In Romans 14, Paul addressed his words to the believers in Rome and confronted them with their behavior and mutual interaction regarding meat and drink. There were believers, who ate everything and believers, who only ate vegetables. Instead of respecting each other’s choice, they despised and judged each other. Paul emphasized that the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. What did Paul mean by that?
The strong and the weak in the faith
In Romans 14 Paul discussed a matter regarding meat and drink. There were believers, who ate all foods and there were believers, who were weak in the faith and only ate herbs.
Paul commanded the believers to accept those, who were weak in the faith, but not to doubtful disputations. He commanded them to accept the weak in the faith and respect their choice of food, instead of despising them and putting a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in their brother’s way, and grieve their brother with their meat.
However, Paul commanded the weak in the faith, to not judge the believers, who ate everything, for God had accepted them.
They all belonged to God and they were all servants of Jesus by the Holy Spirit and had their own relationship with Him.
They didn’t live for themselves, but they lived for the Lord.
Everything they did, they did for the Lord, because they were the Lord’s. And when they would stand before the judgment seat of Christ, every one of them would give account of himself to God (Read also: Let the Word be your Judge).
Paul commanded the believers to tolerate each other and have peace with one another, like brothers and sisters ought to tolerate each other and have peace with one another and edify one another, and no longer despise and judge one another regarding meat and drink. Because the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink
For the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17)
The Kingdom of God doesn’t revolve around meat and drink; what people may or may not eat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
What people eat doesn’t make a person clean or unclean, but the person’s works makes a person clean or unclean. Meat and drink don’t prove whether a person is born again in Christ and belongs to the Kingdom of God and a change of heart and nature has taken place, but someone’s works.
Since the works of a person derive from the heart, either good works from a renewed righteous heart or evil works from a corrupt unrighteous heart (Read also: Do you love God with all your heart? and What is an evil heart?).
Paul’s admonishing regarding respecting one another and walking in love, instead of despising and judging fellow believers had nothing to do with sin (rebellion and disobedience to God and His Word).
But Paul’s admonishing was related to the eating and drinking of believers and their religious beliefs about meat and drink, which had nothing to do with the Kingdom of God.
Because the Kingdom of God doesn’t revolve around (the keeping of) food laws, human rules and precepts, and useless secondary matters, but the Kingdom of God revolves around righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (a.o. Hebrews 9:8-15 (Read also: Why Christians go back to the Old Covenant?).
For he that in these things serves Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men
For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:17-23)
For he that in these things (righteousness, peace, and joy through the Holy Ghost) serves Christ, is acceptable to God and approved of men.
Love works no ill to each other. And by deliberately putting a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in their brother’s way, they didn’t walk in love towards their brothers, but grieved their brothers with their meat and did evil. They didn’t walk according to the law of the Spirit (Read also: What does it mean, you shall love your neighbour as yourself?).
Paul commanded the believers to walk righteous after the will of God and to follow after the things, which make for peace and things wherewith they would edify another, so that they would build together the work of God instead of destroying the work of God because of (a faith difference regarding) meat.
Every born-again believer grows up to spiritual maturity by himself and has his personal relationship with Jesus Christ and the Father and acts by faith out of this relationship. Therefore the walk of one is not the same as the walk of another. And because one does not act as the other, that should not be a reason to despise or judge the other and certainly not to attack his or her faith. This applies to both the strong and the weak in the faith.
Again, this is not about obedience to the words of God and the keeping of Jesus’ commandments and doing the will of the Father and the judging of sin in the church, but this is about a belief difference regarding meat and drink (Read also: What does the Bible say about sin in the church?).
Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost
If the Holy Ghost dwells in you, you shall live in and from the Kingdom of God and shall walk by the Holy Ghost in righteousness, peace, and joy in the will of God.
You shall keep the peace with your brothers and sisters and live in mutual concord with them and respect each other’s walk with God (this doesn’t mean accepting sin). so that together you will fight as faithful soldiers of Jesus Christ for the Kingdom of God and do what Jesus has commanded to do and keep His words and commandments.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
