Dr. Rodney Plunket

What does it mean to be in the Body of Christ?  It means to be united to every other person who is in that Body.  The Apostle Paul, in Romans (Rom) 12:5, writes, “in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”  We are joined together by God.  We belong to one another.  That is unity.  That is the unity created by God.

God expects us to prize this unity.  Please follow along as I read Ephesians (Eph) 4:1-6:

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

In these verses Paul urges his readers “to keep the unity of the Spirit.”  And the word “keep” here has the nuance of “of holding on to something so as not to give it up or lose it.”[1]  Paul’s words presuppose that there is some sort of unity already in existence which his readers should endeavor to keep, should endeavor not to lose.

Paul follows these words with a list of seven aspects of Christian faith, and his point is clear.  He believes that these seven aspects are central to the unity which believers are to “keep.”  Let’s notice what they are:  one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God.  Take note that all of these aspects result from either the existence of God or the power of God.  Humanity did not and could not create any of them; humanity does not give them their force.  They are all due to God and to God alone.

My point is that Christian unity is a product of the existence, will, power, and love of God.  Paul’s concern in Eph 4 is that his readers “keep” this unity by living with one another in a manner that actualizes their unity in Jesus.

However, such unity has always been difficult to maintain.  The New Testament makes that very clear, but the New Testament also reveals what believers should do to “keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

Let’s go to the city of Rome in the first century.  Historical records indicate that in AD 49 the Roman Emperor Claudius evicted all of the Jews from Rome, and all Jews included those who believed in Jesus as the Christ, so all the Jewish Christians had to leave the city of Rome in AD 49.  Several years later the expulsion order was lifted, likely in stages; but the Jews were allowed to return.

However, during the interim, the church in Rome had changed.  It had become a church composed of non-Jews.  As a result, there were tensions, tensions between the returning Jewish Christians and the native Roman Christians.  The Apostle Paul heard about their problems, and he wrote to them.  His purpose was to help this church stay united in Christ Jesus in spite of their cultural diversity.

Paul’s basic strategy in Romans can be summed up, I think, quite simply.  It is to help all of these Christians realize their equal need of God, their equal need of Jesus; to help them all realize that God loves the Jew and the non-Jew; to help them realize that God is impartial.  That means that Romans has a great deal to say to a group that includes diverse people who look at life in a variety ways.  As a result, the entire book of Romans is a great resource for anyone who endeavors to understand and practice genuine unity in Christ.

However, this morning I will not try to discuss the entire message of the book of Romans, but I do want to spend some time in Rom 14:1-15:7, because in that section Paul discusses some issues which are problematic for the believers in Rome.  And Paul’s treatment of these issues provides us with very practical guidelines for keeping the unity which God has created.  You see, for God to create unity in Christ is one thing; for us to live according to that unity is quite another.

Please turn to Rom 14, and prepare your minds for a period of serious Bible study, because serious Bible study is what is required if we are to understand and live out the message contained in Rom 14:1-15:7.  I want us to begin by working very carefully through the first four verses of Rom 14.  Please open your Bible and follow along.  I will be using the New Revised Standard Version as my primary text, but I will be amplifying that text as I go in an effort to convey more fully the intended meaning.

Let’s look first at Rom 14:1:

Welcome [Accept] those who are weak in faith [conviction], but not for the purpose of quarreling over [passing judgment on] opinions [disputable matters, scruples].

Paul begins here in verse (v) 1 of Rom 14 by seeking to stifle the tendency in the Roman church to pass judgment relative to matters of opinion, and we should be sure to notice that Paul has much to say about judging in this chapter, for he will refer to it, in various ways, eight times.  Joseph A. Fitzmyer in his commentary on this passage points out that the verb translated as “welcome” or “accept” is proslamba¿nesqe and “means ‘take to oneself, take into one’s household’ . . . , hence ‘welcome,’ accept with an open heart” (Romans:  A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, Anchor Bible, vol. 33 [New York: Doubleday, 1993], 689).  So this is not an acceptance based on mere toleration.  This is a welcoming of someone into a family; there is warmth involved.

