In Romans 14, Paul takes a look at a number of issues that must have been causing brothers in Christ to disagree and perhaps pass some unrighteous judgment against each other. It even looks like Paul addresses some of the stricter folks as the weak ones! For as many years as I have been a member of the Lord’s church, I have noticed one thing: You can’t get 100 people to completely agree on every subject.
As I try to get a sense of what Paul means in Romans 14, one verse in particular jumps out at me: Romans 14:10
… we will all stand before the judgment seat of God
This has a lot in common with Jesus’ Matthew 7 teaching on judging others. His warning about the way we are (or are not) to judge people leads into a discussion of “removing the log out of our own eye first.” (Matthew 7:3-5) So … contrary to popular belief, the last word on judging others doesn’t end with Matthew 7:1. Paul says as much after quotes Isaiah (Romans 14:11):
…each of us will give an account of himself to God
The warning is to not get so wrapped up in what other people are doing and forget to look at ourselves.
In any group of Christians, there are experienced one, new ones, weak ones, strong ones. There will be disagreements that do not have to result in taking sides or back biting or gossiping. We are each to get ourselves right, keep studying and learning, and try to help each other – just as strong families should.
Daily Bible reading for October 22
Psalm 82
1 Kings 14:21-15:24
Ezekiel 45
Romans 14
October 22, 2013
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