Christian Liberty – Remember the Judgement Seat (Romans 14:1-12)

The matter of Christian liberty is often used to give the impression that a believer can do what he or she likes, no matter what others think about their behaviour. Yet that is not an expression of brotherly love, so it cannot be what is meant by Christian liberty. As with other matters in this section of the Book of Romans, Paul here is describing an expression of what it means to be a living sacrifice, pleasing to God, a life of true discipleship.

Paul states here that there are two kinds of Christians whenever some issues arise. In each of those issues, there will be weak and strong Christians. He does not mean that a Christian will be always strong on these matters or that he will always be weak. So what does he say about those issues? His response is that we should understand three important principles that will keep us safe in our decision making. Those three truths should be our guidelines when such issues are raised. The first is, remember the day of judgement (14:1-12); the second is, remember the importance of Christian growth (14:13-23); and the third is, remember the example of Christ (15:1ff.). We will look at the first reason in this sermon.

1.     Don’t argue with them, but welcome them

We know that most organisations will not welcome into membership individuals who are liable to prove problematic. In contrast to such an attitude, Paul states that the church is to welcome people who have convictions that are different from ours. Imagine what it was like to be a member of the group of apostles that Jesus chose. Would it have been easy for Simon the Zealot and Matthew the tax-collector to get on with one another if each insisted that the other had to submit to the notion that what each did before conversion had to be accepted as legitimate by the other? If they argued, there would be no progress.

Paul gives two examples that were probably relevant to his readers in Rome. It is difficult to work out who the vegetarians were because both Jews and Gentiles ate meat. Perhaps some people had resorted to vegetarianism in order to avoid eating meat that had been offered to idols in a pagan sacrifice before it was sold to the public. If that is who they were, then we can see that they devised a practice that did not have biblical authorisation. Yet we could say that their motives were an expression of genuine concern.

In contrast to the individuals with that concern there would be Christians who knew that the idols to which the animals had been offered did not exist. They knew that it was ludicrous to say that those sacrificed animals now belonged to a pagan god because they knew that the pagan gods did not exist. This group of strong Christians had the truth on their side.

What is the answer to this difference of opinion about pagan gods and the animals offered to them? Paul mentions what we should not do and that is we should not assess the other person by our own convictions. If we do, then we will develop two wrong attitudes – we will despise the other or we will judge the other, and neither of them expresses brotherly love, and neither is a feature that should mark a living sacrifice, a true disciple.

Instead, we must remember what God did when we embraced the Saviour through the gospel. The Father welcomed us into his family. He has the authority to specify who should be in it, and he welcomed the individual with his issues about meat and he welcomed the one with no issues about meat. Family membership is the basic question here. Whenever I come across a Christian who differs from me on issues that don't matter, I should welcome him or her as a fellow Christian.

The problem with the example of food is that it comes from outside the Christian community. In other words, there is the danger here of external activities affecting relationships between believers as they have fellowship together. Paul’s teaching is that the differing Christians should not argue about their opinions. I suspect Paul gave this advice because he knew that with the passing of time and the absorption of Christian teaching those believers would see whether or not their reluctance was the best response to make. But until that happened, welcome one another.

2. Don’t condemn them, but remember who is Lord

The second example that Paul uses is easier to identify. In the Old Testament, God had given commands to the Israelites about the observance of certain days, mainly connected to the annual feasts such as the Passover and Pentecost. We can understand how Jews, after they were converted, would want to practice those occasions (indeed Paul later would be arrested because he participated in a religious event at the temple in Jerusalem). Such would find it hard to understand why Gentiles, when they were converted, did not have any wish to keep those occasions. Yet Paul, under the guidance of the same Spirit who guided the composition of Leviticus, makes it clear that the Gentiles did not have to keep them.

