1      Now ^aaccept the one who is ^bweak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.

         2 ^aOne person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is ^bweak eats vegetables only.

         3 The one who eats is not to ^aregard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to ^bjudge the one who eats, for God has ^caccepted him.

         4 ^aWho are you to judge the ¹servant of another? To his own ²master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

         5 ^aOne person ¹regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be ^bfully convinced in his own mind.

1. DIFFERENT KINDS OF CONSCIENCE:

1. Sensitive strong: This person has the freedom to partake or not, but is sensitive and caring to other believers who feel differently.

1.Tempter strong: These are free to partake or not, but because they feel free, they also feel superior to others who live more restrictedly. These can be spotted by their constant referrals to partaking of activities they know are controversial. The Tempter strong, who are firm in their convictions, could be tempted to slip into an uncaring attitude of superiority.

    Young weak: This group does not think it is right to partake, but they are open to learn from the Lord and from others.

3.Misled weak: This group also thinks it is wrong to partake. Because they believe the practice is not permitted, they face two temptations, each pulling them in an opposite direction, but both pulling them into sin.

                They may give in to the Tempter Strong (conscience) and join in an activity, against their own consciences. We call this license. Or they may move towards legalism, where they would declare the activity wrong for all believers.

4.Sensitive abstainer: These believers are firmly convinced that it is wrong to partake, but they are sensitive and caring towards others with different views.

5.Legalist: The legalist believes it is wrong to partake and insists that all believers should agree with them. Legalists are the counterpart to the Tempter Strong in that both have firm convictions but deny to others the validity of differing convictions. In other words, both the Tempter Strong and the Legalist think that they, and only they, are right and “biblical” on the issue. Anyone who disagrees with them must be less “biblical.”

            I would say that there are two kinds of conscience that we could label as good ones: You have the SENSITIVE STRONG or the SENSITIVE ABSTAINER. All the rest are either MILDLY or SEVERELY FLAWED and need to be CORRECTED and GROW into SPIRITUAL MATURITY.

            In the passage that we will be studying, you will notice that what Paul attempts to do is to enjoin all kinds of conscience to RESPECT and ACCEPT each other. Paul is saying that we need to stop being JUDGMENTAL and CRITICAL of each other. This is the FIRST STEP that Paul wants all believers to take, regardless of conscience, doctrinal conviction or spiritual maturity.

            It was Paul’s abiding concern that every Christian have a deep desire for preserving “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3) and for putting “on love, which is the perfect bond of unity” (Col. 3:14).

            Our Lord expressed that same desire in His “new commandment... that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34–35).

            Respecting and accepting each other is a step towards PEACE and RECONCILIATION. When this happens, then the others with a FLAWED CONSCIENCE or even CONVICTIONS can grow into SPIRITUAL MATURITY. This will be the focus of our sermon today.

BODY SERMON:

1      Now ^aaccept the one who is ^bweak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.

    Who are the weak in faith?

5.These are the ones who are new in the faith, who still are learning the truth of God’s word.

Background in the Greek: “weak” translates a Greek present participle, suggesting a temporary condition. The Greek text also has the definite article (the) before faith, indicating that Paul was not speaking of spiritual trust or faithfulness but of understanding the full truth of the gospel message. A better rendering, therefore, might be: one who is weak in the faith.

6.These are people who have come from a particular religious background, perhaps legalistic.

7.These are the ones who are still weak in doctrine and discernment.

8.These are the ones who have a particular sensitivity towards certain matters which bothers their conscience.

Background from John MacArthur’s commentary: “In the early church, many Jews who came to faith in Christ could not bring themselves to discard the ceremonial laws and practices in which they had been steeped since early childhood, especially the rites and prohibitions the Lord Himself had instituted under the Old Covenant. They still felt compelled, for example, to comply with Mosaic dietary laws, to strictly observe the Sabbath, and even to offer sacrifices in the Temple because they were given by the true God.

On the other hand, many converted Gentiles had been just as strongly steeped in pagan rituals and customs from false gods, and they felt repulsed by anything remotely connected with such evils. Many Gentiles, for example, could not bring themselves to eat meat that had been offered to a pagan deity and then was sold in the marketplace.

Other believers, both Jewish and Gentile, understood and exercised their freedom in Christ. Mature Jewish believers realized that, under the New Covenant in Christ, the ceremonial requirements of the Mosaic law were no longer valid. Mature believing Gentiles understood that idolatry was a spiritual evil and had no effect on anything physical, such as meat, that may have been used in idolatrous worship.

Those who were still strongly influenced, favorably or unfavorably, by their former religious beliefs and practices were weak in the faith because they did not understand their freedom in Christ.”

Background: In the two centuries before Paul many Jews had died for refusing to eat pork, a meat Greeks thought delicious.

      Who are the ones to accept them? Obviously, the ones who are spiritually and doctrinally mature who can properly discern truth from error and the essential from non-essentials.

Background of the Greek word for (accept): Proslambanō is a compound verb, the prefix pros being a preposition that intensifies the basic verb, making it a command. In other words, Paul was not simply suggesting, but commanding, that strong believers accept weak believers.

In the New Testament, proslambanō is always used in the Greek middle voice, which gives it the

connotation of personal and willing acceptance of another person. This meaning is clearly seen in Acts 28:2, where Paul uses the verb to describe the gracious hospitality of the Malta natives, who “kindled a fire and received us all” (emphasis added).

    MOTIVE for ACCEPTANCE: A believer with certain scruples is not to be welcomed into the fellowship with the intent of changing his views or opinions by quarreling with him about them.

