Sermon Notes

1 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. 2-4 For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ’s table, wouldn’t it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn’t eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God’s welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help. 5 Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy, and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience. 6-9 What’s important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God’s sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It’s God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That’s why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that He could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other. 10-12 So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I’d say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we’re all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren’t going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture: “As I live and breathe,” God says, “every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will tell the honest truth that I and only I am God.” So, mind your own business. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God. 13-14 Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is.
15:5-6 May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!

Love and law are not opposed to each other. Love “fulfills the law” (Romans 13:8-10), but agapé also goes beyond the law. Agapé guides and governs us in those areas of conduct not specifically governed by law—our personal convictions. In Romans 14 (from whch the meat of our lesson comes) Paul’s explains how agapé should govern the exercise of our Christian liberty. Where law has no guidance, agapé does.
It’s important to note that, for Paul, the “law” is a reference to ancient Hebrew scripture—what we commonly call the Old Testament. Ancient scripture offered very precise behaviors as evidence of our holiness before God. The Roman Church, to whom this letter is addressed, was comprised of many Jewish converts to Christianity, who had come out of the rigid practices of Judaism. But though they had accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord, they had brought that rigidity with them into their faithwalk with Christ.
Paul teaches that, while the rigors of Judaism may be acceptable for some, it should not serve as a litmus test for personal righteousness before God in Jesus’ Church. Jesus’ love alone is the standard.
Paul focuses on the disciplined out-workings of love: Agapé does not judge others concerning their convictions in favor of Christian liberty. At the same time, agapé will keep us from exercising what is, for us, a liberty if it will cause a weaker Christian to stumble.
Thus, the questions for us are 1) “Do we love others enough to let them follow their own path in their pursuit of Christ?” And 2) “Do we love others enough to refrain from doing things we are perfectly free to do if it hinders another’s pursuit of Christ?”

1 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. Re-member, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.
This word reveals the point of the paragraph. Those with differences of opinion (weaker in faith) are to be welcomed into the fellowship of believers, not harassed about their personal convictions.
The strong believers have more faith and a greater grasp of grace and Christian liberty. Those who are weak are weak in faith and therefore fail to grasp the full implications of the work of Christ. Weaker saints are inclined to be legalistic; they tend to be those who think they cannot do what God’s Word allows. While the strong and the weak differ over their convictions, both are tempted to think too highly of themselves, looking down upon the other and passing judgment on them.
2-4 For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ’s table, wouldn’t it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn’t eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God’s welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help. 5 Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.
Paul provides two illustrations of differing convictions: eating meat (verse 2) and the observance of certain holidays (verse 5).
The meat-eater is the stronger believer while the vegetarian is weaker. Both the strong and the weak are tempted to sin against their brother. The danger for the strong believer is to look upon his weaker brother with contempt: “How could he be so shallow in his grasp of God’s grace and of Christian liberty?” The weaker believer stands in danger of condemning the stronger one for their liberty in Christ: “How could he be so liberal? Does he not believe in separation?” Both are guilty of judging the other; both are looking down on each other and thinking too highly of themselves.
Judging another because of their convictions is offensive to God. Doing so is an effort to supplant God, our singular Judge. When we do this, we set ourselves above God. Convictions deal with those freedoms God allows. In judging another’s convictions, we become judges of God, setting standards outside God’s will (James 4:11, 12).
6-9 What’s important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God’s sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It’s God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That’s why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.
Judging others is wrong because it distracts us from tending to our own convictions and conduct before God. Paul places the spotlight where it should be—on our own convictions, not another’s. Tending to others’ business causes us to neglect our own. Paul clearly teaches us here to mind our own business.
If convictions aren’t a legitimate matter for public scrutiny and debate, they are a most important consideration in our personal walk with God. Convictions are private matters, between each Christian and God, whether one exercises a liberty or refrains from it. The important thing is not whether or not we practice a given liberty, but whether in exercising or refraining from our liberty we do so as to the Lord.
10-12 So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I’d say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we’re all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren’t going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture: “As I live and breathe,” God says, “every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will tell the honest truth that I and only I am God.”
So mind your own business. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.
Paul rebukes both the “strong” and the “weak” for judging the other. The “strong” look on the “weak” with contempt. The “weak” con-demn the “strong” for the exercise of liberties they don’t accept. Both need to be reminded that God is the Judge, before Whom each of us must give an account.
In verse 11, Paul cites Isaiah 45:23. It is a solemn reminder of the account each of us must give to God for our attitudes and actions. How could we be so preoccupied with judging others, which is not our task or calling, when we will all have to stand before God as our judge? Since we must each give account of ourselves, let us take heed to our own convictions, and cease judging others.
13 Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to be con-cerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is.
Paul adds that ceasing from judging the other is not enough. We must replace this detrimental practice with a beneficial one: “determine not to put an obstacle or stumbling block in a brother’s way.” We are not to exercise any liberty that encourages a weaker Christian to sin by following our example and thereby violating his own conscience.
Some Christians may disagree with our convictions; they may be upset that we have acted as we have. But unless these Christians are so weak that they follow our example, and thus violate their own convictions, they are not the “weaker one” to whom Paul is referring. The weaker one thinks it is wrong to eat meat, but does so because he has seen me do it, thus violating his own convictions. When the exercise of our liberty causes a weaker one to stumble, we have sinned in exercising our liberty, even though it is consistent with our own convictions.
15:5-6 May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!
Paul reminds us that true unity is not something we manufacture—it is something God Himself supplies. God forms in us the endurance and grace needed to live in harmony with each other. When we share the same mind and spirit, centered on Christ, our unity becomes an act of worship. With one voice we glorify “the God and Father of our Master Jesus.”
These verses call us to a community shaped not by preference or personality, but by Christ-like humility, mutual encouragement, and a shared desire to honor God together.