Rom. 14:22-23 How About This For A Healthy Conscience?

SPEAKER 01 : 0:05

So, in the book of Romans, we’re seeing that this issue about being sensitive towards your neighbor in regard to what he may feel free to eat or not eat, or a Sabbath day that he may feel free to keep or not keep, he’s drawing it to a conclusion now. And let’s read that conclusion. It’s really interesting. I want to read it to you in another translation. It says, this is verse 20, verse 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. Now listen to this. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. That’s verse 22. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. In the revised King James Version, do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. 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. For whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because he is eating it not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. I told you quite some time ago that the chapter 14 of this book has some surprising and beautiful insights in it. So this is one of them. You may believe that you have the right to certain things, the freedom in the gospel to engage in certain activities or cultural things or private things. Know the difference between privacy and secrecy. Secrecy is something we do because it’s sinful and we don’t want anybody to find out and we’re deceiving them and ourselves. Privacy is something personal. There are personal things that people can do that are personal between them and God and not for the exposure to other people, to neighbors and so on. that that is a very important difference when it comes to addictions. There are people who struggle with addictions and think that everything they do is, well, how can I put it? They tend to look at everything as secretive. They have not found the freedom to have a personal life. And so what they do sometimes is take something that is perfectly personal and innocent and turn it into something that is secret because they are feeling guilty about something that is quite innocent. So you and I have to learn to distinguish between something that is innocent and private and something that is innocent and misinterpreted as secret. This is true of children, for instance, and by the way, much addiction has to do with having the childhood mind. Children will sometimes do little things that are really quite innocent, and yet… for some reason that can’t quite be understood, I suppose, think of the thing as naughty when it’s a personal thing. And it may be that they have to learn also the difference between private and personal. And so this is where Paul says, happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. So if there’s something personal that you do, and it is perfectly innocent, and yet after you have done it, it becomes secretive in your mind, then that is where you have done something innocently, but then you do not approve of it. You feel guilty about it. And Paul says, we will be happy if we have learned that we can go forward in faith with personal things and not, after having expressed them, then feel guilty about it. And then comes this marvelous truth that he has expressed, that he expresses in verse 23. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats. That is, whatever is, not just food, but whatever is personal to you, if you express doubt about that innocent thing, then that becomes sin to you, because it is not from faith. Let’s read it again. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats because he does not eat from faith. For whatever is not from faith is sin. Wow, what a revelation that is when you think about it. how often we damage our minds by what I might call ambivalence. That is, we say yes with our behavior if there’s something that we’re doing that is innocent in itself and private. We say yes with our behavior, but if we have doubts about it, then we’re saying no with our mind. That is one of the destructive forces of addiction, saying yes and no at the same time. For instance, somebody who is trying to lose weight, and he or she has succeeded, say, over several days now or several weeks to reduce a few pounds, five or six or seven pounds, and then there’s just a thought that comes into his mind about having a donut or two. And you take the donut, and so your action is to say yes. You’re taking the donut from the tray and putting it to your mouth. But in your mind, you’re saying, I ought not to eat that. And so you’re saying yes with your hand to your mouth and no with your mind. That is the problem behind all addictions. It is ambivalence, what I call the yes-no syndrome. Well, what’s the solution? Either you say, I choose not to eat this donut, which is saying no with your mind, and you push the tray away from you, and that’s no with your hand as well. Or you say, well, I’ve lost five or six pounds. I’m going to treat myself today, and I choose to have this donut. And so you say yes with your body, your hand, and you say yes with your mind. When you have that kind of consistency and consistently develop that consistency, you will find yourself getting free more and more frequently. So this is an enormously interesting truth. Let’s read it again, shall we? Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of whatever you put in there, whatever your issue is. All things indeed are pure. but it is evil for the man who eats and offends others. So intrinsically, the thing that you are considering doing is perfectly innocent, but it becomes evil if it is going to offend somebody else. But now what about ourselves? It is good, verse 24, neither to eat meat or drink, well, in other words, put in there whatever your issue is, it is good neither to do this or that, or anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Do you have faith that it’s okay to do that thing? That’s verse 23. If you do, then have it to yourself before God. Have that faith before God. How interesting. What a liberty this gives us. We’re not under strict laws and rules and regulations and rituals that shrivel our spirit. No, if we feel innocent about, if we believe that we are innocent before God to do this or that thing, then have that to yourself. Don’t talk to your neighbor about it if he’s weak in faith and would be offended. And therefore happy is he who does, does not condemn himself in what he approves. Do you see that? So verse 23, but he who doubts is condemned if he eats. So whatever we do, doesn’t matter whatever you slot in there, he who’s condemned who does dot, dot, dot. Whatever you do, that you feel is all right to do before the Lord, but you then go into doubt because you’re not exercising faith, that thing becomes sin. And so Paul says, because he who does not do this or that, you know, eat here, it says, but he who does not eat from faith has condemned himself. For whatever is not from faith is sin. Here then is a tremendously important thing to embrace in your heart. Let’s again take an example of this. Somebody, an alcoholic, has found liberty over a long period of time now, freedom from alcohol. He’s not a dry drunk. He’s not simply restraining, even though he would long to drink himself to death. He’s not a dry drunk. He’s found a healthy state of mind, he’s matured, he’s grown up, he’s acknowledged his wrong relationships to others, and he’s been free for a long time. And he’s at a dinner party, or a dinner celebrating somebody’s birthday, let’s say, and wine is offered. and he then suddenly has a flash of nervousness and wonders whether he should drink this wine. What do you think? Is it an issue of drinking the wine, or is it an issue of whether his mind is certain about what he’s able to do in faith before the Lord, or what he should not do in faith before the Lord? He can say, Father, in faith, thank you that I’m free from alcohol. but I choose not to drink this because it would not be good for me. It would not be wise. Then he’s healthy, he’s free. But suppose he says, Father, I thank you that though I have not drunk now for five years, I thank you for the freedom and liberty to have this glass of wine. in your presence. And therefore, he has not condemned himself for what he previously approved. And therefore, he will not fall into that state that some alcoholics describe as one drink will put him under the table, as it were. This is how we learn to be free. We learn to go forward in faith. But without faith, we are embraced by fear and doubt and condemnation. And that fear and doubt and condemnation is at the cause of all our difficulties. It’s putting ourselves back into the kingdom of Adam of sin and death. where there is only condemnation for everything we do. But in Jesus Christ, we are freed from guilt and shame and fear. There is no identification as our being sinners anymore or under the judgment of sin. And therefore, whether we eat or drink, we drink to the Lord. Now, be wise about this, but see the inner principle. See the inner reality. Work with it. This is Romans chapter 14, verses 20 to 23, some of the most insightful portions, one of the most insightful portions of Scripture in regard to mental health and spiritual health that you will come across anywhere else in Scripture. www.soundcloud.com And if you would please consider a donation, this is listener-supported radio. 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