. Thus, that Paul addressed the whole church on the subject in such detail suggests that many in those church groups were affected by the issue, and they would contain many Jewish Christians.
Paul was apparently not concerned about abstinence from unclean foods and observance of the Sabbath, if such things were not made ‘necessary for salvation’. If it did not interfere with their loyalty to Christ he was willing to accept such differences. What he was concerned about, however, was that the church should not be divided over the issue. And he desired not only harmony, but also a position of mutual respect between the parties concerned. It is this that he now goes about enforcing.
Paul now deals with the question of whether to observe a special day to the LORD, and what should be their attitude towards foods. Our Lord Jesus had declared that He was Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2.28), and that only what came out of a man (sin) could render him unclean, not what entered into him (Mark 7.15). And Mark had taken this to mean that by it He declared all foods clean (Mark 7.19). Paul held the same position (14.14) but did not want to make a big issue out of it. He therefore stresses the need for tolerance.
1 Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.
He calls on the Roman Christians to be ready to receive any who were ‘weak in faith’, but not in order to argue with them about unnecessary scruples. What they were to do was seek to strengthen each other’s faith in Christ, not undermine each other’s faith over secondary matters. And he deals with two matters which were clearly urgent, and which are of some interest to Christians today. The first dealing with the question of what Christians should not eat, and the second dealing with the observance of a special day to the LORD.
‘Weak in faith’ are they who were not strong enough to make the complete break from Judaism. They had not yet realized that in His coming the Messiah had replaced the Old Testament rituals by being their fulfilment. The phrase does not mean that the faith of such believers in Christ was weak, only that their cautious approach indicated that they were not as strong as Paul in breaking free from the past. Their faith could not cope with the idea of Messiah’s people being free from the traditions of the past. They themselves still felt themselves as bound by those traditions, and they saw them as binding on others. Some would see them as binding on Jewish Christians. Others would see them as binding on all Christians. Thus, their faith in the Messiah, however strong it was, was not sufficient to enable them to recognize that He had delivered them from all these things. And they thus often passed judgment on those who failed to fall into line.
2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.
He describes the case of two men, one of whom ‘has the faith to eat all things’, and the other who eats only vegetables and herbs. The latter case might especially be true for those who wanted to ensure that they did not eat meat sacrificed to idols, or, in the case of those influenced by Judaism, meat from animals that had not been slaughtered in the right manner and was therefore not ‘kosher’. We can compare the position of Daniel and his friends in Daniel 1.8. Paul has nothing against those who hold such positions, indeed he respects their viewpoint, even though he does not hold it himself. And elsewhere in 1 Corinthians 8 he gives detailed instructions about when meat sacrificed to idols should not be eaten simply in the light of how others might take it.
That the Jewish regulations as to cleanness and uncleanness of foods were certainly affecting the early church is brought out by Mark’s comment in 7.19 (‘and this He said making all foods clean’); by Acts 11.3; and by the coming among the Galatians of Judaizing Christians who sought to enforce food laws on Jewish Christians (Galatians 2.11-15).
Jewish Christians living in established Jewish communities (and especially those living in Jerusalem and Judaea) would unquestionably observe both food laws and Sabbath, and Paul had no problems with that. He himself could say, ‘to the Jews I became as a Jew that I might gain the Jews’ (1 Corinthians 9.20). There were probably such communities in Rome. What he had problems with was those who sought to enforce their views on the wider Christian church claiming the latter were now part of Israel (11.16-24), (something with which he agreed without accepting that it had the consequences that they suggested). His stance was that, as with circumcision, Christ’s life and death had rendered such ordinances unnecessary for all, both Jew and Gentile.
The fact that all through Romans we have the contrast between Jew and Gentile drawn out, further serves to confirm that this is mainly a Christian Jew/Christian Gentile controversy, something which is confirmed by 15.8-9, where it is the uniting of Jews and Gentiles because of the correct approach to the situation that is stressed. It is true that there were Gentile sects which advocated vegetarianism on the grounds, for example, of animals possessing living souls, but there are no grounds for considering that these were affecting the church in any deep way. The enforcing of Dadaistic ideas on Christians, however, certainly were. And regarding abstaining from all meats Josephus specifically informs us that certain Jews in Rome abstained from all meats, fearful lest they be unclean. Among many people Christians were simply seen as a Jewish sect (Acts 18.12-16). After all they both looked to the same holy book. And as we have seen the early church saw itself as the continuation of the true Israel.
The only thing in question, therefore, was as to what difference had been made by the coming of the Messiah. And the answer was basically that in Him the Sabbath rest, to which the Sabbath had pointed, had now come (Matthew 11.28-30; Hebrews 4.9).
The Sabbath had fulfilled its purpose of pointing to the coming rest. That is why as the Messiah Jesus was now able to do His Messianic work on the Sabbath along with His Father (John 5.16-18). It was why strict observance of the Sabbath was no longer necessary, because He was the Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2.27-28). Furthermore, in Him the new higher life to which the laws of clean and unclean had pointed had arrived the pointers were thus no longer required.
3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.
But the one who eats anything quite confidently, without a religious qualm, must not despise in any way the one who eats only vegetables, or abstains from certain types of meat (e.g. pork). And the one who has qualms over what he eats must not judge the one who eats anything. Each must recognize concerning their opponent that God ‘has received him’. Thus, all whom God had received must love one another.
Christians are to receive one another because Christ has ‘received them’ And He has done it to unite Jews and Gentiles, with Jews (the circumcision) who believed being confirmed in the promises of God, while the Gentiles glorify God for His mercy by benefiting in the Root of Jesse (15.12).
4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
If God has received someone, what right has man to pass judgment on him? For just as a servant is answerable only to his master (lord), so also the Lord’s servants are answerable only to Him. In neither case, therefore, is it justifiable for one servant to judge the other, because both are servants of God, and each stand or falls before Him about his own behavior. It is to Him that they will give account.
Paul assures them, each will stand firm in the truth, regardless of their weaknesses, because ‘the LORD’ has the power to make them stand firm. He is watching over them all.
5 One-person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.
The second dispute was over whether it was necessary to observe a special day as being ‘holy’, that is, as being something to be set apart wholly for God. In view of the makeup of the church of the Romans this had necessarily mainly to do with the question of the Sabbath which all Jewish Christians and their adherents would have observed according to custom, but which had no significance for out and out Gentiles. That is not, however, to deny that others may also have observed other days as religiously special or as ‘unlucky’. Some may well have brought some such ideas from religions in which they had been involved. But the main bulk of the problem would lie between those who observed the Sabbath, as well as the first day of the week and those who merely observed the first day of the week, the day of resurrection.
The earliest church would certainly have observed both in different ways. The Jewish church living in Jerusalem and Judea would certainly not want to be Sabbath breakers and would thus continue to observe the Sabbath. But gradually emphasis elsewhere turned to the first day of the week. This controversy would go on for hundreds of years, demonstrating how central it was.
If it was not made a condition for salvation Paul did not mind which view Christians took, and certainly slaves who were Christian Jews would not want to lose their privilege under Roman Law, of observing the Sabbath rest. So, Paul stresses that each must be left to make up their own mind. One-man esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day. Each man must come to his own decision about such matters based on what he believes in his heart.
6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.
What matters is not whether men observe a certain day, or whether they eat a certain food. What matters is that they do whatever they do ‘to the LORD’. What matters is that they look on themselves as His servants and obey Him in accordance with what they believe. That it is Jesus Who Is in mind in the mention of ‘the LORD’ is specifically indicated in verse 9. But even if it had not been made clear there it would have had to be assumed based on what has gone before in Romans. Thus, he recognizes that Christian Jews who observe the Sabbath now observe it ‘to the LORD, Jesus Christ’.
It should be noted that what is Paul’s main concern is not whether Christians observe one day above another, or otherwise, or whether they abstain from certain foods, or otherwise, but whether they give thanks to God for all His provision. Each is responsible to God.
7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.
The underlying reason for his judgment in this case is now given. It lies in the fact that we do not live and die to ourselves. What Paul is signifying by this is indicated by what follows. We rather live and die to the LORD. This is a reminder that our lives should be wholly lived as in His sight. Our lives are no longer our own, whether in life or death. We are rather responsible in all things to the LORD. That being so guidance and judgment on these issues can be left to Him.
