Chapter # 14 Paragraph # 1 Study # 5
March 7, 2021
Humble, Texas
(106)
1769 KJV Translation:
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:
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" [See Notes (097)/Message Outlines (098)].
- II. The Issue Involved.
- III. "Not Unto Judgments Of Reasonings".
- IV. The Forbidden Attitude/Actions [See Notes (099)/Message Outlines (100)].
- V. The Primary Question and Principle [See Notes (101)/Message Outlines (102)].
- VI. Paul's Fundamental Principle [See Notes (103)/Message Outlines (104)].
- VII. Paul's Fundamental Attitude Issue.
- A. He claims that each "household servant" does what he/she does because of a "for the Lord" commitment.
- 1. The "he observes it for the Lord" declaration.
- a. There is the underlying assumption that the persons involved are following their own, individual, and legitimate "response to God" requirement: each one is "at peace with" his/her practice in direct respect to whether the practice permits real fellowship with God.
- b. As we have observed multiple times in these studies, the matter that is "at issue" is not one which, itself, "makes a difference" in respect to God's acceptance and support. God does not demand, nor deny, that people presently "eat certain foods", nor does He insist upon the observance of memorial days that were an integrated aspect of "Jewish national practice under the Mosaic national constitution" and had no bearing upon other nations and their "celebration of days". What one eats is in no way commensurate to actual, moral imperatives (such as "Do not murder", or "Do not commit adultery").
- c. Paul has already insisted that "the observation of things is for the Lord" assumes that the motivation is "to please the Lord".
- d. The key words in this declaration are "observes" and "for".
- 1) The word translated "observes" is used by Paul in six texts in Romans and in ten other texts in other letters, the majority use to be found in Philippians (seven times).
- a) This word typically indicates a "way of using one's mind that indicates 'intention' ". Trench says it refers to "a laudable prudence", meaning a skillful application of action(s) to an objective without any particular focus upon whence the judgments for such application(s) arise.
- b) In Romans Paul uses it in these ways...
- i. Romans 8:5 -- "...those who are [exist] according to the flesh [of flesh without any relationship with God as Spirit] 'set their minds upon' the things of the flesh..." and in a like way, but with contrast, those who "are" according to the Spirit "set their minds upon" the things of the Spirit. His point is that the flesh, or the Spirit, dominate the intentions and choices of those under consideration by reason of their essential being (as to whether they are participants in the Life of God).
- ii. Romans 11:20 -- "...do not be conceited..." is the translation of two words, one of which is the one under our present consideration. In this text, there is a warning against taking on a "mindset" that is self-exalting and unwarranted.
- iii. Romans 12:3 -- in this verse Paul returns to the previous caution: do not "think" too highly of oneself, but, rather, "think" in harmony with "sound judgment".
- iv. Romans 12:16 -- this, like 12:3 and 11:20 continues this thesis: take on a sound way of looking at things so as to guide one's choices.
- v. Romans 15:5 -- "...be of the same mind with one another..." probably means "to be equally concerned so as to not elevate one above another" with the consequence that the "mindset" concerns righteous treatment of one another.
- c) In our current text, Paul is saying that each person's "attitude toward pleasing God" is the same: there is an honest desire to accomplish that goal.
- 2. The "for the Lord" aspect of Paul's declaration.
- a. This phrase is actually a translation of the one word "Lord".
- 1) This one word in its particular grammatical form (Dative, Masculine, Singular, Noun) is found once in 14:4, thrice in 14:6, twice in 14:8, and once in 14:14 (seven total).
- 2) It is also found in a different grammatical form once in 14:4, once in 14:8, and once in 14:11 (three altogether).
- 3) Then there is also one use of the verbal form of the idea behind "Lord" in 14:9.
- 4) All in all, then, there are eleven references to the concept of "Lord" in this instruction, seven of which are repeated uses of the same form.
- b. Our question is this: what is Paul's meaning of the seven-fold repetition of the Dative Case of this word translated "Lord"?
- 1) There is a strong hint in the single use of the verbal form that is used at the end of 14:9.
- a. In this sentence, Paul says that "it was unto this that Christ died and lived: that He should be "Lord" over both dead and living, not as a fact of all reality, but as a fact of relational reality.
- b. Thus, "to the Lord" is turned decisively in the direction of Christ's "rule as Lord"; in other words, "to the Lord" means "to the Lord's rule", which, in turn, means "to those things which "The Lord" has set forth as His prescriptions/proscriptions for the "Life" of everyone involved.
- 2) In all of the phrases which contain these seven repetitions of "to the Lord" there is one overarching issue: "serving" in the Household according to the pleasure of the "Lord" of The House. This boils down to Paul's exhortation, "Whether you eat, or whether you drink, or whatsoever you do, do everything to make God's glory apparent" (1 Corinthians 10:31).
- B. His argument is that the "giving of thanks" is an evidence of this commitment.
- 1. Because "giving of thanks" is a fundamental expression of the awareness of "grace extended", this means that those of whom Paul here writes are "living" in the awareness of God's gracious oversight and provision.
- 2. Though "giving thanks" can be extremely hypocritical, when it is not so, it is a most basic principle of "Life": it recognizes that "Life" with all of its complexities is a grant of grace so that every action taken is to reflect that recognition. Thus, the Householder will cause each member of the household "to stand" according to purpose (and its prerequisites) and will also be the One who makes some household servants to be of greater service and some to be of less.
- 3. It is, thus, clear that it is the giving of thanks that is the root of all of "Life" as far as the human being involved is concerned. Grace is God's business, gratitude is ours.