21    The Unity of Strong and Weak Christians—part 2 Build  Up One Another Without  Offending (14:13-23)

Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin. (14:13–23)

In His New Covenant, our Lord Jesus Christ has granted marvelous freedom to those who belong to Him by faith. Most importantly, we are freed from the penalty of sin, from spiritual death and eternal damnation. But Christians also are freed from the encumbrances of the ceremonial law and dietary restrictions of the Old Covenant. Apart from sin, we are completely free to enjoy all the good gifts that God has so graciously bestowed on those who trust in His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

But although we are permitted to enjoy that freedom, we are not commanded to do so. We are not obligated to exercise every freedom we have in Christ. In fact, the greater our love and spiritual maturity, the less important those freedoms will be to us and the more willing we will be to relinquish them for the sake of best serving the Lord and others, especially other believers. Most especially, our concern should be for fellow Christians whom Paul describes as weak, those who are still shackled in some way by the external requirements and restrictions under which they formerly lived. The issue for the strong, mature Christian is not whether or not he possesses freedom but how he should exercise or waive that freedom on the basis of how it will affect others.

But as Paul emphasizes throughout 14:1–15:13, and as was discussed in the previous chapter, all responsibility does not fall on the stronger brother. Strong and weak believers have a mutual responsibility to love and fellowship with each other and to refrain from judging the other’s convictions in regard to issues that the New Testament neither commands nor condemns.

Most churches include dedicated, faithful believers whose consciences do not allow them to participate in or approve of certain practices. When stronger believers, out of love for those brothers and sisters in the Lord, voluntarily restrict their own lives to conform to the stricter standards of the weaker believers, they build closer relationships with each other and the church as a whole is strengthened and unified. And in that loving environment, the weaker believers are helped to become stronger.

Our Christian liberty is vertical, before the Lord. But the exercise of that liberty is horizontal, because it is seen by and affects others. To rightly understand and use our freedom in Christ brings great satisfaction. But that satisfaction is multiplied when we willingly surrender the exercise of a liberty for the sake of other believers. More importantly, it greatly pleases our Lord and promotes harmony in His church.

The New Testament places considerable restraints on the use of our liberty in Christ. It is not, for example, to be used self-deceptively to justify an evil or excess in our life. “Act as free men,” Peter declares, “and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God” (1 Pet. 2:16).

Nor does the Lord grant us liberty to cause self-destruction or self-bondage. What Paul said of himself should be true of every believer. “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Cor. 6:12). Later in the same epistle, he added, “All things are lawful, but not all things edify” (10:23). A habit or practice that may not be sinful in itself can easily become sinful by gaining control over and injuring the person who engages in it. What is begun as an exercise of legitimate freedom can turn into a form of bondage and self-destruction. Careless and selfish exercise of a God-given freedom often results in loss of freedom, in our becoming “mastered,” as Paul said, by the very thing we are freely using—a danger the apostle himself was determined to avoid. Instead of serving and honoring the One who gives it, freedom that is carelessly used can undermine the work of God, dishonor His name, and wreak havoc among His people.

Christian liberty is not meant to bring spiritual self-retardation, as its misuse invariably does. Far more than any other age in history, ours is besieged with a seemingly limitless array of things that can consume our time, energy, and finances. Many of those things are flagrantly immoral and ungodly. But even inherently innocent things are so pervasive and accessible that they easily can undermine our devotion to the Lord and to His people, retard our spiritual growth, and reduce our spiritual usefulness.

Paul’s supreme purpose was to “do all things for the sake of the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:23). To illustrate his pursuit of that purpose he used the figure of the Isthmian games, which were held at Corinth and therefore well-known to Paul’s readers. Those games were one of the two famous Greek athletic festivals, the other being the Olympics. “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize?” Paul asks. Therefore, “run in such a way that you may win. And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:24–27).

Paul used his Christian liberty, and every other gift and blessing he possessed, for but one purpose: to attain the righteousness “which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Phil. 3:9–11). He went on to confess with humility: “Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:11–14).

In Romans 14:13–23 Paul continues his teaching about Christian liberty and the mutual obligation of strong and weak believers to accept each other in Christ without being judgmental or causing offense. In these eleven verses, the apostle mentions a number of principles, each given in negative form, that serve as guidelines for all Christians. The principles are closely related and sometimes overlap, but they seem to fall into six general categories: Our liberty should never cause a brother to stumble (v. 13), to grieve (vv. 14–15a), or to be devastated (v. 15b); and it should never forfeit our witness for Christ (vv. 16–19), tear down His work (vv. 20–21), or be either denounced or flaunted (vv. 22–23).