8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
The meaning of the previous verse is here made clear. It is to the LORD that we live, and to the LORD that we die, for now that He is our LORD (10.9) our lives and deaths are in His hands. To live to the LORD must here mean living ‘as under His Lordship and as He determines’. To die to the LORD must in context mean dying ‘as under His Lordship and as the LORD determines’. Thus, whether we live or die we are the LORD’s and are therefore solely His responsibility and accountable to Him.
9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
Indeed, this was one of the reasons why Christ died and lived again. It was in order thereby to become the LORD of death, which He conquered (‘I have the keys of Hades and of death’ - Revelation 1.18), and the LORD of Life, which He gives (‘he who has the Son has life’ - 1 John 5.12). In other words, He died and lived again in order that He might exercise Lordship over both the dead and the living, as the LORD of death and the LORD of life.
10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.11 For it is written: “As I live, says the LORD, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”
Thus, as both we and our brothers and sisters in Christ are under His Lordship both in death and in life, we are responsible to Him for ourselves but are in no position to judge how another reveals his response to his LORD. It is the LORD’s responsibility to take account of that. It should be noted that this is in respect of how each respond to Jesus as LORD, and of how he demonstrates his loyalty to Him as LORD, in things which are morally neutral. We can certainly ‘pass judgments’ concerning those who refuse to submit to His Lordship, and on actions which the LORD has specifically forbidden, for it is then not we who pass those judgments but the LORD.
Even worse is it to set at naught and despise those who are the LORD’s because we consider them not to have appreciated the freedom that we have in the LORD. By doing so we despise the LORD Himself, for they are His, and it is He Who has allowed them to continue in this way. All such judgments should therefore be left to Him. And this in the light of the fact that we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. Every one of us as Christians will have to give account of ourselves to God. We must therefore be concerned to ensure that we ourselves have lived obediently in accordance with what we believe to be right from our study of the Scriptures, rather than concerning ourselves with how others consider that they should respond to the LORD.
Paul then supports the idea of the judgment-seat of God from Scripture. “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will confess to God.” In these words, we have the magnificent picture, taken from scenes when men were gathered together to pay submission to earthly kings, of the whole world bending the knee to God and to Christ, and owning the Lordship of the living God. There will be no unbelievers then, but for many it will be too late. They are there to be judged, not to be received with favor.
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
At that awful judgment seat ‘each one of us will give account of himself to God’. The full transcripts of every moment of our lives will be opened, and we will be called to account. But those who are His will have One Who will confess their name before the Father, and Whose righteousness will be their covering. They do not fear condemnation. Their names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 20.15). They will, however, receive both reward and reprimand for what they have done.
13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.
In view of this coming judgment-seat, we should not sit in judgment on each other in regard to the detail of our response to the LORD. Rather our judgment should be that we should not put a stumbling-block or occasion for falling in the way of our brother or sister. We should not be looking for faults but looking as to how we can help. Our aim always should be to assist one another so that we none of us stumble. This will be what is the most glorifying to Christ. Paul then relates this principle to the question in hand.
14 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
Paul states his own position quite clearly. He knows his heart and is persuaded as a result of his experience with the LORD, Jesus, that there is nothing that is ritually unclean of itself. On the other hand, he stresses that where someone does believe in ritual uncleanness, then to him such things as he ‘believes are unclean’. They are such that if he ate of them he would be sinning, simply because he would be doing what he saw as wrong.
15 Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.
Thus, if the brother or sister who believed it to be wrong ate such meat they would be ‘grieved’, (we might say, conscience-stricken and filled with a sense of having sinned). And if it was of our persuasion, because they were eating with us, possibly at ‘the love feast’ or in a private gathering, then it would indicate that we were no longer walking in love. For we would be destroying them spiritually. So, Paul exhorts them, ‘Do not destroy with your meat him for whom Christ died’. For us to do so would be for us to harm Christ Himself, for we would be harming one who was ‘in Christ’, one for whom Christ sacrificed Himself. This, of course, applies not only to participating in unclean food, but to any way in which we might cause Christians to stumble. That those for whom Christ died can suffer God’s judgment while still being ‘saved’ is made clear in 1 Corinthians 11.30-32.
