Accept One Another - Romans 15:7-13

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.” Again, it says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.” And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.” And again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.” May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:7-13

I do not know if you have ever been involved in a church fight, but if you have, you know that tempers can get very hot. People can get very upset, and factions can form; divisions and feuds break out.

Yet I have never heard of a church fight that was any worse than the attitudes that Jews and Gentiles had toward one another in Paul's day. The Jews held the Gentiles in contempt; they called them dogs. They would have nothing to do with them. The Jews even regarded it as sinful to go into a Gentile's house and they would never dream of eating with a Gentile. They regarded them with utter contempt. In the book of Acts, Peter got into serious trouble with his Jewish friends because he went into the home of Cornelius, and ate with him. It was only because Peter could show that the Holy Spirit sent him there, that he was able to justify his conduct to his friends.

Of course, if the Jews felt that way about the Gentiles, the Gentiles paid it right back in kind. They hated the Jews. They called them all kinds of names. This is where modern anti-Semitism was born. These were opposing factions who hated one another, and would have nothing to do with one another.

Yet, Paul says, that kind of division God is healing by the work of Jesus. How did Jesus do it? A more literal translation of the text is that, "he became a minister of circumcision." What the apostle is arguing is that the Lord healed this breach between the Jews and the Gentiles by his giving in and limiting his own liberty. He who designed the human body, he himself consented to the act of circumcision. Jesus consented to that and limited himself in that way. He became a circumcised Jew. He who declared in his ministry that all foods are clean, and thus gave clear evidence that he understood the liberty that God gives us in the matter of eating, never once ate anything but kosher food. He limited himself to the Jewish diet, even though he declared that all foods were clean.

He who was without sin insisted on a sinner's baptism. He came to John, and John said, "Why are you coming to me? I need to be baptized by you. You do not need to be baptized." Jesus said, "Allow it to be so, for in this way it becomes us. It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness," (Matthew 3:15). So he who had no reason to be baptized consented to be baptized. He who longed to heal the hurts of the world said that when he came, he limited himself to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Paul's argument is that the results of that limitation were that Jesus broke the back of the argument and of the contempt between the Jew and the Gentile. He reached both Jews and Gentiles to the glory of God. If you trace this through you can see that what Paul is saying is that in the death and resurrection of Jesus, God showed his faithfulness to the Jews in fulfilling the promises made to the patriarchs; and he showed his mercy to the Gentiles, saving them who were without any promises at all. Thus the two, Jew and Gentile, shall fully become one, just as the Scriptures predict.

What Paul is really saying is, "You do not need to separate; you do not need to split; you do not need to fight; you do not need to sue one another. You can work the problems out, and God is honored and glorified when you do."

Prayer: Heavenly Father,  thank you for this miracle of unity in Christ, and I ask that it be preserved in the name of the Lord Jesus. Please strengthen Your Church in this day and may we keep our focus on You. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

Life Application: Jesus' example is the answer to 'What would Jesus do?' The cross was the price He paid for our acceptance. Are we laying down our rights in order to accept others for Jesus' sake?

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The Wise Use of Liberty - Romans 15:1-6

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 15:1-6

There are two thumbnail rules to follow when you have to make a quick decision whether you ought to insist on liberty in a certain area, or give way to someone else's qualms, or prejudices, or differences of viewpoint.

The first rule is: Choose to please your neighbor rather than yourself. Do not insist on your way of doing things; be quick to give in. This is what love does. Love does not insist on its own rights, Paul tells us in First Corinthians 13. Therefore, if you are loving in your approach, love will adjust and adapt to others.

The second rule, however, says to be careful that your giving in does not allow your neighbor to be confirmed in his weakness, that you do not leave him without encouragement to grow, or to rethink his position. We are to seek to build one another up. If we do nothing but give in to people's weaknesses, the church eventually ends up living at the level of the weakest conscience in its midst. This presents a twisted and distorted view of Christian liberty, and the world gets false ideas about what Christianity is about. So this helps to balance the situation. Please your neighbor, but for his own good, always leaving something there to challenge his thinking, or make him reach out a bit, and possibly change his viewpoint.

A man made an appointment to see me and told me he was a teacher in a Christian school. He had been asked by the board to enforce a rule prohibiting students from wearing their hair long. It was a rule that he did not agree with, so he found himself in a dilemma. If he did not enforce the rule, the board had told him that he would lose his job. If he did enforce it, he would be upsetting the students and their parents, who felt that this was a matter that did not merit that kind of attention. Our culture has long since changed from regarding long hair as a symbol of rebellion, so this man found himself in between a rock and a hard place. His plea to me was, "What shall I do?" My counsel was that we should not push our ideas of liberty to the degree that they would upset the peace. So I said to him, "For the sake of peace, go along with the board and enforce the rule for this year. But make a strong plea to the board to rethink their position and to change their viewpoint. At the end of the year if they are unwilling to do that, perhaps you might well consider moving to a different place. That way you would not be upsetting things, and creating a division in the school."

