(All verses are from the New International Version)

Romans 14:1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.

MATTERS OF OPINION, FAITH AND CONSCIENCE

When it comes to matters of opinion between members of the church we need to defer our convictions that are not clearly established upon spiritual doctrines of life and death in the scriptures. We need to be careful of not violating any man’s conscience while preserving the freedom we know we have in Christ. We not to be careful not to limit or impose upon the freedom the brethren have because we have a personal conviction about something gin particular that is not a matter of spiritual life or death in the Scriptures. It is probably the most difficult balance we aim to achieve in the church: being of the same mind and judgment (1Co 1:10). We’ll outline the principles of striking that balance in verse 16 of this chapter.

Through the centuries disputable matters have divided up the church and created denominations, sects and divisions which have led many groups to apostasy, not to mention pervert the Gospel of Christ and cause millions upon millions to stumble and fall from God's grace or never even get to God's grace!

In our own time we have seen disputable matters split up many congregations and even push many to defect and call themselves something totally different, adding to the confusion and promoting division as opposed to unity though the one true Gospel of Jesus. When speaking of these matters of opinion and faith we need to remember the focus of Jesus’ prayer:

John 17:20-23 ESV "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Wow! How important unity is to accomplish the work of the Gospel message! I wonder how compromised our success in preaching the Gospel has been because of these major, major stumbling blocks some have introduced! Of course, deep, deep down I know that all true believers are really perfectly united. The perfect unity Jesus is speaking of here may not just be at the local congregational level but at the spiritual level of those whose names are written in heaven – those who truly love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength!

Accept him whose faith is weak…

The subject in this first verse, right up through the entire chapter is the person who has weak faith. The goal of the chapter? To be at peace with one another and to accept each other’s level of faith as we continue our walk in Jesus! Sometimes we get impatient with ourselves or others and we pass judgment, criticize and accuse, forgetting that we aren’t finished yet! God is still working in us to get on to maturity!

Let’s start by defining what faith is and what makes ones’ faith weak:

1- What is faith? Heb 11:1-3

a. Being sure of what we hope for

b. Being certain of what we do not see

c. By faith we understand what God has done

d. By faith we serve God

e. By faith we please God – Heb 11:6

i. We believe He exists

ii. We earnestly seek him

iii. We believe He rewards those who earnestly seek Him

f. Faith comes from God’s Word, the Bible – Romans 10:17

2- What makes it weak

a. Hoping in the wrong thing, relying on the wrong thing and desiring the wrong thing – basically, hoping in anything that is seen – Romans 8:24

b. Being insecure

i. About your belief of God and your trust in Jesus’ redemptive work

ii. About your decision to trust God totally with everything

iii. About your identity and value before God

iv. About your convictions – where you stand in your relationship with God, Jesus and the church

c. Leaning on man’s understanding of things

i. Trusting what you see and hear more than the invisible things of the Spirit

ii. Trusting what you can understand more than what you can believe from God’s word

d. Serving yourself

e. Pleasing yourself

f. Not knowing God's Word

3- Struggles test your faith and can make it grow or fade: you decide! – Matthew 13:18-23

a. If your heart is hardened due to sin and your mind closed due to pride you will not let the Spirit sow the seed of faith in you

b. If you put your trust in people (including yourself) and hope for peace and tranquility (success) in this life your faith will never even begin to grow!

c. If you put your hope in this life and let the riches of the world become your goal your faith will be choked and will not mature

d. If you hear the word and strive to understand it, accept it and apply it your faith will grow and be fruitful

e. You need to test your faith – 2Co 13:5

f. You need to let God test your faith – James 1:1-3

4- Conclusion

a. Faith has to do with security and certainty of God's desire to relate to us through Jesus

