In my last post, I told you that with the passage in Romans 14, I had found the freedom from what the church had been teaching, about doctors and wearing glasses, finally, Once and for all.
It had been the Apostal Paul that had answered some of the questions, that Christians had been struggling with and so what did it mean for the early church of his day, and is it still relevant for us today?
In today's post, I am going to refer to another website that should help to make it clear for us. You can find that site here if you want to check it out for yourself: What does Romans chapter 14 mean?
Well, let's see:
Romans 14 tackles an issue as relevant for the modern church as it was for Roman believers in Paul's era. Many decisions in the Christian life don't come with absolute, yes-or-no, one size fits all answers. On major issues, God's Word is clear. But on less important subjects, Christians might find it necessary to agree to disagree. How to live out that kind of unity is the focus of Paul's comments here.
For the Roman believers, this debate mostly concerned some of the rules and restrictions of the law of Moses. Those in Christ have been freed from following these rules but had doubts lingered. Is it right or wrong to now eat meat that might not be kosher according to the law? Is it right or wrong now to observe special days like Jewish festivals and the Sabbath?
Paul divides the church into two groups based on their response to these questions. There are those who are fully convinced that because of God's grace, they are now free in Christ to eat and drink anything. Nothing is unclean for them. Then there are believers comparatively "weak" in their faith who do not feel a clear conscience acting outside of those restrictions. They may think it's still wrong to eat non-kosher meat for instance. Romans 14:1-2
Though Paul calls these concerned "weak in faith," he instructs those who are comparatively strong and free in the faith to welcome them. These less-assured Christians ought to be fully and completely accepted into the church, and not only so they can be only so they can be argued out of their convictions. The picture Paul paints is of these two groups co-existing in unity and peace.
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Ok, so I did not consider the people and leaders of that church 'weak." That was me. Not only that but I had been totally confused as well. And though perhaps comparing the wearing of glasses to eating meat was 2 completely different things, to me that day, it was not all that different. And I should not have been treated the way I had no matter what. I sure hadn't felt any unity and peace so far as I was concerned. Not ever did I feel that way, the whole time I went there. So it didn't look like they were practicing what they believed exactly or they would have at least handled this in a different manner than they had.
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Hi Friends:
The above website I gave you has more to say about what Paul had meant on this subject. I will continue with some of it in the next post. In the meantime, have a wonderful and blessed day.
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