Romans 14:1 - Meaning and Application

In this chapter, Paul deals with a painful disagreement that had broken out in the Christian church. Jesus had warned that offenses would come, and they did, because wisdom and love were lacking to keep peace and unity among believers. One main issue was the difference between meats and days, though there may have been other related disputes as well. The Roman church included both Jewish believers and Gentile believers. The Jews had been raised with the ceremonial law, so even after becoming Christians, some of them still held to rules about clean and unclean foods and special holy days. They had not yet fully understood that Christ’s death had set aside those ceremonial laws.

On meats, some believers were fully convinced that they could eat anything. They knew that the old distinction between clean and unclean food was no longer binding, and that every creature God made is good and should not be rejected in itself (Romans 14:14). They understood this from the overall message of the gospel, and also from Peter’s vision, since Peter, the apostle to the Jews, had received direct instruction on this point (Acts 10:15, 28). So the strong believer ate what was set before him and did not ask questions of conscience (1 Corinthians 10:27). But the weak believer was not clear about Christian freedom. He still felt that some foods remained unclean, so he avoided meat altogether and ate only vegetables. A tender conscience can lead a person to great self-denial, and only those who have felt it know how strongly conscience can both restrain and compel.

There was also disagreement about days. Some believers still thought certain days were special, such as the Passover, Pentecost, new moons, and feast days. They kept those times with special observance and gave them a kind of religious rest and focus. Others, knowing that Christ had fulfilled and ended those ceremonial laws, treated every day the same. This does not include the Lord’s Day, which all Christians observed. Paul speaks here of a matter that was indifferent when it stayed a private practice or opinion among people who had long been trained that way and found it hard to give it up. In Galatians, however, he deals with a different case, where Gentile believers were being pushed by false teachers to treat such observances as necessary for salvation. There, Paul rebukes it as a serious mistake that undermined the gospel (Galatians 4:9-11). The Romans were weak in understanding, but the Galatians were acting willfully, and Paul treats the two cases differently.

The real harm was not the difference itself, but the way people handled it and turned it into a quarrel. The strong looked down on the weak, instead of pitying them, helping them, and teaching them gently. They treated their brothers as foolish, touchy, and superstitious because they were hesitant about things that were actually lawful. Knowledge can easily make people proud, and it often leads them to speak harshly about other believers. The weak, on the other hand, judged and criticized the strong, as if they were careless Christians who lived without restraint. They treated them like lawbreakers and people who ignored God’s commands. Such judgments showed a lack of love and fairness, and they naturally damaged affection. This same problem still troubles the church today when differences are handled badly.

Paul therefore gives wise directions to calm the conflict and keep it from doing more harm. Like a skillful doctor, he prescribes remedies made up of both rules and reasons. He does not call for harsh discipline against either side, but for patient forbearance and mutual kindness. He speaks to the strong, urging them not to be proud, and to the weak, urging them not to be censorious. If both sides will accept this fair judgment, give up some of their strictness, and value peace above their differences, things will quickly improve.

The first rule is this: receive the weak believer, but not for doubtful disputes (Romans 14:1). In other words, welcome one another as fellow believers, but do not waste your strength arguing over uncertain matters. Spend your zeal on the truths all God’s people hold in common, not on debating questions that are open to dispute.

Receive him, welcome him, and take him in with great kindness and tenderness. The Syriac version gives the sense as, “Stretch out your hand to him,” meaning, help him, draw him near, and encourage him. Let your Christian fellowship be ready and gracious, not cold or harsh.

Receive him, but not in order to argue with him about doubtful matters. Do not press him to give his weak opinions on things he is uncertain about, only to criticize him. That would only confuse him, fill his mind with empty talk, and weaken his faith. Christ’s people should not spoil their fellowship with pointless disputes and wordy quarrels (Colossians 1:10; Philippians 3:15-16).

Those who are strong must not despise the weak, and those who are weak must not judge the strong, Romans 14:3. This warning goes straight to the fault on each side. Such conflicts usually have blame on both sides, and both sides need correction. We must not despise our brothers and sisters, or sit in judgment on them.

