2. one believeth that he may eat all things—See Acts 10:16. another, who is weak, eateth herbs—restricting himself probably to a vegetable diet, for fear of eating what might have been offered to idols, and so would be unclean. (See 1 Corinthians 8:1-13). read more
3. Let not him that eateth despise—look down superciliously upon "him that eateth not." and let not him that eateth not judge—sit in judgment censoriously upon "him that eateth." for God hath received him—as one of His dear children, who in this matter acts not from laxity, but religious principle. read more
4. Who art thou that judges another man's—rather, "another's" servant?—that is, CHRIST'S, as the whole context shows, especially Romans 14:8; Romans 14:9. Yea, c.—"But he shall be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand" that is, to make good his standing, not at the day of judgment, of which the apostle treats in Romans 14:10, but in the true fellowship of the Church here, in spite of thy censures. read more
5. One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day—The supplement "alike" should be omitted, as injuring the sense. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind—be guided in such matters by conscientious conviction. read more
6. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it to the Lord—the Lord CHRIST, as before. and he . . . not, to the Lord he doth not—each doing what he believes to be the Lord's will. He that earth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks—The one gave thanks to God for the flesh which the other scrupled to use; the other did the same for the herbs to which, for conscience' sake, he restricted himself. From this passage about... read more
Paul spoke here to those who, as himself, understood the implications of Christian liberty. The other group, the weak in faith, consisted of those whose faith was not strong enough to enable them to exercise the full liberty they had in Christ. Paul may have coined the designations "weak" and "strong," or these may have been terms with which his Roman readers were already familiar."The weakness in faith to which this chapter refers is not weakness in basic Christian faith but weakness in... read more
1. The folly of judging one another 14:1-12The apostle dealt first with the importance of not judging one another. This was a particular temptation to those Christians who believed that they should refrain from some practices that they believed were displeasing to God but which other Christians felt were legitimate. When Paul wrote, the first group included Jewish Christians who, because of their background in Judaism, tended to perpetuate the practices commanded in the Mosaic Code. Some Jewish... read more
D. Conduct within Christian liberty 14:1-15:13In Romans 14:1 to Romans 15:13, Paul gave special attention to the problem of knowing how to live in Christian freedom. This section of Romans deals with Christian conduct when God does not specify exactly what we should do in every situation (cf. 1 Corinthians 8). In such cases some Christians will do one thing and others another, both within God’s will. How to handle these situations is the focus of this section.Paul moved on to discuss a problem... read more
Here is a specific case of disagreement. Paul did not say why the weaker brother chose not to eat meat. This brother’s reasons were immaterial to Paul. The point is that for some reason this Christian believed that he would please God more by not eating meat than by eating it. He was wrong. God has not forbidden Christians from eating any food (1 Timothy 4:3-4). Eating food is an amoral matter. It is neither morally good nor morally bad; what we eat does not in itself affect our relationship... read more
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Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Romans 14:1
1. Him that is weak in the faith—rather, "in faith"; that is, not "him that is weak in the truth believed" [CALVIN, BEZA, ALFORD, c.], but (as most interpreters agree), "him whose faith wants that firmness and breadth which would raise him above small scruples." (See on :-). receive ye—to cordial Christian fellowship. but not to doubtful disputations—rather, perhaps, "not to the deciding of doubts," or "scruples" that is, not for the purpose of arguing him out of them: which indeed usually... read more