Now please look with me at Rom 14:2:

Some believe in eating anything [have the confidence to eat anything], while the weak eat only vegetables.

Here is the primary issue to which Paul will constantly refer, the eating of meat.  What to eat and what not to eat was a very contentious question for early Christians.  Food laws are referred to in the Gospels, Acts, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Colossians, 1 Timothy, Hebrews, Revelation, and possibly in other New Testament books.  Here in Rom 14 it is not possible to be absolutely certain of the exact nature of the dispute.  Most scholars think that it had something to do with Jewish food laws, but we must remember that food laws were a fairly conventional part of many, if not all, first century religions.  All we can know with certainty is that the Roman Christians disagreed on this issue and that Paul responded to it with some thirty verses of tightly reasoned discourse.  My concern is that since there is not much controversy regarding the eating of meat among Christians today, we sometimes fail to make any valid applications of Paul’s message in these verses.  In fact, some believers construct their theology in such a way that there are no areas of opinion to which Paul’s words relate.  If Paul, the inspired apostle, believed that there were areas which could be left to the judgment of individual believers, would it not be very peculiar if there were no such areas remaining for us in our day?

Now to Rom 14:3.

Those who eat must not despise [look down on] those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them.

Here Paul refers again to judging as he has already in v 1.  But in v 1, he focuses exclusively upon telling the strong, those who could eat meat, not to judge the weak.  Here he also addresses the weak, those who could not eat meat, and he tells them not to judge the strong.  The balance in Paul’s exhortation is clear.  Neither side is to engage in judging.  It is inappropriate, and it is inappropriate for both sides in the controversy.  Now I find that very interesting, because Paul refers to the ones who cannot eat meat as “the weak” (Rom 14:1-2) and the ones who can eat meat as “the strong” (Rom 15:1).  So one position is preferable to the other; but, in spite of that, Paul declares that neither side should engage in judging.  He knows the stronger position and holds that position himself (see Rom 15:1 where he refers to “We who are strong”).  But Paul also knows that God has accepted into the household of God both those who hold the weak and the strong position, so he can forcefully exhort both the weak and the strong to accept/to welcome one other.  God has welcomed each one of them; they must extend the same welcome to one another.

Now please look with me at Rom 14:4.

Who are you to pass judgment on servants [better=house slaves/household slaves] of another?  It is before their own lord [master] that they stand or fall.  And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand [And they will be caused to stand for the Lord is able to stand them/to stand them up].

Paul’s first century readers knew that their slavery laws decreed that a house slave “was answerable solely to the master” (C. E. B. Cranfield, The Epistle to the Romans, The International Critical Commentary, [Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1983], 2:703).  Paul uses that fact, along with the fact that God is the believer’s master/the believer’s Lord, to argue that it is at least as inappropriate for a believer to judge someone whose Lord or master is God as it is for someone to judge another person’s slave.  He also assures those who cannot eat meat that those who can will be empowered by God to stand before and with their God in spite of their eating of meat.

We worked somewhat meticulously through these first four verses because they reveal the situation which Paul is confronting and they give several prelimi­nary instructions which Paul builds upon in what follows.  Now, however, I want to proceed section by section through the remainder of Paul’s message with the primary purpose of underlining his main points.

Please follow along as I read Rom 14:5-12:

Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike.  Let all be fully convinced in their own minds.  Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord.  Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.  If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.  For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister?  Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister?  For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.  For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.”  So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

In these verses Paul argues that each side must allow their fellow believers the freedom and the space to come to their own conclusions concerning those matters about which they disagree.  He also introduces us to another issue which was a problem for the Roman Christians––the honoring of special days.  Paul makes clear his position.  His position is that the honoring of days is also a matter of opinion.

