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Judgment about the parties that existed in the Roman Church (1–12). Practical advice for most Roman Christians (13–23). Doxology (24–26). Rom.14:1. Accept him who is weak in faith without arguing about opinions. In the Roman Christian Church there was a difference of opinion on the question of whether it was permissible for a Christian to eat meat and drink wine. Some Christians felt it necessary to abstain from both. They considered it necessary to consecrate some days in a special way (fasting). Others considered all such restrictions on Christian freedom useless. The Apostle teaches the former not to condemn people who hold free views on these circumstances, and advises the latter, that is, people with a strong spirit, to be lenient towards those who find special feats of abstinence necessary for a Christian. Let the strong have pity on the weak, remembering that they have also been redeemed by the Lord at a great price and that all Christians constitute one Kingdom of Christ, which every Christian is obliged to support by sacrificing his personal desires and interests. Who were these weak in faith who found a certain abstinence necessary for Christians? It is difficult to answer this question with anything definite. These were hardly people with a Jewish worldview, as some commentators (eg Tzan) suggest. The Jews were not at all forbidden to eat wine and meat (only some meat dishes were prohibited by the Law of Moses) and, moreover, the Apostle was hardly so lenient towards the error of the Judaizers. Rather, one can see here a reflection of some ascetic views of Greek and Roman philosophy. It is known that the Orphics and Pythagoreans abstained from eating meat and were vegetarians - the latter did not drink wine - the Stoics (Sextius, Sotion, M. Rufus). “Weak in faith” - that is, a believer who is afraid that he may unexpectedly and soon lose the salvation he has acquired and therefore avoids everything that seems dangerous to him in this sense. - “Accept”, that is, do not deprive him of brotherly communication. – “Without disputes about opinions” (μή εις διακρίσεις διαλογισμών) – more correct: without entering into criticism of other people’s reasoning (perhaps unfounded). Rom.14:2. For some are confident that they can eat everything, but the weak eat vegetables. Rom.14:3. He who eats, do not disparage the one who does not eat; and whoever does not eat, do not condemn the one who eats, because God has accepted him. “God accepted him,” that is, to keep both in His Church. Rom.14:4. Who are you, judging another man's slave? Before his Lord he stands, or he falls. And he will be raised up, for God is able to raise him up. “You” is an appeal to the weak in faith. – “Stands or falls”, i.e. remains or not in a state of grace. The Apostle does not mean to say that the state of faith in our brothers in faith should be indifferent to us. We are not forbidden to make efforts to induce them to assimilate our views, and we are even obliged to take care of their spiritual salvation. But at the same time, we must not forget that religion is the personal relationship of each person to his God and that we do not have the right to judge him (of course, in things “indifferent”). And if we are sure that our fellow believers are doing something, from our point of view, wrong, but nevertheless doing it for God, in the consciousness of their dependence on Him, we have no right to doubt the possibility of salvation for them. Rom.14:5. Some people distinguish day from day, while others judge every day equally. Everyone act according to the evidence of his own mind. “Let everyone act according to the evidence of his own mind.” The Apostle speaks here not about days sanctified by celebration and fasting by the entire Church, but about special days chosen by individual Christians, on which, in their opinion, they should pray and fast. The Apostle thought differently about church fasts and holidays (cf. 1 Cor 11:2). Rom.14:6. He who distinguishes the days distinguishes for the Lord; and he who does not discern the days does not discern for the Lord. Whoever eats eats for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat does not eat for the Lord, and thanks God. Both the strong and the weak in faith equally sanctify their meals with prayer (thanks God) and thereby testify that their choice of food is made according to their conscience, before God and in order to please God. Only everyone understands this in their own way, believing that this way, and not otherwise, is the most likely way to please God. Rom.14:7. For none of us lives for ourselves, and none of us dies for ourselves; Rom.14:8. and whether we live, we live for the Lord; Whether we die, we die for the Lord: and therefore, whether we live or die, we are always the Lord’s. And not only individual actions of a Christian, but his entire life and his very death stand in relation to God, serving for His glorification. Rom.14:9. For for this purpose Christ died, and rose again, and came to life, that he might rule both over the dead and over the living. In every state we remain the property of the Lord (cf. v. 4 and Phil. 2:9–10), who reigns over