Having considered the Christian’s interaction with his government and society, Paul turns his attention to the perennial problem of strong and weak faith among Christians. What obligations do brethren have toward each other? How far must my Christian liberty be bound by your cultural, but not Bible-based, convictions?

If, as we suspect, Paul is writing to a church in tension over Jewish and Gentile backgrounds, this takes on an urgent tone. Jews still felt bound by dietary law (a lifetime of habit is not easily set aside) and by certain expressions of religious service such as vows (check Acts 21:26 for an incident of Paul’s engagement with such customs). Gentiles felt no such compulsion, but they feared and respected pagan temples, shrines, groves and other holy places, which the Jews considered just silly. Gentiles rebelled at eating meat sacrificed to idols, while Jews gagged at the thought of eating pork. Who is right? Whose convictions should give way to another’s freedom? This section lays down some brilliant guidance for these issues.

From the beginning, a friendly tone is set. There must not be an adversarial context in this; we are to accept one another. In the same vein, we must not be overbearing toward our brethren-especially when the issue is questionable. We must keep in mind that we are all servants of Christ. That means we are not judges standing in Christ’s place! He will determine the quality and acceptability of His servants.

Different cultures place high value on special days, special foods and special spiritual dangers. The imperative in observing these things is conviction. If a person is really convinced that God prefers a special worship on a particular day, he does no wrong in performing it and no other Christian should attempt to stop him. Likewise, if a person is truly persuaded that some food is more blessed by God than other food, it is not our business to enforce Jesus’ statement making all foods clean (Mark7:19). At the same time, though, the convicted Christian may not bind such practices on those who do not share his fervor.

We can comfortably live with a diversity of opinion. We cannot comfortably live with an oppressive conformity to certain opinions. We are interrelated in ways we cannot even guess, even though we all live to Christ. And no matter whether we are alive or dead, we still belong to Jesus. Paul uses language to refer to Jesus that is remarkably similar to the language Jesus used to refer to God in Matthew 22:32. He takes the opportunity to provide a not-very-subtle reminder that Jesus is divine!

Paul finishes this section with a quote from Isaiah 45:23 reminding us all that we will stand accountable to God at the judgment. That serves as motivation to keep us from arrogance and heavy-handedness in dealing with our brethren. It also serves as a check to keep us from condemning those who engage in practices that are not evil, but not to our Biblical and cultural taste.

The major attitude for us to observe in this is care for our brethren. We need to protect each other and be careful not to lead anyone into temptation. Our Christian freedom must not be used as an excuse to endanger brethren who do not share our convictions. There is no food that is inherently unclean (see Mark 7:19 again!), yet there are some things in which we might indulge ourselves that cause great anguish to our brethren. We must be careful not to create this anguish. At the same time we must not accept slanderous labels on consumables that are religiously clean.

In all of this, we must recognize that there are things far more important than diet. It is much more urgent that we live together in peace and harmony than that we indulge in every delectable taste. If we can preserve a brother’s conscience and protect him from temptation by giving up a substance, we have made an advantageous trade.

One way we can preserve peace in this is by keeping our opinions to ourselves! At the same time, we must be careful not to violate our own conscience. We must live in a way that we are sure is in harmony with God’s will. Every aspect of our lives must be governed by our faith.

If we think we are strong Christians, we have the responsibility of protecting the weak. Our task is to encourage and build each other up to greater Christian maturity and service. In fact, the example of Jesus is one of voluntarily setting aside His rights in order to bring blessing into the lives of others. Our maturity will come through study and application of the Scriptures-including the Old Testament. From the Bible we learn about the nature of God.

As we grow and develop in our maturity, we are more closely bound in unity. If the Roman church was divided along Jew/Gentile lines, this discussion about clean and unclean foods and actions may have been designed especially to answer to the disunity problem. For all churches, though, these principles will foster unity in a divided church and prevent opinions from escalating into conflict.

Discussion Questions:

1. What dietary restrictions do we see in our world? Who places these restrictions on others and why? What dietary restrictions does God place on us?

2. What special days do some people observe? What special days are observed in the New Testament? Should a Christian celebrate holidays like Christmas, Easter, or Halloween? Should a Christian refuse to celebrate holidays?

3. How can people of conflicting opinions accept each other in worship? How can we determine what matters are “disputable” and what matters are central to our faith? Is hand clapping or hand-raising in worship a “disputable” matter of opinion, or a matter of conviction?

4. How might the exercise of our freedom endanger a brother? How can we avoid leading someone into temptation? How can we educate a person’s conscience without damaging it?

5. What might we learn from the Old Testament that we would not learn from the New Testament? Why do some people turn away from studying the Old Testament? Why should we study the Old Testament?