DON’T CAUSE YOUR BROTHER TO STUMBLE

Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. (14:13)

Therefore refers back to verses 10–12, in which Paul reminds his readers that God alone is qualified and has the authority to judge the minds and hearts of His people, who will all stand before His judgment seat (v. 10) and give account of themselves to Him (v. 12; cf. 2 Cor. 5:10). Judgment is God’s exclusive prerogative.

Consequently, we must not judge one another (cf. Matt. 7:1–5). It is the unloving attitude of contemptuous superiority by strong believers and the equally unloving attitude of self-righteousness by weak believers (v. 3) by which they judge one another. From Paul’s day to ours, those wrongful judgments have been major causes of disrespect, disharmony, and disunity in the church.

As reflected in the text of the New American Standard Bible (used here), Paul uses the same Greek verb (krinō) with two different connotations in verse 13. In the first phrase, let us not judge one another, the verb carries the idea of condemnation, as it does in verses 3, 4, and 10. But in the following phrase, the same verb is translated determine, which refers to making a decision. Those two connotations are also found in the English word judge. “Being judgmental” carries the negative idea of denunciation, whereas “using your best judgment” refers to making a careful decision, with no negative connotation.

Paul’s play on words demands that we should never be judgmental of fellow believers but instead should use our best judgment to help them. In relation to the second meaning, we should determine … not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. He gives the same warning in his first letter to Corinth, saying, “Take care lest this liberty of yours [the strong] somehow become a stumbling block to the weak” (1 Cor. 8:9). This carries the idea of stumbling into sin.

For example, although the New Testament does not forbid the drinking of alcoholic beverages, there are many good reasons for Christians to abstain. One of the most important is the detrimental effect it can have on a former alcoholic. Our drinking, even in moderation, could easily place a stumbling block in that brother’s way and cause him to fall back into his former addiction.

The same principle applies to any activity or practice that is not inherently sinful. Problem areas vary from society to society and from person to person, but the principle never changes. The loving, caring, strong Christian will determine in his mind and heart to be sensitive to any weakness in a fellow believer and avoid doing anything, including what is innocent in itself and otherwise permissible, that might cause him to morally or spiritually stumble.

DON’T GRIEVE YOUR BROTHER

I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. (14:14–15a)

A second way to build up fellow believers without offending them is to be careful not to say or do anything that might cause them to be spiritually grieved or hurt.

As far as nonsinful things are concerned, the apostle says, I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. He was not stating a personal opinion or preference about such things but was convinced in the Lord Jesus; that is, he knew by divine revelation.

Having been a Pharisee, Paul doubtless had been extremely careful about what he ate and did not eat. But he now understood with absolute certainty the truth which the Lord declared to Peter three times in a vision: “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy” (Acts 10:15). That divine cleansing referred directly to the multitude of animals Peter was commanded to eat that were ceremonially unclean according to Mosaic law (vv. 12–13). Indirectly, and in an even more important way, it referred to God’s full and impartial acceptance of believing Gentiles into the church (vv. 28, 34).

Jesus declared that “there is nothing outside the man which going into him can defile him” (Mark 7:15). Paul assured Timothy that “God has created [all foods] to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4:3–5). He informed Titus that “to the pure, all things are pure” (Titus 1:15).

The strong Christian is therefore entirely right in his conviction that he is at liberty to enjoy anything the Lord does not declare to be sinful. The weak Christian, on the other hand, is wrong in his understanding about some of those things. But he is not wrong in the sense of being heretical or immoral. He is wrong in the sense of not having complete and mature understanding, which causes his conscience to be unnecessarily sensitive. For that reason, to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean in his mind.

Concerning the same problem, Paul gave the following explanation to the church at Corinth:

It is likely that every Christian has a weak spot of some sort in his conscience. Paul himself probably had one or more. He did not claim to be free of every spiritual deficiency, but he testified before the Roman governor that he did his “best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men” (Acts 24:16).

For various reasons, there are certain things that we know are not sinful but that we do not feel comfortable in doing or even being near. And as long as we feel discomfort about any such thing, we should avoid doing it—even if it would not cause offense to other believers. If we ourselves consider anything to be unclean, then to us it is unclean. And if we persist in violating our conscience, that conscience will become more and more insensitive until it is “seared … as with a branding iron” (1 Tim. 4:2). It then is no longer as sensitive as it needs to be to protect us from sin.

But Paul’s major emphasis in this passage is on how our words and actions affect the spiritual welfare of fellow Christians. Therefore, if because of food, or any other issue, our brother is hurt, we are no longer walking according to love.

