Book: Romans

In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia completes a two-part look at Paul’s teaching in Romans 14:1-15:13 about how Christians should respond to one another over Christian liberty issues. Dave Capoccia outlines the four main ways Christians should respond when convictions collide but focuses on explaining the second main way in detail. Following the apostle Paul’s progression of thought in Romans 14:13-23, Dave Capoccia presents three reasons why Christians must seek to edify one another and not cause to stumble.

1. Your weaker brother needs spiritual protection, not pressure
2. God’s kingdom is primarily about righteousness, not liberty
3. Freedom with stumblings included is unclean, not clean

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some of you may know the story of eric little eric little was a scottish missionary to warchorn war-torn china from 1925 to 1945.

but most of you if you know him probably don’t know him for that reason but you know him for what was depicted in the film chariots of fire you see eric little before going to the mission field was an accomplished track athlete and little was supposed to compete on behalf of the united kingdom in the 1924 olympics as a 100 meter sprinter however a few months before the games little was informed that the qualifying heats for the event would take place on a sunday and little was a convinced sabbatarian meaning he believed that sunday was the christian sabbath and that christians ought not to work or play sports on sunday out of reverence for god little therefore withdrew from the olympic event and chose to instead compete in the 400-meter sprint which was an event he was not as skilled at and little’s decision made international headlines there were many people including christians who not only disagreed with little’s decision but also put great pressure on him to compete in the sunday race little was even called before the british olympics commission and the prince of wales to defend his position we can imagine the kind of arguments put to little something along the lines of eric you know biblically christians don’t have to keep the sabbath why are you making this such a big deal or eric there are a lot of other christians who are competing in the games do you think you’re holier or somehow better than them or come on eric your country needs you you’re the best at this event don’t you think that you’re being a little selfish whatever their arguments little held his ground even though many in his home country condemned him reportedly on the morning of the 400-meter olympic race little received a small note from his teammates and the note said the following in the old book it says he who honors me i will honor wishing you the best of success always little was greatly encouraged by this small note because it was an indication that someone even a small group of people supported him and trying to keep his conviction before god little later ran the 400 meter race and he not only won the race he won the gold but he broke the olympic and world records of doing so it’s a remarkable story but now think for a moment what do you think of little’s decision not to race on sunday it turned out well but what if it didn’t what if because he followed that conviction and he competed in a race that he wasn’t as good at he lost would it still have been the right thing before god or imagine being one of those people around eric little in those days how would you have responded to him would you have tried to persuade him even put pressure on him to compete in the sunday games would you have said nothing when the controversy was swirling around him or would you have actually sought to do as some of his teammates did try to support him encourage him help him to keep his conviction even though it wasn’t or isn’t your same conviction little’s olympic experiences another example of the subjects that we raised last week that is what do we do when convictions collide that the bible gives many clear commands and guiding principles for life some decisions we face do not have clear commands or do not have clear commands for or against in the bible these are decisions that fall under the area of conscience of conviction or of what we call christian freedom christian liberty as christians we can become quite passionate about issues of christian liberty looking down on oh bless his heart so silly or condemning those who don’t take the same stances that we do and this hurts the overall harmony that we’re supposed to have as brothers and sisters in christ especially in the local church but god shows us in his word that while our christian liberty convictions are good they honor god they must be handled in the proper way so that our fellowship remains full so that our brethren remain protected as that our lord jesus christ the master receives his proper honor we’ve been investigating that way together as we’ve seen it spelled out in romans 14 and 15. so if you haven’t yet please take your bibles and open again to romans 14.

this is where we will continue part two of our study i can just briefly remind you of what we saw together last time from this new testament epistle the apostle paul writes to the church in rome partly to address the unity of gentiles and jews in the church this unity has become strained due to a difference over conviction issues many jewish christians who were the minority in the church they felt very strongly about continuing to keep certain jewish traditions that come from the old testament namely food laws about clean and unclean foods and sabbath day observances weekly and annual sabbaths meanwhile the majority of gentile christians in the roman church they rightly recognized that these food laws and sabbath days were perfectly fulfilled in christ and they are therefore not required of god’s people anymore there was conflict over these convictions and the apostle paul rather than merely writing and saying look these guys are right you other guys just get with the program he instead does something much more helpful which is he outlines the proper response that any group of believers ought to have when facing differences of opinion and conviction over liberty issues with another group of believers that’s why we’re looking at the passage because we face similar though not the same issues today in romans 14 verses 1 to chapter 15 verse 13 paul commands four main ways that christians are to respond to one another over conviction issues and we investigated the first way together last week that is romans 14 1-12 welcome one another and do not judge when it comes to conviction issues brothers and sisters we must welcome one another and do not judge christians must recognize that there is more than one right way to answer today’s conviction issues not every answer is correct you heard me say this last week it does need to remain within certain biblical bounds but someone doesn’t have to have your same exact convictions over a particular issue to be well pleasing to god totally accepted by god in fact those who unnecessarily restrict their christian freedom for the sake of following their consciences before god they are just as much welcomed by god as the one who enjoys his liberty to the full again within biblical parameters so we believers today should welcome and include associate with our brethren regardless of their christian convictions on liberty issues and we must not try to judge what’s going on in our brethren’s hearts the only one who has the right and ability to make such judgment is the lord himself and he says leave that to me we instead and we saw this last time we need to be concerned about our own assessment for the lord how did you treat conviction issues and how did you treat those who had differences of opinion but this is only the first main response that christians are to have in our remaining text in this passage paul addresses three other main ways that christians should respond to each other when convictions collide we’ve seen number one welcome and do not judge but number two we must edify one another and do not cause to stumble i’ll give you the other two as well number three please one another do not simply please yourself number four glorify god together and one united but diverse body this is how the teaching goes on from chapter 14 verse 13 to chapter 15 verse 13. what i want to do with you this morning is really just focus on that second main response i will say something about points three and four but to fully explore those would take a number of hours which we don’t have today the teaching in this section is dense very instructive very helpful points three and four really flow out from it so we’re going to focus on command number two a second way that christians should respond to each other when it comes to conviction issues and that is again edify one another and do not cause to stumble like with romans 14 1-12 this second response the second required response which we see in verses 13 to 23 of romans 14. it has a number of reasons given for it as before there were three reasons for command number one now there’ll be three reasons for command number two and so these will be sub points that i’ll give to you as we work through the text today first reason that we are to edify one another and not cause the stumble appears in verses 13 to 15 of romans 14.

this first reason for this is this is point 2 a if you want to take notes your weaker brother needs spiritual protection not pressure look at romans 14 13.

