Chapter Fourteen

Judgment on the parties existing in the Roman Church (1–12). Practical advice to the majority of Roman Christians (13–23). Doxology (24–26).

Romans 14:1. Welcome the one who is weak in faith, but not to quarrel over opinions. In the Roman Christian Church there was a difference of views on the question of whether it was permissible for a Christian to eat meat and drink wine. Some Christians considered it necessary to abstain from both. They also considered it necessary to observe certain days in a special way (by fasting). Others considered all such restrictions on Christian freedom useless. The Apostle instructs the first group not to condemn people who hold more liberal views on the matters in question, and the latter — those strong in spirit — he advises to be accommodating toward those who find special forms of abstinence necessary for a Christian. Let the strong take pity on the weak, remembering that those also have been redeemed by the Lord at a great price, and that all Christians together constitute the one Kingdom of Christ, which every Christian is obligated to uphold, sacrificing his personal wishes and interests. Who were these weak in faith who found certain forms of abstinence necessary for Christians? It is difficult to give a definite answer to this question. They were hardly people with a Jewish worldview, as some commentators (e.g., Zahn) suppose. Jews were not at all forbidden from eating meat and drinking wine (only certain meat dishes were prohibited by the law of Moses), and moreover the Apostle would hardly have taken such an indulgent view of the error of the Judaizers. More likely we can see here a reflection of certain ascetic views of Greek and Roman philosophy. It is known that the Orphics and the Pythagoreans abstained from eating meat and were vegetarians — the latter did not drink wine either — as did the Stoics (Sextius, Sotion, M. Rufus). “Weak in faith” — that is, a believer who fears that he may unexpectedly and quickly lose the salvation he has acquired and therefore avoids everything that seems to him dangerous in this regard. — “Welcome” — that is, do not deprive him of brotherly fellowship. — “Not to quarrel over opinions” (μὴ εἰς διακρίσεις διαλογισμῶν) — more accurately: without entering into a critique of another’s reasoning (which may well be ill-founded).

Romans 14:2. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Romans 14:3. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains judge the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. “God has welcomed him” — that is, keeps both in His Church.

Romans 14:4. Who are you to judge another’s servant? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for God is able to uphold him. “You” — address to the one who is weak in faith. — “Stands or falls” — that is, remains or does not remain in a state of grace. The Apostle does not mean to say that we should be indifferent to the state of faith in our brothers in the faith. We are not forbidden from making efforts to persuade them to adopt our views, and we are even obligated to care for their spiritual salvation. But in doing so we must not forget that religion is a personal relationship of every person to his God, and that we have no right to judge him (of course, in matters of “indifference”). And if we are convinced that our fellow-believers are doing something that, from our point of view, is wrong, but they are doing it for God, in awareness of their dependence on Him, we have no right to doubt the possibility of their salvation.

Romans 14:5. One person regards one day more highly than another; another regards every day alike. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind. “Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind.” The Apostle speaks here not of days sanctified by fasts and feast days observed by the whole Church, but of special days chosen by individual Christians, on which, in their view, one should pray and fast. As for Church fasts and feasts, the Apostle thought differently about those (cf. 1 Cor 11:2).

Romans 14:6. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. And the one who does not observe a special day, does so in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; and the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. Both the strong and the weak in faith equally consecrate their meal by prayer (gives thanks to God), and in this way attest that their choice of food is made according to conscience, before God and in order to please God. Only each one understands pleasing God in his own way, considering that it is precisely this way, and not some other, that one can more readily please God.

Romans 14:7. For none of us lives for himself, and none of us dies for himself; Romans 14:8. for if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. Not only the individual actions of the Christian but his entire life and even his death stand in relation to God and serve for His glorification.

Romans 14:9. For to this end Christ died and rose again and came to life, that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living. In every condition we remain the property of the Lord (cf. v. 4 and Phil 2:9-10), who reigns over the living and the dead as one who himself rose again after death.

