Paul was asked a question – "Is eating meat offered to idols contaminating?" And no one in the Roman church seemed to agree. Paul acknowledged this was not a black and white question with a simple answer and, instead, took the opportunity to instruct the Roman Christians that as they sorted through the question they needed to remember that their unity was more important than their differences on a grey area.
How can this be done? In Romans 14-15, he gives a series of considerations. And on the Wednesday feature of this blog, we will study these 13 considerations.
CONSIDERATION #1 (posted on 4.18.22) - Remember the difference between opinion and absolutes. "As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables." (14:1-2).
CONSIDERATION #2 – (posted on 4.25.33) Remember to value those who differ from you. "Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him." (Rom 14:3)
CONSIDERATION #3 – Remember that God is the ultimate judge – "Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand" (Rom 14:4).
In short, leave all judgment to God. God is the discerner of hearts. God is omniscient and omnipresent.
Your opinion may very well be right; your interpretation of Scripture may very well be right; your view of premillennialism or the cessation of miraculous gifts may be the right view; you actually may be seeing all the "ins and outs" of this coronavirus pandemic. But God will be the ultimate Judge of who is right and wrong.
At times, I have heard Christians debating or arguing over secondary matters and then hear one Christian say, "I cannot even imagine they are a Christian." On matters that don't save, that ought never to be. Who are we to pretend we know what is going on in men's hearts? Warren Wiersbe makes an important observation about this verse when he draws attention to the question asked by Paul, "Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?" He says that title suggests that kind of activity that we ought to be focused on instead of judging one another.
He writes, "It is encouraging to know that our success in the Christian life does not depend on the opinions or attitudes of other Christians. God is the Judge, and He is able to make us stand. The word 'servant' here suggests that Christians ought to be busy working for the Lord; then they will not have the time or inclination to judge or condemn other Christians. People who are busy winning souls to Christ have more important things to do than to investigate the lives of the saints."[1]
I can identify with that. My ultimate accountability is not to you but God. If I lived every moment on a pastor on whether or not you approved of everything I said or did, I would be ruined. I wouldn't survive.
If we saved one another from eternal condemnation, then we might have the right to judge. But we didn't save anyone and, therefore, do not have the right to take God's place as Judge. Our brothers and sisters won't appear before us in judgment; they will appear before God.
[1] Be Right, pg. 153
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