That illustrates what Paul is saying. People can lose sight of the main objectives of being together as Christians, and they get so focused in on these issues that a church can split right down the center. Or else these issues will create such arguing, bickering and dissension within the group that the whole atmosphere of the church is changed. Paul is saying to us that this is really not necessary as there are things that can be done to work these problems out.

Prayer: Father, thank you for the liberty and freedom that you give. I pray that we who regard ourselves as strong, may be willing to bear the burdens of the weak. May your people manifest a spirit of unity to the watching world that knows no way to get divergent factions together. But may we also stand for Your truth and never compromise that. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. 

Life Application: Are we committed to pleasing our 'neighbor' for their good? How will we discern the good that is needed? Do we have increased awareness of our own need for discernment from the Word, both written and indwelling us His people?

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Make Every Effort At Peace - Romans 14:19-23

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

Romans 14:19-23

This verse is not saying you are to keep quiet about your liberties, that you do not say anything to anybody, that you keep it between yourself and God. What Paul is saying is, "if you have faith, have it between yourself and God." Let God's Word be the basis for your faith, and nothing else. Be sure that what you are doing is not because of pride on your part, because you want to show off how free you are — you are doing this because God has freed you by his Word. If you have really based it on that, then your action will be one in which your conscience is free. You will not feel guilty and troubled as to whether you are acting beyond what the Word of God really says. You will be happy, free, blessed. But, if you do not, if you really have not settled this based on Scripture, but are acting only because you want to indulge yourself; if you like this thing but you still feel a bit troubled by it; if you act then, you are going to be condemned by your conscience. And if you are condemned by your conscience, you will feel guilty. And if you act because you feel guilty, you are not acting out of faith, and, therefore, you are sinning. This is Paul's argument.

"Without faith," Hebrews says, "it is impossible to please God," (Hebrews 11:6a). Faith means believing what God has said. You must base your actions in Christian liberty on what the Word of God declares — not about any specific thing, but the great principle of freedom which is set forth. Now, if you understand that, fine, Paul says. But be sure that you yourself are acting not out of pride, not out of mere self-indulgence, but out of a deep conviction that rests upon the Word and revelation of God.

To sum up, what Paul has said to us is: Do not deliberately stumble or shock your brother or sister. Do not deliberately do things that will offend them, or even make them feel uncomfortable. Think about them, not yourself. Second: Give up your right when it threatens the peace or hinders the growth of another individual. Be alert to judge in that area. Third: Never act from doubt. Act only from conviction, by the Word, and by the Spirit of God. If these problems are all settled on that basis, you will be moving gradually toward the great liberty that we have as children of God. Just as Paul said: Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

What will happen in the eyes of the watching world? Christians will be seen to be free people, not controlled by scruples that limit them and narrow them in their enjoyment of God's great gifts. Yet, these things will not be of such importance that they are put at the heart and center of everything. The world will begin to see that the heart of the Gospel is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, the gifts of God. Those gifts, then, are the basis for freedom in all these areas. But you are just as free to say, "No" to the indulgence of a gift as you are to say "Yes" to it. That is true freedom. You are not free if you think you have won your rights. That is not freedom. Freedom is the right to give up your rights, for good and proper cause. That is what the watching world will begin to see.

Prayer: Teach me Lord, to walk softly before you in this, with a concern for my brother and sister; to be patient and to learn to enjoy my liberties only as they do not injure or hurt another. Please help me to make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. 

Life Application: What three conclusions summarize God's Word to us concerning our attitudes and behavior in debatable issues? What is authentic freedom when the issue is our 'rights'?

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What Matters - Romans 14:13-18

Therefore...make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.  I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

Romans 14:13-18

If you are going to create division by arguing so hard for your rights, or your freedom, then you are distorting the gospel itself. The word Paul uses for "evil" means blaspheme. You are causing the good news about Christ to be blasphemed because you are making too much of an issue over a minor matter. You are insisting that your rights are so important that you have to divide the church over them. That is saying to the watching world around that Christianity consists of whether you do, or do not do, a certain thing.

