1 Corinthians 8:1–10:31; Romans 14:1–15:13
Every Christian agrees that the Bible is our supreme guide when it comes to settling our ethics and our conduct. And rightly so — on the basic, cardinal questions God’s Word is emphatic. It forbids us to murder, to steal, to lie, and it commands us to love God with everything in us and to love the person next to us as ourselves.
The New Testament, however, does not hand us a finished system of ethics. On many questions where we would love to hear its verdict, it says nothing. It would be impossible for Scripture to cover every conceivable moral situation across the whole span of human history. As civilizations and cultures advance, fresh challenges keep rising up in front of us. We have to decide whether a given behavior is right or wrong without having a direct ruling from Scripture. This is a large problem, and the way a person approaches it is decisive for the personal stance of every Christian. Here are some of the wrong approaches to determining right and wrong, good and evil.
First, “let’s go ask some old believer.” In many churches the “old believers” carry more authority than even the pastor. People say to themselves: “On such-and-such a question the Bible says nothing specific, but brother T. thinks the answer is this or that. And brother T. is an ‘old believer.’ So he must be right.” Sometimes he may well be, but not always. In this case people lean more on one individual’s point of view than on the fullness of the whole counsel of God. If his view is not biblical, he is spiritually blind. And then we are in danger of having the words of Jesus in Luke 6:39 come true of us:
39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit?” (Luke 6:39)
So then, what are we to do? Can it not be said in a couple of words what is right and what is wrong? To that question no simple, one-word answer can be given. It cannot be said “in brief.” Can we not call a special church council and issue a catalog of Christian conduct? You have a problem? You look the problem up in the table of contents and on the matching page you find the answer. No. That is not the way God wants us to determine our behavior.
The right approach is not to treat the New Testament as an exhaustive handbook of Christian ethics, but to look on it as a training manual for ethical thinking. The New Testament is the only book that reveals to us “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). If we manage to take on Christ’s way of thinking, then we will acquire His view of things and will be able to hold His position even on questions where the authors of the New Testament express no specific opinion.
When it comes to answering the question of how to act in a particular situation, we will be greatly helped if we know two things. First, there are two categories of action — some that carry no great weight for our relationship with God, actions we might call “matters of indifference to God,” and others that are decisive for our relationship with Him, “moral absolutes.”
The second thing that will help us in determining right Christian conduct is to take into account, in each individual case, the setting and the situation in which the action takes place — the ethical context.
MATTERS OF INDIFFERENCE TO GOD
Matters of indifference to God are minor things, usually bound up with a person’s background, upbringing, and culture. They affect our relationship with God neither positively nor negatively. They do not “commend” us before God. If we do them, we neither “lose anything” nor “gain anything.” An example of this is the eating of food sacrificed to idols, when it is done at home and not in an idol’s temple (1 Corinthians 8:8).
8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. (1 Corinthians 8:8)
Examples of “matters of indifference to God” in the New Testament are:
- Food (Romans 14:3)
3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. (Romans 14:3)
You see, for one person the eating of a certain food is defilement and sin. For another, eating that same food is simply satisfying hunger and taking pleasure. But for God, what we eat makes no difference. In Christ He accepts everyone, regardless of their dietary habits.
- Circumcision (Galatians 6:15; 1 Corinthians 7:19)
15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. (Galatians 6:15)
19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. (1 Corinthians 7:19)
You see, in these verses the apostle Paul draws a perfectly clear and sharp distinction between moral absolutes and matters of indifference to God. The moral absolutes are “the new creation” and “keeping God’s commands,” while the matters of indifference to God are “circumcision” and “uncircumcision.” What matters to God is not how we look, but what we carry in our heart and how we behave in our everyday life.
- A person’s social standing (1 Corinthians 7:21-22)
21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. 22 For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave. (1 Corinthians 7:21-22)
Whether you are poor or rich, whether you have money or not, does not commend you before God. This is a matter of indifference to God. The moral absolute is what your relationship with Christ is like. Is He your Lord? Are you free from sin, Satan, and the world in Jesus — that is what matters.
- Origin and gender (Galatians 3:28)
28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)
- Marital status (1 Corinthians 7:7)
7 I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. (1 Corinthians 7:7)
Whether you are single or married makes no difference to your relationship with God. He accepts the married and the single alike.
- Fasting on a particular day for the Lord (Romans 14:5)
5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. (Romans 14:5)
We must understand that, because matters of indifference to God are exactly that — minor things — they change from culture to culture and from age to age. Today we have no trouble with circumcision and slavery, but we have other troubles.
