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Living a Love-Filled Life
Romans 14

• Romans 14 is a continuation of the second half of Romans 13 and Paul’s ongoing discussion of how to walk in love for others.

• The last part of Romans is not about doctrine or theology.  Paul has covered this in most of the letter, but the last part is all about loving each other.

• If we were to give Romans 14 a title, it would be “Living a Love-Filled Life.”

• Though the word “love” is only used once in this chapter, really it is all about how to love others.

• There is a mingling of different kinds of people:

o The Jews are coming out of a legalistic faith, and

o The Gentiles have been indulgent their whole lives.

o These differences are creating management problems.

o Even in the first church in Jerusalem with 12 to 3000 people, there are some Gentiles and some Jews, and there are major cultural and religious differences.

o Paul will actually say that the one who has the most legalistic attitudes is the weaker of the brothers.

o But, he will say that the onus for love is on the stronger more mature believer.

Our theme:  Living a love-filled life is to promote peace between brothers and not quibble over our differences.

Vs. 1-3
• This chapter is all about our tendency to judge each other over little things.

• The church is the worst at judging over petty things.

• Ex.  I must admit that I too struggle with judging the church.  I want to grow in my love for the Body of Christ.

• We judge other followers of Christ over such things as:

o Should we baptize standing up, sitting down, frontward, or backward?

o The Trinitarian names of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? In Jesus only?

o King James only?  NIV only? NEV only?

o Or, who we should vote for in the coming elections.

o Or, what kind of movies to go to.  Christmas? Easter?  Are they Pagan holidays??

• But our passage says that we receive each other, from different convictions and beliefs, “but not to dispute over doubtful things.”

• At the time of this writing, the dispute was over eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols in the pagan temple.

o Some held that no follower of Christ should ever eat meat sacrificed to idols, while others didn’t believe this was a pressing issue.

o So the weaker brother see’s the stronger brother buying and eating meat and he judges him.

• Paul is saying that this should not be a divisive issue.

• Now don’t get me wrong.  There are issues that are essential that we will divide over:  Jesus as Lord; the Atonement: the Resurrection;  the Trinity.

• But this issue of eating meat or not eating meat is not an essential doctrine!

• Ex. Diet, or how you eat, is just not a divisive issue!  You eat tofu and I’ll eat steak; now I happen to like both.

• Ex.  Some people don’t like our music.  They think they are better because they always worship with an organ, or wear a tie, or whatever and they become judgmental.

• Ex.  I have an old Moravian motto in my office:  “In essentials unity.  In non-essentials liberty.  In all things Love.”

• We are to come together in the unity of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, that He died and rose again, and that He is coming back in power and glory.

• Ex.  We know, for example, that in the 40 minutes that I am giving this message, over 3000 people will die around the world and go to hell.  So why are we disputing over food and drink?  God’s heart is broken over weightier matters.

• But each of us will have different convictions about food, drink, style of worship, etc. that the Lord is teaching us.  But don’t judge others who don’t have the same conviction.

Vs. 4
• We are all servants of Christ and Christ is the Master of all of us.

• But we want everyone to do what we do.  It makes us feel good about ourselves, but each person is God’s, not our’s.

• Ex.  We are all just servants of Christ, and He is the owner of it all.  If we were all working as busboys at a restaurant, and the owner told one person to take care of the kitchen and wash dishes but told you and I to tend to the tables of the customers, we have no right to judge the kitchen crew for not doing the same job we are doing!  They are the owner’s busboys, not our’s.

• Ex.  So, one guy says he can’t listen to secular music.  I can’t go to the beach (there are people in bathing suits there), but don’t force that on other people who feel liberty.  What about movies?  Each must decide this for his own.

• So God gives each of us different convictions, different gift mixes, and different roles.  Who are we to judge them?

Vs. 5-6
• At this time in Romans, there were many Jewish followers of Christ that held to the Sabbath still being on Saturday, while the Gentile followers believed that Sunday, the Resurrection Day, was the proper day under the new grace dispensation.

• Ex.  From time to time people come through our church who feel it is their responsibility to inform me that we don’t worship the Lord on the right day, because they believe the Sabbath is on Saturday.  I just happen to believe that the Sabbath is every day!  Every day is the “Lords Day” to me!  Monday is the Lord’s Day, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.

• So, let’s not judge those who judge us, but be convinced that every day is the Lord’s day!

• I believe that kosher Paul probably ate some pork chops sometimes!  The point wasn’t what you ate, but whether you ate with a clean conscience and a thankful heart.

o Two keys to convictions from God: 
1) Clean conscience
2) Thankful heart

Vs. 7-9
• You are not your own.  This is not about “what you want to do” but what God wants you to do!

• Each of us must seek the Lord for wisdom on issues of food, drink, how we spend our recreational time, where we go, etc.

• You are not just a “Believer in Christ” you are a “Follower of Christ” and you should seek the Lord about such issues.

• Are you worshipping the Lord with what you eat and drink?  Does it bring glory and honor to the name of Christ?  In your recreational activities, are you bringing honor and glory to Jesus?

• Each person must determine that before God.

Vs. 10-13
• If the church could quit spending so much time looking left and right and judging each other, and start looking up and asking God if they are truly following the life God has laid out, the church would be a whole lot more united and blessed.

• Ex.  I must say that I think we have to be careful here—I have been so surprised to learn that Charles Spurgeon smoked cigars!  C.S. Lewis smoked a pipe and met at a pub in Oxford with J.R.R. Tolkien to talk about their literary works, and it was Tolkien who led Lewis to the Lord through conversations at this pub drinking beer.

• Some people say that if you smoke, you’re going to hell.  They say the smoke goes down there and the Holy Spirit chokes on it; that’s dumb.

• Ex.  You might see a guy smoking cigarettes and he might have been shooting heroin just a few weeks ago, so God is rejoicing at where that person is at, and we are judging him.  Now if he is getting drunk every weekend, he needs to know the truth.

• Each of us will be held accountable to the Lord, not me as your pastor!  You will not be held accountable to me; you will stand before God and He will judge you.

Vs. 14
• Ex.  I find that eating certain foods, especially junk food, is unclean to me.  The candies, the soft drinks, the processed sugars.  I want to live a life fully and physically engaged and don’t want to go blind, and become so anemic that I am always sick, so I don’t eat certain foods and I’m careful about such things.  But there are others who don’t have any convictions about such things.

• Nothing is unclean if it’s believed to be from God, a gift from God, but if it’s unclean to you, then don’t eat it or drink it, yet don’t judge others who don’t have the same convictions as you.

Vs. 15-16
• Paul is saying that on the one hand you shouldn’t judge your brother for what he does or doesn’t do in regard to these non-essential things, but love also dictates that we should in some cases actually limit our freedom for the sake of love for others.

• In some cases your freedom might cause another brother to stumble.

• So, Paul probably didn’t eat meat when he was at the home of a Jewish believer, but he might have eaten meat when with a Gentile believer.

Vs. 17-18
• Like the Pharisees in the time of Christ, the point is not food, drink, and the Law, but a life, a life, a life.

Matthew 23:23-28
Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!      25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

• The Pharisees were focused entirely on the outward actions of the law and missed the whole point of the law.

• The law was to be summed up with love and they had missed the heart point.

• The Kingdom of God is Righteousness, peace, and joy!!

• This is all about relationships!!  Righteous, peaceful, and joyful relationships.

Vs. 19-21
• Living a love-filled life is to promote peace between brothers and not quibble over our differences.
 
• Now, we are called to judge those who are in sin.  The entire New Testament is clear that we must judge sin.

• But, on these little matters of custom, food, drink, promote peace and love by not judging others.

Vs. 22-23
• Do everything with faith!  Eat with faith, with a clear conscience.  Drink with faith, with a clear conscience