Chapter # 14 Paragraph # 1 Study # 1
January 31, 2021
Humble, Texas
(098)
1769 KJV Translation:
1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, [
but] not to doubtful disputations.
2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
3 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day [
alike]. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth [
it] unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard [
it]. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.
9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11 For it is written, [
As] I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
1901 ASV Translation:
1 But him that is weak in faith receive ye, [yet] not for decision of scruples.
2 One man hath faith to eat all things: but he that is weak eateth herbs.
3 Let not him that eateth set at nought him that eateth not; and let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
4 Who art thou that judgest the servant of another? to his own lord he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be made to stand; for the Lord hath power to make him stand.
5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day [alike]. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind.
6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord: and he that eateth, eateth unto the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, unto the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
7 For none of us liveth to himself, and none dieth to himself.
8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.
9 For to this end Christ died and lived [again], that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 But thou, why dost thou judge thy brother? or thou again, why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God.
11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, to me every knee shall bow, And every tongue shall confess to God.
12 So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God.
- I. Paul's "Next" Issue: Dealing With The Brother Who Has "Crippling Faith".
- A. Paul calls the issue, "receiving the one who is 'incapable' in the faith".
- 1. Paul's word for "weak in the faith" is consistently used in the physical realm to define someone who is physically ill with physical deficiencies that sometimes lead to physical death (the verb is used in 32 texts/contexts in the New Testament).
- 2. This choice of terms is a deliberate use of a "physical realm characteristic" as a "non-physical realm metaphor" (where certain similarities exist between the material and non-material aspects of creation). Thus, one who is "weak in the faith" is "spiritually ill" (and, probably, "proud of it", though he/she would most likely be seriously offended by being called "spiritually ill").
- 3. When he identifies this "one" as "weak" because he/she only eats vegetables "as a matter of faith", he sets the stage for "humiliation" for the vegans (who probably were vegetarians out of matters of pride).
- a. This looks like Paul is doing the very thing he is forbidding: characterizing "the weak in the faith" as decidedly "wrong" and, thus, worthy of "rejecting".
- b. But, Paul's point is that "believers" who are supposedly "strong in the faith" are not to use these issues (veganism and holier-day-"ism") as a reason to part company: mid-paragraph, he switches to "one who regards one day above another" and puts both issues together in verse six.
- c. Thus, Paul is clearly putting both of these "practices of the weak" out on the fringe where the choices of actions are not rooted in fundamental morality.
- B. Major fact: Paul is not dealing with things that are not capable of being relegated to the "fringe" of behavior so that it does not matter which way a person decides to go.
- 1. He is not dealing with whether a believer can murder his brother, or not.
- 2. He is not dealing with whether a believer can proclaim legalism as the method of justification, or not.
- 3. He is not dealing with whether a believer can reject "Love" as the basis for all activities, or not (as the prior chapter absolutely insists upon).
- 4. By his own words, he is dealing with "eating vegetables, or not", "regarding one day superior to another, or not", "destroying one's brother by setting a flawed example, or not", or "living with a violated conscience, or not".
- II. The Issue Involved.
- A. Most fundamentally, this "issue" relates to "interpersonal harmony" between believers and the need to not "part company" over "overt matters" that do not matter.
- 1. Paul's command is "proslambanesthe" (a present middle imperative, second person plural).
- a. This verb is used in eleven texts/contexts of the New Testament; Paul used it in four of those eleven. As a composite of preposition+verb, the meaning is rather emphatic.
- b. In the non-Pauline uses...
- 1) Peter "takes Jesus aside" (out of the hearing of the other disciples) so that he might rebuke/contradict Him: Matthew 16:22.
- 2) In a parallel context to Matthew 16:22, Peter "took Jesus aside" so as to "privately" rebuke Him, and promptly got rebuked for his "Satanic" opposition: Mark 8:32.
- 3) Luke's uses of the term (as a "Paulin-ist") are all in Acts and have to do with both "taking" someone along in order to use that "someone" to achieve some objective (17:5; 18:26), and to "take" food after a long fast (27:30, 36), or to "take someone as taking them into one's care" (28:2).
- c. In the Pauline uses...
