But they're wrong! | Bob Wriedt | Romans 14:1-12
This week at Grace, we're in Romans 14:1-12, where Paul describes the importance of Christian freedom in disputed matters.
For the Romans, the presenting issue was how the Old Testament food laws applied to Christians. For us today, issues of Christian freedom abound: politics, entertainment, alcohol... We could go on and on.
How do we live together in Christian community with people who disagree with us?
This week's Scripture is invaluable in showing us a path forward. I'm very grateful for our former senior pastor, Don Shoemaker, and all that he taught me about Christian freedom, and I'm looking forward to opening the discussion with you all this Sunday.
In Christ,
Pastor Bob
PS. This Sunday is the end of Daylight Saving Time for the year. Enjoy the extra hour of sleep!
Romans 14:1-12
1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master[a] that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;11 for it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess[b] to God.”
12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.