I heard of a church that got into an argument over whether they ought to have a Christmas tree at their Christmas program. Some thought that a tree was fine; others thought it was a pagan practice, and they got so angry at each other and even got into fist fights over it. One group dragged the tree out, then the other group dragged it back in. They ended up suing each other in a court of law and this was spread in the newspapers for the entire community to read. What else could non-Christians conclude other than that the gospel consists of if you have a Christmas tree or not?

That is wrong. The main point of the Christian faith is not eating or drinking or Christmas trees. The main point is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. A non-Christian, looking at a Christian, ought to see righteousness, peace and joy, not wrangling and disputing and fighting and law courts. That word righteousness means that, because of the death of Jesus for you, you are loved and accepted by him. The world ought to see you confident about who you are, with an underlying assurance that shows you have a basis of self-acceptance that the world knows nothing about.

Another thing the world ought to see is peace. That comes across visibly as a kind of calmness, an inner core of unflappability that is undisturbed by the minor irritations of the moment. It is that quiet and calm assurance that God is present in the situation; that he will work it out for his glory, and we need not get upset or angry. It is hard for the world to get that impression of peace and calmness if they see two people screaming at one another. That does not look very calm.

The third element is joy. Joy is that delight in life that always finds life worthwhile, even though it may be filled with problems. Joy does not come from circumstances. I met a woman who had been lying in her bed for 13 years. She has arthritis so bad that her joints are disconnected and she cannot even raise her hands. But the smile on her face, the joy that is evident in her, is an outstanding witness to the fact that joy of this kind is a gift of God. It comes out of relationship, not out of circumstance.

Paul is saying that if that is what you have discovered, then you can easily give up some momentary indulgence that you enjoy and are free to participate in, if it is going to cause someone to act contrary to their own conscience. Sometimes, when you enter a main highway, you see a sign that says, "YIELD." I wish we could make one of those and put it up in our dining room. That is a Christian philosophy — to yield, to give way. Do not insist on your rights under these circumstances.

Prayer: Thank you, Father, that there is a way of working problems out, peacefully and cheerfully and joyfully, "preserving the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Thank you for the righteousness, peace and joy that You alone can give. In the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen. 

Life Application: What is the three-fold evidence of one who is intentionally walking in the Spirit? How does the alternative to these violate the Gospel, and invalidate our witness to the world?

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America Must Repent

Some may wonder, as they look at the chaos around us...why is God letting this happen? So that we will seek Him and find Him... 

"God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us."(Acts 17:27) 

Except for Israel, America is the only nation in history that was created in covenant with the Lord. The Mayflower Compact, signed by the Pilgrims, clearly states that their voyage was "undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith..."

God has richly blessed America like no other country in history because of this. But we, as a nation, have sinned greatly. He has called us back time and again but He has been ignored, kicked out of our national life, mocked and ridiculed and persecuted. 9/11 should have been a wake up call to return as God removed His hedge of protection for a moment, but it wasn't. For those alive at the time, you will remember that for about 3-4 weeks our churches were full, people were praying and calling on God's name but then, we stopped. 

If we look to Israel to learn from them, it is clear that God first warns of the consequences when we begin to drift from Him. Then He reminds us of His love for us and who we are in Him, trying to awaken our response of love and gratitude and to draw us back to Him. 

But, if all His efforts are ignored, the last thing He can do is bring judgment. 

I think we are standing right on the threshold of Judgement as a nation. Since 9/11, there has been no returning to Him on a national scale. In fact, our depravity has only grown. We must repent before it is too late for this nation.  

"In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:30-31

Reading Hearts - Romans 14:5-12

One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 

You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’” So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

Romans 14:5-12

What Paul is saying is that God can read hearts and you cannot. These distinctions and differences of viewpoint arise out of honest conviction which God sees, even though you cannot. Therefore, the individual is not simply being difficult because he does not agree with you. He is acting based on the basis of what he feels is right, so trust him on that. Believe that he is as intent on being real before God and true to him as you are, and if he feels able to indulge in some of these things you think are not right, then at least see him as doing so because he really feels that God is not displeased with him on that basis. Or, if he does feel limited and he feels he should not do certain things, do not get upset with him because he has not moved into freedom yet. Remember that he really feels that God would be displeased if he did those things. The apostle makes clear here that every person should have that kind of a conviction: "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own heart," (Romans 14:4b KJV).

Paul says that God sees both of these people and both of these viewpoints as honoring him. The one who thinks Sunday is a special day that ought to be kept different from all other days is doing so as unto the Lord, therefore honor that, respect that viewpoint. The one who says, "No. When we are in Christ, days do not mean anything. They are not set aside for any special purpose. Therefore, I feel every day is alike, and I want to honor the Lord on every day." Okay, do not feel upset at that. He is doing so out of a deep conviction of his heart.