I suppose we could say that if the issue of eating meat was a problem that arose from without of the church, then the issue of keeping of days arose from within the church. It is important to observe that Paul here is not suggesting that the weekly Sabbath has come to an end and that Christians don’t need to observe it. The fact that it is called the Lord’s Day, and that it was the day when Christians met to worship God, indicates that it is still a holy day binding on everyone, but especially on God’s people. Yet we have an obvious example, although it is not entirely the same as Old Testament rituals, in the days that are connected to our communion seasons. They are not the same because the Old Testament rituals had divine requirements whereas our communion days were devised by godly leaders in order to benefit the church at the time.

What do we do when someone does not practice what we regard as beneficial? Paul tells us that we have to ask, ‘What does the Master say?’ and, ‘Is the Master helping that believer to stand even if he does not do what we do?’ What we cannot say is that the individual is disobeying Jesus. Instead we have to decide for ourselves if the practice of certain activities is helpful for ourselves and leave it there.

How will we know that we have reached a right conclusion? We will know if we are honouring the Lord and living thankful lives.

3. The Judgement is Coming (vv. 7-12)

Paul then mentions a solemn reality, which is appearing before the judgement seat. Normally we think of the Day of Judgement with regard to what will happen to the lost when they appear there and are sentenced by the Lord. Yet the passage here is not describing what will happen to the lost when they appear at the judgement. Instead, it focuses on the fact that the lives of Christians will be assessed then as well.

In order to explain how we should think about appearing at the judgement, Paul mentions several details for us to consider. The first is that Christ is our master. An obvious problem that can arise with issues of Christian liberty is that we can descend into thinking and acting as if each of us was master over our own decisions and the opinions of others. Instead we have to remind ourselves each time we express an opinion or perform an action, ‘What would Jesus say about this or do if he were here?’

The second is that Paul leads us to consider what will be important when we come to die. Things that will be important then should be the things that are important now. Many of the matters that disturb us now will be of no consequence then, so why should we become strident about them now. It is worth asking when we get involved in a disagreement, ‘Will this matter when my life comes to an end?’ Most disagreements would not have occurred if people remembered this question.

The third is that we should recall the reason for the mission of Christ. Paul says in verse 9 that Jesus is Lord because of what he did at the cross. The apostle turns the eyes of his readers to those most significant of events. At the cross, Jesus dealt with the sins of his people and redeemed them to be his own. His resurrection was the onset of his exaltation as Lord over the visible and the invisible kingdoms. Paul’s description of the exaltation of Jesus reminds us that no human finds himself outside of it. Even those who have died and even those alive who do not acknowledge it are under his authority and can never remove themselves from it. I suppose Paul is asking his readers to think, ‘Is my opinion that important when compared to what Jesus did? Does my practice obscure for others what Jesus did for them?’

Fourth, we should as believers remember that we shall give an account to God together. Each of us will stand together before Jesus and hear his assessment of what we said and did whenever that happened. It is important to grasp that this judgement of believers is not about whether or not they will lose their salvation. Nevertheless, it is a serious prospect because we can lose out on potential rewards from Jesus. Perhaps an example is a gifted person who loses out on a promotion because he engaged in a silly argument or activity.

Paul mentions here that this judgement will be comprehensive. Our Christian lives will be reviewed. The use that we made of our gifts and talents will be revealed. Our words that we have spoken will be examined and a judgement pronounced by the Lord. The use that we have made of the things that God has given to us will be included. And we will be judged by what we did with the time God has given to us (some of us were converted young and have been Christians for decades, which is a lot of time to give an account about).

Of course, we have to remember that the Judge will the gracious Saviour. We will stand there as those who have been forgiven. On that awesome day, we will find that he has remembered lots of things that we have forgotten – the kind word, the encouraging visit, the gift of money, the time spent cutting the grass or painting a fence of another Christian, the hours wrestling in prayer for conversions and over wayward believers, the acceptance of difficulties in providence without a murmur. Maybe we worry about the failures, but we should also think about the possibility of glory.

How we respond to this future reality is important. Paul told Christians in Rome who had opinions about certain things to remember the future judgement. How should they do this? They should do so by remembering what Paul wrote in Romans 12:1-2 and offer themselves as living sacrifices for the future even if they have many failures in the past.