Chapter 14
| Romans: -1- -2- -3- -4- -5- -6- -7- -8- -9- -10- -11- -12- -13- -14- -15- -16- |
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| 14:1 Receive anyone who might be weak in the faith, without passing a judgment based on “reasonable” arguments. 2 One person believes he is free to eat all things; another, being weak [in faith], however, eats only garden vegetables. Let not the one who is free to eat anything despise the one who does not, 3 and let not the one who refrains from eating judge the one who eats anything, for God has received both. 4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And the other person will be established, for the Lord is able to establish him. 5 Truly, one person judges one day to be above another day; another person, however, judges every day alike. • Let each be fully assured inside his own mind. 6 The one who regards a day, to the Lord he regards it; and the one who does not observe any special day, to the Lord he does not observe it. The one who eats, eats to the Lord; he gives thanks to God. And the one who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and he gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 Both – if we live, to the Lord we should live; and if also we die, to the Lord we should die. Therefore, both – if we should live or if we should die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very purpose Christ died and lived again, that He might exercise all authority over both the dead and the living. 10 So why do you judge your brother, or even, why do you despise your brother? We all will be present in the judgment seat of God. 11 As it is written: “I live,” says the Lord, “so that to Me every knee will bow and so that every tongue will speak forth the same word with God” (Isaiah 45:23). • 12 So, then, each one of us will give an account concerning himself in return to God. 13 Therefore, we should no longer judge one another; but determine, rather, not to place any stumbling block or snare before our brother or sister. 14 I know, and I am persuaded inside the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself; but if anyone reckons or calls anything to be unclean, to that one it is unclean. 15 If your brother is distressed because of the food you eat, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your choice of food that one for whose sake Christ died. 16 At the same time, do not allow your good to be spoken of as evil. • 17 For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but just approval, peace, and joy inside the Spirit Devoted. 18 For the one who serves Christ in these things is well-pleasing to God and approved by men. 19 So then, we should pursue the things of peace and the things that build one another into [God’s dwelling place]. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. Indeed, ALL things are clean, but to the man who stumbles over what is being eaten, it is evil. 21 It is good neither to eat meat nor to drink wine, nor anything in which your brother is offended or scandalized or made weak [in faith]. 22 The faith that you have, keep it to yourself inside of the presence of God. Blessed is the one who does not judge himself in what he approves. 23 The one who doubts, however, if he should eat [something he believes is unclean], has been condemned because it is not from faith. • And anything not coming out from faith fails to connect with God [j]. |
| Gospel Comments | Notes |
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| • Ruling Verse 7: To be assured inside our own minds is to walk in confidence that God shares our lives with us in all that we do. Outward practices that differ from one to the next have no meaning to God or to us, but rather faith in Jesus. • Speak Christ: Speaking Christ is a critical part of putting the Lord Jesus upon ourselves. We give an account of our lives every moment in the story we speak of ourselves inside our consciousness as well as what we say to our brethren. As we place Jesus upon ourselves, so we place Jesus upon our fellow Christians as well. As we love and regard the One who saves us, so our account includes the same Love regarding others. • Kingdom: When I approve of YOU, regardless of your different ways of doing, when you fill me with Joy in Spirit, then I am God’s pleasure, and you find no offense in me. • Definition: Salvation is sharing Life with the Father inside of Jesus. The faith of Jesus, now ours, is how we know that every moment is God-with-us. All sin begins inside of thinking of ourselves as “on our own,” as no longer part of a Jesus who comes into union with us first. Then, anything we might do, especially to “try to please” God, is also disconnected, and therefore, “sin,” that is, not living in God sharing Life with us. |
j. Translating as “sin” the Greek “harmatia,” that is, not hitting the target at an arrow shooting contest, is a wrong choice here, as it often is. The word “sin” here will cause the reader to look at sin and not at God. Seeing God, connecting with God, is the only escape from anything that is sin. |