b. Faith thrives during testing if your trust is in God

c. Weak faith is self-centered (selfish) and self-serving

i. It turns Bible truths into matters of opinion

ii. It turns matters of opinion into Bible truths

d. Extremes are the manifestation of weak faith

e. Weak faith is ignorant of the truth of God's word

As disturbing as weak faith is we must accept the brother whose faith is weak; accept being the action word in this passage, not weak. We all have been of weak faith since faith is something that grows and is strengthened over time and experience. It is by loving those of weak faith that we as a body become strengthened and united (1Thes 5:14). Remember that the body is not just one part – in other words, those whose faith is strong are not the whole body (1 Co 12:12-14)! If we care for the body of Christ we will care for one another and devote ourselves to each other out of brotherly love as we learned in chapter 13 of Romans. Our love for one another is proven by our acceptance of those who have weak faith. Again, the key word being accept; not correct, instruct, encourage, pressure or lecture. If you do any of these you are really passing judgment!

Without passing judgment on disputable matters…

Our acceptance is displayed by not passing judgment. My goodness, how many times have you passed judgment, whether you kept it to yourself or shared it with someone else, about something a brother said or did? When we do that we presume to be totally innocent and we despise the grace God has shed on us through Jesus! The seeds of discord are slowly sown by our judgmental attitudes and how we share those judgments with others.

We will examine what happens when we pass judgment and how we pass judgment in verse 10 of this chapter. Let’s now define disputable matters. Disputable matters (diakriseis dialogismōn: “decisions of opinions; doubtful disputations” Note dia (between, two or duo) in both words. Discriminations between doubts or hesitations.) are matters of opinion that have to do with your specific choices, decisions and convictions concerning tastes, likes or dislikes and have nothing to do with life or death doctrinal statements of the Bible. When it comes to doctrines of life and death we let God's word do the judging. If anything, the ability to distinguish doctrine from opinion is what proves maturity of faith and ability to rightly divide God’s word making the right judgment (John 7:24).

Examples of Disputable Matters:

1- Women wearing veils

2- Women answering questions or talking in a church assembly

3- Celebrating the Lord's Supper

4- Working for the government as a public official or law-enforcement agent

5- Working as military personnel in a war

6- Working on the Lord's Day

7- The Lord's Day

8- The use of musical instruments in the assembly

9- The use of Praise Teams

10- Alcoholic or non-alcoholic wine?

11- Divorce and re-marriage for the unsaved

12- Dancing

13- Law vs. Grace

14- Biblical Canon

15- The worship of God in the assembly

16- The collection

17- Who rules over the local congregation?

18- Evangelism protocols and methods

19- Appropriate attire

20- Training up children at the home

21- Putting up Christmas or other festive decorations

22- Scientific theories

23- Extra-biblical historical accounts

The ESV will say “welcome the brother whose faith is weak, but not to quarrel over opinions.” GWT (God’s Word Translation) says: “Welcome people who are weak in faith, but don't get into an argument over differences of opinion.”

Being that people in the world show their worldliness by always getting into disputes over the unimportant and trivial, we need to show we are Christ’s by promoting unity in Jesus, not unity according to our own standards and opinions. People tend to be exclusive, clickish and elitist. The Gospel is a message of unity; it is inclusive, seeking to accomplish inclusivity through Jesus:

Ephesians 2:15 His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace…

Romans 14:2 One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.

Two disputable matters at the time will be introduced here: the observance of special days and the eating of meat. Note that disputable matters are always changing – a clue that they are disputable in nature and not spiritually entrenched. Religious organizations that often change their practices and creeds testify to the disputability of their “doctrine”.

One man knows he’s free in Jesus; another man is restricted by his faith. Notice that the qualifier “weak faith” has been placed on the person who restricts himself without any particular reason other than what he believes to be so.

Romans 14:3 The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.

Neither the one who is free nor the one who feels restricted are to pass judgment on each other or think they are better than the other for the choices they have made in what they practice. Both people are sincere in their expression yet their convictions have not separated them from their Lord, why should they separate them from each other and break the unity of fellowship?