paul says therefore let us not judge one another anymore but rather determine this not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way you may notice here that paul is rounding off his previous teaching with the first therefore statement because of what i just wrote let’s stop judging one another over these conviction issues inappropriately the paul’s use of the word judge in verse 13 sets up a word play later in the verse probably can’t tell this in your english translation but the greek verb for judge and determine as reported in the new american standard are actually the same it’s both the greek verb krino krino can have the sense of judge to condemn but also the sense of judge in making a decision so it’s like paul is saying this let’s decide not to condemn each other any longer but rather you spiritually strong ones you need to decide not to put a stumbling block or an obstacle in the brother’s way you may notice the words obstacle and stumbling block are very similar in meaning uh what’s the difference not much obstacle is a cause for stumbling or an offense and stumbling block could also be translated trap or offense but i don’t know about you when i think about those terms i i might think that this is something that’s not a big deal oh just a slight tripping hazard but that is not the sense because if you look in the old testament and the new testament where these terms these metaphors are used for spiritual realities it is always a situation that is quite serious i don’t shouldn’t say always but many times it is a situation that is quite serious some great spiritual damage is about to happen and perhaps even resulting in eternal destruction let me show you a few examples of this isaiah 8 14. isaiah 8 14 and interestingly the greek translation of this old testament passage uses the same two terms that we just noted stumbling block an obstacle but isaiah 8 14 says this in its first part this is about the divine messiah that israel would reject then he shall become a sanctuary but to both the house of israel a stone to strike and a rock to stumble upon the majority of jews in jesus day they could not handle the concept of a humble crucified messiah that became the stumbling block which they tripped over to eternal doom or consider matthew 16 23 matthew 16 23 jesus speaking turns to peter and says get behind me satan you are a stumbling block to me for you are not setting your mind on god’s interests but man’s what was happening there peter i just told jesus you don’t need to go to the cross that will never happen to you jesus says you don’t even know what kind of terrible stumbling block you are trying to be to me right now you want to derail the whole mission of redemption for the sake of your own desires you are stumbling block or matthew 18 6 matthew 18 6 this passage doesn’t use the noun form but it does use the verb form of one of the words we just looked at matthew 18 6 jesus says but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea god treats the setting up of needless spiritual stumbling blocks to be an extremely heinous manner worthy of the utmost wrathful vengeance of god you cause one of my little ones to stumble one of those who believe in me i will bring wrath on you for it so when paul commands us to resolve not to put a spiritual stumbling block or obstacle in a brother’s way paul’s communicating the situation is quite serious but you may say but how could my little christian liberty convictions cause such a dangerous situation look at verse 14 now romans 14 14 i know and am convinced in the lord jesus that nothing is unclean in itself but to him who thinks anything to be unclean to him it is unclean this is an explanatory parenthetical sentence that helps tie together verse 13 and verse 15.

paul stops to clarify that he emphatically agrees with the strong in faith when it comes to christian liberty over food no food paul says i know i’m totally sure about this no food is common or unclean in itself common is a literal term but the idea is unclean but paul says there is one situation in which food becomes unclean what situation is that when someone thinks that what he’s eating is unclean to broaden that principle a bit when someone’s conscience tells him that something is wrong for that person to participate in and that person does it anyways that act represents uncleanness and sin before god violations of conscience make an act totally unclean even if it wasn’t unclean in itself but what does this have to do with stumbling blocks look at verse 15 now four if because of food your brother is hurt you are no longer walking according to love do not destroy with your food him for whom christ died do you see the connection that paul is making there paul’s telling the strong believers who understand that they can exercise christian liberty brothers it’s true that you have liberty but you must still walk according to love that’s basically being christian paul’s already talked about it extensively in his book or this letter romans 13 10 for example love does no wrong to a neighbor so brethren if you exercise this is paul speaking if you exercise this liberty in such a way that you hurt or deeply grieve a brother to the point of violating his conscience you are no longer walking in love but you’ve actually exposed him to great spiritual danger you’ve laid out a stumbling block before him over which he might have a calamitous fall notice paul says that you in fact use something like food to destroy a brother they say oh paul that’s a little strong aren’t you exaggerating it is a strong term destroy is again meant to emphasize how serious the situation really is when you entice a brother to act against his conscience spiritually you are luring that believer to unfathomable damage even spiritual destruction and over what food it’s almost comical if it weren’t so tragic the contrast that paul sets up in verse 15 because you have on the one hand food imagine a piece of food steak hamburger piece of bacon you have this on the one hand and on the other hand you have the soul of a person and not just a person but a person who is blood bought by the lord himself for that person jesus went to the cross he suffered the wrath of god for that person’s sins he paid it all off clothed that person with his own righteousness brought them into the people of god what you’re doing paul says when you over a conviction issue calls your brother to violate his conscience you are saying that little piece of food is more important than that brother’s soul you’re trying to undo all the salvation work of jesus and say i want him to be destroyed i don’t care if he’s destroyed can such gross negligence in taking care of a brother ever be tolerated by the master by the father now you’re probably asking but how can these things be first of all how can exercising my liberty be a stumbling block of the character that you describe i can think of at least two ways one way is by verbally pressuring a weaker brother to practice your more liberated conviction imagine this in a new testament context brother you’re free in christ just eat it trying to help you here trying to make you enjoy life more i mean just think of what a better witness you’ll be for christ if you’re not weighed down by this conviction actually i think would be sin if you didn’t eat it because you’d just be indulging in your legalism that would certainly be one way to set a stumbling block before another verbal pressure but another way would be to put the brother into a situation in which he’s very tempted even when he don’t say anything again imagine this in a new testament context you invite a brother to a dinner party you neglect to tell him that the food is not necessarily kosher brother with a weakened conviction shows up and now he’s faced with great social pressure as to whether he’s going to be an ungrateful guest and refuse your food or whether he’s just going to go along with the crowd and just eat it this is made even worse by physical hunger maybe he’s had a hard day maybe he’s a slave he’s been working hard for his master in the field and he was looking forward to the dinner that you were going to put on but now he sees it’s it’s unclean food and pardon says you can’t eat that don’t eat that god will be dishonored but then he says i’m so hungry so hungry i’ve had such a long day maybe they’re right maybe i really shouldn’t worry about this but his conscience won’t let it go whatever the exact situation what paul’s describing is that you put a stumbling block before another brother or sister when you exercise or proclaim your own christian liberty in such a way that it inordinately tempts a brother to violate his own conscience maybe you don’t intend this but maybe it’s just a negligence on your part a quick side note this does not mean that you can never have a conversation with a brother or even a weaker brother about christian convictions you can that’s legitimate sometimes that’s even helpful but it should never cross the line into pressuring or enticing the brother to go against his conscience and note too that this really is all about the conscience some professing believers will try to use passages like this or the one in first corinthians to try and enforce their conservative convictions on everyone else because they say hey your your liberty is offending me i’m upset you’re making me angry bible says you have to give that up for me that’s not actually what this passage is talking about this is about causing a brother to violate his conscience grieving him in that way hurting him in that way it’s all about the conscience here so that may bring up a second question why is violating the conscience such a big deal why is it compared to even spiritual destruction potential spiritual destruction well to answer that question we need to remember what god designed the conscience to do the conscience is like a faithful guard in the inner man that commends you when you do right and warns and condemns you when you pursue wrong god gave everyone a conscience as part of imprinting the knowledge of himself and the knowledge of his law on every person romans 1 and 2 talk about this and consciences are not perfect revelators of god’s will consciences must be trained it must be strengthened they must be informed by god’s truth which is found in the scripture and consciences that have been improperly informed or that are paired with certain weaknesses in faith may report that a good action is actually bad or that a bad action is actually good it’s possible for a conscience to be misinformed that way but the bible but the lord never teaches believers to go and reject or ignore their consciences never to silence your conscience rather your conscience is to be trained in the truth trained to operate correctly according to what god has actually revealed consciences are actually a gift from god that are are meant to help us pursue him and to live holy lives so why would purposefully violating the conscience be so destructive there are two avenues that could a person could potentially walk down as a result one is one reason why this is so dangerous is because violating the conscience teaching someone to reject or ignore the conscience may sear the conscience may deaden the conscience may cause the conscience to become weaker so that it no longer is able to warn you as loud and if you keep ignoring it it’s like you won’t even be able to hear it at all this is why the bible when it speaks about false teachers one of the things that notes is that they are people who have seared their consciences that’s first timothy 4.