16 Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
We are not to let our good (our knowledge that nothing is unclean) become something that is evilly spoken of because of the harm it does as a result of our insisting that others believe as we do.
In ancient times eating and drinking were seen a part of worship and celebration as very much, and the popularity of much worship resulted from the fact of its religious feasts which were seen as in some way uniting the worshippers with their gods. Thus, this may have been very much in mind here. Even the coming Messianic kingdom had been seen in terms of a Messianic feast (Isaiah 25.6), although never in Scripture as anything other than a celebration. For most people feasting was the main source of enjoyment in the past. That makes this an important statement in a wider sense, for it indicates that the Messiah had come, but not to satisfy the outward man and provide him with physical luxuries (the belief of many Jews). Rather it was to feed men’s hearts (Isaiah 55.1-3) and fulfil what was in their inner beings.
18 For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.
So, the one who serves Christ in this way, by having a regard for the tender consciences of others, is well pleasing to God and he is also approved of by men because he does not persuade people to act against their consciences.
19 Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.
Paul says, let us follow after the things which make for peace and harmony, and most importantly, the things by which we can edify each other and build each other up. For these things should be our prime concern. The important lesson for us all to gain from this is the great attention we should pay about one another’s problems, so that all might be built up.
20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. 21 It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.
In contrast to the building up of one another up by our loving concern for one another, is the possibility of throwing down the work of God (destroying the weak believer) and doing it simply over arguments about meat. For while all things are indeed ritually clean, they are nevertheless unclean to the one who believes them to be so (verse 14), and thus to such a person partaking of them would be evil. It would be to sin against conscience. And as a result, they would stumble.
As Christians we should therefore be concerned to so live that we do not cause others to stumble. So, the guiding principle to the Christian must be that he should not partake of things in the presence of ‘weaker brethren’, which would cause such a brother or sister to stumble.
The ‘drinking of wine’, is first drawn attention to in verse 17, may well refer to abstention from wine on the basis that its source might be ritually unclean. This would again underline that Jewish concerns are in mind. But it may equally well have in mind that excess of wine drags men down (Ephesians 5.18).
The abstention from wine in the presence of others is a good principle to observe when we think of how, especially in this present generation, so many young people are dragged down by drink. If our example causes others to go astray we will not be able to defend ourselves by claiming ‘it was not our fault’, for we should have known perfectly well what our example could lead to.
In days when much water in towns was impure (Ephesus was noted for the vileness of its water which caused many stomach problems), the drinking of mild wines was a necessity (1 Timothy 5.23), and it is questionable how far the forbidding of ‘wine and strong drink’ was intended to exclude mild wines. But it not a question of nicety of argument. The point at issue is that we should abstain from all which, because of our example, might lead to the downfall of others.
22 Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.
Paul completes his argument by urging the strong believers to have their faith which allows them to eat or drink anything in the presence of God as something to be enjoyed in private, and thus not when in wider company when ‘weaker brothers and sisters’ may be present. The assumption appears to be that such weaker brothers and sisters would be present at love feasts in most church groups.
The statement ‘Happy is he does not judge himself in what he approves’ is a general principle which holds good in all circumstances. Whatever we approve of should not have a shadow cast upon it by it being something that we would judge as wrong if we thought about it. For if it is the latter it will destroy our happiness. Thus, the strong believer will not approve of acts which cause harm to other people. Otherwise he will in the end have to pass judgment on himself for his action. In contrast such thoughtfulness towards others will certainly contribute towards his own happiness. Thus, in order to be happy it is necessary to have consideration towards others.
23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.
But if someone who wavers over whether it is right to eat meat, claiming it may be unclean, does eat of such meat, he brings himself into condemnation. And the reason why he does so is because his act is not one carried out in joyous faith, but is one carried out fearing that it might be sinful. He is doing what he fears might be wrong. Indeed, anything that we do fearing that it might be wrong is sin, for ‘whatever is not of faith is sin.’ So important is ‘not sinning’ that the Christian says, ‘if I am not sure it is right I must not do it. I must only do what I know to be right’, and this because of his hatred of sin and his fear lest he be defiled by it.