Most likely these differences predominated between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians. Those of Jewish background still had the prohibitions of the law in mind and therefore abstained from many meats, especially those sacrificed to idols. The Gentile Christians had no such scruples and freely ate whatever they were used to eating. Although God made such prohibitions in the Law, under Christ there was no such thing:

1 Timothy 4:1-5 NIV The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

Therefore, since God has accepted both opinions (views), both of these Christians were to accept each other as well. Any type of judgment made against a brother would be an insinuation that the one judging knew better than God!

Romans 14:4 Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

You should not judge someone that does not answer to you

We have no right to judge our brothers and sisters since they are servants of God, not our own servants. God is their Lord and it is to Him they answer, not to any one member in the body. Anyone whom God has accepted in His body He is able to make them stand even though they may seem weak to you.

This passage also teaches us that we are responsible for our faith before God. God will judge us according to our faith, not someone else’s faith. We have the responsibility to grow and nurture our faith so that it may be strong before the Lord. We are not to use crutches for our faith other than God Himself and what comes from His word. He is the one who makes us stand! If we try to stand on other things we will fall (1 Co 10:12).

When we judge, concerning life and death doctrine, we are to primarily make sure we are judging ourselves (our thoughts and actions) rightly before we ever attempt to judge someone else (Matthew 7:3-6). When it comes to matters of opinion there are no judgments to be made since we are to primarily assume the person has to grow in their convictions and faith if their judgment seems to be restrictive. We cannot presume what their motives are since we do not know their heart – only God knows the heart. We cannot assume that just because someone doesn’t agree with us that their faith is weak. Whoever makes a judgment like that confirms their own faith is weak, dependent on man’s wisdom!

James 4:11-12 NIV Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you--who are you to judge your neighbor?

It is clear that judging one another implies slandering, especially when it comes to matters of opinion.

1 Corinthians 4:3-5 NIV I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

This passage is speaking about judging others presuming to know their motives. If we sometimes have trouble judging our own heart and motives, how can we presume to judge someone else’s motives? The encouragement in this passage in Corinthians is to wait. Wait until the Lord comes and let Him reveal the motives behind men’s hearts. We see that same idea expressed in this parable:

Matthew 13:24-30 NIV Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 "The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?' 28 " 'An enemy did this,' he replied. "The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' 29 " 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' "

Of course, when it comes to life and death doctrine we need to make the right judgment:

John 7:24 Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.

Romans 16:17-18 NIV I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.

The right judgment never comes by what may appear to be right to us but what comes from God’s word:

Hebrews 4:12 NIV For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Romans 14:5 One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

Here's the second matter of opinion: the observance of special days. Remember the Jews were instructed to observe many special days marking special events in the history of the Jewish nation and, of course, the Sabbath – marking a special day of creation. To observe special days was ingrained in the mind of a Jew since birth. It was sacrilegious to disregard these observances according to Mosaic Law.

In come the Gentiles. There were no days to be observed except the Lord’s memorial (Luke 22:19). That’s all they were told! Actually, they were not even told about the observance of any day. All the Gentiles received from the apostles was this:

Acts 15:23-31 NIV With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings. 24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul-- 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell. 30 The men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. 31 The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message.

That’s it! You may ask, “What about all the other rules and regulations we hear from many in the church”? Ask yourself: are they apostles? Have they obtained these rules and regulations from the Bible? You will find that the answer is “NO” on both counts. There you have it.

So this business about people troubling us for our freedom we have in Christ has been going on since the church began (Gal 2:4). It is no surprise Satan continues to choose this avenue to disturb and fragment the fellowship. All he needs are naïve, proud and worldly minds, usually found in most recently baptized Christians, to prevent and mislead others from Christ! I know – I was one of them 20 years ago!

As long as you are fully convinced that what you are doing honors God and you don’t bind that on someone else you are free to practice it. Just make sure it doesn’t cause someone to stumble.

Romans 14:6 He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

And here's the motivation that needs to guide all – both who feel restricted by their conscience and those who are liberated by their faith: whatever you do – do so for the Lord as you give thanks to Him! Thanksgiving, honor and praise are central to true and spiritual worship:

1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 NIV 14 A