it’s like they’ve cauterized their conscience and they can’t feel anything anymore this is an extremely dangerous situation because it means someone can go headlong into sin and feel no qualms about it they go into greater and greater sin that could potentially happen to your brother when you teach him when you pressure him to go against his conscience surely we would never wish that we would never risk that for a brother or sister that’s one possible result but another potential danger another reason why this is so destructive is because pressuring a brother over a conviction may lead that brother to feel unceasing guilt and this can happen at least one of two ways one is because he listens to you it goes against his conscience but then he later comes to himself and feels he has transgressed something so fundamental about following god that he can never be made right with god again i think about these early jewish christians all their lives they have been taught a truly godly person keeps the food loss keeps the sabbath only traitors go against that and then that jewish christian does he’s like oh you know i guess it’s really not a big deal he does it and later he thinks about it he says what have i done what have i done i’m a traitor to god the thing that is so basic and obvious to being a christian i’ve transgressed there’s no hope for me anymore and he may run from god or another way is pressure over conviction issues may convince a believer there’s no there’s no way he can be justified because whatever he does is wrong he’s got believers who have christian liberty telling him no no this is the right way to go this is right before god and if you don’t do it it’s basically sin but his conscience is telling him no this is the right way before god and if you don’t do it it’s sin so either way he’s condemned there’s no right answer for him there’s no safe way and what does that lead to despair and easily despair and unceasing guilt it leads to departure from the faith leave the church leave christ all together so you can see why paul uses the serious language that he does in this passage a violation of the conscience can either deaden the conscience so much so that the person totally departs from christ or kick the conscience into overdrive so much that a person departs from christ both of these represent spiritual destruction now yes not every violation of conscience leads to this but the risk is real therefore we dare not put a stumbling block or an obstacle in a brother’s way that would lead him tempt him pressure him to violate his conscience and for what mere food well let’s put it in today’s context some of the issues that we face would you entice someone to go against his conscience for a mere glass of wine would you risk someone’s profound spiritual injury just to have them watch a movie with you would you pressure someone into going against his conscience just for one vote in one u.s election spiritual stakes are high when it comes to our weaker brethren what do they need from us protection not pressure this is the first reason we look to edify our brethren and not cause them to stumble a second reason or we should edify our brethren and not cause them to stumbles in verses 16 to 18.

point 2 b god’s kingdom is primarily about righteousness not liberty look what paul says in verse 16.

therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil and there’s some debate among interpreters as to what the good thing in this verse is supposed to represent and who the ones are who are speaking evil literally slandering blaspheming my view is pretty straightforward i believe the good thing that paul’s talking about here is what he’s just been talking about rightful exercise of christian liberty the ones blaspheming the good thing are those who are primarily hurt by it wounded believers and even those who’ve left the faith paul is saying brothers your christian convictions are good but don’t use it so carelessly carelessly that people only resent and slander it as evil and why notice a reason paul gives in verse 17 to this assertion he just made verse 17 paul says for the kingdom of god is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the holy spirit see being a citizen of god’s kingdom it’s not about eating or drinking or enjoying any particular christian liberty these are blessings but they’re not the essence of what it means to be a follower of christ what is following god all about righteousness peace joy in the holy spirit that is to say following christ is about certain salvation realities being made manifest in our lives i mean look at each one of these terms you are justified by the righteousness of christ alone but it works out in practical righteousness in your life you should be seeking to live righteously or you experience peace with god because of christ’s work and so now you are to seek peace with your brethren peace with all people as far as you can or you experience the joy of christ and so now you can rejoice with your brethren rejoice and praise god before all men these come to you by means of the indwelling empowering and guaranteeing holy spirit if these are what the christian life is really about then these should come before the exercise of christian liberty hold on to these things not those particular exercises of convictions say it another way you weren’t saved to enjoy christian liberty primarily to just enjoy temporal creative things you were saved to experience and manifest the transforming gospel of the lord and it’s only those who live this way who should have any confidence that they truly belong to god notice what paul says in verse 18 for he who in this way serves christ is acceptable to god and approved my men the word the greek word for serves here is du liu you can hear the word doulas in there slave to serve as a slave if you really are saved and you serve christ as a slave of christ you don’t cling to the exercise of your liberties but you do cling to what christ called you to do which is to love and to build up other people those who do this paul says they are acceptable to god literally well pleasing not that they’ve earned salvation or righteousness no but they manifest that they they have it in christ and instead of generating the slander of men notice verse 18 says they receive the approval of men specifically of those weaker brethren who appreciate how the brethren who are stronger in faith on conviction issues take care of them so let’s ask ourselves a few questions regarding this before we move on what are you known for when it comes to the exercise of christian liberty when people look at you would they get the idea that the essence of christianity is that conviction issue that you have that conviction stance or will they instead see that your conviction finds its proper place and what it really means to be a follower of christ what kind of response does the exercise of your christian liberty generate in the believers around you even here at the church do your good and godly convictions actually generate slander against god and against christian freedom because of how you use it or do people see the humble and different way that you go about exercising your convictions the way you look to edify others first so you are esteemed by your brethren even those who don’t hold to your same convictions my brothers and sisters because god’s kingdom is primarily about righteousness and not liberty we should edify one another and make sure that we do not cause the brother to stumble there’s a third reason why we should fulfill this command this is in verses 19 to 23 point 2 c freedom with stumbling blocks included is unclean not clean look at verse 19.

so then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another notice the so then here this is based on what paul just said being a true follower of christ means not clinging to liberties or thoughtlessly laying spiritual stumbling blocks before a brother or sister who are redeemed by christ but instead means living out a transforming gospel and we ought to pursue peace with our brethren and whatever would edify them whatever would build them up spiritually far from engaging in controversy with one another we look to make peace and far from tempting others into sin we seek to protect and bring spiritual benefit to others there’s the term building up i actually used an equivalent term edify it’s an architectural term it’s like god’s people are a building and it’s our job to help the construction help the repairs help the beautification of that building this is our calling and it’s the opposite of what paul says next look at verse 20. first part of verse 20 do not tear down the work of god for the sake of food the greek word for tear down here is another extremely destructive term again emphasizing the seriousness of the situation but it’s also the opposite of the term build up another architectural term when we selfishly pursue the exercise of our own even rightful christian liberties it’s like we’re taking a wrecking ball to the building that god is constructing god has established this remarkable reality in the church which is a diversity of people different backgrounds even different convictions yet made one in christ united in purpose looking to serve and glorify god but in the name of a of a conviction about something so temporal like food we try to tear down this great work of god paul says in 1st corinthians 3 that god will judge those who try to destroy god’s temple i.e god’s people so we should no longer use our convictions to do so in fact paul clarifies that recklessly exercising our christian freedom is not only senseless but is itself unclean now this is very poignant look at the second half of verse 20.

all things paul says indeed are clean but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense this is very similar to what paul said back in verse 14 but notice there’s a key difference before paul said something becomes unclean becomes unclean if someone thinks it’s unclean but here paul says something becomes unclean if the enjoyment of it puts a spiritual obstacle in front of someone else in other words your christian liberty conviction is no longer acceptable to god when it hurts a brother and paul clarifies the extent therefore we should go to protect our brethren spiritually verse it is good not to eat meat or to drink wine or to do anything by which your brother stumbles brothers and sisters if we were really committed to doing good to our brethren then we need to be willing to sacrifice what otherwise would be a rightful christian liberty for them if it’s necessary to protect them we do it doesn’t matter what it is food drink anything paul’s not saying quick clarification paul’s not saying that this must be done by all people always and at all times that he’s just pronouncing right now all christians must be vegetarian tea totalers forever but in any local situation where it’s clear that giving up that liberty that rightful christian liberty would protect someone else spiritually you must do it it’s just loving a brother and need we fear the inability to express our faith via our christian liberties you’ll notice what paul says in the first part of verse 22 the faith that the faith which you have have as your own conviction before god we don’t have to show everyone all the time the full extent of our christian freedom if we’re strong in faith when it comes to christian liberty issues god sees that god’s honored by that and he’s the only one who really needs to know god will also be pleased when love causes you to hide so to speak your christian liberty for the sake of protecting a brother paul sums up the principles in this section and the rest of verse 22 and 23.

