Christian Liberty – Put Others First (Romans 14:13-23)

Paul continues to deal with what can be a difficult issue for many Christians – Christian liberty. In the previous passage Paul had urged his Christian readers in Rome to remember that each of them would yet be assessed at the judgment seat of Christ for what they did, whether or not they are classified as strong or weak believers. We observed that this future appearance at the judgement seat was one of three arguments Paul referred to in this section as he explained how believers should respond to wide variety of issues connected to the practice of Christian liberty. In the remainder of chapter 14, he uses a second argument, that of Christian maturity and of brotherly love, and then at the beginning of chapter 15 he mentions a third argument, the example of Christ.

We may ask ourselves why this is important. I would say there are three reasons, at least. First, if believers get Christian liberty wrong they will damage the fellowship that they should have with other believers in their congregation – even the examples used by Paul of weak and strong Christians show this because they would not meet together if there were unnecessary barriers to their fellowship.

Second, if we get Christian liberty wrong, we will be guilty of engaging in sinful attitudes and practices, and connected to that, as also with the matter of broken fellowship, would be the solemn issue of grieving the Holy Spirit who indwells all his people.

Third, it is inevitable that any disagreements within a congregation affect its credibility in the surrounding community and those disagreements have disastrous effects on the congregation’s evangelism. A strong believer may insist he is right and a weak believer may insist on his preferences, but those outside think they are majoring on minors and are not serious about their faith.

No doubt there are many ways as to how we can divide this passage. I have divided it into three sub-sections: Decide what you are going to do (vv. 13-16); Live by the priorities of the kingdom (vv. 17-19); and (3) Do disputed things privately (vv. 20-23). So we will thing about decision, priorities and privacy.

Deliberate decision

Paul calls his readers to an alternative approach to passing judgement on one another. The alternative way is to decide to not do anything that would hinder another Christian. Basically this is an example of putting others above yourself, so it is an expression of brotherly love.

What is Paul referring to here by stumbling block or hindrance? He does not have in mind the cessation of a sinful activity because a Christian should never engage in sinful activity. Nor is he referring to something that a believer has been commanded to do by the Bible because a Christian should never use the feelings of someone else as a reason for disobeying a commandment of God. Instead Paul has in mind the wide range of attitudes and activities that come under the idea of Christian liberty.

What is this decision based on? It is based on what Jesus taught and it is based on what another believer regards as important. Paul uses the example of food. The Old Testament ceremonial law said that certain foods were unclean. Paul knew that Jesus had abrogated those requirements and that he, although a Jew, was now under no obligation to conform to those previous laws. Yet he also knew that some weak believers still imagined that those foods were unclean and could be grieved if they saw a believer eating them. So while he was not willing to change his convictions, he was prepared to adjust his practices.

I suppose an example would be a bacon sandwich. We know that there is no biblical reason why we cannot enjoy one. Yet Paul says here that we should not eat one if it causes distress to a fellow believer. Of course, the believer’s reason has to be a religious one rather than a concern over eating the wrong type of food.

What am I like if I cause grief to another believer? Paul says that the Christian who ignores the feelings of his fellow believer is not walking in love. What does it mean to walk in love? Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:2: ‘And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.’ To walk in love is to behave sacrificially and not selfishly. It is to go without what I would like in order to benefit my fellow Christian.

What will happen if I insist I am free to eat? I will destroy my fellow-believer, described here as ‘the one for whom Christ died’. ‘Destroy’ is obviously a strong term, and is used again in verse 20, but what does it mean? I suppose it could mean that we could cause someone to give up the faith or we could cause someone to obey us rather than God or we could cause someone to become so downcast that they become spiritually ineffective. Whatever the meaning is, to ignore it can never be an expression of brotherly love.

What will others think if I claim my freedom? We can imagine the situation. A Christian is found in great distress. When asked why, he says that he has been flabbergasted at me eating a bacon sandwich. Those who found the distressed Christian will say of me, ‘His behaviour is not brotherly; instead it is sinful.’ So what I knew to be good – freedom to eat an unclean food – is now regarded as evil because it is the cause of another Christian’s distress.

Of course, we can respond to the weak brother and say about him, ‘Surely he should learn what the Bible says.’ That is true, and no doubt Paul would agree with that suggestion. Yet what Paul is speaking about here is how other believers react to the weak brother until he gets to the stage where he becomes a mature believer who has grasped what the Bible says. We can’t avoid noticing that part of being a living sacrifice is to live sacrificially and not selfishly.

What is the kingdom about?