Is hurt translates lupeō, which has the basic meaning of causing pain, distress, or grief. It is used by John to describe Peter’s reaction when Jesus asked “him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’” and “Peter was grieved” (John 21:17). It is even used of the Holy Spirit, who is grieved when we sin (Eph. 4:30).

It is lamentable when Christians are harmed by unbelievers. But it is tragic when Christians hurt a brother Christian, particularly over matters that are not inherently wrong. A weak Christian can be hurt or distressed from watching another Christian say or do something he considers sinful. The hurt is deeper if the offending believer is admired and respected by the weaker one. A weak Christian also can be hurt when, by word or example, he is led by a stronger brother to go against the convictions of his own conscience. That is by far the greater offense. Being upset over what another Christian does can certainly hurt, but that hurt is not nearly so severe and damaging as the hurt of a believer’s conscience over what he himself has done. He suffers feelings of guilt, and forfeits much of his peace of mind, his joy, his witness, and perhaps even his assurance of salvation. A Christian whose careless use of his liberty causes such hurt to other believers is no longer walking according to love.

After the caution cited above from 1 Corinthians 8, Paul goes on to say that a strong believer who causes a weaker brother to stumble by going against his conscience not only is unloving but commits sin against that brother and against the Lord Himself. “Food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. But take care,” he warns, “lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And thus, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ” (1 Cor. 8:8–12).

Paul is not, of course, speaking of “ruined” in the sense of damnation, because that is what believers are eternally saved from. He is speaking of the loss of such things as those already mentioned—peace of mind, joy, witness, and assurance of salvation. The best safeguard against grieving another believer’s conscience is to determine to do the opposite of what the insensitive and unloving person does: to always walk according to love.

DON’T DEVASTATE YOUR BROTHER

Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. (14:15b)

A third principle for building up rather than harming weaker believers is not to spiritually devastate them. As mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, the six principles or guidelines in verses 13–23 overlap and are not completely distinct or separable. While this third warning is much like the second, it is considerably stronger.

Apollumi (destroy) refers to utter devastation. But as the noted Greek scholar W E. Vine explains, “The idea is not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of well-being” (An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words [Westwood, N.J.: Revel, 1940]). The term is often used in the New Testament to indicate eternal damnation (see, e.g., Matt. 10:28; Luke 13:3; John 3:16; Rom. 2:12), which applies to unbelievers. But even with that meaning the word does not connote extinction, as annihilationists claim, but rather spiritual calamity that will continue forever.

To destroy … him for whom Christ died, is not to cause his damnation but to seriously devastate his spiritual growth. When Jesus said, “It is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish [apollumi]” (Matt. 18:14), the context makes clear that “these little ones” are believers. They have been “converted and become like children” (v. 3) and “believe in Me” (v. 6). Jesus was not concerned about their loss of salvation but about their loss of spiritual well-being, which, although not an eternal loss, is a injury the Lord considers to be extremely grave. Even to “despise one of those little ones” (v. 10) for whom Christ died is a great offense to God.

It is also important to note that the phrase for whom Christ died is here used to describe believers. This is commonly called limited atonement, or particular redemption, the idea that Christ sacrificed His life on the cross only on behalf of the elect who come to faith.

Certainly the atonement in its ultimate and full sense is limited to the elect, but the New Testament is replete with declarations that Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient to cover the sin of every human being. In the following quotations, italics have been added for emphasis of that truth. John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Jesus said of Himself “that whoever believes may in Him [the Son of Man] have eternal life,” and that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:15–16). “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven,” Jesus said; and “if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh” (John 6:51).

Paul already has made clear in Romans that “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (10:13). Elsewhere he says with equal unambiguity, that “the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died” (2 Cor. 5:14), “God our Savior, … desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time” (1 Tim. 2:3–6), and that “we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers” (1 Tim. 4:10).

Peter warned against “false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves” (2 Pet. 2:1). In other words, the Lord paid a price sufficient to save even those unbelievers who corrupt His Word and blaspheme His name.

In his first letter, John wrote that “we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:1–2), and that “we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (4:14).

God’s provision of an atonement without limit is prefigured in the Old Testament. When the high priest once a year made a sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, he made it on behalf of “all the people of the assembly,” that is, all Israelites (Lev. 16:33). The scope of the sacrifice was unlimited in its sufficiency, but limited in its application. That act did not cleanse the sins even of believing Jews, but it prefigured God’s future offering of atonement by the supreme High Priest, Jesus Christ, who would sacrifice Himself for the sins of the entire world and apply it to the elect.

