Tolerate the Scruples of Others
Rom 14:1-3 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.
By "weak faith" he is not talking about saving faith, but rather matters of scruples. The pagans would sacrifice animals to their gods and sell the meat on the open market. Some Christians were so disturbed at the idea of unintentionally eating meats sacrificed to idols that they gave up eating meat altogether. Other Christians viewed themselves as having freedom to eat such meats, for "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it." 1Cor 10:26
Paul elaborates on this issue in 1Cor 8 saying, "Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, won’t he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ." 1Cor 8:7-12
However notice the conflicted between these two passages. For in 1Cor 8 he advises the Christians to conform to those of the weakest conscience in the matter, while here in Rom 14 he is not advising a certain behavior but rather an attitude, namely that whether weak or strong one should not judge other Christians in matters of which the Lord has given us freedom. Furthermore in applying the 1Cor 8 passage, how would you know if you're offending a weaker brother if the weaker brother is not allowed to speak of his scruples in the matter? Consequently I would not categories a person sharing his convictions in such matters as the same as judging those who don't hold his convictions.
Perhaps some of these paradoxical verses may be resolved in 1Cor 10 where Paul speaks of keeping one's scruples a private matter if one has knowledge that one's behavior is offensive to others in such matters as the Lord has allowed freedom, so as to not intentionally offend the conscience of another. That being the case, a degree of privacy is necessary in the Christian life for the sake of unity of the whole.
The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources
Rom 14:1-3 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.
By "weak faith" he is not talking about saving faith, but rather matters of scruples. The pagans would sacrifice animals to their gods and sell the meat on the open market. Some Christians were so disturbed at the idea of unintentionally eating meats sacrificed to idols that they gave up eating meat altogether. Other Christians viewed themselves as having freedom to eat such meats, for "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it." 1Cor 10:26
Paul elaborates on this issue in 1Cor 8 saying, "Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, won’t he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ." 1Cor 8:7-12
However notice the conflicted between these two passages. For in 1Cor 8 he advises the Christians to conform to those of the weakest conscience in the matter, while here in Rom 14 he is not advising a certain behavior but rather an attitude, namely that whether weak or strong one should not judge other Christians in matters of which the Lord has given us freedom. Furthermore in applying the 1Cor 8 passage, how would you know if you're offending a weaker brother if the weaker brother is not allowed to speak of his scruples in the matter? Consequently I would not categories a person sharing his convictions in such matters as the same as judging those who don't hold his convictions.
Perhaps some of these paradoxical verses may be resolved in 1Cor 10 where Paul speaks of keeping one's scruples a private matter if one has knowledge that one's behavior is offensive to others in such matters as the Lord has allowed freedom, so as to not intentionally offend the conscience of another. That being the case, a degree of privacy is necessary in the Christian life for the sake of unity of the whole.
The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources
