14
The law of liberty
1 Receive someone who is weak in the faith, but not for disputes over arguables. 2 One man has faith to eat everything, while the weak one eats only vegetables. 3 One who eats must not look down on one who does not, and one who does not eat must not judge one who does,* because God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge someone else's household servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And stand he will, for God has the power to make him stand.†
5 One man esteems one day above another; another esteems everyday alike. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind.‡ 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it.§ And he who eats, eats to the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, also giving thanks to God. 7 You see, none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 Because if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9 For this very reason Christ both died and rose, and lived,* so as to rule both dead and living.†
The Judgment Seat of Christ
10 But you, why do you judge your brother? And you too, why do you look down on your brother? Because we will all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ.‡ 11 For it is written:
“ ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall acknowledge 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, but rather resolve this: not to put a stumbling block or pitfall in a brother's way.
14 I know and have been convinced by Sovereign Jesus that nothing is unclean of itself* (still, to someone who considers a thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean), 15 but if your brother is offended because of food, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not, with your food, ruin someone for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let your good be slandered; 17 because the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in Holy Spirit. 18 For whoever serves the Christ in these things is satisfying to God and approved by men.†
19 So then, let us pursue the things that promote peace and the things by which one may edify another. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are ‘clean’; however it is wrong for the man who gives offence by eating. 21 It is good not to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles, or is offended, or is weakened.‡
22 Do you have faith? Have it privately before God. Happy is he who does not judge himself in what he approves. 23 But he who eats with doubt stands condemned, because it is not from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.§
Doxology
24 Now to Him who has power to establish you according to my Gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret through long ages, 25 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic Scriptures,* according to the command of the eternal God, with a view to obedience of faith among all ethnic nations 26 —to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ—to Him be the glory forever! Amen.†
* 14:3 Right on! Those are precisely the attitudes that one often sees in such cases. † 14:4 Christ is the Master of the Church. ‡ 14:5 In that event, the day of the week we decide to observe should not be made a matter of doctrine. Christians generally observe Sunday, Jews Saturday, Muslims Friday, but if someone prefers Tuesday, he should be free to do so. (Of course, if you want to hold a job, you had better go along with the requirements of the market place.) § 14:6 “And he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it” is omitted by 4.6% of the Greek manuscripts, to be followed by NIV, NASB, TEV, LB, etc.—an inferior proceeding (it is an easy case of ‘like ending’). * 14:9 Although seemingly out of sequence, I assume that the reference of “and lived” is to His earthly life—without the incarnation He could not have died and conquered death. However, the perceived difficulty was enough to lead perhaps 2% of the Greek manuscripts to omit “and rose”, to be followed by NIV, NASB, TEV, LB, etc., except that they then make “and lived” refer to the resurrection. † 14:9 Most presentations of the Gospel I have heard revolve around the selfish interests of the hearers, what they are going to get out of it. But the clearest statements in Scripture giving the ‘why’ of the cross tell a different story. Here in 14:9 we have a very explicit one: He died to be Lord! 2 Corinthians 5:15 is also explicit: “He died for all so that those who now live should no longer live for themselves but for the One who died for all and was raised again.” Philippians 2:8-11 refers to the final victory. Hebrews 2:14 refers to destroying Satan. How about preaching a Gospel that revolves around Christ's interests! ‡ 14:10 2.4% of the Greek manuscripts read “God” instead of “Christ”, to be followed by NIV, NASB, TEV, LB, etc.—an inferior proceeding. § 14:11 See Isaiah 45:23. * 14:14 For a Jew to say this, he had to be convinced by a higher power. † 14:18 That is, approved by men who fear God, not by those in rebellion against Him. ‡ 14:21 “Or is offended, or is weakened” is omitted by 1.8% of the Greek manuscripts (of objectively inferior quality), to be followed by NIV, NASB, TEV, LB, etc.—an inferior proceeding. § 14:23 Well now, faith would appear to be a rather important commodity! But just why is everything else ‘sin’? If the basic idea in ‘sin’ is to miss the mark, or to fall short (Romans 3:23), then faith is of the essence. Habakkuk 2:4, “the just shall live by faith”, is repeated three times in the New Testament—Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38. “That no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for ‘the just shall live by faith’ ” (Galatians 3:11). So to depend on the law (or any equation based on works) is to fall short. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). If God demands faith, then anything else will fall short, will miss the mark. * 14:25 Since it is being revealed ‘only now’, these ‘prophetic Scriptures’ must be New Testament writings, given by God! † 14:26 5.2% of the Greek manuscripts place verses 24-26 at the end of the book, rather than here. Paul habitually places doxologies throughout his letters—they do not occur only at the end.