DON’T FORFEIT YOUR WITNESS

Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. (14:16–19)

A fourth purpose for building up rather than injuring weaker believers is to avoid forfeiting our witness before the rest of the world.

It is possible to so abuse our liberty in Christ in regard to fellow believers that we create conflicts within the church that give the world cause to criticize and condemn those who claim to hold brotherly love in such high esteem. Therefore, Paul says, do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil.

Although it brings much blessing and enjoyment to those who understand and exercise it properly, Christian liberty is not simply for our own benefit and certainly not for our selfish abuse. It is a gracious gift from God and a wonderfully good thing. But like every other divine blessing, it can be misused in ways that are outside of, and often contrary to, God’s purposes. This good thing of liberty is to be used carefully, with loving concern for our weaker brethren and with concern for its witness to the unbelieving world. It should not cause those brothers to stumble, be grieved, or harmed in any way; and it should never give the watching world an excuse for it to be spoken of as evil.

As reported in Acts 15, the Jerusalem Council strongly denounced the Judaizers’ insistence that “It is necessary to circumcise [Gentile believers], and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses” (v. 5). But it also was decided that care should be taken not to offend the consciences either of Jewish or Gentile believers who were weak. Consequently, the group sent a letter to the churches advising “that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well” (Acts 15:29). Fornication apparently was a moral problem in many of the churches and was forbidden because it is outright sin. But the other three prohibitions had to do with religious law and ceremony, both Jewish and pagan.

As mentioned before, many Gentile believers could not bring themselves to eat meat that had been used in a pagan ritual. Paul carefully dealt with that problem in his first letter to Corinth, which, as one would imagine, included many Gentile converts who continued to have social contact with unbelieving Gentiles as well as with fellow believers. The apostle therefore advised them:

The situation was this: A strong and a weak Christian sometimes would go to dinner at the house of an unbelieving Gentile. When the host served the meal, he might mention that the meat had been used in a pagan sacrifice. The weak believer would be immediately disturbed and tell the other believer that he could not in good conscience eat such meat. Out of love for his weaker brother, the strong Christian would join in refusing to eat the meat, understanding that it is better to offend an unbeliever than a fellow believer. Although that unusual and selfless act of love might temporarily offend the unbelieving host, it might also be used of the Spirit to show the depth of Christian love and draw him to the gospel.

Paul’s dual message was, in effect, “Don’t apologize for or renounce your freedom in Christ, and don’t let your own conscience be bothered. Take advantage of your liberty with joy and gratitude, because it is a precious gift from God. But, on the other hand, be willing at any time to forfeit the exercise of your freedom if it might cause spiritual harm to a believer or become an unnecessary offense to an unbeliever. Before the church and before the world, it is much more important to demonstrate our love than our freedom.” He told the Corinthian church, “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more” (1 Cor. 9:19).

Many Jewish Christians, because of the Mosaic restrictions under which they had been raised, could not bring themselves to eat meat that still contained blood nor could they eat meat from an animal that had been killed by strangulation. When a weak Jewish believer found himself at a meal where such meat was being served, any stronger believer who was present should, out of love for his brother, also refuse to eat it.

Such careful exercise of Christian liberty is vital to the unity of the church and to the church’s witness before and to the unbelieving world. Forsaking a freedom is a small concession to make for the sake of both believers and potential believers, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

When those three attributes characterize individual Christians and the local church in which they worship and through which they serve, the work of Christ is advanced and blessed in the Holy Spirit.

Righteousness in our daily living should always be more precious to us than the exercise of our liberties. Even though those liberties are God-given, we should seek continually to be “filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Phil. 1:11) and to always be wearing “the breastplate of righteousness” (Eph. 6:14).

Peace in the church—the loving, tranquil relationship of believers who are more interested in serving others than in pleasing themselves—is also more important than individual liberties and is a powerful witness to the unbelieving world. It is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). God’s people are called to “be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality” (Rom. 12:10–13; cf. James 3:17). Those are marks of genuine peace.

Like peace, the joy of believers is a product of righteousness. It is both a mystery and a strong attraction to the world and is often used by the Holy Spirit to draw men and women to Christ. Also like peace, joy is a fruit of the Spirit. Even in the midst of hardship and persecution, we are able to have, and should always seek, “the joy of the Holy Spirit” (1 Thess. 1:6).

The loving and selfless Christian who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. Dokimos (approved) refers to acceptance after careful examination, as when a jeweler carefully inspects a gem under a magnifying glass to determine its genuineness and value. When we serve Christ selflessly, we prove ourselves “to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15).