Why not? Because God has received them, and we insult him if we reject those he has accepted. God does not cast off anyone who has true grace, even if that person is still weak in it. He does not break the bruised reed. Strong believers and weak believers, those who eat and those who do not, are all accepted by God if they are truly his. When we feel tempted to look down on others, we should ask, “Has God owned them as his own? If he has, how can I reject them?”

God not only receives such a person, he also holds him up, Romans 14:4. You may think the one who eats will fall through boldness, or that the one who does not eat will sink under fear and scruples. But if they have true faith and keep their eyes on God, the one using Christian freedom wisely and the other using careful restraint sincerely, God will keep them steady. He will keep one in integrity and the other in comfort. This hope rests on God’s power, because God is able to make him stand. And if he is able, he is surely willing to use that power to preserve his own people.

This comfort matters whenever we face spiritual danger, in our own lives or in the lives of others (1 Peter 1:5; Jude 1:24). Much of our hope rests on divine power. We are safer than we seem, because God is able to guard what belongs to him.

We should also remember that our brother is a servant to his own master, Romans 14:4. Who are you to judge another man’s servant? It is bad manners to interfere with someone else’s servants and start finding fault with them. Strong and weak Christians are our brothers, but they are not our servants. James warns against this kind of rash judging, speaking of those who act as though they are many masters (James 3:1). When we judge our brethren, especially their thoughts and motives, we act as if we sit on God’s throne.

That is especially true when we try to judge things we cannot fully see, like intentions, hidden motives, or the true state of a person’s soul. God sees differently than people do, and he is their master, not we. When we condemn our brethren, we meddle in what does not belong to us. We have enough to deal with in our own hearts and lives. If we must judge, let us judge ourselves first.

To his own master he stands or falls, meaning his final judgment will come from his master, not from us. How good it is that we do not stand or fall by one another’s opinions, but by God’s righteous and true judgment. While your brother’s case is before your court, it is really not before the proper judge. The court of heaven is the right place for that trial, and there alone the sentence is final. If his heart is upright, he may safely appeal from your rash censure to God’s judgment.

Both the one who observes a day and the one who does not, if they are true believers, have a real eye to God, Romans 14:6. The one who regards the day makes conscience of Jewish fasts and festivals, but does not force that practice on others or make it a law for them. He is willing to keep the day because he thinks it is the safer course, believing there is no harm in resting from labor and worshiping God then. Since he lives like a sincere Christian in other matters, we should believe that he is aiming at the Lord here too. God accepts honest intention, even when the mind is mistaken about days. A sincere heart has never been rejected because its understanding was weak.

The one who does not regard the day is different. He does not treat one day as holy and another as unholy, or one as lucky and another as unlucky. He sees every day as alike. If he is a good Christian, he does not do this out of spite, argument, or contempt for his brother. He does it because he believes God has made no such distinction, and he wants to honor God by dedicating every day to him.

The same is true about food. The one who eats whatever is set before him, even what had once been forbidden under the ceremonial law, eats to the Lord. He understands the liberty God has given under the gospel, and he uses that liberty to honor God. He thanks God for the wider freedom now given, and for being released from old legal restraints. He also thanks God that his conscience is not chained in those matters.

On the other hand, the one who does not eat those meats, because he still thinks they are forbidden, does not eat to the Lord. He avoids them for God’s sake, fearing to offend him by eating what had once been forbidden. Yet he also gives thanks to God, because there is still plenty else to eat. Even if he denies himself what seems to him forbidden fruit, he blesses God that he may freely eat from the other trees in the garden.

So if both are acting with an eye to God, and both are seeking to approve themselves to him in sincerity, why should either be judged or despised? Whether we eat meat or eat herbs, it is thankful regard to God, the giver of all our mercies, that makes the meal holy and sweet.

