10.16.25 – Romans 14

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Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.

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Today we are in Romans chapter 14. Only three chapters left in this great book of Romans. So let’s listen in to Faith Comes by Hearing’s reading of the 23 verses of Romans chapter 14.

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Romans 14 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike.” Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother?

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For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God, for it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

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So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore, let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then, let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

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In 1994, remember, we were in Maui, Hawaii. So I wrote in my journal, got up this morning to go to the volcano Hakalakala, 10,000 feet above sea level. Very pretty drive and a nice look at the inside of a dormant volcano. Real pretty. We’re having a great time. Even on vacation in Maui, Hawaii, it does not keep me from reading the scriptures each and every day. How about you? Is it harder for you on vacation to stay in the Word of God? It’s my habit, been for many decades, to spend a little bit of time with the Lord each and every morning, regardless of where I am and regardless of what I’m doing. I hope these AdBible podcasts are convincing you to do the same, regardless of what day it is or regardless of whether you’re going on vacation or going to work, that you still start your day or end your day in the Word of God. So on that day before we visited that volcano, I wrote, Paul does not restrict diet or days. He leaves these issues open to the believer. Quote, let each man be convinced in his own mind. And quote, live for the Lord. In 2001, I had a little different take on Romans 14. When I wrote, for none of us lives to himself and no one dies to himself, that’s according to verse 7. Or then I wrote, I hear this opposite argument often. What I do is private. It doesn’t affect others. like abortion or sexual consent among two adults. Nothing is done in isolation. People observe, they find out, then they consider similar behavior. I agree with God’s word. No one lives to himself. What people do or don’t do always affects someone else. We must be careful how our decisions and actions affect others. So what do you think about that? Do you agree that whatever we do is not private? It always gets out and affects the lives of other people? Do you agree that nothing we do is in isolation? That people observe, they find out, and then they want to consider similar behavior. What kind of behavior are you modeling? If people watch what you do, do people see Christianity? And do they see you modeling Christianity and want to be one? As I wrote in my journal, what people do or don’t do always affects someone else. And in 2013, I had a little bit different take on Romans 14. I wrote, There is room in Christianity for some diversity, for example, food or days. Judaism had become a religion of many laws and rules, maybe to an extreme. And Paul is maybe trying not to repeat legalism in Christianity. Today, this discussion would be about drinking. Verse 13 gives us our answer and verses 17 and 19. Don’t judge others who do or don’t. Walk in love. Pursue peace and mutual understanding in our behavior. Don’t cause a brother to stumble over such issues. So let’s go back and look at verse 13 and 17 and 19. Verse 13 says, Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. Verse 17 says, For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. And verse 19 says, So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. I’ve probably mentioned before on these podcasts that in my early Christian life, I had a pretty judgmental spirit. And I probably still do today. But I’ve matured and I’m trying to grow through this. And staying close to the Word of God helps me, like passages like these. Regarding the do’s and don’ts of Christianity, I think these verses are very, very helpful. Like verse 5, which says, “…each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” And verse 12 tells us, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Verse 14 helps us clarify it even more. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. So if you are strongly persuaded that Christians should not drink, then don’t drink. But be careful about your judgment of others who do. Verse 20 says this, Do not for the sake of food destroy the work of God. So we could substitute that today and say, Do not for the sake of drinking destroy the work of God. So let’s summarize this discussion with a couple of verses. Verse 8 says, For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. So is your behavior of the Lord. And the last verse of the chapter tells us, For whatever does not proceed from faith is is sin. So does your behavior proceed from your faith? Does it proceed from your sense of living to the Lord, knowing that all of us will give an account of our behavior to God himself and not to one another? Lord, we thank you for freedom, freedom in Christ, freedom to choose, Freedom to choose how we eat, how we drink, what day we want to worship. And we thank you that we live in the Lord. And as we do, Lord, we are reminded by this chapter that we will all give an account of our behavior to you. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess before you. So my prayer, Lord, is help my behavior line up with my beliefs. Help me where I need help. And I will thank you for it. In Jesus’ name, amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. Across our listening audience, more and more of you are supporting AdBible by visiting our website at EzraProject.net and purchasing resources like Club 365 subscriptions, Bible reading journals, and one or more of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. We thank you so much and encourage more of you to do the same. You will find helpful and inspirational tools to enhance your personal time in God’s Word. Today I want to review the three tools we see most listeners getting. First, Club 365. 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