Romans 14:10. Why then do you judge your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Romans 14:11. For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will confess to God. Romans 14:12. So then each one of us will give account to God for himself. In this passage the Apostle appears as a defender of the freedom of the Christian conscience, but only in matters of the so-called indifferent things: for these matters we have no right to condemn one another — only your common Lord and Master can condemn at His awesome judgment. But the Apostle by no means grants through this the right to individuals to destroy with impunity the established order of church life, founded on the universal apostolic tradition. In other epistles he directly condemns those who corrupt the order established in the Church of Christ (1 Cor 3:17).

Romans 14:13. Therefore let us no longer judge one another, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. Now giving practical advice regarding differences of opinion, the Apostle addresses people who are strong in faith. They must not by their behavior tempt the weak into repeating the actions they themselves perform. It is bad in general to lead one’s neighbor to condemnation and to provide occasion for the destruction of peace in the Christian community, and all the more so is it not worth doing this over food. It is better to refrain from eating meat and wine if through this self-limitation mutual peace can be preserved. And above all, one must take pity on the weak person, who may be drawn along by the example of the strong, eat some meat, and then condemn himself as a terrible sinner. It is not another who should be judged, but rather one should judge oneself, examine one’s own behavior — are you not by your actions giving someone an occasion to stumble? That is, to perform actions that go contrary to the moral convictions of the one performing them. — “Stumbling block” and “hindrance” are synonymous expressions.

Romans 14:14. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. In expressing his conviction that objectively unclean food does not exist, the Apostle draws, in all probability, on the words of Christ the Savior Himself (Mark 7:15 and following). That is why he adds: “in the Lord Jesus.”

Romans 14:15. If your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy by your food the one for whom Christ died. “Is grieved.” This grief could be felt by the weak person when, for example, he was present at the meal of the strong. Meat was served there, which he, according to his conviction, could not eat, and this already upset his inner peace. But that is not all. His table companions might tease him, as if urging him to violate his pledge — and this grieved him even more. “Do not destroy.” The weak person could be destroyed in the event that, constrained by his scrupulousness, he were to take a piece of meat. Later, arriving home, he would begin to condemn himself for this, and who knows what ruinous consequences his pangs of conscience would lead to...

Romans 14:16. So do not let what you consider good be spoken of as evil. “What you consider good.” What this good thing is — commentators speak about it in different ways. Some understand it as the Christian faith and Christianity in general, which pagans were ready to blaspheme on any pretext; others — as Christian freedom... It is better, it seems, to see the explanation of this expression in verse 17 — in the words: righteousness, peace, and joy. Christians, before the face of pagans, could take pride in the fact that among them were righteous people, living in joyful fellowship of the Gospel; while pagans, pointing to the disputes of Christians over food, could object: “Fine righteous people! Fine unity! Why, you quarrel among yourselves even over trifles...”

Romans 14:17. For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. “The kingdom of God” — in the Apostle Paul it usually means the Messianic Kingdom, the establishment of which is to occur at the second coming of Christ to earth — in the age to come (1 Cor 6:9 and following; 1 Cor 15:24; Gal 5:21), and it never means the earthly Church to which Christians now belong. But here the talk is not of the Kingdom of God in its completion, nor of the kingdom of the age to come, but of the essence of the Kingdom of God in itself. The essence of the Kingdom of God is by no means to impose on every member of this kingdom a casual attitude toward every kind of food. — “Not food” (βρώσις) — not the eating of food. — “Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” The most important thing in this kingdom is the righteousness of its members, mutual peace with God (cf. Rom 5:1 and following) and with brothers, and joy — in the certainty of receiving future salvation, which is given to us by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us (cf. Rom 8:12 and following).

Romans 14:18. Whoever serves Christ in this way is acceptable to God and approved by people. “Whoever serves Christ in this way.” It is better to understand by the words “in this way” (ἐν τούτῳ) the righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit of which the Apostle has just spoken. Christians must strive by all means to possess these blessings, because only people who possess them can serve Christ and be pleasing to other people. But what people eat and drink has no importance at all in the matter of the soul’s salvation.

