2018 STUDY OF ROMANS
Chapter 14, Verses 1-4
“Disputable Matters!”
[6-2-19]
Review: “The Debt We Can Never Pay Off!”
Romans 13:6-14) [NIV] This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.
7) Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
NOTE: In America involvement in the political process is part of being good citizens. When governments waste money we are to do our part in pulling in the reigns and forcing them to be wiser managers of our country’s financial affairs. How? We are to be actively involved in voting in candidates who are going to manage our affairs better.
NOTE: We are to pay the taxes levied on us at this time, but actively vote our conscience in future elections.
8) (GW) Pay your debts as they come due. However, one debt you can never finish paying is the debt of love that you owe each other. The one who loves another person has fulfilled Moses’ Teachings.
NOTE: There us a debt that we owe everyone; it’s the debt to love others as Christ loves us. We can never pay this debt in full; we will always owe it.
9) The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
10) Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
NOTE: When I love someone I will not have an affair with his wife; I will not kill him; I will not steal what is his; I will not wish that I had what he has; i.e., I will not envy his success.
NOTE: It’s not covetousness to desire to be as successful as your neighbor is, but it is covetousness to wish you had his stuff.
1 John 4:8) [KJV] He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
11) And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
12) The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
13) Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
NOTE: It’s amazing that Paul has to tell believers to abstain from “orgies, drunkenness,” “sexual immorality and debauchery,” and “dissention and jealousy.”
14) Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
A CLOSING NOTE: We combat sinful desires and temptations by wrapping ourselves up in Jesus, not by gritting our teeth and trying harder to keep the rules.
This Week’s Lesson: “Disputable Matters!”
Romans 14:1-4) [NIV] Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.
(NLT) Accept Christians who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong.
(MSG) Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with–even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.
“a thinking-through or over.” Hence of those speculations or reasonings in one’s mind which take the form of scruples. See on Mar_7:21. discerning with a view to forming a judgment. Hence the meaning is, “receive these weak brethren, but not for the purpose of passing judgment upon their scruples” [Vincent].
***“The ‘strong’ brother is not called upon to settle all the scruples of the “weak” brother. But each takes it on himself to do it” [Robertson].
****Romans 14:1) [NIV] Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.
****Romans 14:23) [NIV] But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
***NOTE: It appears to me, when I compare vs. 1 to vs. 23, that vs. 1 is saying, “Accept the one whose conscience doesn’t allow him to do a certain thing that you might find to be acceptable.”
2) One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, w hose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.
NOTE: We are not to argue with other believers on “disputable matters,” matters that the Scripture doesn’t give absolute answers on.
QUESTION: What causes Christians to disagree on what’s right or wrong?
“Paul looks at those who refuse to eat meat for a spiritual reason. Perhaps they refused it because they feared it was meat sacrificed to a pagan god (as in 1 Corinthians 8). Perhaps they refused the meat because it wasn’t kosher, and they stuck to Jewish dietary regulations and traditions” [Guzik].
“There are many reasons why a Christian might be weak.
- They may be a babe in Christ (babies are weak).
- They may be sick or diseased (by legalism).
- They may be malnourished (by lack of good teaching).
- They may lack exercise (needing exhortation)” [Guzik].
QUESTION: What are some issues Christians disagree on today?
ANSWER: We might disagree on rather, or not, we should go to movies, go to dances, play cards, or we might disagree on what dress code Christians ought to follow.
QUESTION: What was the issue of disagreement among the Roman Christians discussed in vs. 1-2?
ANSWER: Some believers felt it was all right to eat meat that had been sold after it had been offered idol worship; others didn’t.
QUESTION: What was the objection of those who wouldn’t eat it?
ANSWER: They felt that they would be participating in, or, at least condoning, idol worship.
QUESTION: What was the justification of those who would eat it?
ANSWER: They believed there was only one God, so they didn’t believe that the meat that was offered to idols was somehow tainted, because the idols were mere imaginations.
QUESTION: What controversy in today’s Christian world has some similarities to this one?
**ANSWER: Many Christians won’t celebrate Halloween because they believe that day is a day of satanic activity; others refuse to give any day to the devil, so they decide to enjoy the holiday with their children.
NOTE: Some resent Christmas and Easter, saying they were once pagan holidays. They claim that pine trees were used in idol worship; others don’t care what some used a day for, or a tree for, because they’re using them to celebrate the Lord’s birthday.
3) The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.
QUESTION: What teaching does the Holy Spirit have Paul give us regarding these differences?
ANSWER: The believer who decides to engage in an activity must not look down on those who refuse to; those who believe the activity to be sin must not condemn/judge those who disagree.
NOTE: This is why the Holy Spirit didn’t simply have Paul write, “Do this; don’t do that.” God knew that other “disputable matters” would occur throughout time, so He gave us instructions to us on how to co-exist when we disagree.
4) Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
(BBE) Who are you to make yourself a judge of another man’s servant? it is to his master that he is responsible for good or bad. Yes, his place will be safe, because the Lord is able to keep him from falling.
QUESTION: Why is this teaching Paul is sharing so important?