Bishop Sanderson, in his thirty-fourth sermon on 1 Timothy 4:4, rightly noted that this shows the custom of saying grace, as we commonly call it, perhaps from 1 Corinthians 10:30, before and after meals. It was the well-known practice of the church among Christians of every kind, both weak and strong. It was an old, commendable, apostolic Christian practice, passed down from Christ’s own example through all the ages of the church (Matthew 14:19; Matthew 15:36; Luke 9:16; John 6:11; Matthew 26:26-27; Acts 27:35). Blessing God’s gifts before using them, and blessing God for them after using them, are both included here, since the words for “bless” and “give thanks” are used interchangeably.

To clear up this point against rash judging and contempt, he shows how essential it is to true Christianity to care about God, not ourselves. So, unless the opposite is plainly seen, we should assume this about those who differ from us in lesser matters. Notice his picture of true Christians, taken from their goal and purpose (Romans 14:7-8), and from the ground of that truth (Romans 14:9).

Our goal is not ourselves, but the Lord. Just as a specific goal gives shape to an action, so a general aim shows the direction of a person’s whole life. If we want to know which road we are walking, we must ask what end we are walking toward. First, we do not live for ourselves. We have learned to deny ourselves, and this was our first lesson. None of us lives to himself. This is one thing all God’s people share, even if they differ in other matters. Some are weak and some are strong, yet both agree in this, that they do not live for themselves. No one who has given his name to Christ is allowed to be a self-seeker, because that goes against the very foundation of true Christianity.

We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. We are not our own masters, and we do not belong to ourselves. Our lives are not for pleasing ourselves, but for pleasing God. Even our deaths, which we face every day, are not meant to make people talk about us. We do not court danger for the sake of empty praise while we are already dying little by little. And when we actually come to die, that is not for ourselves either. It is not merely that we want to be freed from the weight of the body, but that we may be with the Lord, may depart and be with Christ, and be present with the Lord.

Second, we live to the Lord (Romans 14:8), to the Lord Christ, to whom all authority and judgment have been given, and in whose name we are taught, as Christians, to do everything we do (Colossians 3:17), with Christ’s will as our rule and Christ’s glory as our goal (Philippians 1:21). Christ is the gain we seek in life and in death. We live to glorify him in every action and concern of life. We die, whether by a natural death or a violent one, to glorify him and to go be glorified with him. Christ is the center where all the lines of life and death meet. This is true Christianity, which makes Christ all in all.

So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord, devoted to him, dependent on him, and meant for him. Though some Christians are weak and others strong, and though they differ in size, understanding, and practice in lesser things, they are all the Lord’s. They all look to Christ, serve Christ, and seek to please Christ, and he owns and accepts them. Then is it right for us to judge or despise them, as if we were their masters and they had to please us, standing or falling by our decision?

This is grounded in Christ’s absolute rule and authority, which came through his death and resurrection. For this purpose he died and rose again, and came back to life, having entered into heavenly life and the glory he had before, that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living. He is the universal Lord, Lord of all (Acts 10:36), over all creatures, living and lifeless, for he is head over all things for the church. He is Lord of the living to rule them, and Lord of the dead to receive them and raise them up. This was that name above every name that God gave him as the reward of his humble obedience (Philippians 2:8-9). After he died and rose, he said, “All authority has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18), and he soon showed that authority in sending out his commission (Romans 14:19-20).

If Christ paid such a high price for his rule over souls and consciences, and has such a clear and rightful claim to that rule, then we must not even seem to invade it. We must not trespass on it by judging our brothers’ consciences and putting them on our own bench. When we are tempted to speak harshly about people who have died and are gone, and to pass judgment on them, which some do all the more because such judgments are less likely to be challenged, we should remember that Christ is Lord of the dead as well as the living. If they are dead, they have already given their account, and that should be enough.

This gives another reason against judging and despising, because both sides must soon give an account (Romans 14:10-12). A believing concern for the judgment day would silence all these rash judgments. Why do you, who are weak, judge your brother who is strong? And why do you, who are strong, look down on your brother who is weak? Why all this clashing, contradicting, and condemning among Christians? We will all stand before Christ’s judgment seat (2 Corinthians 5:10). Christ will be the judge, and he has both the authority and the power to decide people’s eternal state according to their works. Before him we will stand as people on trial, ready to give an account, waiting for our final sentence from him, which will stand forever.