the living and the dead, as He Himself revived after death. Rom.14:10. Why are you judging your brother? Or are you also why you humiliate your brother? We will all appear at the judgment seat of Christ. Rom.14:11. For it is written: As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to Me, and every tongue will confess to God. Rom.14:12. So each of us will give an account to God for himself. In this place, the Apostle is a defender of the freedom of the Christian conscience, but only in so-called indifferent things: for these things we have no right to condemn each other - only your common Lord and Master can condemn at His terrible judgment. But the Apostle does not at all give individuals the right to destroy with impunity the established order of church life, based on the universal apostolic tradition. In other epistles, he directly condemns those who spoil the order established in the Church of Christ (1 Cor 3:17). Rom.14:13. Let us no longer judge each other, but rather judge how not to give your brother any chance of stumbling or temptation. Now giving practical advice regarding differences of opinion, the Apostle turns to people who are strong in faith. They should not, by their behavior, tempt the weak to repeat the actions they commit. In general, it is not good to condemn your neighbor and give rise to the destruction of peace in the Christian community, and even more so you should not do this because of food. It is better to refuse to eat meat and wine if through this self-restraint mutual peace can be maintained. And most importantly, you need to feel sorry for the weak, who can be carried away by the example of the strong, taste the meat and then condemn himself as a terrible criminal. It is not necessary to judge another, but rather to judge yourself, to discuss your behavior - are you not giving someone else a reason to be tempted by your actions? that is, to commit actions that run counter to the perpetrator’s own moral views. – “Stumbling” and “temptation” are synonymous expressions. Rom.14:14. I know and am confident in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean in itself; Only to him who considers something unclean, it is unclean for him. Expressing his conviction that objectively unclean food does not exist, the Apostle is probably based on the words of Christ the Savior Himself (Mark 7:15 et seq.). That is why he adds: “in the Lord Jesus.” Rom.14:15. If your brother is upset about food, then you are no longer acting out of love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. "Upset". The weak could feel this grief, being present, for example, at the meal of the strong. Here meat was served, which he, in his conviction, could not eat, and this already brought him out of his emotional balance. But this is not enough. His dinner companions could joke about him, as if encouraging him to break his vow - and this upset him even more. "Do not destroy." A weak person could die if, embarrassed by his abstinence, he took a piece of meat for himself. Subsequently, when he came home, he would begin to condemn himself for this, and it is unknown what disastrous consequences his torment of conscience would lead to... Rom.14:16. Let not your goodness be blasphemed. "Your kindness". What kind of good this is - interpreters talk about this differently. Some understand the Christian faith and Christianity in general, which the pagans were ready to blaspheme for any reason, others understand Christian freedom... It seems better to see the explanation of this expression in verse 17 - in the words: truth, peace and joy. Christians, in the face of the pagans, could be proud that they had righteous people living among themselves in the joyful Gospel, and the pagans, pointing to the disputes of Christians over food, could object: “Good righteous people! Good unity! Yes, you disagree with each other even over little things...” Rom.14:17. For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. “The Kingdom of God” - in Ap. Paul usually means the Messianic Kingdom, the establishment of which should take place at the second coming of Christ to earth - in the future century (1 Cor. 6:9 et seq.; 1 Cor. 15:24, 50; Gal. 5:21) and never means the earthly Church to which Christians now belong. But here we are talking about the Kingdom of God not in its completion or not about the kingdom of the next century, but about the essence of the Kingdom of God in itself. The essence of the Kingdom of God is not at all to oblige each member of this kingdom to have an indifferent attitude towards every kind of food. – “Not food” (βρώσις) – not eating. – “Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” The most important thing in this kingdom is the truth or righteousness of its members, mutual peace with God (cf. Rom. 5:1 et seq.) and with the brothers, and joy, with the confidence of receiving future salvation, which the Holy Spirit abiding in us gives us (cf. Rom. 8:12 et seq.). Rom.14:18. Whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and worthy of approval from people. "Who serves this". It is better to understand by the word “this” (έν τούτω) truth, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, which the