Romans - Chapter 14
14:1-23 One man's faith can be another man's poison.
The church at Rome was made up of both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles). This was an important point to Paul as one of the reasons he used for Christianity being so valid was the ability of the faith to bring together people from all parts of society that would normally not mix with each other. He insisted that “in Christ” barriers were broken down and the result was that all manner of groups came together in faith and this mix of very different people was a preview of heaven.
The evidence of this was found in the local assembly of believers which operated on the basis of mutual love between peoples whose only common bond was each one's relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. In theory, the walls between people were broken down but in practice walls had a nasty habit of putting themselves up again. Paul uses two examples, with the first having to do with food and the second having to do with holy days.
In verses 1-5 Paul describes those in the church who were “weak in faith”. By this he seemed to mean that they had not yet reached spiritual maturity in their relation with Jesus and His church. Those who came from a Jewish background were particularly detailed in their diet habits, coming from groups where certain foods were considered unclean. Unless they were assured that meat came from certain animals that were killed in a certain way, they refused to eat it. Because of that reluctance, they stayed away from all meat. Other believers seemed to accept that this notion was not taught by Jesus himself and therefore found the position to be unacceptable.
The same kind of conflict existed around the issue of the calendar and when celebrations were conducted to reflect long held reverence for certain times.
In verses 6-9 Paul requires the believers to act out of true conviction. In other words, he seems to be saying that the issues were to be resolved in the heart and on faith in Christ, not on pressure from others who may see things slightly differently. Second, he teaches that believers should stop their criticism of each other. Anger can result from such conflict and can quickly become bitterness. Each believer is ultimately responsible to Christ who will himself evaluate the heart of each and we do not have the authority to take over the work of evaluating other believers while we are in this life. As long as faith is the main point of belief, Paul requires believers to seek to understand other points of view.
We should have warm acceptance of those with whom we differ, openness to ideas other than our own, and rejection of a harshly critical spirit.
In verses 15-23 we see Paul helping all in faith to accept that some differences are surely going to occur, and these different views can become either positive or negative, depending upon how we in faith react to them. Paul teaches the Roman believers that they must allow for differences but they must not allow division.
They must commit themselves to working in love to produce a unified body that demonstrates the diversity of God's wonderful handiwork in all of creation.
