31st October 2023

31st October 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Romans 14v13-16)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


As the Roman Christians sought to figure our their Christian liberty, the Apostle was not without an opinion and as far as he was concerned judging a brother in Christ was out of bounds (v13). Let me be clear for a moment - if we see a fellow Christian falling into grievous sin or slowly turning to heretical belief, we have every right to judge and to strive to bring them back. Jude would speak to this situation by saying "save others by snatching them out of the fire" (Jude 1v23) and so we have a responsibility to the church to be both watchful and proactive.


Even so, the issues in Rome were relatively trivial. One man ate everything while another took only vegetables. One woman observed certain "special" days while another treated all days the same. These were differences of opinion and an exercise in Christian liberty, but they should certainly not have fired a judgemental spirit within the church. In such matters Paul allowed no room for division and petty judgements, instead calling for Christian maturity.


What does this look like in practice? If I know that my brother only eats vegetables, I should not seek to cause him difficulty by inviting him round to watch me devour pork chops. We are not to put stumbling blocks in the path of our fellow Christians (v13b).


Paul was persuaded that all food was clean and that Old Testament dietary laws no longer applied. Jesus once said "'Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?' (Thus he declared all foods clean.)" (Mark 7v18-19) What you put into your mouth does not make you unclean and therefore the Christian is free to eat as he/she pleases. Nevertheless, there will always be Christians who struggle with such freedom and Paul stated if such a man considers food to be unclean, then for him it is unclean (v14b).


As I have written previously, so I repeat - you are only bound by Holy Scripture and not any man-made rules. This is your Christian liberty and you should exercise it wisely in a Christ honouring fashion. However, if your fellow Christian desperately struggles with your choices, you are to be gracious enough to put your liberty aside in order not to destroy your brother (v15). Equally, the "weaker" brother should not become a tyrant by dictating how others should live and act. We must be careful as stronger and weaker brothers to always walk in love (v15a) and to ensure that the things we believe to be good aren't spoken of as evil (v16).


As a young man I was often asked "will you ever grow up?" and although I never liked hearing the question, it was and remains an important one. There isn't a Christian alive who is the finished article and all of us could do with growing up. I think this is key when it comes to our Christian liberty. Brothers and sisters, we are free in Christ but that freedom should always be exercised with maturity.     


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q84 What doth every sin deserve? Every sin deserveth God’s wrath and curse, both in this life, and that which is to come.
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