Romans, Part 41
Romans 14:1-22
Introduction
- Last weekend we discussed the important of understanding the time being short
- We also saw Paul clearly demonstrate living for Christ in everything that we do
- It is imperative that we live daily for Jesus; clinging tightly to the cross
- On Wed we also looked ahead regarding Living Thankfully; and our call to do so
- This morning, we will venture into an area that we MUST be fully aware of
- When we are aware of things like this, our lives change and we become focused
- From last Sunday, we will build on this one critical verse today:
-- Rom 13:14, “Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh”
- My plan is to cover all of Romans 14 in one setting, because it is tied together
- Stand and read Romans 14:1-22 / Pray
Point 1 – Judgment Doesn’t Enhance the Kingdom (1-9)
- God has welcomed both the strong and the weak – by GRACE
- Because of who God is, it is by His GRACE that we are welcomed to serve
- Verse 4 gives us a clear picture of what this really looks like …
-- It is without judgment upon one another that we must live and serve
-- When we miss this, we fail to obey and to grow as God’s children
-- God calls us into a life of submission to Him, but not to religious stuff
-- (We’ll come back to this in just a short while)
- What Paul begins to drive home is the different in the weak and the strong
-- The weak (immature Christian) must stop passing judgment because of different convictions and applications of how God speaks
-- Verse 10 shows us that the strong (mature Christian) must stop scorning his brother who spend his time clinging to these things
- Legalism is defined as, “Excessive adherence to law or formula”
-- The weak must not spend time judging others who don’t share their views
-- The strong however cannot look down on the less mature of the church
- Look at verse 9 – Jesus died to settle all these things; He settled this long ago
- There is no longer a need for us to keep up with one another; but with God alone
- If Jesus has given us freedom to worship Him, then we must live like it
- This is not an opportunity to spend time passing judgment, but worshiping Him
- Worship Jesus … Not a religion or a church building – it’s critical in living
- TRANS: No matter how we live, we give an account to God for everything
Point 2 – Life Application in Living (10-12)
- Judgment upon man is something that God holds clearly in His responsibilities
- To put this plainly, this is in God’s job description and not ours
- 2 Cor 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
- Living with our noses turned up benefits no one, and doesn’t glorify Jesus
-- God has not called us into a ministry of being spiritual advisors to Him
-- Nor has God called any of us to sit in a place of judgment to one other
- How does this work realistically? How can this work in a church today?
-- We must take a stand to live righteously before Christ; and allow Him to guide
-- God does give us leaders and advisors (pastors, deacons, etc.), but not overlords
-- These are responsible for their leadership of God’s church … to God
- Verse 11 tells us that there are NONE who escape the judgment of the One (Everyone confesses)
- Why? Verse 12 … Because each gives an account; a mandatory summary
- Account means a reckoning; consider the ledger books from warehouses
- The bottom right corner tells what you owe, and each of us owes penalty of death
- It is clearly revealed in Roman 6:23 that the wages of sin is death …
- However, Jesus already did the reckoning because of God’s love for you
- TRANS: How does this apply? We can either obey or disobey, there is no middle ground
Point 3 – Living Solely for Christ (13-22)
- Paul now addresses specifically those who are spiritually mature (we should be maturing daily – study, prayer, etc.)
- The more mature you are, the more you can bear for the cause of Christ
- Thus, we are never to place a stumbling block in front of one another
- We should never act in a way that causes one another to stumble
- However, self-written “Christian doctrine” really gets us in trouble here
-- Church Laws
-- Church Ways
-- Church Tradition
- It is because of who JESUS is that we are called to live and be obedient
- Jesus makes it very clear to us on how we should look at something like food
- Turn to and read Matt 15:10-20
- Consider beyond food … how dare we setup judgments upon one another?
- We cannot live a life that calls us to judge others because of it
- Our love for one another because of Christ removes this “self-judgment”
- Romans 14:19 tells us specifically to do whatever it takes to live peacefully
-- To live in a manner that allows Jesus to shine through us, not us through us
- If we will live a life that is an example to one another; we create harmony
- If we could live a life of glory to Jesus; we can better show Him to others
Conclusion
- (v22) If God convicts you of something, doesn’t mean everyone else is also
-- Ex: Jimmy and his family with the television … 3 years without
-- Does this mean that in order to preach I must do the same?
-- Not if the Lord doesn’t convict me of it; that is not the calling for me
-- There is a key point here, that in all things God speaks to us individually to refine us
-- It is a matter of a personal relationship; not a list of rules/self-judgment
- However, there are standards that we MUST obey and live by
1. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)
2. God gave us His Son so that our account of death could be settled (John 3:16)
3. Our lives must glorify Christ so that God will hear us cry out to Him
- Ps 34:15, “The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry”
- Do we live righteously because of who God is; or by who we think He is?
- It is a matter we must settle before He can ever be Lord of our life
- God will not be second place in your life, and to Him judgment is reserved
- Will we surrender to Him, or will be continue to make Him 2nd place?
- Pray
- Salvation (to allow Christ to be Lord)
- Repentance (to lay aside the judgments of the past)
- Forgiveness (to seek God’s forgiveness alone and seek redemption)