i’ll read those now he says happy is he who does not condemn himself and what he approves but he who doubts is condemned if he eats because his eating is not from faith and whatever is not from faith is sin notice paul says happy or blessed we could also translate it is the one who has no reason to condemn himself for the way he handles his convictions this applies to the weaker brother who may be unsure about a particular act but it also applies to the stronger brother who may be unsure as to whether the way he’s exercising his christian liberty might cause someone else to stumble paul says if you want to be happy just stay on the safe side when in doubt don’t under no circumstances should you eat or pursue anything which the bible allows but your conscience does not yet give you full confirmation it’s okay for you to do if you’re still shaky don’t do it because if you proceed when you’re wavering you only bring condemnation on yourself even the chastening judgment of god again whether it’s because you feel like an act is wrong in itself or because you’re not sure whether it might cause someone else to stumble whatever is not from faith paul says is sin so brethren i think you can see why when it comes to christian conviction issues as we listen to the teaching of god’s apostle we not only look to welcome one another and do not judge but we also look to as we’ve seen in this second main point edify one another and do not cause to stumble our weak and brethren need spiritual protection not pressure god’s kingdom is primarily about righteousness not liberty and freedom with stumbling blocks included is unclean not clean so how does this all apply to the christian conviction issues we face today we can’t explore all the specific implications right now but i’ll just try and provide you with a few application examples now remember of course the situations we face are not completely parallel to what paul’s talking about here but the principles are relevant here’s an example you believe it’s okay to read books that feature stories with magic wizards and sorcery that is an acceptable conviction before god but don’t pressure others to take that view and don’t talk in such a way that those who don’t read those books are really missing out on something that’s so good and essential don’t try to tempt them in that way or you believe it’s okay for a dating couple to hold hands and even kiss before marriage that’s an acceptable conviction before god within certain biblical parameters but don’t entice the person that you’re pursuing marriage with to go against his or her own convictions on that issue and don’t carelessly parade your liberty before others here’s another one you believe based on your best understanding of the coronavirus situation that christians don’t need to wear masks and totally fine for us to sing in church without masks that is an acceptable conviction before god and there’s even a place for a conversation about that but take care that you are not pressuring those who don’t take that same conviction and don’t practice that same conviction that somehow they are being cowardly or sinning against god and each of these issues and many others your attitude should be fundamentally not about establishing your own rights or your own view but seeking to protect and build others up even those who are weaker in faith and just as individuals are going to come to good but different convictions in these types of issues realize that whole churches and their leaders will too i was thinking the other day what new testament churches must have done based on paul’s teaching in this passage and similar teaching when it came to their get-togethers because they still have people who had these food convictions in the church so how did they how do they seek to deal with that did they provide both meat based and vegetarian-based food say okay here’s some over here and go over here you know whichever one you you feel best about or did they just serve all vegetarian food hey we’ll just cover all our bases all of us can eat vegetarian i don’t know what the answer was but i would guess that different places did different things especially depending on their congregation and that’s totally okay and isn’t it the same today when it comes to issues like music in church go over to precautions in church other things different churches are going to come to different answers as to what they think would best serve the people in their congregation every church situation is different but again there’s one more there’s more than one right answer before god we must be careful even at the church level about pressuring others with what with what we’ve determined is the best way to serve our congregation but where other churches face pressure to go against their god-oriented convictions even if those convictions are different from ours what should we do we should not judge we should seek to help we should even pray for our brethren there in those churches really on both the church level and the individual level our outlook should be others oriented and not self-oriented really that flows right into the rest of paul’s teaching i told you i’d only briefly say something about main points three and four that paul gives about how we handle when convictions collide and the way i want to do that is i just want to read the rest of the passage and just offer a few comments on it we’ve seen that when convictions collide christians must number one welcome one another and do not judge and number two edify one another and do not cause to stumble but a third way to respond is in romans 15 1-6 which is please one another and do not simply please yourself look what paul writes there now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves each of us is to please his neighbor for his good to his edification for even christ did not please himself but as it is written the reproaches of those who approached you fell on me for whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction so that perseverance so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope and may the god who gives perseverance and encouragement grants you to be of the same mind with one another according to christ jesus so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the god and father of our lord jesus christ notice that the christian’s calling goes far beyond merely trying to protect one another’s consciences but actually seeking to please one another for their ultimate spiritual good your attitude in general but also when you come to church should not be to complain about how all your various preferences and convictions are not accommodated rather you want to ask how can i please and be a source of blessing to others that should be that should be what each one of us are thinking when we come to church oh you know what their music really isn’t my preference but you know what i want to serve others i want to be a blessing to others paul points out that this was christ’s own demonstrated attitude in his incarnation but especially in his passion and is going to the cross jesus suffered in order to please not himself but his father and to do good to us and all to god’s glory and so it should be with us really the end goal of paul’s instruction about these things is not mark this unity and peace that’s not the end goal those are actually a means to the true end goal which is what that’s really point number four main point number four how should we react when convictions collide glorify god together as a united but diverse body look at the rest of the passage verses 7-13 therefore accept one another just as christ also accepted us to the glory of god for i say that christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of god to confirm the promises given to the fathers and for the gentiles to glorify god for his mercy as it is written therefore i will give praise to you among the gentiles and i will sing to your name again he says rejoice o gentiles with his people and again praise the lord all you gentiles and let all the peoples praise him again isaiah says there shall come the root of jesse and he who arises to rule over the gentiles and him shall the gentiles hope and may the god of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing so that you will abound in hope by the power of the holy spirit god never intended to gather a people for himself who would be completely the same even in their convictions while on the earth but he did intend and he foretold this even in the old testament to gather a people who would be united in one purpose and that purpose is to praise and glorify god forever this if you may note this is ultimately why christ denied himself to serve the people who had the most restrictive law and convictions the jews you see how it says that he became a servant of the circumcision but it was with a goal that encompassed all people he confirmed the promises to the patriarchs and he enabled the gentiles to glorify god for god’s mercy that is a pattern for us seeing a united people not united in all their convictions but united in their purpose and the way they deal with convictions with one another that should be our goal unto the glory of god and what would that take the same thing it took for jesus a sacrificial mindset that says it’s not about me it’s about the lord and therefore it’s about the edification of my brethren jesus welcomed us sacrificially into the glory of god and if you may note in verse 7 it says the same thing accept one another just as christ all accepted you basically we’re to do the same this should be our ultimate goal when convictions collide yes those other things are true but this is the end goal we can’t do this without the power of the holy spirit and so paul’s prayer right there at the end is completely appropriate and it’s the way i’ll close today may the god of hope he says indeed enable you to follow christ’s pattern by the power of the holy spirit and with the hope of what god will do may god make that true for our church pray with me now heavenly father i thank you for this great word of yours again it is a challenging word but a beautiful one to behold your pattern and to embrace it ourselves god not only in welcoming one another and not judging not only edifying one another and not causing to stumble but in also pleasing one another not looking to please ourselves so that all together might glorify you as one that’s what we want although i prayed should help us in this show each one of us lord where maybe we’re not exercising our liberties in a wise way we’ve been really enticing and pressuring others inappropriately but lord help us to be ready to lay aside our christian liberties for the sake of protecting others for the sake of blessing others lord for those who don’t know you may be with us today they don’t know what it’s like to be part of a such a people like that and they live not as one who actually looks to other people but only really looks to themselves or that does not honor you that’s that’s a great sin before you you even say as we rehearse today that those who put a stumbling block before your brethren they’re worthy of the utmost wrath that’s true for anyone outside of you god so i pray anyone who has been living for himself and not living for you i pray that they would repent today i pray that they would turn to the only lord and savior they would trust in the only salvation work that really saves and that is jesus christ and his work on the cross lord i pray to bless this congregation and lord i pray that we would indeed get closer and closer to the ideal laid out in this scripture we need your spirit to do this i pray that you provide it in jesus name amen we’re going to