MORAL ABSOLUTES
And so, on the one hand we have matters of indifference to God, and on the other, moral absolutes. Unlike matters of indifference to God, moral absolutes are weighty things that bear decisively on our bond with God. They are tied to the biblical standards and to the heart of a person, and therefore they do not change with time and culture, but are always constant. Such are:
- “The Great Commandment of the Law” (Matthew 22:35-40)
35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:35-40)
- The things bound up with the human heart (Mark 7:14-23)
14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” 16 17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) 20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” (Mark 7:14-23)
Of the same kind are the lists of sins in the apostle Paul’s letters (Romans 1:24-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 2 Corinthians 12:20-21; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:3-7; Colossians 3:5-9; 2 Timothy 3:2-5), the deeds of the flesh (Romans 8:12-13), and others. All these commands and prohibitions are spiritual constants, and they will never change, no matter how cultures shift or how far human civilization advances.
And so, Christian freedom, put most generally, consists of two things. First, the breaking of a moral absolute is called sin. So to have freedom with respect to the moral absolutes means to be free from sin and lawlessness — to be uncompromising and to act always in one and the same way when it comes to things that matter to God.
The second thing in which Christian freedom is expressed is being ready to make concessions with respect to things that are a matter of indifference to God, for the sake of others — to be free to act differently in different situations for the sake of the gospel, when it comes to things that are of no great importance to God.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SITUATION
The difficulty, however, still remains, because sometimes it is possible for one and the same thing to be a moral absolute in one case and a matter of indifference to God in another. An example of this is the conduct of the apostle Paul with respect to circumcision when it was tied to the doctrine of justification by faith, and his conduct with respect to circumcision when it was tied merely to Jewish culture.
In Galatians 2 we read of his uncompromising stand for “the truth of the gospel” — that circumcision in no way contributes to a person’s salvation. In that chapter he is bold, aggressive, and unyielding, even combative — defending at all costs the right of the Gentiles not to be circumcised (Galatians 2:3-5).
3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. (Galatians 2:3-5)
Why is the apostle Paul so aggressive here? Because it is a matter of a moral absolute — salvation is by grace, through faith alone, and not from works demanded by the law (Galatians 2:16).
The right of the Gentiles not to be circumcised was won once and for all at the First Church Council described in Acts 15. Right afterward, in Acts 16, we see this same Paul, who zealously defended Titus’s right not to be circumcised, with his own hands circumcising Timothy “because of the Jews” (Acts 16:1-3).
1 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. (Acts 16:1-3)
Of course, there was a difference between Titus and Timothy. Titus was a pure Gentile, while Timothy was the son of a mixed marriage between a Greek and a Jewess, and that made him a Jew. His salvation did not depend on his circumcision, but Paul did it in order to remove every barrier to the gospel among the Jews. And in Acts 21:17-26 we see the apostle Paul carrying out in the temple the rites commanded by Moses, as proof that he does not teach against the Law but, on the contrary, “lives in obedience” and keeps it (Acts 21:24).
20 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. 21 They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. 22 What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, 23 so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. 24 Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. 25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.” 26 The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them. (Acts 21:20-26)
Was this inconsistency, or hypocrisy? Neither the one nor the other. It is simply that in these two latter cases the issue was not a moral absolute — that had already been settled — but something bound up with Jewish culture, that is, a matter of indifference to God. And with respect to matters of indifference to God, the apostle Paul applied in his life the principle of not giving offense (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).
19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)
Do you see what the apostle Paul’s freedom consisted of — not only to be “free and belong to no one,” but also the freedom to give up that freedom of his and to make himself “a slave to everyone” for the sake of the gospel? Would it have been sinful if the apostle Paul had not circumcised Timothy or had not carried out the Mosaic rites? Of course not. He could have insisted on his conviction and refused to accommodate others. The apostle Paul, however, chose to hold back from a certain freedom of his so as not to offend or trip up anyone.
This is how the apostle Paul acted when it came to a matter of indifference to God. We must not, however, make the fatal mistake of applying the principle of not giving offense to the moral absolutes. We cannot say that we ought to start drinking, smoking, or living immorally just to win our friends for Christ. That would mean “going back to the world,” sinning, and even losing our salvation. No. With respect to the moral absolutes the apostle Paul kept the principle of discipline, self-control, restraint, and no compromise (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)
TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT? — THAT IS THE QUESTION
Another example of how one and the same thing can be a moral absolute in one case and a matter of indifference to God in another is the eating of food sacrificed to idols.