Romans 14:19. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. From what has been said above, it is clear that there is no point in raising disputes about food. If one must discuss it at all, then only about what can sustain peace in the Christian Church and build it into a true house of God (“upbuilding” — more accurately: construction — οἰκοδομή).

Romans 14:20. Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. “The work of God” (ἔργον τοῦ θεοῦ) — this is the Church (cf. 1 Cor 3:9). — “Who makes another stumble by what he eats” — that is, the one strong in faith who eats meat and by this causes his weak brother to stumble. — “It is wrong for anyone” — that is, it is sinful for the one who acts this way, even though the food itself contains no impurity.

Romans 14:21. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble, or to be caused to sin, or to be weakened. Here the Apostle gives guidance to those who are strong in faith as to how they should act. What is required of the true Christian is a certain self-sacrifice for the good of the weak brother — abstaining from meat and wine.

Romans 14:22. The faith that you have, keep to yourself before God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself in what he approves. The strength of faith will not be diminished in a person by this self-limitation. And there is no need at all to put one’s faith on display — it is enough if God sees it! The compensation or reward for the one who is strong in faith should be the single awareness that he is acting entirely correctly — which the weak person lacks, as he is eternally wavering in deciding how to act in one case or another.

Romans 14:23. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. The Apostle sees two types of people: some are people who believe deeply and sincerely in Christ. Everything these people do proceeds from the heart, which in turn receives its impulses from Christ. Consequently, the deeds of these people are holy. Others are people who waver, sunk in doubts. Everything these people do proceeds, consequently, not from faith and not from Christ, but from their earthly, fleshly reasonings. Yet the flesh urges a person toward sinful acts. It is clear that the talk here is of faith in Christ — of genuine, strong Christian faith, as firm confidence in Christ. Everything opposed to such faith must naturally belong not to the realm of Christian holiness but to the realm of sin.

Romans 14:24. Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, In the doxology to God the Apostle once more expresses the wish that the Romans may be established in the Christian faith and life with God’s help (cf. Rom 1:11). For this purpose he has depicted before them the greatness of the Gospel as the revelation of God’s eternal counsel for the salvation of people. Whether his epistle will achieve such a purpose — that is in God’s hands; but for what has already been done by Him for humanity, glory belongs to God. “According to my gospel” — that is, in conformity with my proclamation, so that the Romans would live as the Apostle teaches them. — “And the proclamation of Jesus Christ” — that is, which (gospel) is none other than what Christ Himself proclaimed. — “According to the revelation of the mystery.” The Apostle here means to say that Christ in His preaching proclaimed the divine mystery — the eternal Council of God concerning the salvation of humanity.

Romans 14:25. but which has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings, according to the command of the eternal God, has been made known to all nations to bring about the obedience of faith — “Now disclosed and through the prophetic writings.” The prophetic books provide the key to understanding the economy of our salvation. From them Christians are convinced that the salvation given to people in Christ was not something new and unexpected, but had long been predetermined in the Council of God.

Romans 14:26. to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be glory forever. Amen. “Through Jesus Christ.” Christ taught people the concept of God, instilled in them trust in God, made them acceptable to God. Therefore only the one who believes in Christ can truly honor God. Note. Where this doxology belongs — it is difficult to say. More recent commentators, on the basis of the testimony of many ancient codices, place it at chapter 16 (Rom 16:25-27 according to the Athens edition of 1898). But some consider it possible to allow that it belongs to chapter 14. Thus, Zahn in his commentary on the Epistle to the Romans places the doxology where our text also places it. He refers in this connection to the testimonies of the Antiochian recension of the text, to the mass of later codices, to Chrysostom, Theodoret, Oecumenius, Theophylact, to later Syriac translations, the Gothic translation, and others.