Romans 14:6-9 - We do not live for ourselves

14:6

Paul shows respect for both “camps”, the one who denies himself certain foods, the one who observes certain days, and the one who does neither. It is our attitude to the Lord that counts. So if you observe a special day for the Lord that is fine and good, but if you do it in order to prove that you are “holier” than someone else then you are mistaken and there is a heart attitude that needs to change. Likewise with food. Likewise, if you aren’t grateful to God for any days, or if we don’t eat with an attitude of thanks to God then we are also in trouble. So we should look first at ourselves, are we living for the Lord or for ourselves? We should not focus on judging others, rather our starting point should be that the other person is living for the Lord in their own way.

14:7-9

The human way of looking at ourselves, and each other, is to consider ourselves and each other as autonomous. This is increasingly so in our society, but the truth is that I belong to God, and everyone else does as well. If I judge someone because of their eating rules I am applying my criteria to them, but that is not the criteria that the Lord applies. Christ died and rose again so that he might be the Lord of the living and the dead. We are all answerable to Christ.

Romans 14:5 - Sacred days

What is Paul referring to here when he talks about one day being more sacred than another? For those with a Jewish background this was probably the Sabbath, though there might have been reference to certain feast days as well. I prefer the ESV translation to the NIV here. The NIV says “considers every day alike”, the ESV says “esteems all days alike”. We should value every day, we should be grateful to God for every day He gives us, and consider every day an opportunity to serve Him, trust Him, love Him. Now note that Paul does not say that one person is better than another, the key is to be settled in our own mind. So where does this lead the “Sabbath” or “Sunday”? This is a matter on which as Christians we seem to be utterly confused. There are some, though a decreasingly small number, who take a very strict approach to dealing with the Sabbath, though it is usually Sunday that they mean. At the other extreme some do not regard any day as special. In between most of us go to church on Sunday and consider it a bit special. In the Old Testament the Sabbath is one of the ten commandments, and neglect or abuse of the Sabbath is often cited as one of the main failings of Israel. When Jesus was on earth many of the clashes with the Pharisees centered around the Sabbath, and the Pharisees had a serious misunderstanding of the Sabbath. However, the Sabbath principle involved more than just one day, there were Sabbath years and Jubilee years. Whatever our own approach, we should value each day, and we should have times of rest. There are times when we just should just rest from our labours, knowing that everything is ultimately dependent upon God.

Romans 14:2-4 - Eating vegetables

14:2

Some will say all days are the same, all foods are fine, and there is Biblical support for this (Mark 7:19). So one could then argue that the good Christian will realise this and live by it, jettisoning all food rules, but this is not the approach Paul advocates. The supposedly “weak” Christian is to be accepted, not condemned. The mention of eating vegetables seems to imply that the issue was not, unlike Corinth, about eating food offered to idols. Also, it does not mean that Christians who are vegetarians are “weak”.

14:3

There were two key dangers. The one who would eat any food could easily consider himself to be cleverer than the “weaker” brother, and so treat him with contempt. Conversely, the one who observed various rules about eating may consider himself more religious than the “wiser” brother and so judge the other brother. This would be equally wrong. The fundamental reason behind this is that God has accepted them both, so if God has accepted them who are we to judge? We will say more on this when we look at the next verse.

14:4

Who are you to judge? Now “not judging” is a common play made by people who are in  the wrong, and by people who advocate abandoning God’s ways. Examples of this include those who advocate accepting gay marriage, and those who say sex before marriage is OK. Now in these cases it is absolutely right for the church to “judge”, in the sense of saying what is right and what is wrong. What is the difference here? The kernel of the reason will come in v17, for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking. We need discernment in knowing what is central to the gospel and what is not. Ultimately everyone is answerable to God, and if someone is “weak” (and in truth we are all actually “weak”) then the Lord is able to make them stand.

Romans 14:1 - Without quarelling

There is no consensus over the precise nature of the issue or issues that Paul was dealing with. Some think there were specific issues in Rome, others see it more of general teaching on dealing with disputable matters. Some see it as applying to individuals, others as applying to certain groups within the church at Rome. In 1 Corinthians 8 Paul deals with the specific matter of food offered to idols and is addressing a particular question that had arisen in that church. There is no hint of that having happened in Rome, and the food issues mentioned here are probably much more general. I will take the line that Paul is addressing general issues. This magnificent letter is a presentation of the gospel, both theological and pastoral. There will be issues that are of secondary importance, where deciding what is right and what is wrong (and who is right and who is wrong) is not actually the key issue. We do, at the same time need to recognise that there are primary issues where some views definitely are right and some definitely are wrong. In today’s church we fall down much more often on the latter.

Paul refers to those whose faith is weak. I don’t think we should take “weak” here is a derogatory sense. Paul is addressing those who definitely believe that salvation is through faith in Christ alone, but we all come with a past, we all live in a society and culture with a past and a present. For the Jews circumcision was a central part of their religion. They also had food laws, and there were Gentile groups who had rules and practises about food as well. Certain days were regarded as special by some as well. Where do all these fit in now that someone has come to Christ?

Romans 13:13,14 - Behaving decently

13:13

We are to live in this world as children of God, as children of light, so we live according to the ways of His kingdom, not according to the ways of the world. Paul lists some of the negative examples of the world’s ways: carousing and drunkenness, sexual immorality and debauchery, dissension and jealousy. The world hasn’t changed much has it! Sceptics may ask why do we seek to live our lives according to a two thousand year old book, as though the world is so much wiser now than it was then. This is utter rubbish. The world is as lost now as it was then. The sins listed here (which, of course, is not meant to be an exhaustive list) are just as prevalent and just as destructive now as they were then. So to take the world’s advice as our guide is an act of utter stupidity and foolishness. Conversely, the Bible is God breathed, its wisdom is God’s wisdom. That is unchanging and completely reliable.

13:14

We are to clothe ourselves with Jesus Christ. Some people see Jesus just as an example. Now this is wrong for He is infinitely more than an example. He is the Son of God, He is the One through whom all things were created, He is the saviour of the world, He is the one who paid the price for all our sins, He is the one who was raised from the dead and has all power and authority, and will judge the whole world. However, He is also an example. So he not just an example to follow, but He most definitely is an example. He is the perfect role model, so we should consider His life here on earth. Conversely we are not to gratify the desires of the flesh. Here “flesh” could legitimately be translated “sinful nature” for Paul is thinking about the overtly sinful desires. We will still find sinful desires in us, they will lessen as we continue to follow Jesus, but they will still be there. We must not entertain them, instead we starve them. Notice that Paul says “do not think about ..” We should beware of playing with wrong ideas in our minds, whether that be thoughts of sexual lust, hatred, bitterness, resentment or whatever. Sinful thoughts can lead to sinful actions.

Romans 13:11,12 - Understanding the present time

13:11

We need to understand the times, we also need to understand time. This was written nearly two thousand years ago, in our reckoning saying “our salvation is near” doesn’t make sense. We are in the last days, they started two thousand years ago, may end this year, next year, within a hundred years, or could be another thousand years. But we are in the time of salvation, God’s plan is in operation. This world is passing away, we need to make sure we do not back the “wrong horse”! So we need to live as people of the kingdom of God, not as people of the world. We need to wake up, ie we need to live on purpose and with a purpose.

13:12

This world is on its way out. “Deeds of darkness” belong to this world, so we should abandon them as quickly as possible. It is the day that is coming, the time when God’s kingdom comes fully on earth as it is in heaven. So we need to put on the armour of light now. That means doing what is good, doing what is right. Notice that the New Testament does not consider it strange at all that Christians need to be told to do these things. We may find things in us and we are appalled at ourselves, that we can have such thoughts or desires. This is not unusual, we need to put them off and we need to put the new clothes on. as Paul said in Romans 8:13 we need to put to death the misdeeds of the body by the Spirit.

Romans 13:8-10 - Fulfilling the Law of love

13:8

When talking about governments and taxes our attitudes are not always the best! These are not topics that often fill us with joy, but we need to be careful and watch our attitudes. We should make sure we pay all our dues. Then there is one debt that can never be paid, and that is the debt of loving one another. We have never loved enough. We need to remember that love here does not mean sentimental affection, nor sexual love. This is a very hard lesson to take on board and even harder to apply, but it sums up the heart of God. Paul here says love fulfils the Law. The Law is not a random collection of rules, but expresses the heart of God.

13:9,10

Paul then demonstrates the truth of what he has just said. The latter half of the ten commandments are all concerned with loving our neighbour. Love is a so much more than mere sentiment, it involves positive action, and the genuineness of love is demonstrated by actions. The ones in the ten commandments are largely negative commands, ie things we must not do. Paul recognises this in v10 where he says “love does no harm”. Paul quotes from Lev 19:18, “love your neighbour as yourself”, words that Jesus also quoted. It is worth noting that this comes from the middle of the “holiness code”, Lev 18-20. People advocating abandoning God’s teaching on homosexuality are very keen to denigrate Lev 18-20, forgetting that it also includes things like this.

Love is the fulfilment of the Law. The Jewish Christians experienced difficulties in seeming to abandon the law, Paul assures them that both theologically, as explained in the earlier parts of Romans, and practically they will actually fulfil the Law in a much deeper way than they had ever done before.