In ancient Corinth there were mainly two places where a person could eat food sacrificed to idols (food offered in sacrifice to pagan deities). The first was the pagan temples, where it was offered in abundance during the festivals in honor of the various gods. Those festivals, besides an abundance of idol food, also included orgies and cultic prostitution.
The second place where a person could eat food sacrificed to idols was the Corinthians’ own homes, where the food came from the market. How from the market? The customary practice of that time was for the surplus idol food, offered in the temples, to be sold at the market.
Some of the Corinthians made no distinction between the two. They reckoned that since they believed in only one God (1 Corinthians 8:4-6), there was no problem at all in eating food sacrificed to idols. So they calmly dined at the table in “an idol’s temple” (1 Corinthians 8:10) and even urged their brothers to be “more open” and “more free” to do as they did (1 Corinthians 8:4-10).
4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. (1 Corinthians 8:4-6)
It is supposed that these verses (vv. 4-6) were not actually spoken by the apostle Paul, but are a quotation from the Corinthians’ letter to him. Paul, of course, agrees with them, but he adds a qualification (vv. 7-10):
7 But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. 9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? (1 Corinthians 8:7-10)
And so, the Corinthians made no distinction between food sacrificed to idols in the temple and food sacrificed to idols bought at the market. The apostle Paul, however, clearly separates eating idol food in a pagan temple from eating idol food, bought at the market, at home. The first he calls “idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14) and “fellowship with demons” (1 Corinthians 10:20).
14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. (1 Corinthians 10:14)
Eating idol food, but not in the temples of the idols — rather at home, bought from the market — is for the apostle Paul something else entirely. About eating idol food in this different situation, he says (1 Corinthians 10:25-26):
25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, 26 for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” (1 Corinthians 10:25-26)
In this situation, the eating of meat — even meat that has come from the market, where it arrived after the animal was offered in sacrifice to some pagan god — is not a moral absolute but a matter of indifference to God. On this question the apostle Paul encourages Christian freedom and recommends that the principle of not giving offense be applied to it. Even though he has the freedom to eat such meat at home, when he is alone, with respect to those who do not yet have this freedom in their conscience, he says (1 Corinthians 8:13):
13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall. (1 Corinthians 8:13)
For the situation when some believer is a guest, the apostle Paul gives two possibilities — if a person is a guest among people who share his freedom, then he need not be shy about eating some of the meat, even if it is idol food, because in the end everything is God’s (1 Corinthians 10:26,30). To refuse to eat in this case could be an insult to the hosts and an obstacle to the gospel. But if that same Christian is a guest among people who would be offended by his freedom, the apostle Paul advises him to hold back from eating such meat (1 Corinthians 10:27-29).
27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience. 29 I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? (1 Corinthians 10:27-30)
That is, the apostle Paul teaches us that when something is a matter of indifference to God, we should do it or not do it depending on the circumstances, accommodating others, thinking not of our own pleasure but of their salvation. In contrast to eating idol food in the homes, the eating of idol food in a pagan temple the apostle Paul expressly forbids (1 Corinthians 10:19-21).
19 Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. (1 Corinthians 10:19-21)
Eating idol food in a pagan temple is a moral absolute, and compromises with respect to it are a “testing of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 10:9,22).
9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. (1 Corinthians 10:9)
22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he? (1 Corinthians 10:22)
“Freedom” with respect to breaking the moral absolutes is far too risky and can lead to spiritual death (1 Corinthians 10:12).
12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! (1 Corinthians 10:12)
That is why, to those who dare to eat idol food at the festivals of the gods in the pagan sanctuaries, the apostle Paul says (1 Corinthians 10:7):
7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” (1 Corinthians 10:7)
And so, from 1 Corinthians 10 we understand that what determines whether eating idol food is idolatry or ordinary food is the place and the situation in which that idol food is eaten — in a pagan temple, or in the homes. Consequently, the circumstances and the situation are of essential importance in determining whether a given thing is a moral absolute or a matter of indifference to God.
How are we to determine our behavior in cases where we do not have the direct guidance of Scripture? First, we must settle whether a given behavior is a moral absolute or a matter of indifference to God. In settling this, we must weigh the setting very carefully and take the ethical context into account. This is important because, as we have seen, sometimes one and the same thing can be a moral absolute in one situation and a matter of indifference to God in another.