Paul reminds the Romans of three core features of the kingdom of God. The first is righteousness. One verse that comes to mind in this regard is one in which Jesus linked the kingdom and righteousness: ‘For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven’ (Matt. 5:20). The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees was taken up with external conformity to burdensome man-made rules. Christians should not focus on such things. Instead they want a righteousness that flows from the heart of God into their hearts.

Some people suggest that what we have here is a description of the Trinity at work. In this interpretation, the righteousness is that of Christ, the peace is that of the Father, and the joy is that of the Holy Spirit. Others say that what we have here is a description of the order of salvation: we believe in Jesus and receive his righteousness, which leads to peace with God, which leads to joy by the Holy Spirit. They could support this suggestion by turning to Romans 5:1-2: ‘Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.’ A third suggestion is that righteousness relates to God, peace relates to others, and joy to ourselves.

Of course, those ideas are true, but that does not mean that they are the truth that is mentioned here in Romans 14:17. In the next verse, Paul writes that those three features are the ways by which believers serve Christ and live commendable lives before others. So it looks to me that the three features are practical expressions of brotherly love.

Righteousness is doing what is right in the situation because we want the other believer to grow in grace and not be hindered by us – we could call it the exercise that should mark all Christians. Peace is the environment in which all Christians should live and joy is the experience that all Christians should have together. Such a spiritual state is normal Christianity, and it rises from the desire to serve Jesus in the best way possible.

Paul mentions that we should pursue peace and mutual growth. At the very least, we should be chasing after those states as continual priorities in our spiritual experience. This is what kingdom living is like. Surely we want to be good citizens of the heavenly kingdom as we live with one another and as we witness to those still outside of it.

Keep disputable views to yourself

Is there a way to deal with situations in which there may be the possibility of causing someone to be stumbled? It looks as if Paul says that a Christian should practice his freedom as if God was looking on, which he is, of course; and that Christian should forego his freedom in some situations because it will please God. A Christian who has qualms should perform them as if God was looking at his conscience and not according to what other humans are doing. This should comfort the strong believer because he has no reason to condemn himself and it should comfort the weak believer because he has not condemned himself either. The important requirement is that we do everything by faith in God.

Two scenarios

I may think it is a good idea that all believers should adopt the practice of praying three times a day. I can quote Daniel as a good example. Somebody else may say that we should pray seven times a day because one of the psalmists did so. There is bound to be someone who will say that we should pray all day because we should pray without ceasing, although if we took that commandment literally we would never sleep. In any case, here are three good suggestions, and each of them has some biblical support. What should we do? If I am with the person who wants to pray three times, I should go along with it. If I am with the person who stops to pray seven times a day, I should go along with it. If I am with the person who wants to pray all day, I will tell him that I’ll join him when he manages it. And part of my prayer should be that the individual bound by such a legal outlook would be delivered from it, although that should be a silent prayer.

Take a person who does not think it is right to go to a cinema because he believes that if he does he will dishonour God. Other Christians see no harm in going and they decide to try and liberate him from his outlook. Through their pressure, he succumbs and goes. Yet he feels guilty because he has gone and finds it impossible to pray afterwards whereas his friends have no problem praying afterwards. Who has sinned in that example? I think Paul would say that both the individual and his friends sinned, although in different ways. The individual sinned by going against his conscience and his friends sinned by not respecting his conscience.

Application

We should respect the opinions of others regarding neutral things even although we know that they are wrong in what they think. It is wrong for anyone to compel a person to go against his conscience.

We should not do what we are not convinced is permissible, no matter who else is doing it. It is wrong for a person to choose to go against his conscience. We can imagine how someone would do it in order to please a person he esteemed as a mature Christian.

We should be slow to give our opinion on the validity of a neutral thing and instead keep our opinion to ourselves or only share it with those with whom we know it will not affect. If some want advice, give them the biblical principles and tell them to work it out for themselves.

We should not misuse this passage in order to manipulate people in order to get our own way. The passage only applies to believers who are likely to be stumbled by an action. I have met many believers who have used the idea of ‘offend’ as if it meant being offended. It does not mean that. The truth can offend some people, including Christians. I have met Christians who were determined to fight everyone over their notions, and there was no possibility of stumbling them by disagreeing with them.

We should always focus on the other person’s spiritual growth. This means that we need to know them very well. It is not wise to give advice on a neutral issue to others when you do not know their spiritual state.

We should show a sacrificial spirit, willing to adjust our own preferences in order to help another. Paul says in Romans 12:1-2 that if become living sacrifices we will discover the satisfying will of God. Helping the weaker brother is one way of finding the good will of God and its accompanying benefits.