In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia begins a two part look at Paul’s teaching in Romans 14:1-15:13, a section about how Christians should respond to one another over Christian liberty issues. In part one of this look, Dave Capoccia considers the situation in the early Roman church and also explains the first of Paul’s four main commands in the section: when it comes to conviction issues, Christians must welcome one another and not judge. Dave Capoccia outlines three reasons why from Romans 14:1-12:

1. God welcomes your brethren
2. Christ, not you, is the judging lord
3. You, too, will be judged by God

Full Transcript:

Let’s hear more from God’s Word today about how this wonderful gospel works out in our own lives. Pray with me. Heavenly Father, feed us Your Words today. Help us and guide us in the way to live. You are the steadfast Guide. Show us the way to walk and then empower us to do it. I pray by Your Spirit that You would work in the hearts of those who listen so that we might know your blessing and all the things you have ordained. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

I’d like to start off the sermon this morning with a little pop quiz. Don’t worry, I won’t grade you. In fact I ask you not to answer out loud. But I want to pose to you ten questions that you can answer in your own minds and then I’ll give you a little bonus question at the end. Here is question one: How should Christians deal with alcohol? Number two: How should Christians educate their children? Number three: What is the right way to pursue a marriage relationship? Number four: What is proper clothing for going to church? Number five: To what kind of music should Christians listen? Number six: Is it right for Christians to eat all foods including blood? Number seven: Should Christians honor Sundays in any particular way? Number eight: How should Christians respond to issues of African-American mistreatment in this country? Number nine: How should Christians deal with the opportunity to vote this November? And number ten: What is the right way for Christians to deal with COVID-19 and government church restrictions?

Now the bonus question is what do you think of Christians who do not answer these questions the same way that you do? Likely at least one of the questions I just asked you is about an issue that you feel strongly and a deep conviction about. In fact you may even feel that if you answer that question in any other way, and behaved accordingly, that you would be sinning against God. It would violate your conscience to do anything different than what you’re doing. Because of this, you probably feel that other Christians should think and do as you do! You may not be able to understand or even accept Christians who do not.

Now it’s not as if the Bible has nothing to do with the questions I mentioned. The Bible says a lot! The Bible however gives relevant commands and principles for these issues, but it does not specifically say how a Christian should respond. Therefore they become what is sometimes called a conviction issue, or an issue of conscience or Christian freedom. Christian freedom or liberty is part of those activities not strictly prohibited that is commanded or prohibited in the Bible. Christians can legitimately take different positions. There is such a thing as Christian liberty but still they can disagree about the proper exercise of those freedoms.

This can become a huge problem in the church because people of different opinions can be suspicious of others and start slandering others. It can even make people avoid or refuse fellowship with one another. The unity of the Spirit is a unique privilege we have in the body of Christ. This is a testimony to the world of our mutual love for one another but it dissolves when we are divided. The members of the body all suffer. Our church here at Calvary is not immune to the dangers that come from deeply held convictions. Even here there are a diversity of positions on the issues that I just raised.

Indeed strong convictions, especially about COVID and other things in recent days have the potential to hinder our fellowship with one another but also to degrade and destroy it. Furthermore, if strongly held opinions are made to have sway over others who do not actually believe them and those persons act against their own convictions and consciences, the Bible says that those person will spiritually ruin themselves. So it’s a potentially dangerous situation.

Is there some way that we can preserve the Spirit of unity in the bond of peace when we have such different and even strongly held convictions over different Christian freedom issues. Is there a way for even us at Calvary? There is and we must submit to that way in order to protect ourselves, one another, and to honor our Lord Christ. Where is that way outlined for us? There are principles throughout the Scriptures but the most straightforward teaching about it comes in Romans 14-15, and that’s where I want to look today.

Open to Romans 14, which is the Scripture passage you heard earlier. The title of the message today is, “When Convictions Collide.” Today will be part one of this message where we will set up the background of this very constructive section of the Bible. We will also cover the first major point of the passage. Part two will be next week where we will cover the passage’s other three major points.

I want to start by giving you the background of this passage. Let’s appreciate the level of conviction that people were feeling in the church in those days. What is the situation Paul is dealing with in Romans 14 and 15? The Apostle Paul writes this letter to the Romans with several purposes in mind. One of them is to specifically address the issue of disunity between Jews and Gentiles in the church at Rome arising over conviction issues. Remember the uniting of both Jew and Gentile as equal Kingdom citizens through the gospel of Christ was an extremely momentous development in redemption history. Before Christ, Jews mostly held Gentiles at a distance if not outright avoiding them and despising them. After all, Gentiles worshipped false gods, were ceremoniously unclean and were of ten the political enemies of Israel. For their part, many Gentiles mocked and were suspicious of and harassed the Jews. Now it’s true that some Gentiles were attracted to Judaism and its God. They became God-fearers ore even full proselytes to Judaism.

But even when they did this they were forced to give up not just their sins and false worship, but really part of the Gentile-ness. They had to become Jews in order to worship God to some extent. Even when they did so, they couldn’t proceed in worship in an equal way with the Jews. Even in the temple Gentiles could only go so far whereas the Jews could go further.

After the Babylonian exile, Jew-Gentile antagonism often centered on three external practices that often epitomized on the difference between Jews and Gentiles. These were circumcision, the eating of clean or unclean foods, which included the food being sacrificed to idols, and the keeping of holy days, like the Sabbath.

By New Testament times, these practices had become so highlighted in the minds of the Jews that they were the litmus test of godliness. The Jews were in their exile and back in their land with Gentiles all around them. So there’s great pressure to give up these practices. The Jews felt a true man or woman of God resisted that Gentile pressure and practiced circumcision food laws and keeping of the Sabbath. Only carnal traitors abandoned any one of these practices.

But then Jesus, the Son of God, comes onto the scene with His perfect life, death, and resurrection. He perfectly fulfilled the Old Testament law, the law of the Jews, for all of those who believe in Him. With that law thus fulfilled, the old law passes away and is superseded by the law of Christ. The greatest indication of this incredible change is the tearing or rending of the veil in the temple which separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple and the rest of the world. It was torn in two when Jesus died on the cross.

This was symbolic that all people have full access to God, even in the Holy of Holies by faith. This was an incredible development, but the implications of it were not seen or pursued right away by Christ’s disciples. You can trace this in the book of Acts; it takes a heavenly vision from God to Peter in Acts 10 before Peter is willing to accept that he can visit Gentiles and eat their food.

Eventually, all of Jesus’ apostles acknowledge and proclaim the message of salvation by faith in Christ to both Jew and Gentile, apart from any ritual adherence to the Old Testament law. It is not required because it has been fulfilled in Christ. But this was such a great shock to the system of the Jews, even for those who loved and believed in Christ. The things they loved and were fighting for so long, they no longer found any important. Some Christian Jews could not accept this change but rather insisted that they could become like Jews in order to be accepted in Christ.