To make this clear, Paul quotes the Old Testament, where Christ’s universal rule is spoken of and confirmed with an oath: “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me” (Isaiah 45:23). There it says, “I have sworn by myself.” Here it says, “As I live.” So whenever God says, “As I live,” it should be understood as an oath sworn by himself, because it belongs to God alone to have life in himself. There is another strong confirmation there, “The word has gone out from my mouth.” It is, in general, a prophecy of Christ’s dominion, and here it is fully applied to the judgment day, which will be the highest and most glorious display of that dominion.

This is also proof of Christ’s deity. He is the Lord, and he is God, equal with the Father. Divine honor belongs to him, and must be given to him. It is given to God through him as Mediator, one who stands between God and man to bring them together. God will judge the world by him (Acts 17:31). Bowing the knee to him, and confessing with the tongue, are outward signs of inward worship and praise. Every knee and every tongue will do this, either freely or under compulsion.

All his friends do it freely, made willing in the day of his power. Grace is the soul’s cheerful, complete, and open submission to Jesus Christ.

To bow to him means more than an outward gesture. The mind bows to his truth, the will bows to his commands, and the whole person bows to his authority. That is what kneeling expresses, the posture of worship and prayer. As Scripture says of Joseph, “Bow the knee” (Genesis 41:43). Bodily acts by themselves mean little, but when they rise from inward fear and reverence, God accepts them.

To confess to him is to acknowledge his glory, grace, and greatness. It also means admitting our own smallness and sin, and confessing our sins to him, as some understand it. In the end, even his enemies will be forced to do this, whether they want to or not. When Christ comes in the clouds and every eye sees him, then all the promises about his victory over his foes will be fully completed.

That is why Paul says, “Every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). We will not answer for other people, and they will not answer for us. Each person must give an account for his own time, his own chances, and his own actions. So we have little reason to judge others, because they are not answerable to us, and we are not answerable for them (Galatians 2:6).

We have far more reason to judge ourselves. We already have our own account to make up, and that is enough for us. Let each person test his own work (Galatians 6:4), examine his own heart and life, and think about that first. A person who is strict with himself and humble before God will be less likely to judge and look down on his brother. Let all such differences be left to Christ’s judgment at the great day.

The main weight of Christianity is not found in these smaller matters, and they are not essential to religion on either side. That is Paul’s reason in Romans 14:17 and Romans 14:18. Why spend your zeal for or against things that are so small in religion? Some take this as a reason to give up Christian liberty when offense is likely, but the argument seems aimed more broadly at the harshness on both sides.

“The kingdom of God is not meat and drink.” True Christianity is called the kingdom of God because it is a religion meant to rule us. It means a real and willing submission to God’s power and rule. The gospel age is especially called God’s kingdom, in contrast with the law of Moses (Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17). Christianity does not consist in using or avoiding certain foods and drinks. It gives no rule one way or the other in that matter.

The Jewish law gave great attention to meats and drinks (Hebrews 9:10), with some foods forbidden as a matter of religion (Leviticus 11:2), and other foods eaten in sacred offerings before the Lord. But those commands are now ended and no longer bind us (Colossians 2:21-22). The matter is left open. “Every creature of God is good” (1 Timothy 4:4). In the same way, Christianity is not about circumcision or uncircumcision (Galatians 5:6; Galatians 6:15; 1 Corinthians 7:19), nor about being of this party or that opinion in minor matters. None of that will commend us to God.

At the great day, God will not ask, “Who ate meat, and who ate vegetables?” or “Who kept holy days, and who did not?” He will not ask, “Who was conformist, and who was nonconformist?” He will ask, “Who feared God and did what was right, and who did not?” Nothing does more harm to true Christianity than making it about forms, habits, and outward details, while the heart of it is forgotten.

True Christianity is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. These are the essential things, the things God’s people agree on, and the things we should pursue with great care. Each of these words is broad and full. If we narrow them down, righteousness is our concern toward God, to stand before him justified, which means declared right with God, through Christ’s death and made holy by his Spirit. Peace is our concern toward other people, to live in love and harmony, following peace with all men. Joy in the Holy Spirit is that spiritual joy the Holy Spirit gives believers, as they look to God as their reconciled Father and heaven as their home.

