# Romans 14 📖: Do Not Judge One Another [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Romans Overview]] | [[Romans 13]] | [[Romans 15]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Exhortation to Mutual Forbearance **Principle**: Everyone grows at different rates. [[#Verse 01.]] Now receive the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions.  [[#Verse 02.]] One person believes in eating everything, but the weak person eats only vegetables.  [[#Verse 03.]] The one who eats everything must not despise the one who does not, and the one who abstains must not judge the one who eats everything, for God has accepted him.  [[#Verse 04.]] Who are you to pass judgment on another’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. [[#Verse 05.]] One person regards one day holier than other days, and another regards them all alike. Each must be fully convinced in his own mind. [[# Verse 05]] One person regards one day holier than other days, and another regards them all alike. Each must be fully convinced in his own mind.  [[#Verse 06.]] The one who observes the day does it for the Lord. The one who eats, eats for the Lord because he gives thanks to God, and the one who abstains from eating abstains for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God.  [[#Verse 07.]] For none of us lives for himself and none dies for himself.  [[#Verse 08.]] If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.  [[#Verse 09.]] For this reason Christ died and returned to life, so that he may be the Lord of both the dead and the living. [[#Verse 10.]] But you who eat vegetables only—why do you judge your brother or sister?And you who eat everything—why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.  [[#Verse 11.]] For it is written, “**_As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God_**.” [[Isaiah 45]] | [[Isaiah 49]] [[#Verse 12.]] Therefore, each of us will give an account of himself to God. ### Exhortation for the Strong not to Destroy the Weak **Principle**: Show love and compassion toward one another. [[#Verse 13.]] Therefore we must not pass judgment on one another, but rather determine never to place an obstacle or a trap before a brother or sister.  [[#Verse 14.]] I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean in itself; still, it is unclean to the one who considers it unclean.  [[#Verse 15.]] For if your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy by your food someone for whom Christ died.  [[#Verse 16.]] Therefore do not let what you consider good be spoken of as evil.  [[#Verse 17.]] For the kingdom of God does not consist of food and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.  [[#Verse 18.]] For the one who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by people. [[#Verse 19.]] So then, let us pursue what makes for peace and for building up one another.  [[#Verse 20.]] Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. For although all things are clean, it is wrong to cause anyone to stumble by what you eat. [[#Verse 21.]] It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble.  [[#Verse 22.]] The faith you have, keep to yourself before God. Blessed is the one who does not judge himself by what he approves.  [[#Verse 23.]] But the man who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not do so from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. **Verse 23**. Not from faith is sin. - The summation that Paul is drawing is that our motivations matter. If someone does or does not do something based on someone else’s conscience, that is wrong. This has to do with subjective elements of faith. Paul is not saying there is a blank check to do whatever we want. He is saying, when it comes to things that are not outlined in the Bible, we should follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We can take counsel from others, but follow God. - Example: I heard of a lady once who felt it was wrong for her to drink soda. That sounds crazy to me. She never pushed this belief on anyone else. If I started doing the same because she did, that would not be right. If she started pushing that belief on me, that would also not be right. - We unite on the essentials and give grace in the non-essentials. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. The "weak" in Romans 14 were likely believers, many of them Jewish, who kept food laws and special days. The "strong" felt free from them. 2. Meat sold in Roman markets had often been offered to idols first, a concern Paul also addresses in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10. 3. Some believers ate only vegetables (14:2), possibly to avoid meat that was not kosher or had been offered to idols. 4. Roman writers noted that Jews in Rome kept the Sabbath and food laws, practices that set them apart in the city. 5. In 14:11 Paul quotes Isaiah 45:23, and Philippians 2:10-11 applies the same passage to Jesus. 6. "Stumbling block" (*proskomma*) and "trap" (*skandalon*) in 14:13 both picture something that makes a person fall. 7. Mark 7:19 records that Jesus declared all foods clean, which supports Paul's statement in 14:14. 8. The phrase in 14:1 refers to "quarrels over opinions," matters on which faithful believers can disagree. 9. The saying "In essentials unity, in nonessentials liberty, in all things charity" is often linked to this chapter. It is usually traced to the seventeenth century writer Rupertus Meldenius. 10. In some ancient manuscripts, the doxology found at 16:25-27 appears right after 14:23. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the Lord of both the dead and the living, who died and rose for that very purpose (14:9). We will all stand before God's judgment seat (14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10), so we welcome those for whom Christ died (14:15). ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Paul tells the church to welcome the one weak in faith without quarreling over opinions (14:1). What are some modern disputable matters among Christians? 2. Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord (14:8). How does that truth change how we treat other believers? 3. The kingdom of God is about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (14:17). How can you pursue what builds others up (14:19)? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 1: Receive the one who is weak in faith, and do not argue about opinions. - 📖 verse 8: Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. - 📖 verse 12: Each of us will give an account of himself to God. - 📖 verse 13: Do not place a stumbling block or a trap in a brother's way. - 📖 verse 17: The kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[Isaiah 45#Verse 23.|Isaiah 45:23]] - Every knee will bow and every tongue confess (quoted in 14:11). - 🔗 [[Matthew 07#Verse 01.|Matthew 7:1]] - Do not judge, or you too will be judged. - 🔗 [[Mark 07#Verse 18.|Mark 7:18-19]] - Jesus declares all foods clean. - 🔗 [[Acts 10#Verse 09.|Acts 10:9-15]] - Peter's vision: what God has made clean, do not call common. - 🔗 [[1 Corinthians 08#Verse 01.|1 Corinthians 8:1-13]] - Food offered to idols and the weaker brother. - 🔗 [[1 Corinthians 09#Verse 19.|1 Corinthians 9:19-22]] - Becoming all things to all people. - 🔗 [[1 Corinthians 10#Verse 23.|1 Corinthians 10:23-33]] - Seek the good of others and do all to the glory of God. - 🔗 [[2 Corinthians 05#Verse 10.|2 Corinthians 5:10]] - We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. - 🔗 [[Galatians 05#Verse 13.|Galatians 5:13]] - Use your freedom to serve one another in love. - 🔗 [[Philippians 02#Verse 10.|Philippians 2:10-11]] - Every knee will bow to Jesus. - 🔗 [[Colossians 02#Verse 16.|Colossians 2:16-17]] - Let no one judge you about food, drink, or holy days. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Romans 14 - SOAP|Walk With Others]] ## 📂 Internal Notes [[SeriesOverview- The Mission (Romans)]]