Wanna discover your freedom in Christ? Then listen in as Mike Stone and Kevin Smith talk about it today on Grace Coach. Welcome to Grace Coach. My name is Kevin Smith. I got my best friend and co host Mike Stone, with us today.

What's up, Mike? Oh, hey, Kevin. How are you? Doing doing awesome on this beautiful, beautiful day in Chicago. Tell you, we're gonna talk about Romans chapter 14.

Yeah. This is an interesting chapter, Kevin, and we've had so much, well, I would say fun because to me, it's fun reading through the scriptures, doing these podcasts. I mean, you know, it's not work. It's something I really enjoy, and it's been great. We've had some great feedback and, lots of listens, and we're ranked pretty pretty high when you do a search on Roman's podcast.

So Amazingly. Yeah. Well, here on chapter 14, just before we start reading it, Paul is talking to basically 2 groups. He's talking to those who are fully convinced of God's grace that they are free in Christ. And Paul here is gonna be talking about eating and drinking and certain days that you and I, Kevin, we are free in Christ.

We're no longer under the law. Amen. And there's nothing unclean for us, you know, as far as foods is concerned. But then there are others who are believers who are still weak in their faith. They're weak in in their understanding about law and grace, that we're no longer under the law.

You know, you come to Christ and you're excited, and you hear about the good news of Christ living in you, but you still might have a tendency to be under the law, not fully realize everything we have in Christ, that the law ended at the cross, and we're no longer under the old covenant. Case in point would be the apostle Peter who was saved and born again in Acts 2 at Pentecost when the spirit came on everybody in the upper room, And then you go and start to read Acts 10 where Peter is up on the roof, and he sees a sheet coming down with nonkosher animals on each corner of the sheet. Yep. And God tells Peter to kill and eat. And Peter says, I can't do that.

I'm Jewish. I'm Orthodox. I'm kosher. Yeah. Yeah.

Harry was born again and saved in chapter 2 and still struggling with eating certain foods or not eating certain foods because he was still entangled in the law. Yeah. Well, that's that's a perfect example of the two groups that you're talking about in Romans chapter 14 because he identifies these groups as one group being the weaker and the other one being the stronger in their faith. Now when when you look at that and given that context, what you just said in Peter, which I think, you know, of course, Peter probably wasn't in this church with the apostle Paul in Rome, but there were a lot of Jewish converts right alongside of gentile converts who had never heard anything about, you know, ceremonial days, you know, can't eat this food, can't eat shellfish, and so on and so forth. All of this stuff was, like, oblivious to them, period.

So you got the Jews who were who I would say would be the weaker in their faith because they are not at a place that they can, you know, move away from the Mosaic law and live the life that we can live, free in Christ to to eat whatever you want. Right. And then you got these other people who are just, you know, Paul, probably brought them to Christ. You know, maybe like you're saying in acts 2, they were converted. Some of them, you know, were in Rome.

Okay? So so those are the 2 groups we're talking about. The Jews were the ones that were weak in their faith. They were holding on to the Mosaic law. Whereas, kinda like fresh baby Christian Gentiles who may not know anything about the law, Abraham who, they were willing to eat anything.

The the the Mosaic law had no effect on them. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. They were missing out on barbecue ribs.

You don't want them to sound out of ribs. Oh my gosh. Ribs and bacon? Come on. Love it.

Gosh. I know our daughter our daughter wanted to be vegan, vegan, whatever you wanna call it, and I think it was the the ribs and the bacon that water out. That killed it. One too many t bone steaks. Yeah.

Alright. So Romans 14 1 through 4, I'll read it. Except others, believers, who are weak in faith and who don't argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. For instance, one person believes it's alright to eat anything, Mhmm. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables.

Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don't, and those who don't eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them all. Who are you to condemn someone else's servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord's help, they will stand and receive his approval. Yeah.

You don't wanna kill relationships over food, do you? Not at all. To me, this is a continuation of kind of what we've seen throughout the whole book of Romans, and that's let love flow through us. Love one another and, you know, don't judge them. And to me, I think that's the only way that we can not be judgmental to another brother is to allow god's love to monitor ourselves, to to deny ourselves for the sake of another brother.

Because I don't think that the context that we're talking about in Romans 14 is really applicable for us today, But there are other things that when you think of things like, drinking, for instance. You know, like, there's some people who don't drink. Now if you're at a party and there's somebody who's, like, you know, has alcoholic problems, would that be a context in which we would deny ourselves drinking in order to not cause our brother to stumble? Right. Right.

Because you don't wanna be drinking in front of somebody who has a problem with drinking. Yeah. Don't invite somebody out to a bar to show your freedom in Christ. Yeah. Yeah.

And, you know, as far as love is concerned, we read that in chapter 13. I think this was the key verse, Romans 13:8, that we read last week. Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another, and whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. So the key here, just like you said, it's about accepting one another, and people might know that God loves them. Right?

But not everybody knows that God accepts them. But God does accept everybody. He loves and accepts. And I think this is a follow through about accepting others who don't kinda align with, you know, you and who you are. Yeah.

