I am reading in Romans 14:1-23 on the subject of what Christians are allowed to do and not allowed to do, with regard to the freedoms that we have in Christ versus constraints that others might try to put upon us which are not of God. And all this is related, I believe, to the transition that the Christians of that day were making from the Old Covenant God had with his people, the Jews, to the New Covenant God now has with his people (Jew and Gentile) who believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of their lives.
For, via Jesus Christ’s death on that cross to free us from our slavery to sin, God did away with the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, and dietary laws and restrictions the Jews had to obey. And we are not restricted with regard to food other than whatever restrictions we place upon our own bodies, perhaps for health reasons. But some people are still holding to those Old Covenant restrictions and they are trying to impose those restrictions on other Christians who know God freed us from those.
“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” (Romans 14:1-4 ESV)
And this is to be applied strictly to the subject at hand, and it is not to be broadened to the subjects of sin, repentance, and obedience to our Lord in holy living. What food we feel the freedom to eat, or to not eat, is between us and God. God did set all of us free from those Old Covenant dietary laws and restrictions, though, so the one who is “weak in faith” here is the one still holding on to the Old Covenant dietary laws and restrictions. But we are not to judge them for that and they are not to judge our freedoms in Christ.
But this goes beyond food, and it includes days in the week and making one day more sacred than others. For the Jews of the Old Covenant, they were to honor one specific day a week, which was their Sabbath day of rest. But for the Christian, since we now have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, and Jesus and our salvation are our “Sabbath rest,” we don’t have to single out a specific day for worship of God at a specific location, but now we can worship him in spirit and in truth any day of the week in any location at any time of the day. But we are not to judge one another over this subject.
[John 4:19-24; Colossians 2:16-17; Romans 14:1-23; Galatians 5:1,13-15; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:1-19; and Hebrews 4:1-16]
But, again, this is to be applied strictly to the subject at hand, and it is not to be broadened to the subjects of sin, repentance, and obedience to our Lord in holy living. For many people today are broadening this subject so as to excuse away their sinful behaviors and to condemn all who might try to tell them that what they are doing is wrong and that they need to change their ways, and that they need to conform to the ways of the Lord. And this is why it is so important that we read the Scriptures in their full context.
For what these people are doing is suppressing the truth of the gospel of our salvation and the working of the Holy Spirit in our individual lives, and they are attempting to make them conform to the ways of man rather than them conforming to the ways of God. They are treating the message of the gospel and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit equal with this subject of our freedoms to eat certain foods or not, but they are not equal. We cannot make Christ and his gospel into our own image and for that to be okay.
But it is the sinful flesh of human beings which is trying to suppress the truth of the gospel and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit so that certain humans can continue living in their addictive sins without conscience and without remorse and without genuine God-gifted faith and repentance and walks of obedience to our Lord in holy living. And so they will take a passage like Romans 14 and try to make themselves out to be those who are “weak in the faith” to try to convince us to not judge their unrighteous behaviors.
But Romans 14 is confined to the subjects of food and days in the week (and/or to special religious days in the year) and is not covering the subjects of addictive sin and rebellion against the Lord and the suppressing of the truth of the gospel and the squelching of the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. So we cannot and should not treat them equally. And therefore we should not ignore addictive sin and rebellion against the Lord in the lives of those professing faith in Jesus Christ. But we should address these issues.
For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and walk in obedience to his commands, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. For he also said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father in heaven.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
A Believer’s Prayer
An Original Work / July 31, 2012
With my whole heart, Lord, I pray
To be Yours, and Yours always.
Lead me in Your truth today.
May I love You, and obey.
Lead me in Your righteousness.
When I sin, may I confess;
Bow before You when I pray;
Live for You and You always.
Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.
Life with You will never end.
You are with me through each day,
Giving love and peace always.
You will ne’er abandon me.
From my sin You set me free.
You died on that cruel tree,
So I’d live eternally.
Soon You’re coming back for me;
From this world to set me free;
Live with You eternally.
Oh, what joy that brings to me.
I will walk with You in white;
A pure bride, I’ve been made right
By the blood of Jesus Christ;
Pardoned by His sacrifice.
https://vimeo.com/114796263
Previous writings on the subject of our Sabbath Rest:
Our Sabbath Rest, March 21,2020
https://runwithit.blog/2020/03/21/our-sabbath-rest/
Entering His Rest, July 29, 2016
https://runwithit.blog/2016/07/30/entering-his-rest/
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