- 1) We have two in this present context (14:1 and 3) and one a bit further on (15:7) with all in Romans having the sense of "accepting one into one's fellowship".
- 2) We have one other in Philemon 15:7 that emphasizes the "accepting another with glad fellowship in mind".
- 2. Paul's use of this verb is in stark contradistinction to his insistence in 2 Thessalonians 3:6 that certain "believers" are to be ostracized, and in 1 Corinthians 5:5 he insists upon actually "turning one over to Satan for the destruction of his body". These are in explicit harmony with Jesus' own insistence that some "believers" are to be rejected and treated as "tax collectors" (Matthew 18:17).
- 3. Thus, at the heart of this command is the question of whether to "reject" a person so that he/she is treated as completely unwelcome, or not. The critical issue here is the fact that "rejecting" a person is the Church's most potent weapon against the "leavening" of the Church by the introduction of wickedness (1 Corinthians 5:6-13).
- B. Next to this "most fundamental issue" is the problem of people whose experience in the faith has not brought them to clarity regarding which matters "do not matter".
- 1. There is an inherent complication: those who are "weak in the faith" are going to be offended by being so identified, and be strongly tempted to do the "rejecting".
- 2. By the same token, those who are "strong in the faith" are likely to see the "weak" as promoting heresy and, thus, be strongly tempted to reject them.
- 3. Clearly, Paul is walking a tight rope here.
- a. On one hand, who is not "weak in the faith" at some point or another?
- b. On the other hand, when is "weakness" to be tolerated?
- C. Paul's "point" is that we must begin with the reduction to the action itself and not the reasons behind it (attempting to judge motives regarding behavior that is not, of itself, immoral is a dicey proposition in every case: 1 Corinthians 4:3-5).
- 1. Eating only vegetables, or eating vegetables and meats, are, of themselves, of no consequence.
- 2. But, attaching those activities to "the faith" makes it pretty much impossible to keep the action separated from the reasons for it.
- III. "Not Unto Judgments Of Reasonings".
- A. Paul's meaning of "judgments".
- 1. The word translated "passing judgment" is not a verb; it is a feminine, plural, accusative, noun.
- a. It is only used in three texts/contexts in the New Testament and two of the three give insight.
- 1) In 1 Corinthians 12:10 it refers to being able to tell which "spirit" is in control of a person when the issue is a matter of whether to permit its influence as a "good" spirit, or to reject its influence as an "evil" spirit".
- 2) In like manner, Hebrews 5:14 refers to the process of developing a "maturity skill" in deciding which of several "options" are going to lead to good outcomes and which are going to lead to disaster.
- 3) The point is that this word has to do with "making determinations regarding the legitimacy of", in this text "reasonings" (thus, the inclusion of the idea of "passing judgment upon").
- b. This is not a small matter: discernment is a critical need. But, the reality of people "in the faith" not being "healthy" is indisputable and, thus, there is a great need to be very cautious when dealing with them.
- 2. The "unto", when used with an accusative noun, typically refers to "with a view toward".
- B. Paul's meaning of "opinions".
- 1. The word translated "opinions" (NASB) is a masculine, plural noun in the genitive case.
- 2. This word is used in 14 texts/contexts of the New Testament. Matthew uses it once (15:19); Mark uses it once (7:21); James uses it once (2:4); Luke uses it six times (2:35; 5:22; 6:8; 9:46, 47; and 24:38), and Paul uses it five times (Romans 1:21; 14:1; 1 Corinthians 3:20; Philippians 2:14; and 1 Timothy 2:8).
- a. The majority of the time it refers to the way people are "reasoning/thinking" about the kinds of things they are going to do with some hope of achieving their objective(s).
- b. Also, the majority of the time it refers to "flawed thinking" that can only lead to evil outcomes in the pursuit of "objectives".
- c. Sometimes the focus is not upon the processes of "thinking" themselves, but upon the outcome of strident arguments.
- C. What, then, Paul is demanding is that those who are "mature in the faith" refrain from attempting to "argue a weaker brother out of his flawed choices". This can easily become a can of worms because people tend to want to "argue for their persuasions" and the "mature" have to set the pattern, but also "reject those who refuse to stop arguing".