Apostle just spoke about. Christians should take every care to ensure that they have these blessings, because only people who own them can serve Christ and be pleasing to other people. And what people eat and drink is not at all important in the matter of saving the soul. Rom.14:19. Let us therefore seek what serves for peace and mutual edification. From what has been said above, it is clear that there is no need to raise controversy about food. If we need to talk about it, then only about what can maintain peace in the Christian Church and build it into a true house of God (“edification” - more correctly: creation - οικοδομή). Rom.14:20. For the sake of food, do not destroy the work of God. Everything is pure, but it is bad for the person who eats because he is tempted. “The works of God” (έργον τού θεού) are the Church (cf. 1 Cor. 3:9). - “Who eats as a temptation,” i.e., strong in faith, who eats meat and thereby seduces his weak brother. - “It is bad for a person,” that is, it is sinful for the one who does this, although the food itself does not have any impurity in itself. Rom.14:21. It is better not to eat meat, not to drink wine, and not to do anything that causes your brother to stumble, or to be offended, or to become weak. Here the Apostle gives instructions to those who are strong in the faith what they should do. A true Christian is required to make some self-sacrifice for the benefit of his weak brother - giving up meat and wine. Rom.14:22. Do you have faith? have it within yourself, before God. Blessed is he who does not condemn himself in what he chooses. The power of faith will not diminish in a person due to this self-restraint. And there is no need to show off your faith - it’s enough if God sees it! The only compensation or reward for someone strong in faith should be the consciousness that he is acting completely correctly, which is not the case with a weak person, who is always hesitating in deciding what to do in this or that case. Rom.14:23. But he who doubts, if he eats, is condemned, because it is not by faith; and everything that is not from faith is sin. The Apostle sees two types of people: one is people who believe deeply and sincerely in Christ. Everything these people do comes from the heart, which in turn receives promptings from Christ. This means that the deeds of these people are sacred. Others are hesitant people, immersed in doubts. Everything that these people do comes, therefore, not from faith and not from Christ, but from their earthly, carnal reasoning. Meanwhile, the flesh motivates a person precisely to sinful acts. It is clear that here we are talking about faith in Christ, about real strong Christian faith, as firm confidence in Christ. Everything contrary to such faith should naturally belong not to the realm of Christian holiness, but to the realm of sin. Rom.14:24. Now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which has been kept silent from eternity, In his praise to God, the Apostle once again expresses his desire for the Romans to be established in the Christian faith and life with the help of God (cf. Rom. 1:11). To do this, he depicted before them the greatness of the Gospel, as a revelation of the eternal council of God about the salvation of people. Whether His message will achieve such a goal is in the hands of God, and for what He has already done for humanity, glory belongs to God. “According to my gospel,” that is, in accordance with my gospel, so that the Romans should live as the Apostle teaches them. - “And the preaching of Jesus Christ,” that is, which (the gospel) is nothing other than what Christ Himself proclaimed. - “By the revelation of the secret.” The Apostle here wants to say that Christ in His sermon proclaimed the Divine mystery or the eternal Council of God about the salvation of mankind. Rom.14:25. but which has now been revealed, and through the writings of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been proclaimed to all nations for the obedience of their faith, “Now it is revealed also through the writings of the prophets.” Prophetic books provide the key to understanding the economy of our salvation. From them, Christians are convinced that the salvation given to people in Christ was not something new and unexpected, but had long been predetermined in the Council of God. Rom.14:26. To the One Wise God, through Jesus Christ, be glory forever. Amen. "Through Jesus Christ". Christ taught people the concept of God, instilled in them trust in God, and made them pleasing to God. Therefore, only he who believes in Christ can properly honor God. Note: It is difficult to say where this doxology refers. The newest interpreters, based on the evidence of many ancient codes, refer it to the 16th chapter. (Rom. 16:25–27 according to the Athens edition of 1898). But some consider it possible to assume that it belongs to the 14th chapter. Thus, Tsang, in his commentary on the letter to Rom. glorifies him where our text places him. He refers to the evidence of the Antiochian review of the text, to a mass of later codices, to Chrysostom, Theodoret, Ecumenius, Theophylact, to later Syrian translations, the Gothic translation, etc. You might be interested in: