Romans 14:19-23 (NIV)
19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.
21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.
23 But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
What have you done lately to keep the peace? In verse 19 Paul calls us to a life of peace and mutual edification. It sounds so easy and yet is so hard. It is hard sometimes to keep the peace in the home, let alone with hundreds of people. I like how Paul says, "Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to...". We can only make the effort and leave the results with God. I must do what I can and then leave it. I think we will read too much into these verses if we do not keep our eyes on Christ. We are not called to be door mats. Truth in love must be spoken and lived out. Verse 21 is, again, on the theme of causing your brother to fall. What does this mean to cause a brother to fall? I would say that it means for you to cause someone to go against their conscience. What you do in front of them causes them to do that thing and it is not what they believe to be good for them. Verses 22 and 23 get into the whole issue of conscience. When you read chapter one of Romans you see that there are people who have no conscience and now we are talking about people who seem to have a very sensitive conscience. The point is that we all have a conscience and we are to listen to it and we are to listen to God. A fun question to raise is one of conscience changing. Can a person change their conscience? If you discover that God approves a certain behavior that you once thought was wrong, then can you at least not be offended if someone does that in front of you? Can you eventually enjoy meat? Have a great day and do what you can to create peace.
First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.
Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380–1471)
Friday, August 6, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Romans 14:13-21 (NIV)
Romans 14:13-21 (NIV)
13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.
14 As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
15 If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.
16 Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil.
17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.
21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
The words, "If your brother is distressed because of what you eat..." has caused some distress in believer's communities. I went to a school that I believe built it's rule book around those who might get distressed over this or that. These are strong words, "Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died." Distressed and destroy are two words that would make anyone hesitate in doing something that would cause such upheaval. If you for instance felt it was okay to go to church on Saturday night so you could sleep in on Sunday, but a close friend of yours felt it was wrong, should you stop going to church on Saturday nights? Should the church stop having Saturday night services? If the music of the church is causing some believers to have distress and could destroy other believer's faith, should the church stop that music? The list goes on and on. Notice the meat thing keeps coming up. Paul has stopped using the holy days and stuck with the meat-and-eating theme. I believe there is a reason for this and that is the meat that Paul is talking about has been sacrificed to demons. It couldn't have been pork or Paul would of just said the word pork instead of making it so vague ( simply meat). Paul had to take on the same issue in Corinth. It will take a little more time, but let's look into 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 10:23-33 (NIV)
23 "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive.
24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience,
26 for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it."
27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.
28 But if anyone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience' sake--
29 the other man's conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience?
30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God--
33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
Make sure you read Paul carefully as he goes over a very delicate issue. I believe some of the same things were happening in Rome. This is why Paul keeps up with the theme of meat. If my assumptions are correct, then that of eating what has been sacrificed to idols could cause distress and destroy someone's faith. Yet think of all the other items that can be put on the list. In Romans 15:1 Paul uses the term the weaker brother. It is my conviction, based upon Scripture and watching the life of Christ, that we cannot let the weaker brother rule in every area of life for fear of causing distress. We would never reach anyone for Christ. We have to be very careful as to how we understand and apply what Paul is saying in Romans and Corinthians. The best part is when Paul says, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."
Let us enjoy what God has purchased for us.
13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.
14 As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
15 If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.
16 Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil.
17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.
21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
The words, "If your brother is distressed because of what you eat..." has caused some distress in believer's communities. I went to a school that I believe built it's rule book around those who might get distressed over this or that. These are strong words, "Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died." Distressed and destroy are two words that would make anyone hesitate in doing something that would cause such upheaval. If you for instance felt it was okay to go to church on Saturday night so you could sleep in on Sunday, but a close friend of yours felt it was wrong, should you stop going to church on Saturday nights? Should the church stop having Saturday night services? If the music of the church is causing some believers to have distress and could destroy other believer's faith, should the church stop that music? The list goes on and on. Notice the meat thing keeps coming up. Paul has stopped using the holy days and stuck with the meat-and-eating theme. I believe there is a reason for this and that is the meat that Paul is talking about has been sacrificed to demons. It couldn't have been pork or Paul would of just said the word pork instead of making it so vague ( simply meat). Paul had to take on the same issue in Corinth. It will take a little more time, but let's look into 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 10:23-33 (NIV)
23 "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive.
24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience,
26 for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it."
27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.
28 But if anyone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience' sake--
29 the other man's conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience?
30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God--
33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
Make sure you read Paul carefully as he goes over a very delicate issue. I believe some of the same things were happening in Rome. This is why Paul keeps up with the theme of meat. If my assumptions are correct, then that of eating what has been sacrificed to idols could cause distress and destroy someone's faith. Yet think of all the other items that can be put on the list. In Romans 15:1 Paul uses the term the weaker brother. It is my conviction, based upon Scripture and watching the life of Christ, that we cannot let the weaker brother rule in every area of life for fear of causing distress. We would never reach anyone for Christ. We have to be very careful as to how we understand and apply what Paul is saying in Romans and Corinthians. The best part is when Paul says, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."
Let us enjoy what God has purchased for us.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Romans 14:9-14 (NIV)
Romans 14:9-14 (NIV)
9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.
11 It is written: "'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'"
12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.
14 As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
I have been told that wearing a beard is wrong.
I have been told that wearing short pants is wrong.
I have been told, at one time, that my hair was too long (it was over my ears).
I have been told that music with a beat is wrong.
I have been told that using any other version of the Bible other than the KJV is wrong.
I have been told that eating out on Sunday was wrong.
If you challenged these so-called wrongs you felt judged. In my circumstance I felt it because I was told that I was not pleasing the Lord. There is entirely too much judging going on in the church at large these days. We must remember who the Lord is and that we all report to Him. It is one of the most sobering thoughts that I have and that is I have to give an accounting of my life to the Lord Jesus Christ. What we must do is act out of love and not be a stumbling block to others. This is a very tricky statement. I think in the end we are not to force our views on others when it comes to disputable matters. Then the question comes, "What are the disputable matters?" Once the disputable matters are agreed upon it is still incumbent upon me to show love.
Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.
C. S. Lewis (1898–1963)
9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.
11 It is written: "'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'"
12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.
14 As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
I have been told that wearing a beard is wrong.
I have been told that wearing short pants is wrong.
I have been told, at one time, that my hair was too long (it was over my ears).
I have been told that music with a beat is wrong.
I have been told that using any other version of the Bible other than the KJV is wrong.
I have been told that eating out on Sunday was wrong.
If you challenged these so-called wrongs you felt judged. In my circumstance I felt it because I was told that I was not pleasing the Lord. There is entirely too much judging going on in the church at large these days. We must remember who the Lord is and that we all report to Him. It is one of the most sobering thoughts that I have and that is I have to give an accounting of my life to the Lord Jesus Christ. What we must do is act out of love and not be a stumbling block to others. This is a very tricky statement. I think in the end we are not to force our views on others when it comes to disputable matters. Then the question comes, "What are the disputable matters?" Once the disputable matters are agreed upon it is still incumbent upon me to show love.
Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.
C. S. Lewis (1898–1963)
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