Romans 14:14

I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself: save to him who accounteth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

See under Romans 14:2 and Romans 14:5, regarding clean meats and the power of conscience to make even an innocent action wrong. Paul did not here place himself upon either side of such a question and refrained utterly from making it a matter of faith. It was all a question of knowledge, and the weak brother simply did not have sufficient information, a deficiency that Paul sought to supply, not through any arrogant pronouncements of his own, but by humbly calling attention to the things he had received from the Lord. Paul did not cease to identify himself with a weak brother, while in the very act of correcting his deficiency of knowledge, and thus succeeded in projecting an attitude which said, whether or not the weak brother can be taught out of his ignorance, he is still loved and esteemed as a brother. There are no "elite" in Christ's kingdom, whether from distinctions of knowledge, wealth, power, office, or anything else. All are one in Christ.

Macknight's paraphrase of this verse is:

I know by the light of reason, and am persuaded by revelation from the Lord Jesus, that there is no kind of meat unclean naturally. Nevertheless, to him that believeth certain kinds to be unclean, to that man they are unclean; and he will sin if he eat them, either to indulge his own taste or to gain the favor of others.[13]