After we have submitted to God, the life of religion is also found in delighting in him. We are to delight ourselves in the Lord always. We serve a good Master, one who makes peace and joy central to our religion. Only when righteousness is laid as the foundation can we expect peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 32:17).

To live this way is to serve Christ (Romans 14:18). We do all of this out of respect for Christ himself, as our Master, his will as our rule, and his glory as our goal. What makes our good works pleasing is that we do them with regard to Christ. We serve his interests and purposes in the world, and his first work is to reconcile us to one another. Christianity is nothing less than serving Christ. We can gladly serve him, since he took the form of a servant for us and for our salvation.

There are great benefits in this. The person who truly follows these things is acceptable to God. God is pleased with such a one, even if he is not fully in line with our own views. He has God’s love and favor, and that is enough to make him blessed. If God accepts your works now, you may eat your bread with joy. Those who please God most are those who are most pleased with him, and they are the ones who most abound in peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

He is also approved by men, meaning by all wise and good people, though the opinions of others should not control us. The people and things that are acceptable to God should also be approved by us.

Should we not be glad with what pleases God? To be made holy is to be of God’s mind. We should not think lightly of people’s approval, since we must do what is honorable in everyone’s sight and seek what is lovely and well spoken of. Still, God’s approval matters first, because in the end God will bring the whole world to agree with him.

Another rule here is that in doubtful matters, each person not only may, but must, act according to the light God has given. Paul says in Romans 14:5, “Let every person be fully convinced in his own mind.” That means, “Act according to your own judgment in these matters, and let others do the same. Do not judge their practice. Let them keep their own view. If they are convinced they should act a certain way, do not condemn them. And if your thoughtful judgment is different, do not make your practice a rule for them either. Be careful not to act against a doubtful conscience. First be sure what you are doing is right, then go ahead.” In doubtful things, it is wise to stay on the safe side. If a weak Christian wonders whether eating meat is right, he should hold back until he is fully convinced in his own mind. We must not hang our beliefs on someone else’s opinion or make other people’s actions our rule. We should follow the judgment God has given us.

Paul explains this further in Romans 14:14 and Romans 14:23, where he gives a rule against acting contrary to conscience, even if the conscience is mistaken. If something is morally neutral, so that it is not sin in itself not to do it, yet we truly think it is sin to do it, then for us it becomes sin, because we are acting against our conscience. Paul uses the question of food as his example. He says clearly, “I know and am convinced,” meaning he was fully sure of his Christian freedom, and had no doubt that nothing is unclean in itself. No kind of food carries ceremonial uncleanness, and nothing is forbidden to be eaten if it is fit for human use. Some foods had been forbidden to the Jews, so that, like other commands, they would remain a distinct people (Leviticus 11:44; Deuteronomy 14:2-3). Sin had brought a curse on the whole creation, “Cursed is the ground because of you,” and human use and rule over creation had been lost. In that sense, all things were unclean to people (Titus 1:15). The ceremonial law then forbade some foods to show what God might have done with all of them. But now that Christ has removed the curse, the matter is open again, and that old command has been removed.

So Paul says he was persuaded by the Lord Jesus, not only because Jesus gave him that conviction, but because Christ’s death was the basis for it. Christ’s death removed the curse, canceled the loss, restored our right to use creation, and ended that special separating law. So now nothing is unclean in itself, every creature of God is good, nothing is common. The margin word means “common,” that is, nothing set aside from use in a way that keeps believers from it. In the Jewish sense, “common” could also mean profane. This matches Acts 10:14, where the word means “common or unclean.” Paul learned this not only from Peter’s vision, but from the whole message of the gospel and the purpose of Christ’s death. This was Paul’s own clear conviction, and he acted on it.

But he also gives a warning to those who do not have that same clarity: if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean, even if he is mistaken. From this one case comes a general rule: if a person does something that he honestly believes is unlawful, then, whatever the thing is in itself, it is sin to him. This follows from the unchanging law built into our creation, that we must act in faith and not against conscience.