Relationships with Fellow-Believers | Romans 14:1-12 | J. Allen Mashburn

The church of Jesus Christ is made up of individuals at every possible level of spirituality.  There are those who are fully aware of the freedom and the liberty that they enjoy in Jesus and they live accordingly.  On the other end of the spectrum are those who walk in fear of becoming defiled with the contamination of the world and they live accordingly.  If that were the end of it, there would be no problem.  However, those who realize and enjoy their liberty in Jesus are constantly being judged by those who think they live too loose of a life.  While those who are strict in their application of biblical standards are constantly being criticized by those who have adopted a looser standard.  One group is called liberal and compromisers, while the other group is legalistic and harsh.

Paul here discusses the proper attitude Christians should have toward each other in debatable areas of conduct (things that are not clearly stated to be wrong).  He says that we are not to judge one another in such matter because God has received, both the weaker and stronger believer (vv. 1-3), because we can differ in good conscience (vv.4-6) and because we shall all be judged by the Lord (vv. 7-12).  You see, there are some things in life that are crystal clear!  The Bible is plain when it tells us that we should not drink, use drugs, curse, commit adultery, kill, steal, lie, etc.  These things are beyond debate and people who practice such things are sinners.  That is not my judgment, but that is a clear statement of the Word of God.

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