This meant prescribing circumcision, food laws, and the keeping of Sabbaths to the Gentiles. How did the apostles respond? On the one hand they rejected this judaizing tendency as foreign to Christ and the gospel, but they nonetheless instructed Gentiles to be sensitive to the convictions of their Jewish brethren. This is exactly the conclusion of the Jerusalem council in Acts 15.

Still though, the question of how Jews and Gentiles were to understand each other and whether Old Testament practices were still required and beneficial to Christians continue to come up again and again in the New Testament church. Just look at the letters of Paul. Galatians deals with it fundamentally, as does Colossians partly because of a false teaching with Jewish influence. Ephesians talks about the unity of Jew and Gentile together equally. 1 Corinthians talks about food being sacrificed to idols.

And then we have the book of Romans. The Christian community in Rome would have been a primarily Gentile congregation with some Jews in it. In this letter, there is an emphasis on the common need of salvation for both Jew and Gentile. You see that in Romans 1 and 2 especially, with the common blessings to both Jews and Gentiles. Paul even takes times to clarify in Romans 11 to the Gentiles that they are not to look down on their Jewish brethren. Nor even to suppose that God has rejected the nation of Israel forever. Instead, they are to be grateful for the Gentile inclusion into the people of God and to look forward to God’s full redemption of Israel.

As we also see in Romans 14 and 15, there is the issue in the Roman church about how to handle Jewish convictions. You may notice that the subject is not introduced in Romans 14 as a Jew-Gentile question but notice how the section ends in Romans 15:7-13, with an explanation of how Jews and Gentiles are to glorify God together. That doesn’t come out of nowhere. Also these issues discussed, eating food, honoring days, etc. are exactly the main issues Jewish Christians would have especially struggled with in a body of Gentiles. We don’t know if circumcision was another issue, apparently it was not as big of an issue in that church.

Do you notice that the particular controversy at Rome was different than other New Testament churches? For example, here in Rome this is not an issue where the salvation gospel is at stake, like it is in Galatians. You saw earlier that Paul says it is fine if certain persons want to abide by food laws or keep the Sabbath. In Galatians he talks about not submitting to a law because it will save.

That doesn’t seem to be the issue at Rome. The believers in Rome are not presenting these practices as necessary for salvation. Notice that the issue does not directly involve the danger of idolatry. In what many note as a parallel passage to this section of Scripture, 1 Corinthians 10 deals with food sacrificed to idols. There, Paul acknowledges Christian liberty but his emphasis is to not allow Christian liberty to allow a person to get close to and indulge in demonic idolatry. There’s a danger that he wants to keep the people from. But there isn’t that same emphasis in Romans. Involvement with idols is a great danger in a Roman church so it’s a little different.

What is the issue though in Rome? It’s that certain Christians and Gentile proselytes who have since come to know Christ, are insisting that while not necessary for salvation, practices like abstaining from ceremonially unclean foods and honoring the Sabbaths, nevertheless they represent best practices for Christians. If you really love God and want to follow Him, you’ll do these things. They were clear marks of godliness before and are still clear marks of godliness today.

Meanwhile other believers in the church, mostly Gentiles or theologically astute Jews, were arguing that such observances were unnecessary and even unhelpful. These would have been the majority in the church. Here is the situation in Rome. Different convictions on food and Sabbath coming out of a long tradition of Jewish observance was quite honorable. But these are becoming a continual form of discord among believers and threaten to break open into wider division and animosity in the Church.

Now Paul by the Spirit of God is going to give holy instruction to address this situation. Now these issues are not directly parallel to some of the Christian freedom issues we deal with today but the instruction Paul gives us the relevant principles to deal with the Christian freedom issues that we see. This will be a very relevant passage for us now.

Paul’s specific instructions to the Christians spans Romans 14:1 to Romans 15:13, that’s why I asked Greg to read that whole section earlier. That instruction can be broken down into four main commands. I’ll give these to you now, but we’re not going to explore them all today so don’t get too worried about it. When convictions collide in the church, how should Christians respond to their brethren?

Number one, Paul teaches to welcome one another and do judge each other, found in Romans 14:1-12. Number two, edify one another and do not cause to stumble, as it says in Romans 14:13-23. Number three, please one another and do not simply please yourself which is Romans 15:1-6. And number four, rejoice with one another in the glorious gospel, in Romans 15:7-13.

Now this wonderful teaching in all of these verses that we don’t have time to go through fully today, we’re just going to start by investigating the first part of Paul’s teaching that first command from Paul with I think is actually extremely worth our time in really giving special focus. The first command is about how to respond when convictions arise. We are to love one another and do not judge.

Let me expand upon that just a little bit. In Romans 14:1-12, Paul presents three reasons why when it comes to conviction issues you must welcome and not judge your brethren. I’ll give you those three reasons and we will go through them. Number one, God welcomes your brethren. Number two, Christ, not you, is the judging Lord. And number three, you too will be judged by God. Now these reasons are not only divided thematically in the verse portions before us, but also set off by the repetition of a certain rhetorical questions in the text. This is a very challenging one which is who are you to judge your brother? That’s in verses 4-10 so that’s where I’m making the divisions.

Let’s explore how this teaching unfolds verse by verse and we’ll start with the first reason when it comes to conviction issues why must we welcome and not judge our brethren. Number one, God welcomes your brethren. This is in verses 1-3, let’s read that again in Romans 14:1-3:

Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.

Notice the command given in verse 1: “Accept the one who is weak in faith.” Paul says we could translate the word accept as the word welcome or receive. The idea is that this is the kind of welcome you give when you receive someone into your home or group of friends. Paul is addressing this command to the majority of believers at Rome though there’s an application to those that take a freer view. He is telling them to welcome others who have a more conservative view than you. Welcome them as true members of the group.

Notice the description that Paul gives of the second, more conservative group. He calls them the weak of faith, which is not a flattering description. But there is some truth to it. It’s not that this group lacks saving faith or are immature, necessarily. But when it comes to freedom issues, these people cannot accept that they have the freedom do live less strictly than they do. They either do not understand or cannot believe the full freedom that Christ has really granted them, so it is a spiritual weakness.

Now Paul does not say so explicitly in these first 12 verses, but later on he will indicate that Christians should gradually, eventually come to a place where they are strong in faith and do understand and accept their full Christian freedom. But that’s not Paul’s primary concern, and neither should it be ours.

Notice now in verse 1 where Paul describes that we should not be welcome those who have a weak view of Christian freedom. Don’t welcome them just to pass on judgment on their opinions or quarrel with them over disputed issues! Don’t say that you are glad they are here and then tell them all the ways they need to change. Paul says that this is not how to welcome those weak in faith!

Paul illustrates what he means by highlighting one of the contested issues in verses 2 and 3. He says that some Christians rightly believe they can eat all things and nothing is unclean to them, that is Biblically true. But there are also some Christians who unnecessarily restrict that freedom and don’t currently have the faith to eat all things so they eat only vegetables. If you come from a Jewish background and live in a mostly Gentile area, you have certain kosher rules that you want to keep and you’re not sure that the meat available to you is following all the rules. So better to just avoid it all to be safe. So they would eat only vegetables.

Now how should the two sides be responding to one another over these different food convictions? Notice what Paul says in verse 3. On the one hand, the one who does eat freely should not regard with contempt those who restrict their eating. On the other hand, those who restrict their eating are not to judge with condemnation those who have no qualms about eating anything. Aren’t these specific obstructions exactly addressing the temptations that two groups would have like this in any conviction situation?