If the given behavior is a moral absolute, we must under no circumstances transgress it, because that would mean to sin! With respect to the moral absolutes we must be disciplined and uncompromising and apply the principle of self-control and self-restraint. Toward them, Christian freedom consists in not breaking them.
But if the given behavior is not a moral absolute but a matter of indifference to God, then on the one hand we can be free to act according to the freedom of our conscience, but on the other hand we must also be ready to make concessions and to accommodate others for the sake of the advance of the gospel. Toward matters of indifference to God we must apply the principle of not giving offense — to hold back from a certain behavior, not because it is wrong in God’s eyes, or because we have no personal freedom to do it, but because we care about others and do not wish to offend them or to become a “stumbling block” for them (Romans 14:13).
Of course, in order to do all these things we need the leading of the Holy Spirit and finely sharpened spiritual senses. Perhaps that is exactly why the apostle Paul prays for the Philippians that God would help them to make the moral distinctions (Philippians 1:9-11):
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11)
MATTERS OF INDIFFERENCE TO GOD IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS
Another large portion of the New Testament that deals with matters of indifference to God is the Letter to the Romans 14:1–15:13. If the apostle Paul devotes so much of this, his most representative letter, to this question, then it must surely be important for us. But here he places the accent not so much on the matters of indifference to God themselves as on our relationships toward people who hold views different from ours on these questions.
To understand this passage better, we need to know the history. Originally the Roman church was founded mainly by Jews. Acts 2:10 tells us that at Pentecost in Jerusalem there were Jews and proselytes from Rome. Probably some of them believed and founded the church in Rome. So at the beginning it was chiefly Jewish. In the year 49, however, the emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome. This fact is even noted in the New Testament (Acts 18:2). So the church went from being mainly Jewish to being entirely Gentile. But in the year 54 the emperor Claudius died, and the Jews, and with them the believing Jews, began to return to Rome. While they had been away, the Gentile believers had been enjoying their freedom on the matters of indifference to God, but now the Jews return and are quite simply shocked at what their Gentile brothers “have done with the church.” So between the two groups ill will and conflict arose on the basis of matters of indifference to God. The Gentiles called themselves “the strong,” and called the Jews “the weak.” The apostle Paul places himself among the strong, but at the same time he is very careful not to offend the weak, and so in Romans 14 he addresses himself chiefly to the “strong.” By exposing the shortcomings of both groups, the concerned apostle seeks to lay a foundation for harmony and unity between them, not on the basis of matters of indifference to God, but on the basis of the moral absolutes, which both groups hold to.
The passage begins like this (vv. 1-4):
1 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. (Romans 14:1)
Clearly the apostle Paul is speaking here to the strong. The call to acceptance is the key to his whole teaching on the question. We must accept one another, not in order to argue, but to worship God together and to build one another up in the moral absolutes.
2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. (Romans 14:2-3)
Here the apostle changes direction. The “strong” “treat with contempt” the weak, but the “weak” in turn judge the strong. So now he turns to the “weak.”
4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. (Romans 14:4)
It is important to understand that “the one whose faith is weak” is not a person with little faith in God, but a person who does not have the freedom to eat meat. Probably we can recognize the weak brothers in the believing Jews. They could easily carry over the keeping of the dietary laws from the Old Testament into their new faith. The Jews not only ate only certain meats, but according to their custom the very preparation of the meat had to be done in a particular way — food they called “kosher.” The slaughtering of the animal had to be done in such a way that all its blood was drained out in the best and quickest way onto the ground, so that the prohibition against eating meat with its blood could be kept as fully as possible. The Gentiles, however, had no such scruples, and so, to be sure that they would avoid any possibility of “breaking God’s commands,” some Jews chose to become vegetarians.
The Gentile believers accepted that Christ has set us free from keeping the ritual laws and has done away with the division of foods into clean and unclean. In Mark 7:14-23 we have Jesus’s teaching on this question.
14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” 16 17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) 20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” (Mark 7:14-23)
Do you notice how Jesus, too, draws a distinction between moral absolutes and matters of indifference to God? A person’s dietary habits are a matter of indifference to God. They cannot defile a person, because they do not touch his spirit and his conduct (1 Timothy 4:1-5). But what comes out of the heart is a moral absolute. It matters to God, because from the “heart,” from the spirit and soul of a person, come “the wellsprings of life.” A person’s heart determines his conduct, because out of what fills the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34), and the tongue sets in motion the parts of our body and the whole course of our life (James 3:6). So the disposition of our heart determines whether we will live righteously or will commit sins and “evils that defile us” (Mark 7:23).