    The mature ones are not to pass judgment on the weak in faith’s opinions by debating against them or bullying them into submitting to their doctrinal convictions on disputable matters. (lit. In the Greek, the phrase “for the purpose of passing judgment”, is “but not unto quarrels about opinions”).

    Growth takes time. You cannot force a baby to be an adult in one day. As such, the mature ones must accept the weak ones, for the purpose of NURTURING them, DISCIPLING them and GUIDING them, sensitively, in a loving and caring way.

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         2 ^aOne person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is ^bweak eats vegetables only.

    A mature person understands that he may freely eat all things.

1 Timothy 4: 1         But ^athe Spirit explicitly says that ^bin later times some will ¹fall away from the faith, paying attention to ^cdeceitful spirits and ^ddoctrines of demons,

         2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars ^aseared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,

         3 men who ^aforbid marriage and advocate ^babstaining from foods which ^cGod has created to be ^dgratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.

         4 For ^aeverything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is ^breceived with gratitude;

         5 for it is sanctified by means of ^athe word of God and prayer.

    An immature believer however who may have come from a Jewish background or a religious background with dietary laws, would be offended if a mature believer eats freely what he wants. The immature believers will have a very tender conscience.

    It is the goal of the mature believer to gently guide and nurture the immature into spiritual maturity and that will not happen if he bullies the immature into submitting to his convictions.

                Example: Temporary prohibition by Jerusalem Council in Acts 15

19     “Therefore it is ^amy judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles,

         20           but that we write to them that they abstain from ^1athings contaminated by idols and from ^bfornication and from ^cwhat is strangled and from blood.

         3 The one who eats is not to ^aregard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to ^bjudge the one who eats, for God has ^caccepted him.

    The mature is not to regard with CONTEMPT the immature, having an attitude of SPIRITUAL SUPERIORITY.

                BACKGROUND: Exoutheneō (regard with contempt) is a strong term that carries the idea of looking on someone as totally worthless, as being nothing or less than nothing. It does not connote simply dislike or disrespect, but utter disdain and abhorrence.

John MacArthur states: “it takes only one extremist to damage an entire congregation. Throughout the ages, churches have been plagued by those who proudly consider themselves to be spiritually superior.”

    The mature is not to be JUDGMENTAL.

                BACKGROUND: The term “judge” translates a strong Greek verb (krinō), which has the basic meaning of separating and isolating. In a legal sense it referred to finding an accused person guilty of a crime.

    Notice, Paul is addressing both the mature believer and the immature one, the one with a STRONG CONSCIENCE, and the one with a WEAK CONSCIENCE.

Warren Wiersbe states: “The stronger Christian is not to despise the weaker one for his or her immaturity; neither is the weaker believer to judge his or her more mature brothers and sisters for their liberty. God has received both in Jesus Christ and we should receive each other. Our lives are to be directed by Him, not by people’s ideas or judgments. “

    The rationale behind why all believer are to do all these things: because God has ACCEPTED ALL believers; ALL OF US are God’s children.

                John MacArthur states: “Paul’s point is that, if God Himself does not make an issue of such things, what right does one of His children have to do so? If the strong and the weak have equal acceptance by and fellowship with the Lord, it is sinful arrogance for those two kinds of believers not to accept each other.”

    Are we superior than God? If God accepts all believers, then we should accept all!

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         4 ^aWho are you to judge the ¹servant of another? To his own ²master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

    Because God who is the ULTIMATE JUDGE does not judge weak believers, we have NO RIGHT to JUDGE them, who are SERVANTS of God,  NOT OUR SERVANTS. Therefore, we don’t bully them into submission and consider them sinful.

    God is the master of the weak believers with a weak conscience, therefore he alone will judge them as either APPROVED or NOT!

    The assurance here is that they will STAND, meaning that God will make them grow into SPIRITUAL MATURITY.

    Sometimes, our problem is that we make ourselves like God, thinking that we can FORCE other people to DOCTRINAL and SPIRITUAL MATURITY INSTANTLY!

         5 ^aOne person ¹regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be ^bfully convinced in his own mind.

    BACKGROUND from IVP Bible Background Commentary: “The precise time for festivals was such an important issue in Judaism that different Jewish groups broke fellowship with each other over the issue. (Not much later in history, different Christian groups followed suit.) Pagans had their own festivals, with different nations having their own ancestral customs and calendars. But Gentile writers especially reviled the Jewish sabbath. Romans reasoned that Jews were just lazy and wanted a day off from work.”

    So another matter of dispute in the Roman church is the regarding of certain days as MORE HOLY than other days. A mature believer however understands that ALL DAYS are HOLY and must be lived in the CONSCIOUSNESS of God’s presence.

Colossians 2:16         Therefore no one is to ^1aact as your judge in regard to ^bfood or ^bdrink or in respect to a ^cfestival or a ^dnew moon or a ^eSabbath ²day—

         17           things which are ^aa mere shadow of what is to come; but the ¹substance ²belongs to Christ.

    An immature believer however who may have come from a Jewish background or a religious background with festivals and sacred days, would be offended if a mature believer does not consider certain days as MORE SACRED or MORE IMPORTANT. The immature believers will have a very tender conscience on this matter.

    The mature believer is to be more understanding if the weak believer insists on observing certain days as special.

    Regardless of what position each one has taken, the important thing is that our position should be based on FAITH, meaning to say, out of the SINCERITY of HEART with a desire to serve God according to our LEVEL of UNDERSTANDING.