Exactly. I mean, don't let like the Bible says, a disputable matter caused division in the body of Christ. I mean, it's it's hard enough to love people with all our quirks. And that's the other cool thing about it is that and and, of course, he goes on in the rest of this chapter to talk about this. I'm a little jumping, ahead.

But it's like, you can hold whatever belief you want to hold, but you don't have to force that belief on somebody else. That belief that you have, say, for instance, it is about eating a certain food or not. Hold that belief, but make sure that that is between you and god, and you don't have to enforce that you don't have to enforce your belief on somebody else. Why don't you read the 5 through 8? Alright.

Romans 14:5 through 8 says, one man considers one day more sacred than another, another man considers everyday alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special does so to the Lord. He who eats meat eats to the Lord. He who gives thanks gives thanks to the Lord, and he who abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

For none of us lives to himself alone, and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the lord, and if we die, we die to the lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the lord. That, again, here is the key to these set of verses is that you belong to the Lord. And as far as what you do as far as a Sabbath day, you wanna worship some worship on Saturday is their Sabbath day.

Some at Sunday is their Sabbath day. Some don't have a day of rest. I wanna read this from Hebrews 4:9 to 11 that says, there remains then a Sabbath rest for the people of God, those who are born again. For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work just as God did from his. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest so that no one will fall by their following their example of disobedience.

So somebody wants to celebrate Sabbath day, go right ahead. But truly and Paul knew this, that we're no longer under the Sabbath, the Old Testament. Right. Sabbath day. And he can say this knowing that we're no longer under the old covenant.

If you're in Christ, you have that Sabbath rest every day. You could rest every day. Yeah. Why? Because you can rest from your own work because God rested from his.

It's like why did God rest on the 7th day? You know, a lot of people talk about he did all these things on day 1 through 6. That was a lot of work. I'd be tired too. But why did he rest?

He didn't have to rest. He's God. But he's he rested for the purpose that we would also rest from our works. Yes. It's a picture of us coming to Christ by faith and not by the law and then resting in that faith.

Yes. It is it is a sad state of affairs that there's denominations in Christianity that hold so fast to a Saturday day of worship, and I've listened to these guys preach, and there was one of them that I respected a lot of what he said, but, you know, when he got off trying to prove this case about a Saturday day of worship, it kinda lost me. I was just like, I can't go with you on that one, brother. Yeah. And the thing is say that guy is your neighbor.

Well, you want unity in the faith. You Exactly. Wanna have a great relationship in Christ, and you'll never be able to do that if you're judging one another, not accepting one another. I think that's what this is all about. Just Yes.

You know, break down any kind of wall of hostility between you as far as judging one another or Right. Just not accepting somebody because that's the opportunity we have to continue to spread the gospel. It's almost I'm just thinking, as you just said that there's a book you may have read it, Boundaries by Henry Cloud. Got a lot of great principles there, but that's kind of what we're talking about. Having boundaries about what you believe and about what other people believe, and don't allow their religious, very held dearly beliefs to impact you.

And and more so, don't allow the division in the body of Christ. That's really, I think, Paul's heart right here is like I agree. You know, don't let it divide the body of Christ that Christ died for the church. Who are we to say you're a lesser or a better brother than me or somebody else because of what you're doing. Yeah.

Ephesians 4 one and 3 just talks about that because here, the first three chapters of Ephesian was about Jew and the Gentile, that the Jews, they were the chosen ones or they were chosen 1st. Then the Gentiles, they were chosen 2nd. And the Gentiles were far off, and the Jews were right there. But in Ephesians 4, it says as a prisoner for the for the lord, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle.

Be patient, bearing with one another, Jew and Gentile, in love. Amen. Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. That's a great verse. Isn't it?

And you only can do that when you you're truly not judging somebody and just not accepting. You don't have to like you say, you don't have to agree with them, but certainly you want to accept. Okay. This is where you're at. And I'll I'll give you a quick example.

We were at a Greek fest 2 days ago. Nice. And we went with another couple we didn't know. Well, the 6 of us were all talking, and this fella is a Greek Orthodox, and he wanted us to take us through the church. The stained glass and, symbols and everything.

And and he explained it all. My Greek wedding. It was unbelievable. And I just I go, that's unbelievable. Yeah.

And, why? Because I may not agree with all of this, but I I wanna have a relationship with this guy. Yes. Oh my gosh. Mike, that's a lot of growth for you.

Proud of you, man. Yeah. I'm not done growing. I could've seen that conversation going, you know, south pretty quick. Oh, it did not.

Now I would say 20 years ago. Yeah. Yeah. That would've no. Real quick.

Exact well, that's why I didn't have many friends 20 years ago, but now I'm just I'm holding everybody off. I got so many friends left and right. Alright. Let's keep reading here. Let's read.

Let's see. 10 to 12, I'll read. So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we all stand before the judgment seat of God.

For the scripture say, as surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God. Yes. Each of us will give a personal account to God, so let's stop condemning each other. Yeah. Love that.

I love that section. Are you done reading? Yeah. And then it says decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall. Nice.