But let’s look a little more carefully at verses (vv) 6-9.  In these four verses Paul affirms that both the weak and the strong Christians do what they do “to the Lord,” and “to God.”  The reader should notice that three times in v 6 Paul uses the phrase, “to the Lord,” and he uses the phrase, “to God,” two times in that same verse.  Look a little further, and in v 8 we find Paul using the phrase “to the Lord” again.  This time twice.

Paul is seeking to make the point that the believers on both sides of this dispute are eating meat or not eating meat/honoring days or not honoring days with their eyes of faith directed to the Lord and with a clear desire to serve the Lord.  Paul reveals that even though one may differ with another on eating meat or on honoring days, such does not mean that either person is no longer capable of or no longer worthy of serving the Lord.  In other words, in matters such as these it is not as important what you do as it is to or for whom you do it.  You must direct your actions “to the Lord.”

In vv 10-12 Paul again criticizes those who are judging one another, and he devalues the whole business of human judgment.  He does so by reminding his readers that God is the only real Judge.  Human judgments carry no weight.  Only God’s judgment counts.  Paul is telling them not to try to take for themselves powers that belong only to God.  Don’t judge.  Leave it to God.

Now please look with me at vv 13-21

Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another.  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.  If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.  Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died.  So do not let your good be spoken of as evil.  For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  The one who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval.  Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.  Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God.  Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for you to make others fall by what you eat; it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother or sister stum­ble.  The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God.  Blessed are those who have no reason to condemn themselves because of what they approve.  But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat, because they do not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

In these verses Paul makes clear that no food is unclean, i.e., no food, in and of itself, is able to keep you from God.  However, if a person cannot eat meat with­ut feeling that he or she is sinning, then that person should not eat meat; it is as simple as that.  Also, if a person’s eating of meat places an obstacle before a “brother for whom Christ died” (v 15), then it is wrong to eat meat.  Your brother or sister in Christ is much more important than eating meat, drinking wine, or honoring special days.  We must note here that the placing an obstacle before a brother or sister is not simply to do something they do not like or disagree with; it is much greater than that.  It is to pressure that weaker sister or brother into doing something that she or he feels sinful doing.  We can realize that by noting other similar phrases used in this section.  In v 15 Paul uses the phrase, “cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died.”  In v 20 Paul uses the word “destroy.”  And Paul has already told them what to do when they merely see someone doing things they disagree with; they are not to judge them.  To place an obstacle before, to cause to stumble, to ruin, and to destroy is to cause someone to lose faith.  Some level of coercive force is involved.

I want us to look more closely at vv 16-17, so please follow along again as I read.  “So do not let your good be spoken of as evil.  For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”  Here Paul focuses his readers’ attention on three items that are central to the Kingdom of God, central to what God’s work among God’s people is all about.  These three items are “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”  We do not have time now to discuss adequately these three items, but it is easy to see that they are at the center of the Bible’s message.  Just look through a Bible concordance, and you will find that these three words and related expressions are used extensively throughout the Bible, in both the Old Testament and the New.  In this time of dis­agreement Paul is seeking to get the Roman Christians to look past the trivial to the truly important.

I want to conclude our study of this material by looking at Rom 15:5-7, so please follow along as I read these three verses.

May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

These verses demonstrate Paul’s belief that these Christians can and should be united in Christ and united with one another even though disagreements may continue to exist.  Paul has not called upon either side to give up a belief or change a practice.  Why?  Because Paul knows they can glorify God with a unity that is so real and so tight that it will be as though they are glorifying God with one great big voice even though they do not agree.

And notice that Paul repeats in Rom 15:7 the imperative form of the word proslamba¿nesqe, the same imperative found in the very first verse of Rom 14.  This word, as we noted earlier, means “to take to oneself, take into one’s house­hold.”  But in Rom 15:7 Paul strengthens his use of this term by emphasizing that believers should accept or welcome one another “as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”  Paul, in Rom 15:3 has already said that God has welcomed both sides in this disagreement.  Now he says that Christ had welcomed them as well and that they should welcome one another just as Christ had welcomed them.  I am confident that they were welcomed by Christ into the family of God with weird opinions and faulty views.  Paul calls upon them to treat each other the way Christ treated them, and Christ welcomed them; they should welcome one another.