Paul himself exemplified the selfless principles he commends in this passage. He acknowledged, for example, his right to have a wife and to be paid for his ministry (1 Cor. 9:5–6). Nevertheless, “we did not use this right,” he explained, “but we endure all things, that we may cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ” (v. 12).

So then, Paul continues, let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. Humility, selfless love, and compassion for the needs of others are among the things which make for peace. In the closing remarks of his second letter to Corinth, Paul said, “Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you” (2 Cor. 13:11). An indispensable part of faithful witnessing is “being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). Those virtues, along with the willingness to forsake our liberties for the sake of fellow believers, also assure the building up of one another in Christian fellowship.

DON’T PULL DOWN THE WORK OF GOD

Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. (14:20–21)

A fifth reason for building up rather than injuring weaker believers is not to tear down the work of God for the sake of food.

Do not tear down translates the present imperative of kataluō, suggesting that Paul was commanding certain believers in Rome to discontinue something they were already doing.

As we have seen, in the days of the early church many offenses against the consciences of weak brothers involved food. For Jews it related to eating food that was declared ceremonial unclean under the Mosaic law. For Gentiles, it related to eating food, most commonly meat, that had been used in a pagan sacrifice. But in the broader context of Romans 14 and 15, Paul’s warnings about food and drink relate to anything not sinful in itself that might be said or done that would cause a weaker Christian to be offended and spiritually harmed.

Also in this context, the work of God clearly refers to believers, all of whom “are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:10). It is therefore not only a serious offense against a weaker brother to cause him to stumble but a serious offense against the purposes of God.

We would consider it an appalling crime for someone to deface a Rembrandt painting, to shatter a sculpture by Michelangelo, or to smash a Stradivarius violin. How infinitely worse it is to tear down a work of God, a man “for whom Christ died” (Rom. 14:15).

“By sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ,” Paul wrote as he chastised the immature and self-indulgent believers at Corinth. “Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble,” he said of himself, “I will never eat meat again, that I might not cause my brother to stumble” (1 Cor. 8:12–13).

The apostle reminds us again that he is not speaking about sinful and unholy things, but about discretionary liberties that are good gifts from God. All such things indeed are clean and good in themselves (cf. vv. 14, 16). The danger is that, when they are exercised selfishly and carelessly by strong Christians, those very blessings can become evil for the man who eats and gives offense.

Therefore, it is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, which are in themselves good, or to do anything else that is good in itself, by which your brother stumbles, because such stumbling hinders the work of God in and through that believer. God is endeavoring to build that believer up (Eph. 4:11–15) while we are tearing him down. That is unthinkable!

As noted previously, Paul is not prohibiting all drinking of alcoholic beverages, which neither the Old nor New Testament forbids. It should also be noted that the common wine drunk by Jews of that day was highly diluted with water and had a low alcohol content. But, if Paul considered the drinking of wine to be sinful in itself, it would not make sense to use it as an illustration of discretionary, nonsinful practices. (For a more detailed discussion of this matter, see the author’s Ephesians in this commentary series, pp. 229–44.)

The issue concerns doing anything at all by which your brother stumbles. The pleasure of eating offensive food or drink, or the pleasure of doing anything else our liberty allows us to do, is absolutely trivial compared to the spiritual welfare of a brother or sister in Christ. It is worse than trivial. It becomes actually sinful if we have reason to believe it might cause one of the little ones for whom Christ died to stumble.

DON’T DENOUNCE OR FLAUNT YOUR LIBERTY

The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin. (14:22–23)

The sixth and final reason for exercising our liberty with great care is that we can harm even ourselves when we do not view our liberty from God’s perspective. We lose that divine perspective when we denounce or belittle good things He has given us or when, at the other extreme, we lovelessly flaunt our liberty without caring about how we affect others.

Verse 22 obviously is directed to the strong Christian, the one who understands and appreciates his freedom. Paul’s counsel to him is simple and direct: The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. When by sincere faith and a correct understanding of Scripture we have a conviction before God that a custom, a practice, or an activity is worthwhile and good, we dare not denounce it as sinful. Nor should we allow our conscience to condemn us for exercising it—with Paul’s repeated stipulation that we gladly relinquish that freedom for the sake of a brother or sister in Christ.

Verse 23 just as obviously is directed to the weak Christian, the one whose conscience is still offended by certain religious carryovers from his former life. And the apostle’s counsel to him is just as simple and direct: He who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin. The corresponding stipulation is that, just as the strong believer commits sin by causing a weak brother to go against his own conscience, the weak brother sins, is condemned, when, contrary to the convictions of his own faith, he succumbs to that which his conscience condemns.