The one who drinks wine gives thanks to God for the the taste of it, and it is perfectly proper that he does so. The one who says, "No. I cannot drink wine, but I can drink coffee," gives thanks for the coffee. In either case, it is not a moral question. It is a question of what the heart is doing in the eyes of God.

I heard some time ago of a girl who was a converted nightclub singer, a fresh, new Christian, who was asked to sing at a church meeting. She wanted to do her very best for the Lord whom she had come to love, and so she dressed up the best way she knew how and she sang a song that she thought was expressive of her faith. She did it in the style of the nightclub singer. Somebody came up to her afterwards and ripped into her and said, "How can you sing a song like that and claim to be a Christian? God could never be happy with a Christian who dresses the way you do, and to sing in a nightclub style must be offensive to him." The poor girl was so taken back, she just stood there for a minute, and she broke into tears, and turned and ran. That was a wrong and hurtful thing to do to her. Granted, later on she might have changed her style, but God has the right to change her, not you. Her heart was right and God saw the heart and honored it. That was something he was pleased with.

Prayer: Father, help me to see where I have been usurping your place. Help me to stop that, and to begin to answer only for myself before your throne, and upholding and praying for my brother or sister if I feel they need it. Grant to me, Lord, that illuminating understanding of truth that sets me free. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. 

Life Application: Are we qualified to change others' hearts? Shall we consider it off limits for us to judge their motivations or conclusions? What is our recourse when we see what we deem erroneous choices?

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Debatable Issues - Romans 14:1-4

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

Romans 14:1-4

This issue arises out of the background of the early church in which there was a real moral question about eating meat. Not only were there the Jewish restrictions against certain forms of meat — Jews did not eat pork, and even beef and lamb had to be kosher — but it had to be slain in a certain way. So a Jew, or even one raised as a Jew, after he became a Christian, always had great emotional difficulty in eating meat. There was also the problem in Rome and in other pagan cities about the matter of eating meat that had been offered to idols. Some Christians said that if you did that it was tantamount to worshipping that idol. Other Christians said, "Oh, no. How can that be? Meat is meat. The fact that someone else thinks of it as offered to idols does not mean that I have to." So there was a real problem in the church.

As in every area of this type, there were two viewpoints. There was a liberal, broad viewpoint that said it was perfectly alright to do this, and a stricter, narrower viewpoint that said it was wrong to do this. You can put many of the modern problems that we have into this category. Should you drink wine and beer; should you go to the movies; should you dance; what about work on Sunday? Let us be very clear that there are areas that Scripture speaks about that are not debatable at all. It is always wrong to be drunk. It is always wrong to commit adultery, homosexuality or other sexual immorality. These things are clearly wrong. In both the Old and New Testaments, God has spoken, he has judged, in these areas. Christians are exhorted to rebuke and exhort and reprove one another, and, if necessary, even discipline one another according to patterns set out in the Scriptures. This is not judging each other in those areas.

But there are all those other areas that are left open, and the amazing thing to me is that Scripture always leaves those open. Paul will not give a "yes" or "no" answer about some of these things because God does not do so. There is an area, in other words, where God wants to leave it up to the individual as to what he or she does. He expects it to be based upon a deep conviction of that individual. But it is up to them.

It is also clear that he calls the "liberal party" strong in the faith, while the "narrow party" is weak in the faith. Therefore, the mark of understanding truth is freedom. That is why Paul calls the person who understands truth clearly one who is strong in the faith, while those who do not understand it clearly are weak in the faith. They are weak in the faith because they have not yet discovered the meaning of Christian freedom; they see Christianity as a thing of rules and regulations. Also, they have not yet liberated themselves from a belief in the efficacy of works. In their heart they believe that they can gain God's favor by doing certain things and abstaining from doing others. Basically, they are still trying to earn a right relationship with God, and have not yet accepted the way of grace.

That is the problem here. It is the problem of a Christian who is not yet understanding fully the freedom that Christ has brought him, who struggles with these kinds of things, and who feels limited in his ability to indulge or to use some of these things — while others feel free to do so. One is strong in the faith; the other is called weak in the faith. Every church has these groups. Paul puts his finger precisely on the natural attitudes which each group would have toward each other that must be avoided if we are going to accept one another as he says.

Prayer: Father, teach me to accept and love my brothers and sisters in Christ and refrain from judging in debatable matters. But help me to stand strong on the truth of Your Word when it comes to matters that are not debatable. Show me what I need to change in my own life and may I walk in the freedom that You have given me. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

Life Application: Are we honoring the privilege of choosing to our fellow believers when their opinions differ from ours? How does God use our choices to teach and train us?

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