This concludes my attempt to understand Paul’s words in Rom 14:1-15:7 within their first century context.

Now we come to the most difficult part of this sermon.  How do we apply it today?  We all know that believers continue to disagree with one another on a broad range of issues.  I know that within the group assembled here this morning, there are areas of disagreement.  How do we use Paul’s words in Rom 14:1ff, Eph 4, and elsewhere to nullify the divisive power which our disagreements sometimes produce?

Let me give several things that I think I have learned as I have studied and reflected upon this material.  I hope that you see even more than I will have time to say.

First, Paul’s inspired words on unity in Christ have made it clear to me that unity itself is a doctrine.  We often treat unity as the by-product of correct doctrine, i.e., we can be united only so long as we agree.  That is not Paul’s view.  That is not the view of the New Testament.  Unity is created by God.  We can reject it.  We can even sever ourselves from it.  But we can never create or uncreate it; because this unity is a work of God, a work performed in and through Christ Jesus.

Second, when we disagree with another believer, let’s always try to assume that she or he is doing all that she or he is doing “to the Lord.”  That is, let’s assume that all of our fellow believers are sincere in what they are doing and saying; assume that they are truly seeking to serve the Lord.  That is what Paul says is the case in Rome.  Disagreements tend to become far more acrimonious/far more bitter when people start questioning and impugning one another’s motives. 

Third, notice that which is the essence of Paul’s instructions in Rom 14.  Those who disagree with one another must not judge one another and they must welcome one another.  Believers today must have these same attitudes when we disagree.  God wants us, just as God wanted the Christians in Rome, to not judge one another but to welcome one another.  Such attitudes will keep us from stepping over into the domain of God and becoming a judge with no qualifications, a judge with no weight whatsoever.

Fourth, stay focused on that which is really central to the message of the gospel; and never, never divide over anything which is not central to that biblical message.  And remember; one of those central teachings is that we are united by God in Christ.  Before we decide to divide, we must be sure that what we are dividing over weighs as much before God as does unity itself.

Fifth, never lose sight of Jesus.  I have seen people on the right, the left, and the center get so wrapped up in an issue of one kind or another that they could no longer see Jesus.  Jesus was lost in all the smoke, in all the haze, in all the heat.  I believe that Paul would say with all the passion of his beautiful heart that when that happens it no longer matters who holds the right view on the issue concerned.  All sides are wrong.  We have all lost sight of the truly important.  We have all lost sight of the reality which is the Kingdom of God.

Sixth, let’s hold our views of what constitutes the essential with a high degree of humility.  I am fairly certain that Paul’s view that the eating of meat, the honoring of days, and the drinking of wine were matters of opinion was not heard with instant acceptance by many believers in the first century.  I am sure that his views shocked and upset many.  I have often strung passages together in such a way that I convinced myself that one thing or another was essential to the Christian faith.  I have repentantly turned away from such prideful confidence in my theological constructs.  If something is absolutely essential to Christian faith, I can only know that by the fact that God explicitly says that.  I am not opposed to studying Scripture by placing related passages together in order to see a fuller presentation of the Bible’s overall teachings on a subject.  But I have come to realize that the way I put passages together affects the conclusions that I draw.  Since such is the case, I cannot place the results of my theological systematizing in the category of the essential.

In the late 80’s a popular band released a song entitled, “The Living Years.”  The last verse of that song followed by the chorus says:

I wasn’t there that morning

When my father passed away

I didn’t get to tell him

All the things I had to say.

I think I caught his spirit

Later that same year

I’m sure I heard his echo

In my baby’s new born tears.

I just wish I could have told him

In the living years.

Say it loud,

Say it clear,

You can listen as well as you hear.

It’s too late

When we die

To admit we don’t see eye to eye.

(By Mike Rutherford & B. A. Robertson)

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