Today, we transition into Romans 14 where the Apostle Paul is painting for us a picture of the servant of the Lord. As mentioned before, the final section of the book of Romans (Romans 12-16) is on service, and, it is predicated on the first command given in Romans 12:1, Present your bodies as a living sacrifice.
In v.1-2 of today's passage we read, "1 Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. 2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables."
There are two groups of believers in this passage: the strong and the weak. The strong are those who have been accosted by the grace of God. The strong believer understands that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the cross fully compensated the perfection of God and he understands he has God's full acceptance through the Lord Jesus alone. As a result, he understands servanthood the best because he is the one who bows his will to the Lord most willingly. On the other hand, Paul identifies the weak Christian as the one who struggles to understand the grace of God. This one is often gripped by fear in such a way that he finds himself afraid of deviating from obeying certain rules that are in the word of God. The weak brother wrestles with the flesh most. In fact, he is most acutely bound by the dietary restrictions of the law of Moses.
The word "receive" literally means to embrace this one with whom there is disagreement as a brother in the family of God. The strong must remember that he did not make himself or the weaker brother a part of the family; the Lord did. Therefore, we are to accept one another because we are brothers and sisters in the Lord. And, we are not to accept anyone with the idea of immediately trying to straighten them out in the areas in which we disagree. The Apostle Paul wants us to understand that we are to accept one another, especially when we have disagreements over the gray areas of the Christian faith.
Now, with regard to everything that God has created, the Christian is free to eat all foods. But freedom practiced irresponsibly runs the risk of being used negatively in the eyes of non-believing observers, especially if it wounds others. The gospel itself suffers if believers hurt each other. At times, the freedom that we have to eat and drink certain foods and drinks, must be sacrificed for the sake of the gospel. When we embrace being the servants of the Lord, we will yield our rights for the benefit of the other in these matters. If one believer feels that it is okay to drink an alcoholic beverage or to eat meat, yet that freedom is causing his brother in the Lord to have problems with it, the stronger believer, in this case, will choose not to drink a beer or two or to eat meat while in the presence of the weaker brother.
In v.3 of today's passage we read, "Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him."
The weak brother believes he should abstain from certain things that are forbidden in the Law of Moses. For example, the strong brother has a clear conscience that it would be okay for him to drink a beer or two or eat meat. Where as the weaker brother thinks it is just the worst thing any believer to do, that is to drink any alcohol or to eat meat. The admonition is that the stronger brother must not do anything to trip up the weaker brother or to reject the
brother who is weak but to be patient as God changes the weaker brother.
The words "despise him"
here is really a word that means "to push him out" or "to exclude him." There will be times when the stronger brother denies himself for the sake of the weak who do not drink alcohol or eat meats. The weak avoid meat and alcohol, and the strong are free to eat and drink anything. But the responsibility to maintain the fellowship between the two lies with the stronger brother.
In v.4 of today's passage we read, "Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand."
The believer is not to be a judge for he is to be the servant of all. It is not wrong for any brother to lovingly help his brother in the Lord remove a harmful speck from his eye. It is wrong for him to self-righteously point out a speck in his brother’s eye when he ignores, as no big deal, the ridiculous log protruding from his own eye. Those who have been gripped by the grace of God are not known to be judgmental.
The believer is not to be a judge for he is to be the servant of all. It is not wrong for any brother to lovingly help his brother in the Lord remove a harmful speck from his eye. It is wrong for him to self-righteously point out a speck in his brother’s eye when he ignores, as no big deal, the ridiculous log protruding from his own eye. Those who have been gripped by the grace of God are not known to be judgmental.
Although the weak brother struggles being defined by God's grace, he is not like those false teachers who teacher that obedience to the Law of Moses is a must to be acceptable to God. The weak believer is still "under construction" or he is being sanctified by the Lord. The grace of God is yet to grip him in such a way that he has embraced the way of the servant of the Lord. He is on his way to standing, and, he will stand because it is the Lord's responsibility to grow him in His grace.
The word translated "stand" in this verse means that he will be straightened out if
he is doing wrong in any area. If it is really wrong, God will
straighten him out and it is not up to the stronger brother to do it. The stronger believer must be patient with the weaker brother for God is well able to transform men into servants because He is a God of grace and patience.
The same grace that made the strong believer understand his freedom in Christ is the very same grace that matures the weak in the faith. And, very often, God uses the servant heart of those who are strong in the faith, as they yield their rights in the Lord in order to help the weak come along in the faith. This is the point in this passage: The servant is used of the Lord to help those who have yet to grow in their peripheral vision of God's grace.
