Romans 14
14
Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another
1As for #ch. 15:1; 1 Cor. 8:9-11; 9:22the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2#ver. 14One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and #Col. 2:16let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4#James 4:12Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master#14:4 Or lord that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 #
Gal. 4:10; [Zech. 7:5, 6] One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. #ver. 23Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since #1 Cor. 10:30, 31; 1 Tim. 4:3, 4; See Matt. 15:36he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For #2 Cor. 5:15; Gal. 2:20; 1 Pet. 4:2; [1 Cor. 6:19; 1 Thess. 5:10]none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, #Phil. 1:20whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9For to this end Christ #Rev. 1:18; 2:8 died and lived again, that he might be Lord both #See Acts 10:42; Rev. 20:12of the dead and of the living.
10Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For #[See ver. 9 above] we will all stand before #2 Cor. 5:10the judgment seat of God; 11for it is written,
#
Phil. 2:10, 11; Cited from Isa. 45:23 “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess#14:11 Or shall give praise to God.”
12So then #Matt. 12:36; 16:27; 1 Pet. 4:5; [Gal. 6:5]each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Do Not Cause Another to Stumble
13 # See Matt. 7:1 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide #[1 Cor. 8:13]never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus #ver. 2, 20; See Acts 10:15 that nothing is unclean in itself, #[1 Cor. 8:7, 10]but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, #Eph. 5:2 you are no longer walking in love. #1 Cor. 8:11; [ver. 20]By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16#[ch. 12:17; 1 Cor. 10:29, 30]So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17#1 Cor. 8:8 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but #[1 Cor. 6:9] of righteousness and #Gal. 5:22; [ch. 15:13]peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18Whoever thus serves Christ is #[2 Cor. 8:21]acceptable to God and approved by men. 19So then let us #Ps. 34:14; 1 Cor. 7:15; 2 Tim. 2:22 pursue what makes for peace and for #ch. 15:2; 1 Cor. 14:12mutual upbuilding.
20 # ver. 15 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. #Titus 1:15; See ver. 14 Everything is indeed clean, but #1 Cor. 8:9-12it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21#1 Cor. 8:13It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.#14:21 Some manuscripts add or be hindered or be weakened 22The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. #1 John 3:21Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.#14:23 Some manuscripts insert here 16:25–27
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Romans 14
14
Don't criticize others
1Welcome all the Lord's followers, even those whose faith is weak. Don't criticize them for having beliefs that are different from yours.#Col 2.16. 2Some think it is all right to eat anything, while those whose faith is weak will eat only vegetables. 3But you should not criticize others for eating or for not eating. After all, God welcomes everyone. 4What right do you have to criticize someone else's servants? Only their Lord can decide if they are doing right, and the Lord will make sure that they do right.
5Some of the Lord's followers think one day is more important than another. Others think all days are the same. But each of you should make up your own mind. 6Any followers who count one day more important than another day do it to honour their Lord. And any followers who eat meat give thanks to God, just like the ones who don't eat meat.
7Whether we live or die, it must be for God, rather than for ourselves. 8Whether we live or die, it must be for the Lord. Alive or dead, we still belong to the Lord. 9This is because Christ died and rose to life, so that he would be the Lord of the dead and of the living. 10Why do you criticize other followers of the Lord? Why do you look down on them? The day is coming when God will judge all of us.#2 Co 5.10. 11In the Scriptures God says,#Is 45.23 (LXX).
“I swear by my very life
that everyone will kneel down
and praise my name!”
12And so, each of us must give an account to God for what we do.
Don't cause problems for others
13We must stop judging others. We must also make up our minds not to upset anyone's faith. 14The Lord Jesus has made it clear to me that God considers all foods fit to eat. But if you think some foods are unfit to eat, then for you they are not fit.
15If you are hurting others by the foods you eat, you are not guided by love. Don't let your appetite destroy someone Christ died for. 16Don't let your right to eat bring shame to Christ. 17God's kingdom isn't about eating and drinking. It is about pleasing God, about living in peace, and about true happiness. All this comes from the Holy Spirit. 18If you serve Christ in this way, you will please God and be respected by people. 19We should try#14.19 We should try: Some manuscripts have “We try”. to live at peace and help each other have a strong faith.
20Don't let your appetite destroy what God has done. All foods are fit to eat, but it is wrong to cause problems for others by what you eat. 21It is best not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else that causes problems for other followers of the Lord. 22What you believe about these things should be kept between you and God. You are fortunate, if your actions don't make you have doubts. 23But if you do have doubts about what you eat, you are going against your beliefs. And you know that is wrong, because anything you do against your beliefs is sin.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012