Romans 14
1Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
2For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
3Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
4Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
5One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
6He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
7For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
8For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.
9For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
10But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
12So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
13Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.
14I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
15But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.
16Let not then your good be evil spoken of:
17For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
18For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
19Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
20For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.
21It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
22Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
23And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
been stuck at reading this verse for a few days, somehow. keep reading it and understanding it more and more. did some research on it.
so, in my limited understanding, it is as such.
1. traditions and practices are fine, as long as they are done to honor God.
2. do not keep out people who practice differently from you, as we understand and do differently, as long as it's not sin.
3. do things to keep peace between all and love them. as such do not judge them, but to keep our acts in accordance to the teachings of God.
4. whatever you do that is not in good faith is sin.
this is my third reading of the NT and this struck me as particularly important in today's context, as there are so many different Christian teachings and denominations. as we all study the Bible and use our earthly understanding to apply it in our own lives, and even in groups study and discuss the Scriptures, there are bound to have disagreement over the interpretations and application of the Word.
this whole chapter starts by saying, some of us who understands the scripture 'weakly' eats only herbs(vegetarians?), while those 'strong' in the scripture understanding, eats anything. this already hints to us that, as according to what we perceive as right, we do so in honor of God. by faith we do so and we are not wrong to do so.
i also feel that the punchline in this passage is verse 17, 18 and 19. what we do, what we eat and drink is not the crux. '..but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost..' in what we do to serve Christ is acceptable to God. we then do things that make for peace and things that encourage each other.
this brings to us works in faith. faith is not only belief in something beyond trust and knowledge. it becomes something to guide our actions, knowing that it is the right thing to do, our conscience in essence. the faith in the teachings of God in the Bible, becomes our conscience in everyday dealings. and thus by following our faith, which is disciplined by the teachings of Christ, and acting on these teachings with intentions to serve Christ and the glory of God, we won't be far off.
of course, then being humans, we err and are weak, and do stupid things at times. so then comes the repentance, forgiveness and the love of Jesus to save us. and everyday to be better and less sinful, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
much to learn here still.
No comments:
Post a Comment