The word for “regard with contempt” could be translated as despise or disdain. The idea is that you are looking down on another person, treating them with little or no worth. This is the temptation of those who have a less restrictive conviction, they look at the others and say they are so high and mighty. They say he is too holy for the group and is judging everyone now with his eyes. That’s the temptation of those who have the less strict view.

But on the other hand, the word for “judge” in verse 3 has the sense of making a condemning conclusion. This is passing an unfavorable judgment and finding fault. This is the great temptation of those who take the more restrictive view. They look at the others and say how they can recklessly and thoughtlessly. They don’t have any reverence for God or fear of sin! They think they are using their liberty to excuse fleshly indulgence.

Have you ever found yourself thinking in one of these ways about your brethren who have different convictions than you? Either you’re looking down on them because they are less restrictive, or judging them because they are more restrictive. What does Paul say we are to do when we face that temptation? Don’t go down that path and stop if you are! You are neither to disdain those or condemn those who take a different conviction issue than you. At the end of Romans 14:3 it says:

For God has accepted him.

This statement primarily confronts the weak who are prone to judge but it applies to both the strong and the weak. You think that God cannot possibly approve of someone who takes a different conviction than you? Paul says no, God is actually just fine with how that person is acting. These external matters that you’re so caught up in are no issue to God. He accepts both. Actually speaking of “accept,” did you notice how the word accept as it’s used in the NASB? In verse 3 it’s the sam word that’s used in verse 1. Paul’s telling us, “Brethren, accept and welcome into your fellowship those that God has already accepted and welcomed into His.”

Will we not welcome and approve those that God already has? Are we holier than God? Will God approve when we judge more strictly than He does? Now my brethren, think about what this means for some of the hot button Christian freedom issues I brought up to you. I’ll just use one as an example. You may feel, for example, that no one who comes to church in shorts and flip-flops could possibly reveal the Lord and be accepted by Him. Conversely, you may feel that a person who is decked out in a suit and tie is a hoity-toity legalist who is far from God’s grace. But the Bible does not prescribe or prohibit either set of clothes. With the right heart, both are acceptable to God. With the wrong heart, neither clothing choice is acceptable to God.

So what’s our job as believers? What are we to do when we face those with different convictions? It is not to judge based on those externals but instead to welcome them both who feel they need to dress up for church and those who rightly understand that there is freedom when it comes to clothing. Yes, I know the Bible does give certain principles about church attire and you are not to flaunt your wealth or become a distraction or stumbling block to others. But beyond these, we should welcome one another because God welcome them. God welcomes us no matter our conviction in this area. That’s just one example on the same principle that is applied to other Christian freedom issues.

Now you may say, “But I know what’s going on in their heart and I know why he dresses that way! I know why he takes that stance, he is only making his Christian freedom choice out of a sinful motivation. He is indulging in some irreverent license or he is nurturing his self-righteous legalism.” Well if that’s what we’re thinking, Paul has response to that in the next set of verses.

We’ve seen first of all that we are to welcome and not judge others over conviction issues because God welcomes us along with our brethren. But there’s a second reason in Romans 14:4-9 and that reason is Christ, not you, is the judging Lord. Let’s start with Romans 14:4:

Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Paul’s rhetorical question at the beginning of the verse is startling and challenging. Who do you think you are to judge someone else’s servant? What kind of hubris do you have? The word for servant here refers to a household, domestic slave. Paul thus pictures us when we judge others over their convictions acting like a guest at someone else’s house in New Testament times, judging the worth of a particular slave. The slave is going about his work and we’re looking and say, “Why does the slave do it that way and not a different way? He must be a bad slave. I’m sure his master disapproves.”

Paul is pointing out that such a judgment is absurd. Why? Because first of al, you don’t have al the information to properly judge that slave. You don’t what kind of arrangement he and his master have made with each other. Maybe he’s doing exactly what his master wants. Secondly, you don’t own that slave. That slave doesn’t have to meet your standards or expectations, but his own master’s. Who is the master who has both the ability and the right to judge each one of us? The Lord Jesus Christ.

Notice at the end of verse 4 where Paul explains that this fellow slave of Christ that we condemn for not taking the same stance and having the same conviction as we do will in fact stand approved by his master. Only the real Master who has the full information and ownership of the slave has the right to pass judgment on him will do so in the proper place in time. But why will he stand approved? Because his Master is enabling him to stand. Even without your same conviction.

This is kind of key right? We think our convictions are so essential and if you don’t adopt the same view, it’s going to be spiritual ruin for you. But Paul says actually Christ can make him stand without that because what is really essential is not that Christian freedom conviction, but the Lord Himself and the heart of faith that genuinely seeks the Lord. Paul elaborates on this assertion with the conviction of holy days in verses 5 and 6, which say:

One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.

Notice how Paul outlines the two main views in the congregation. There is one day that regards a specific day as special, and these are the Sabbaths. Then there’s another group that doesn’t regard any days as important in and of themselves. Notice what Paul says should be done about these divergent opinions. Should we browbeat one group into taking the side of the other? No, Paul says rather that each person is to be fully convinced in his own mind. In other words, let them be! Don’t try to force someone see to adopt your conviction.

Now it is true that Sabbath observance is not required for Christians. Not on Sunday or on the original seventh day of the week. Colossians 2:16-17 backs up what we’re hearing here. Nevertheless, God is pleased both by those who feel the need to honor a particular day of the week and those who don’t observe the Sabbath but celebrate every day alike. Why? Because they both do it for God’s sake!

It’s the same with food. Both the one who eats traditionally unclean foods and the one who abstains from traditionally unclean foods while doing it with thankfulness and unto the glory of God is right. That’s all that matters. God approves of both of them even though they have opposite convictions because these external matters are indifferent to God. What really matters are whether they are obeying their consciences and with a heart that genuinely seeks the Lord.

Is that surprising? Paul continues this explanation in Romans 14:7-8 while reminding us of something fundamental to Christianity. Look at what it says:

For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

Paul is stating what it means to be a Christian in the most basic sense. It means that everything is the Lord’s to be done unto the Lord and He is free to do with it what He wishes. And if we do live and die in this way, what do we demonstrate and testify? It says in Romans 14:8:

We are the Lord’s.

Everything is to be done for the Lord. Now do you notice that with this explanation here in verse 7-8, Paul states something more direct than what has been implying all along and that is not every stance on a Christian liberty issue is acceptable. There are indeed some who try to excuse selfish indulgence under the guise of Christian liberty. You can’t judge them because they are practicing their freedom in Christ when really they are pursuing sin and selfish indulgence. They’re not looking to please Christ but themselves so when the Master comes to assess them, they will not be approved but condemned.

For the one who fundamentally acts as a Christian and follows his conscience for the Lord’s sake, even if it ultimately means exercising less than his whole Christian liberty, Paul says that person will be approved by Christ wholeheartedly. Mere external matters like food, drinking, and days, God is not looking at. What ultimately matters to God regarding these things is the heart and that’s significant because you might want to ask how you will know the difference between those who are pursuing their conviction out of a pure motivation or a bad one. All you can see is that they are doing something that is scripturally acceptable on the outside, but you don’t know if their heart is right.

You know the answer to that! You don’t, you can’t! Only God sees into the heart and this is what He says in the Scriptures. We know that famous verse in Jeremiah 17:9 which talks about man’s heart being utterly deceitful, desperately sick, and ultimately unknowable both by human outsiders and by the One who has that heart. The next part in Jeremiah 17:10 says:

I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.

God says that He is the only one who can look at the heart and because of that, He is able to judge. So mark this my friends, if external objects like food are indifferent to God and the heart is what matters, then only the Lord can rightly judge over these issues and look into the heart. We must simply welcome those with different convictions and leave the heart judgment to God.