***ANSWER: We are God’s servants! God will do the judging in these disputable matters.
QUESTION: What is the rest of the good news in verse 4?
ANSWER: God will keep the individual we disagree with from falling.
2018 STUDY OF ROMANS
Chapter 14, Verses 5-13
“Disputable Matters!” Part 2
[6-9-19]
Review: “Disputable Matters!”
Romans 14:1-4) [NIV] Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.
****Romans 14:1) [NIV] Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.
****Romans 14:23) [NIV] But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
***NOTE: It appears to me, when I compare vs. 1 to vs. 23, that vs. 1 is saying, “Accept the one whose conscience doesn’t allow him to do a certain thing that you might find to be acceptable.”
2) One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, w hose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.
NOTE: We are not to argue with other believers on “disputable matters,” matters that the Scripture doesn’t give absolute answers on.
QUESTION: What causes Christians to disagree on what’s right or wrong?
“Paul looks at those who refuse to eat meat for a spiritual reason. Perhaps they refused it because they feared it was meat sacrificed to a pagan god (as in 1 Corinthians 8). Perhaps they refused the meat because it wasn’t kosher, and they stuck to Jewish dietary regulations and traditions” [Guzik].
NOTE: We might disagree on rather, or not, we should go to movies, go to dances, play cards, or we might disagree on what dress code Christians ought to follow.
**NOTE: Many Christians won’t celebrate Halloween because they believe that day is a day of satanic activity; others refuse to give any day to the devil, so they decide to enjoy the holiday with their children.
3) The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The believer who decides to engage in an activity must not look down on those who refuse to; those who believe the activity to be sin must not condemn/judge those who disagree.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE: This is why the Holy Spirit didn’t simply have Paul write, “Do this; don’t do that.” God knew that other “disputable matters” would occur throughout time, so He gave us instructions to us on how to co-exist when we disagree.
4) Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
***ANSWER: We are God’s servants! God will do the judging in these disputable matters. God will keep the individual we disagree with from falling.
This Week’s Lesson: “Disputable Matters!” Part 2
Romans 14:5-13) [NIV] One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
3) The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.
NOTE: The believer who decides to engage in an activity must not look down on those who refuse to; those who believe the activity to be sin must not condemn/judge those who disagree. God knew that other “disputable matters” would occur throughout time, so He gave us instructions to us on how to co-exist when we disagree.
4) Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
QUESTION: Why is this teaching Paul is sharing so important?
ANSWER: We are God’s servants! God will do the judging in these disputable matters.
QUESTION: What is the rest of the good news in verse 4?
**ANSWER: God will keep the individual we disagree with from falling.
6) He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.
QUESTION: What is the other issue of disagreement that Paul addresses in these two verses?
ANSWER: He addresses the issue of the Sabbath Day.
QUESTION: What do some churches teach regarding the Jewish Sabbath?
*ANSWER: They teach that going to church on Sunday instead of Saturday is sin; they teach this because Saturday is the Sabbath, and to them, our making Sunday “holy” instead of the Jewish Sabbath is breaking the Law of Moses, and is, therefore, sin.
QUESTION: What does the Apostle teach us about this subject in the above passage?
ANSWER: We should do an honest evaluation of what the New Testament teaches on the subject, and then we should be “fully convinced in” our “own mind.”
***NOTE: If the Holy Spirit, Who was inspiring the words of Paul, wanted us to go to church on Saturday He would have had Paul clearly teach it in this passage.
*ANOTHER NOTE: The same rule applies here: those who choose to give God all seven days should not look down on those who give God the seventh day; those who keep the Sabbath in the Christian community should not condemn/judge those who don’t.
QUESTION: Does the admonition given by Paul not to judge one another’s opinions cover everything?
ANSWER: No! He’s only referring to “disputable matters.” The issues that are clearly addressed in the New Testament are not “disputable.”
**NOTE: The Seventh Day crowd will say that this is not a disputable matter. They will say that keeping the Sabbath is taught throughout Scripture. However, Paul calls it a disputable matter in this chapter, and he gives his permission to his readers to do, regarding this topic, whatever there conscience tells them to do.
***ANOTHER NOTE: If it was a sin to go to church on Sundays instead of Saturdays then Paul would have stressed that point here. Again, it’s only regarding disputable matters that we are free to walk out our conscience; all matters clearly taught in the New Testament must be adhered to.
7) For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone.
(NLT) For we are not our own masters when we live or when we die.
8) If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
9) For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
10) You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
QUESTION: What are we being taught in the above verses?
ANSWER: We are being taught that rather we live or die we belong to the Lord.
QUESTION: Why is that important in this discussion?
ANSWER: Paul is showing us that when we become critical towards those with whom we disagree regarding disputable matters we are being critical of God’s children.
QUESTION: What does the Apostle, in essence say in verse 10?
**ANSWER: How dare we judge God’s children. How dare we look down on God’s children. They belong to God! God will judge them, and us!
11) It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to 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. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.
QUESTION: What are we being taught in the above verses?
ANSWER: We all will give an account of ourselves to God. You might think that your brother will have to give an account of himself for indulging in the very thing you deem sinful, but Paul warns that we are in danger of having to give an account of our judgmental attitude.