The strong had a correct understanding regarding Christian freedom in eating, but not the right “to treat with contempt” those weak in faith. The weak in faith, for their part, ought to have held back from “judging” the freedom of the strong. Both groups had their own motives for their conduct. The judging of motives must be left to God, and He has accepted both, because He sees in both their desire to please Him (Romans 14:3).
3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. (Romans 14:3)
The problem is not that some believers eat everything and others are vegetarians. The problem is that the differences between them become an obstacle to their common worship and harmony. But we must not let our differences over matters of indifference to God become a cause for division among us. This is exactly the thought of the apostle Paul, and he applies it both to the question of eating and to the question of keeping certain days (vv. 5-9).
5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. (Romans 14:5-9)
It is quite possible that the “regarding” and “keeping” of a certain day or days “to the Lord” spoken of here is not so much bound up with the day of common worship, which could be Saturday or Sunday, but is bound up with the days of the week on which the various believers fasted before God. When to fast and when to feast is a matter of indifference to God. The moral absolute is that whatever we do, we do it not for ourselves but for the Lord.
10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’” (Romans 14:10-11)
Here the apostle Paul again turns first to the one group and then to the other. The one is inclined to “judge,” and the other to “treat with contempt.” The actions of both groups are practically the same, because both involve a wrong judgment. But both groups will stand before the Heavenly Judge on the day of judgment. That is why it is immature, hasty, and premature to judge or despise one another, seeing that the infallible Judge will take up that responsibility (1 Corinthians 4:5). To usurp His position is impermissible.
12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. 13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. (Romans 14:12-13)
We must understand that we, human beings, are different. Even we, the believers, are different. But if our differences are not in the sphere of moral absolutes but in the sphere of matters of indifference to God, we must not let them become for us a cause for division, judging, and contempt. We ought not, on the basis of matters of indifference to God, to divide into “strong” and “weak.” I even think there is a little irony in the way the apostle Paul uses these labels in his letter. We ought not to look down from on high at those who have their scruples (their inner brakes). And those who have their scruples, for their part, ought not to gossip about and condemn those who are freer than they are.
When it is a matter of a moral absolute and of sin, we not only can, but are obligated to, judge and to punish for the sake of enforcing Christian discipline. In 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 the apostle Paul condemns the man who is committing sexual immorality with his father’s second wife.
1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? 3 For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. 4 So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 5:1-5)
Whatever this “handing a person over to Satan” means, it is a sentence. And in the next chapter the apostle Paul says to the Corinthians:
2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! (1 Corinthians 6:2-3)
But notice that in these cases it is a matter of moral absolutes. Matters of indifference to God, however, are a matter of conscience. And the verdict on them we must leave to God (Romans 14:12).
12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. (Romans 14:12)
Not that our attitude toward matters of indifference to God is unimportant to God. The disposition of our heart on every question is important to Him. But it is not our job to judge others on these questions. Matters of indifference to God are a personal matter — something between you and God. The principle we apply to them is the principle of not giving offense (Romans 14:13).
13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. (Romans 14:13)
The “stumbling block” is an obstacle in the relationship, and the “offense” is either a scandal or, in this case, a temptation, an enticement and prompting toward something that is sin.
LAST WORDS TO THE “STRONG IN FAITH”
In the following verses the apostle Paul once again explains matters of indifference to God and moral absolutes, calling for a right understanding and a right way of acting toward both the one and the other.
14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. (Romans 14:14-18)
Here the apostle Paul is again speaking to the strong. He agrees with them that “nothing is unclean in itself; except that for the one who regards something as unclean, to him it is unclean.” Paul is on their side with respect to their freedom. But Christian freedom is limited by love. If a given matter of indifference to God becomes a cause for offense, slander, or a stumbling, then we will do better if we stop insisting on our right in this matter, and instead turn our attention to the moral absolutes. Because the kingdom of God is not matters of indifference to God — “eating and drinking” — surface things, but moral absolutes — “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” — fruits of the Spirit, which motivate our actions and shape our conduct. Those who are ready to sacrifice their freedom on matters of indifference to God in order that the moral absolutes may be lifted up are mature, and they will be approved both by God and by people.
Further on the apostle Paul repeats what he has already said. Freedom is a good thing, but if it becomes a cause for offense, then the abuse of it turns into something “evil.” That is why it is good not to do anything by which our brother or sister would “stumble, be offended, or be made weak.”
