Romans 14:13-16

A Study of The Book of Romans

Lesson 101 Chapter 14:1 – 15:13

“The Believers relationship one toward another.” - Part 4 14:13 – 16

By Pastor Randy Johnson

1. Verse 12 “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”
1. This is something every Christian should have on their mind everyday and in everything we do. One day we will all stand before Jesus Christ our righteous Judge.
2. A few things we all (as Christians) will be judged for; our sins have been forgiven but there is so much more.

a. Our love for other Christians.

b. Our love for the Churches of Christ.

c. Our love and belief of truth.

d. How we followed the scriptures in truth.

e. How we treated the Lost.

f. How we helped the needy.

g. And Etc.

3. Ecclesiastes 12:14 “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”
1. Verse 13 “Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.”

1. Since we are all going to stand before Christ in the same matter in judgment; then who are we to judge others? Isn’t Christ Jesus the Judge of all?
2. We should not judge others so harshly that is causes them to loose faith or causes them to go different direction. The Lord loves us and He was patient with us in love and longsuffering and this is how we should be to others. – Sometime our judgment will cause the weak to leave the truth if we are not careful.

a. Paul said in Romans 16:17 “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.” The word “avoid means – to go out of the way of them – it is better to avoid them rather than to judge them.

b. Putting a stumblingblock in our brother’s way is sinful to us. Let us not forget all that are saved are children of God and He loves us all with an eternal love. 1 Corinthians 8:9 - 12 “But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. (10.) For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; (11.) And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? (12.) But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.”

c. We need to be careful how we deal with God’s Children!

3. Now this is speaking about the weaker brethren not the disobedient brethren.

a. A weak brother is one that has not learned or is just ignorant to Gods word.

b. A disobedient brother is one who ignores Gods word for his own benefit, or refuses to teach truth, this one is to be treated differently. And this includes the excluded ones who refuse to apologize and walk in an righteous matter. They are to be shunned, send them on their way and bid them not Godspeed.

c. 2 Thessalonians 3:6 “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.”

d. 2 John 1:10 - 11 “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: (11.) For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”

3. Verse 14 “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.”
1. This goes back to the eating meat thing with this church at Rome, however it can be and extended to other areas.
2. Paul said nothing is unclean in Christ, therefore the meat is fine, but to them if it is unclean then so be it for them.
3. We will never all be the same on every issue, therefore respect the brothers belief even though it is wrong. If they are simply weak we do not want to be a stumblingblock to them nor do we want to harm our own relationship with Christ.
4. Verse 15 “But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.”

1. Out of love; it is sometimes better to avoid something like eating meat rather than to cause your brother in Christ to stumble. This is not about strong doctrine, for example if one believes grape juice is to used at the Lord’s Supper and we believe wine is to be used, we are not to avoid observing the Lord’s Supper to please the weaker. However something’s can be avoided to keep trouble down.
2. If you do something (that can be avoided) and refuse to avoid it then you are not showing Christian love. However this goes both ways, maybe it would be good for the grape juice church member to leave before the Lord’s Supper is observed. 1 Corinthians 8:1 “Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.”
3. J. Vernon McGee's Thru The Bible says; "Since Christ was willing to die for that weak brother, certainly we ought to be willing to refrain from eating something or doing something that would hurt him in his Christian walk."
4. Verse 16 “Let not then your good be evil spoken of:”

1. We have many liberties in Christ, but let us not command them as to cause our brother to speak evil of them. Let us celebrate our freedoms with respect to others. Flaunting anything is wrong especially if it is a freedom we have in Christ.
2. The Life Application Bible Commentary had this to say; "This verse also indicates that honesty must be part of our communication with other believers. Convictions are our feelings about actions that we consider good. Whether abstaining from meat or enjoying meat, both parties were free to speak their mind. But they were not to insist theirs was the only possible exercise of freedom. In disputable matters, believers are free to partake or abstain."
3. If it can be avoided then avoid it, if it cannot then we all must deal with it in love.
4. Let all remember Christ loves us all whether we eat meat or not.