*QUESTION: What should we do instead of judging others about disputable matters?
**ANSWER: We should be careful not to do anything that might cause a weaker brother to stumble.
NOTE: If you know that your brother would be offended if you go to a movie theater then be certain not to flaunt your freedom in front of him. You should do your best to make certain that he doesn’t see you attending a movie theater.
QUESTION: How can my going to a movie cause a weaker brother to stumble?
****ANSWER: He might decide that if you can go then he can go. However, if he believes it to be sin then his conscience will convince him he sinned by going to the movie.
2018 STUDY OF ROMANS
Chapter 14, Verses 14-23
“Disputable Matters!” Part 3
[6-16-19]
Review: “Disputable Matters!” Part 2
Romans 14:5-13) [NIV] One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
6) He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.
*NOTE: Some teach that going to church on Sunday instead of Saturday is sin; they teach this because Saturday is the Sabbath, and to them, our making Sunday “holy” instead of the Jewish Sabbath is breaking the Law of Moses, and is, therefore, sin.
***NOTE: If the Holy Spirit, Who was inspiring the words of Paul, wanted us to go to church on Saturday He would have had Paul clearly teach it in this passage.
*ANOTHER NOTE: The same rule applies here: those who choose to give God all seven days should not look down on those who give God the seventh day; those who keep the Sabbath in the Christian community should not condemn/judge those who don’t.
7) For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone.
8) If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
9) For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
10) You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
**NOTE: How dare we judge God’s children. How dare we look down on God’s children. They belong to God! God will judge them, and us!
11) It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to 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. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.
**NOTE: We should be careful not to do anything that might cause a weaker brother to stumble.
This Week’s Lesson: “Disputable Matters!” Part 3
Romans 14:14-23) [NIV] As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
(KJV) I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that [there is] nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him [it is] unclean.
QUESTION: Is Paul telling us that there is nothing we can do that is “unclean”?
ANSWER: If you want to see what it’s talking about, see what it’s talking about. Food, meats and herbs, is the subject.
1 Timothy 4:1-5) [KJV] Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2) Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3) Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
4) For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
5) For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
QUESTION: What does Paul call the doctrine of abstaining from all, or, certain kinds of meat?
**ANSWER: He calls those kinds of doctrines “doctrines of devils.”
15) If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.
13) [NIV] Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.
QUESTION: What should we do instead of judging others about disputable matters?
ANSWER: We should be careful not to do anything that might cause a weaker brother to stumble.
NOTE: If you know that your brother would be offended if you go to a movie theater then be certain not to flaunt your freedom in front of him. You should do your best to make certain that he doesn’t see you attending a movie theater.
***NOTE: He might decide that if you can go then he can go. However, if he believes it to be sin then his conscience will convince him he sinned by going to the movie. And, in fact, though he has not sinned against God he has sinned against his conscience!!
QUESTION: What is Paul telling us in verse 15?
**ANSWER: Christian charity trumps Christian freedom. We should not flaunt our liberty in front of someone who thinks what we are doing as sin.
QUESTION: Is it hypocritical to abstain from a certain conduct in front of someone who might be offended by that conduct, but then go do it somewhere where he/she can’t see you doing it?
ANSWER: In my mind, “No!” If you find it hypocritical then don’t do it. That’s what this chapter is about. If you think it’s hypocritical then for you it is!
16) Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you think that going to a movie is O.K. but a fellow believer believes it to be sin, then if you go to a movie and talk openly about it in the presence of the one who thinks it’s sin, you are not acting in love (vs. 15) and what you do with a free conscience will be “spoken of as evil” (current vs.).
ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE: Just a reminder: we are talking about disputable matters; we are not talking about conduct that the rightly divided Word of God condemns.
17) For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
1Corinthians 8:1) [GW] Now, concerning food offered to false gods: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes people arrogant, but love builds them up.
QUESTION: What is Paul telling us in this verse?
**ANSWER: The “righteousness, peace, and joy” of the Lord is more important than going to movies. We must be willing to make sacrifices for the sake of others.
18) because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
19) Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
20) Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.
21) It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
QUESTION: What is Paul telling us in a nutshell in the above verses?
**ANSWER: We should not only consider our own conscience, but the conscience of our Christian brother. Paul identifies this attitude as one that pleases God.
**22) So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.
23) But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
QUESTION: What is Paul instructing us to do in these verses?
ANSWER: We should not arrogantly tell everyone how we feel about disputable matters. Some of those things are best left to our private decisions. He’s also telling us not to do something that we consider sin just because we saw another Christian do it. If our conscience convicts us then we are sinning when we do it.
1Corinthians 8:4-7) [GNB] So then, about eating the food offered to idols: we know that an idol stands for something that does not really exist; we know that there is only the one God.
5) Even if there are so-called “gods,” whether in heaven or on earth, and even though there are many of these “gods” and “lords,”
6) yet there is for us only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live; and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and through whom we live.
**7) But not everyone knows this truth. Some people have been so used to idols that to this day when they eat such food they still think of it as food that belongs to an idol; their conscience is weak, and they feel they are defiled by the food.