Love Has a Dinner Table
Romans 13 ended with love. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another (Romans 13:8), and put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh (Romans 13:14). Romans 14 shows where that love gets tested. It is not tested first in great crises. It is tested at the dinner table, on the calendar, and in the small differences between believers who sit in the same church.
The believers in Rome were Jews and Gentiles together. Some years before, Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome (Acts 18:2), about AD 49, and Jews such as Aquila and Priscilla had to leave. By the time Paul wrote, about AD 57, many had come back (Romans 16:3), and we understand that in their absence the churches had grown more Gentile. Two kinds of believers now ate together. Some still kept the food laws and holy days of Moses with a tender conscience. Others knew those things had passed away in Christ. Both loved the Lord, and both were tempted to sit in judgment on the other.
Paul calls them weak and strong. He agrees with the strong on the facts: there is nothing unclean of itself (Romans 14:14), and he counts himself among them (Romans 15:1). Then he spends the whole chapter correcting the strong. That surprises people, and it should. In God's family, being right about a liberty does not give you the right to run over your brother with it.
Romans 14 belongs to the third of Theologica's three questions: where has God granted liberty? It never reaches back and turns a command into a preference. See The Gospel, the Whole Counsel, and Liberty and, for today's gray areas, Liberty, Convictions, and the World. The argument runs on through Romans 15:13, so read this chapter with Romans 15.
- Receive him (14:1-4). God has received both brothers, so neither may despise or judge the other.
- Fully persuaded (14:5-9). Each believer settles his convictions before the Lord and lives them unto the Lord.
- The judgment seat (14:10-12). Every one of us will give account of himself to God.
- No stumblingblock (14:13-18). Judge your own conduct, and do not grieve a brother for whom Christ died.
- Build, don't destroy (14:19-23). Pursue peace and edification, keep your faith between you and God, and never act against your conscience.
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For Deeper Study
- Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who DifferAmazon Andrew David Naselli and J. D. CrowleyA careful, practical study of conscience with wise counsel on Romans 14. Naselli writes from a Reformed Baptist setting.
- Romans: The Gospel of God's GraceAmazon Alva J. McClainA clear dispensational exposition of the whole letter by the founder of Grace Theological Seminary.
- The Epistle to the RomansAmazon Douglas J. MooA thorough evangelical commentary (NICNT), Reformed-leaning, with a full discussion of who the weak and the strong were.
- Your Eternal Reward: Triumph and Tears at the Judgment Seat of ChristAmazon Erwin W. LutzerA warm, readable study of the judgment seat of Christ (14:10-12) by the longtime pastor of Moody Church in Chicago: what will be evaluated, what reward can be lost, and how to live for His approval.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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Romans 13: Rulers, Neighbors, and the Coming Day
Believers are subject to the governing authorities as God's servants and pay what they owe, they keep paying the one debt that never runs out, love, and they live awake and clothed in Christ, because their salvation is nearer than when they believed.
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