I was gonna say I like the correlation in this verse where it says, for we will all stand before god's judgment seat. And then back up in verse 4, it says, who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master, he stands or falls. Yeah. And he will stand for the lord is able to make him stand.

So, I mean, it's just a great picture of god's grace and mercy giving us what we don't deserve and not giving us what we do deserve. God is gonna make us all stand. So why are we if if we are arguing over disputable matters, why are we trying to make somebody not stand? It's god who's gonna make us stand. And what will we say at god's judgment seat?

So many people are so fearful when they read verses like this that god's gonna be judging everything that we've ever done. Mhmm. Well, the only answer that we have is what? What'd you do with my son? Did you put your faith in Jesus, or did you not?

Yes. Yes. Exactly. Because all of our sins are forgiven. Okay?

So that whole movie reel, that's been destroyed. You know? And that's not the question. How many sins? How often did you do this?

Were you nice? No. The question is, did you put your faith in the resurrection of Jesus? Did you believe in him, and were you saved? That's the only question.

Lamb, the lamb of God. Yeah. You take Alright. Why don't you take 14 through 19 there, Kevin? Got it.

As one who is in the lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him, it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil.

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Yeah. So, again, somebody wants to eat pork, wants to be a vegan, that's fine.

It's no problem because I'm not gonna judge that. The the judgment seat is coming, and the kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, verse 17, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Alright. So verse 20, do not apart the work of God over what you eat. Boy, he keeps hammering.

He sure does. Not letting this go. Well, think about it. They came out of 100 of years of living under the law and and just can you imagine what it was like in the Roman church for these guys to be eating a meal with these Jewish elites? That had to be a huge issue.

Well, here, remember Paul criticizing Peter? He was Called them up. Eat eating with the Gentiles, but when the Jews came Didn't eat with them. He he didn't eat with them. Yeah.

So by implication, I think what he's saying is, you were eating the barbecue, Peter. And now when we're here, you're not eating the barbecue. What's up with that? I tell you, I don't know. I don't understand.

Alright. Don't appear don't tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable. That's what God was trying to tell Peter up on the roof in Acts 10, and you should read it if you haven't read through that. All the animals were were in the blanket.

Eat, Peter. Yeah. It's like, no. But all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble.

You may believe there's nothing wrong with what you were doing, but keep it between yourself and god. Blessed are those who don't feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.

You know, verse 21 really broadens the context for this being much more than just food and drink and ceremonial days of the Mosaic Law. When he says, or do anything else that will cause your brother to to fall. So it's really our whole lives. We we want to live our whole lives in love and to be able to in whatever context, whatever situation, to say no. Don't cause your brother to stumble.

Say no to whatever freedom that we have in Christ in order for the sake of your brother to love him. Yeah. And if you cause your brother to stumble, here's what's gonna happen. You're you're not gonna talk going forward. Amen.

The relationship is pretty much will be severed from there. But Because he feels like you're judging him for whether he's eating or not eating or doing or not doing. Amen. Amen. And as far as this last verse, if you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.

So, okay, Paul's saying, don't do that. Right? Yeah. It's a sin. But here's the good news.

All of your sins have been taken away, and it doesn't mean you should do these things. It doesn't mean it's okay to judge somebody and not accept somebody, but we all do that. We make mistakes. We think what we shouldn't think, and we do what we probably shouldn't do. And whether it's intentional or not intentional, God has taken away all our sins.

And if we've hurt somebody, God wants us to go and reconcile with them. But to know that all of our sins, including being judgmental, that has been taken away at the cross by Jesus Christ 2,024 years ago. Absolutely. And not to take anything away from what you just said about our our sins being taken away, but I would also add that this verse is really about, say, in the context of drinking. Okay?

If I think and I drink alcohol, and I in my conscience this to me, this verse is really about our conscience. And so for me, I've prayed about it, and I'm like, alright. I think it's okay for me to have a glass of wine with dinner or beer with the boys. Alright? So I have no problem with that.

But if another person who thinks in their conscience it is wrong to drink, and they do drink, that's what I think Paul's getting to right here. You're exactly right. It's like, it's the same thing. I'm drinking a beer. He's drinking a beer.

But in my conscience, I think it's okay. But in this guy's conscience, he's he's like, I shouldn't be drinking a beer. I shouldn't be drinking a beer. I shouldn't be drinking. Well, you shouldn't be drinking a beer then.

Yeah. Oh, it's a great point. Drink it if he wants to, but if he knows in his mind, if he thinks it's a wrong thing to do, then it's wrong for him to do it. And that's that's our that's where our conscience comes in. Yeah.

Absolutely. Freedom in Christ. Right. Well, that sums up chapter 14, Kevin. Really, it's all about the fruit of the spirit, which is love.

That that's something that I think everybody easily can struggle with, you know, loving one another. But it is a byproduct of just being in Christ, knowing you're born again, knowing you can't lose your salvation, knowing you're right with God, knowing you're forgiven, knowing you're no longer under the law. And I believe the byproduct of that love from God is that we get to love each other. Thank you for listening to Grace Coach. If you want to connect with us, we would love to engage with you.

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