There is no doubt about that point, for in Genesis 15:6 we read, "He believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.". This is a will to do evil; for, if it appears to us to be sin, there is the same pravity and corruption of the will in the doing of it as if really it were a sin; and therefore we ought not to do it. Now let not this be evil spoken of. This is a thing in which all the people of God are one, however they differ in other things; though some are weak and others are strong, yet both agree in this, not to live to themselves. Romans 6:14. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. In doubtful things, it is good keeping on the sure side of the hedge. So, as to other things, it is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision (Gal 5 6; 6 15; 1 Cor 7 19), it is not being of this party and persuasion, of this or the other opinion in minor things, that will recommend us to God. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. Romans viii. Weak and strong Christians are indeed our brethren, but they are not our servants. For it is written: As I live, says the LORD, 11 14. Concerning meats (v. 2): One believeth that he may eat all thingshe is well satisfied that the ceremonial distinction of meats into clean and unclean is no longer in force, but that every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused; nothing unclean of itself, v. 14. He preached in the same church as C. H. Spurgeon over one hundred years earlier. "While thy brother's cause is before thy judgment, it is coram non judicebefore one who is not the judge; the court of heaven is the proper court for trial, where, and where only, the sentence is definitive and conclusive; and to this, if his heart be upright, he may comfortably appeal from thy rash censure.". 14. 1. Good praying, preaching, and discourse, may often, for want of prudence in ordering the time, the expression, and other circumstances to edification, be evil spoken of. Who are you to judge anothers servant? For example, when some Christians from a Jewish background were offended that Gentile believers were not circumcised, Paul didnt cater to their legalistic demands. [2.] 22 Hast thou faith? Blue Letter Bible study tools make reading, searching and studying the Bible easy and rewarding. We find Jews at Rome believing, Acts 28 24. Do you have faith? I QUESTION whether any man understands himself, and I am quite certain that no Christian does so. When we admonish or rebuke, we do it over clear Scriptural principles, not over doubtful things. Romans 14 Romans 14 He preached in the same church as C. H. Spurgeon over one hundred years earlier. This epistle is supposed to have been written some time before that to the Galatians. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Do you have faith? Romans 12:13-14. Let this flesh and blood in which your body dwells be presented unto God, not to be killed and to be a dead sacrifice, but to live and still to be a sacrifice, a living sacrifice unto God, holy and acceptable to him. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point And, Secondly, We have the more to do to judge ourselves. This particular case, thus determined, gives a general rule, That he who does a thing which he verily believes to be unlawful, however the thing be in itself, to him it is a sin. Because the stress of Christianity is not to be laid upon these things, nor are they at all essential to religion, either on the one side or on the other. Wake Up! 3. Though it be but a little folly, it may be like a dead fly, very prejudicial to one that is in reputation for wisdom and honour, Eccl 10 1. The evil concupiscence of your nature revolted against the command, and led you astray. 23. And, in our past lives, we did indeed find sin to be very fruitful. Is it for us then to judge or despise them, as if we were their masters, and they were to make it their business to please us, and to stand or fall by our dooms? That is the true comfort which we have before God. If we are troubled by something, it likely isnt of faith and likely is sin for us. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind: In such issues, Paul is willing to leave it up to the conscience of the individual. 1. Nor will it be asked, "Who was conformist and who was non-conformist?" General Epistles For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. God help us to carry it out. Yet most people today have never heard of John Gill. Romans 8. Romans 8:28. When Jesus was here among men, the world saw him in a certain sense, but yet in truth it did not see him at all. But whatever we do, we must be able to do it to the Lord, not using conscience as an excuse for obviously sinful behavior. Given to hospitality. All his foes shall be constrained to do it, whether they will or no. Those who were weak, and durst not use their Christian liberty, judged and censured the strong, who did, as if they were loose Christians, carnal professors, that cared not what they did, but walked at all adventures, and stuck at nothing. First, It is not meat and drink: it does not consist either in using or in abstaining from such and such meats and drinks. Thus the apostle takes part with the weakest, and condemns the defect in love on the one side more than the defect in knowledge on the other side; agreeably to his principles elsewhere, that the way of love is the more excellent way, 1 Cor 12 31. I. (11-14) The urgency to love . 1. General Epistles Yet there was nothing that could justify the destruction of a Christian brother over food. i. Every creature of God is good, 1 Tim 4 4. Major Prophets range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed Think what thou destroyestthe work of God, whose work is honourable and glorious; think for what thou destroyest itfor meat, which was but for the belly, and the belly for it. We must deny ourselves in many cases for the preservation of our credit and reputation, forbearing to do that which we rightly know we may lawfully do, when our doing it may be a prejudice to our good name; as, when it is suspicious and has the appearance of evil, or when it becomes scandalous among good people, or has any way a brand upon it. Because some Christian saw nothing wrong in this meat and others saw much wrong in it, this was a burning issue among believers in Pauls day. Christ will be the judge, and he has both authority and ability to determine men's eternal state according to their works, and before him we shall stand as persons to be tried, and to give up an account, expecting our final doom from him, which will be eternally conclusive. It wasnt that they were weaker in their Christian life because of what they ate or didnt eat, but they were weaker because of their legalistic attitudes and lack of love towards others. I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: that ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself , Peace: A Fact and A Feeling Now those that had been Jews were trained up in the observance of the ceremonial appointments touching meats and days. 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. Now walkest thou not charitably. Here is a proof of Christ's Godhead: he is the Lord and he is God, equal with the Father. (Romans 14:13) Summary: dont make it an issue of judging, but dont use your liberty to stumble another brother. Luke-Acts a. First, Not to self. We must give account how we have spent our time, how we have improved our opportunities, what we have done and how we have done it. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brothers way. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. Even the Pope, when he takes to cursing, as at least the former one used to do very liberally, seems as if he could hardly be the vicar of God on earth. Christ is the centre, in which all the lines of life and death do meet. You have enough to answer for before Jesus., ii. If a weak Christian doubts whether it be lawful to eat flesh, while he remains under that doubt he had best forbear, till he be fully persuaded in his own mind. We have an account of our own to make up, and that is enough for us; let every man prove his own work (Gal 6 4), state his own accounts, search his own heart and life; let this take up his thoughts, and he that is strict in judging himself and abasing himself will not be apt to judge and despise his brother. Wake Up! For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. Because both the one and the other must shortly give an account, v. 10-12. a. b. These are some of the essentials of Christianity, things in which all the people of God are agreed, in the pursuit of which we must spend our zeal, and which we must mind with an excelling care. Another rule here given is this, that in these doubtful things every one not only may, but must, walk according to the light that God hath given him. So that now there is nothing unclean of itself, every creature of God is good; nothing common: so the margin, ouden koinon; nothing which is common to others to eat, from the use of which the professors of religion are restrained: nothing profane; in this sense the Jews used the word common. That which puts an acceptableness upon all our good duties is a regard to Christ in the doing of them. Another rule here prescribed is to those who are clear in these matters, and know their Christian liberty, yet to take heed of using it so as to give offence to a weak brother. Perhaps they refused the meat because it wasnt kosher, and they stuck to Jewish dietary regulations and traditions. a. I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself: Paul knew that there was nothing intrinsically unclean about meat that was not kosher or sacrificed to an idol. Cookie Notice: II. Or why do you show contempt for your brother? 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