19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. (Romans 14:19)
What serves “for peace and for mutual edification”? Matters of indifference to God, or the moral absolutes? If it is the moral absolutes, then we must not stain them with a wrong attitude toward matters of indifference to God.
20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. (Romans 14:20-21)
Keep your faith for freedom on matters of indifference to God, but know that if someone who does not have this understanding or this “faith” follows you and begins to do something against his conscience, then he sins. Do you see — one and the same thing can be freedom for one person and sin for another. Why sin? Because it was done against the conscience and wounds it, since “everything that does not come from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).
22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. (Romans 14:22-23)
Here I would like to draw your attention again to the fact that the “faith” spoken of here is not saving faith or faith in God for a miracle or an answer to prayer. No, here the word “faith” is used, as at the beginning of the chapter, for the assurance that some believers have that they are free to make use of everything that God has created for the enjoyment of man. Remembering this, we must also understand that the “condemnation” spoken of here is not bound up with being cast into hell and losing salvation, but with the self-condemnation of the one who wounds his conscience by his inconsistent actions. To act against your conscience is always wrong.
Here again we see the importance of the situation. In one situation, in which the strong person has freedom on a matter of indifference to God and enjoys his freedom when there are no other witnesses but God, he is blessed. But if he does the same thing in the presence of someone who holds different views from his on the same question, then his deed is sin, because through it he causes his brother to stumble.
SACRIFICING OUR FREEDOM FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS
The apostle Paul finishes this passage about the relationships between people with different understandings on matters of indifference to God with two appeals, and both appeals are grounded in the example of Christ. First, the freer must apply in their lives the principle of not giving offense and accommodate the more conservative believers for the sake of preserving unity and not giving cause for offense. An example of such altruism (altruism is the antonym — the word with the opposite meaning — of egoism) is Christ. Although He had the right to remain in heaven and not sacrifice Himself for our sins, He chose to suffer for us.
1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. (Romans 15:1)
Notice that the key to solving the problems is in the hands of the strong. Theirs is the responsibility for taking the initiative in restoring peace with the weaker. It is the strong who must “bear with” the weaker, it is the strong who must give way, it is the strong who must sacrifice, and this is not merely a suggestion or an exhortation, but an “obligation.” In Galatians 6:2 the apostle Paul calls this obligation “the law of Christ.” But if, instead of applying in their lives the principle of not giving offense, the strong dig in their heels and refuse to give up their freedom, the rift and division between them and the weaker would only deepen. And conversely, if they give way and reach out a hand of reconciliation, this would restore the unity in the church.
2 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. (Romans 15:2)
This is not simply giving in or yielding to the will of others in order to please them, but rather a deliberate adjusting or tuning of our behavior that contributes to peace and harmony among us and to our mutual edification in the faith. An example of such altruism is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He showed us that deprivation and sacrifice for the sake of others is pleasing to God.
3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. 5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:3-6)
If Christ did not please Himself but sacrificed Himself for the sake of others, then the freer, too, must be ready to give up their freedom in order to please the weaker and to preserve the unity in the church, so that “with one mind and one voice” we may glorify God.
ACCEPTING ONE ANOTHER, BECAUSE CHRIST HAS ACCEPTED US
The apostle Paul’s second concluding appeal is that we accept one another just as we are, since Christ too has accepted us just as we are, “to bring praise to God.” If God has accepted those who are different from us and hold another view on matters of indifference to God, then who are we to reject them?
7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. (Romans 15:7)
Here the apostle Paul returns to the beginning of his teaching. He begins with “acceptance” in 14:1: “Accept the one whose faith is weak…,” and he ends with “acceptance” here, in v. 15:7: “Accept one another, just as Christ accepted you.” Unlike at the beginning, however, where the call to acceptance is directed to the strong, here the apostle has both groups in view — both the strong and the weak must accept one another. Both groups must make the effort and do what depends on us, in order to preserve the unity among us.
If Christ accepted both the Jews and the Gentiles, both the circumcised and the uncircumcised, in order to fulfill God’s purpose revealed by the prophets, then the refusal to accept one another is resistance to the fulfilling of that purpose of God.
8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.” 10 Again, it says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.” (Romans 15:8-12)
The apostle Paul finishes his teaching on the question of accepting believers with different understandings on matters of indifference to God with a wonderful blessing that puts the accent on the moral absolutes — joy, peace, and hope — and a wish for help from the Holy Spirit in solving the problems.
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)