Besides, the right of judgment is something that Jesus obtained for Himself at great cost and it is a right that we dare not infringe upon. Now look at Romans 14:9 and how Paul ends this second section:

For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

This end that Paul refers to in this verse is what he just talked about in verse 8, namely that Christ has total ownership over His people in life and death and everything in between. To obtain this ownership, Paul says Christ died and lived again. That is He died in the place of and on behalf of His own at the cross, He paid their sin debt, and then He rose again in victory. In doing this, Jesus obtained in a special way His rightful position as Lord and Master.

Though the Son has always been Lord and God from eternity, something the Scriptures make clear, the Son’s incarnation and ministry work nevertheless suited Him to be the Lord of all the universe and especially Lord of His redeemed people. The Scriptures talk about Jesus being exalted upon His returning to Heaven with titles and crowns, etc. As the Lord and Master, what does Jesus have exclusive right to do? He has the right to rule and to judge what is His own. That’s what verse 4 says.

What’s the connection? Do you see how inappropriate it is for us ever to judge someone else with contempt or condemnation over a conviction issue? We are not the other person’s master or able to look into the heart and we did not live, suffer, die, rise again, and ascend to Heaven in order to obtain that position of Lord and Judge. That is not our position. So when we start judging one another, brethren do you realize what we do? We are insulting the Lordship of Christ. We are attempting to move Jesus off of His throne, set ourselves there and say bring in the fellow brethren and slaves so we can adjudicate them. This is highly inappropriate. We must not dare then to go beyond what is written as 1 Corinthians 4:1-6 says:

Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God. Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other.

So have you found yourself judging others over today’s conviction issues? Have different views on COVID especially caused you to disdain or condemn a brother because you think you know what’s going on in their hearts? It’s very easy to fall into that I know, but we must turn from that and there are additional reasons why we must welcome and not judge our brethren over conviction issues. God welcomes us along with our brethren and Christ is the judging Lord. Number three, Paul concludes by saying that you too will be judged by God. Look now at Romans 14:10-12:

But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

Notice that we see the rhetorical question again challenging us on our judging others over Christian freedom issues. To the more restrictive, why do you judge your brother? To the less restrictive, why do you regard your brother with contempt when they are not doing anything wrong? The Lord is being emphatic with us that such judgment is heinous and uncalled for.

But now notice the end of verse 10, where Paul reminds us that one day we will all face the Lord’s judgment. This is a reference to the judgment seat, the beama. This refers to a raised platform on which rulers sometimes stood or sat to pronounce judgment. Paul says that before you sit in judgment of your brethren, you should think about your own judgment that is coming.

Now the true believer has judgment that awaits us that won’t decide eternal life or death. Nor will there be some calculation about how much time in purgatory we need. Paul has already written in Romans 8:1:

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

There is nothing left to pay because it was all paid in advance. All has been satisfied by Christ’s substitutionary payment on behalf of you on the cross. Nevertheless there will be an accounting of all people, believers included. A final assessment from the master of His beloved salves, the judgment will be, as other Scriptures indicate, to determinate reward or lack of reward. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 clarifies this as well as 2 Corinthians 5:10.

S think about for yourself that if you are in Christ, you will face judgment for reward. Did you take the opportunities and rightly respond to the commands given by Christ? How do you think that judgment will go for you? Notice in Romans 14:11, Paul quotes a section of the Old Testament to support the idea of everyone coming to stand before God in judgment. He is mostly quoting Isaiah 45:23, and what is significant is that this part is about God asserting Himself as the only true God and thus the asserting Himself as the only Lord and Judge. Isn’t that what Paul has just been saying here in Romans?

Only God has the right to judge the heart because He is God. Everyone will come to Him but not you because you don’t take that place. Paul concludes again in Romans 14:12 that everyone will give account to God. Not only how we handled Christian freedom issues for ourselves personally but also how we responded to our brothers and sisters who have different convictions.

You will give an account to God about that and He will ask why did you what you did. Why did you respond to them that way? All of us, whether believer of unbeliever, restricted or less restricted in the way we live our lives, need to remember that one day we will give an account to God. Wouldn’t you want that to be a happy experience? Yes God, will wipe away every tear from the eyes of those who belong to Him. I don’t know about you but I would love to be like those faithful slaves in the Parable of the Talent in Matthew 25. When they were assessed by their Master, they said that they were faithful with what they were entrusted with.

They heard from Christ and from the Master, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Now enter into the joy of your Master forever.” I want to hear that and I think you do too. If we really do then we need to heed the instruction of this passage. No longer judging one another for what are conviction issues where there legitimately is more than one opinion, but welcoming one another just as God has welcomed each one of us.

Let me say again, when it comes to today’s hot button controversial conviction issues, brothers and sisters we must need to be willing to recognize that there is more than one right answer. Not every answer is right but we must actually make sure we’re within the bounds of Scripture. When we are within those bounds, we must charitably allow other Christians to do differently than us.

God is pleased even when others take different convictions. God accepts them and we are also to do so. Christ is the Judge of the heart and we have our own assessment coming before God. There’s more to the issue of how Christians should navigate other than just welcoming and not judging. But we need to also learn what to do and not do. And I want to talk to you more about that next week.

First we start with what we’re thinking and if we have a welcoming attitude in our hearts. Before I close today, let me just say something to those of you who may not know the Lord Jesus Christ. Most of what I’ve been saying has been focused on believers, but there is an application to you because as God says, a judgment is coming for every single person, in Christ and out of Christ. For those in Christ, that judgment is about reward.

If you are unlike the people Paul described in the passage, and are actually living for yourself and pursuing your convictions for yourself, then judgment is coming on you too but there is judgment that determines punishment, and not reward. It is a punishment that will determine your level of your eternal torment based on what you knew, did, and how you responded to people. God is concerned about Christians improperly judging one another. What do you think He thinks about non-Christians, those who do not know the Lord? They also improperly judge and try to take the seat of only the Lord Christ. They look into the heart, perhaps you too.

God says that an accounting is coming for you also. But it does not need to be that way. If you repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, than you can be freed from that expectation. If you repent of living for yourself and following after sin and being Lord of your own life. If you repent of making yourself acceptable to God by your own works, by rituals, and various rules that you have added and that God didn’t acquire, and instead embrace Christ in faith, you will be saved. He is the rightful Lord of your life and the entire universe and your whole life is for Him. Turn and believe, God says He will cause you to stand when the assessment comes and pronounce you approved. Not because of what you did but because of what Christ did on your behalf.

That’s a wonderful joy which means you are not only freed from eternal wrath but you will now experience eternal life with the Lord who loves His own. If you have not done that I urge you to do so. Brothers and sisters, the world stereotypically complains about Christians being too judgmental. And we know that most of the time that accusation is false. It is a way to excuse sin and ignore the gospel message. We have to admit that sometimes the accusation is true and we do improperly judge one another. What should we do? We must repent of taking the Lord’s place when there is no right to do so, and instead let us be known as a welcoming people. Jesus said that we are known as His disciples by our loves for one another.

Let’s close in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word. It is challenging for us today but I think all of us can admit there have been times where we have judged improperly. We acted as though we could see the heart but really we didn’t have any business and couldn’t rightly come to that conclusion. Lord, forgive us for that but we are also grateful that You do forgive the heart that is repentant. Lord, we instead want to embrace Your blessed way of welcoming one another even in these times. It is a way that we can highlight this wonderful reality even more than ever as convictions intensify and different opinions are multiplying. We welcome those who are really indeed looking to follow the Lord, even if their convictions are different but they are within the bounds of Scripture.

We love Your Word, and we love You. Help us to love one another in Jesus Christ, Amen.