Spiritual Truth Awakening

Chapter 13: The Teaching of Paul

John the Baptist was the ultra conservative, Jesus was the ultra liberal, and Paul taught that the place for most Christians to be to be was in the middle, between the two.

Romans 14:1-3 NIV accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.

Romans 14:23 NIV but the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

Paul taught that there was room in the church for both those who abstained from certain foods, and those who felt no compulsion to abstain.

Romans 14:4-6 NIV who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

Colossians 2:16 NIV therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a new moon celebration or a Sabbath day.

He taught the same thing concerning regard for special days. There is room in Gods church for both those who regard one day as superior to another and those who view all days alike.

There is room in Gods church for seventh day Adventists and the worldwide church of God who view Saturday as the proper day of worship, and for those worship on Sunday, and for those who view all days as being alike.

Saturday, by the way is the Sabbath day, the seventh day, and is a prophetic picture of the millennium.

Sunday, is both the first day and the eighth day, and is a prophetic picture of eternity, the eighth day, which will follow the millennium.

1 Corinthians 12:12-14 & 18 NIV the body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

God has arranged the parts in the body of Christ just the way he wants them to be, so let there be no judging of one another concerning food, drink, and special days.

Romans 14:10-12 NIV you, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written: "'as surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'" so then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Philippians 2:9-11 NIV therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the father.

Each one of us will give an account of ourselves to Christ, when we stand before him and bow and worship. We will then be rewarded for our works and our faith. Christ is our judge, not other men.

Romans 14:13-14 NIV therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.

Paul was fully convinced that there was no food that was unclean in itself, but if someone thought that there was, for that person it was a sin to eat it, because they were violating their own conscience.

Romans 14:15-16 NIV if your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil.

Many people use these verses of Paul to try to prove that even if certain things are not a sin, that we should always abstain from them because it could cause a weak brother to stumble, and then they tack on something about avoiding all appearance of evil, trying to make everyone think and do like they do, while they themselves would not lift one finger to accommodate someone with beliefs different from theirs.

Paul said not to allow anyone to speak evil of what you consider to be good, but at the same time be sensitive and compassionate about the beliefs of others.

Romans 14:17-23 NIV for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

Romans 15:1-2 NIV we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

If these people actually believed what they were saying, then they would adhere to all of the things that weak believers consider to be a sin, not just a few that they pick and choose for themselves. If Paul meant that we should always abstain from everything that anyone who is weak in the faith considers to be a sin, then we should all be living like the Amish, without electricity and modern conveniences, because these brothers consider it to be a sin.

Anyone who tells another to avoid something that God has not
Commanded us to refrain from, had better be living like the Amish, or they are judging others, and are losing some of their Spiritual rewards by doing so.

What was Paul talking about then? What he was saying is, that when you are in the presence of someone who has a problem with something, don't flaunt your freedom in Christ to make them feel bad, or to cause them to be embarrassed and partake of something that they consider to be a sin because of peer pressure from you.

Examples of this would be to partake of an alcoholic beverage in front of someone trying to quit drinking, or to eat a delicious dessert in front of an overweight person who is on a diet, taunting them by your actions.

If a person has had a problem with something in the past, then it is better for them to totally abstain from it, to keep from being bound by it once again.

1 Corinthians 8:8 NIV but food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

1 Corinthians 9:3-4 NIV this is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. Don't we have the right to food and drink?

1 Corinthians 9:19-22 NIV though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.

Paul made it his practice to find common ground with all people, and when he was with them to adhere to whatever things they practiced, so long as they were not sinful practices. This is what Paul was teaching. If you are with someone who believes that they should worship on Saturday, don't argue with them, accept this as Gods will for their life at the present time. If God wants to change them, that is his job. If you are invited into someone's home who feels it is a sin to eat meat or drink wine, don't argue with them about it, submit yourself to their customs while you are a guest in this persons home, or even if you are out to dinner with them at a restaurant. It is no sin to abstain, anymore than it is a sin to partake.

This does not mean that you should be a hypocrite and pretend that you always abstain from the same things that they do. To the contrary, Paul said not to let anyone call evil what you consider to be good, but don't harp on the subject, food and drink are not important anyway, they will both become unnecessary after the resurrection. There are many things of more value to discuss when meeting with those who have faith in Christ.

This abstaining applies only to the weak, not those who claim to be strong. Neither Paul or Jesus spared having words with those who thought they were better than others because of something they were doing or not doing with their physical body.

Jesus made it a point to infuriate the Pharisees with his freedom at every opportunity, because although they claimed they could see, they were blind. In their case it was the kindest thing to do because they were beyond the point of being taught by reasoning with them from the scriptures.

Adhering to the customs of others when you are with them only pertains to those who are weak in the faith, not those who claim to be strong, teachers of the law.

John 9:40-41 NIV some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, "what? Are we blind too?" Jesus said, "if you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

God does not condemn people who are in ignorance and searching for the truth, but those who claim to be wise are guilty before God.

Romans 1:22 KJV professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

It is only to the weak that we are to be accommodating, not to those who claim to be strong but are self blinded fools. What the Spiritually blind need is a good shock to wake them up.

A person who is truly blind is not guilty of sin, because they are blind, and need only to be taught, and they will understand, if they have the Spirit of God in them.

Those who claim they see are guilty of sin because they are unteachable, they think they know it all already. Even Jesus couldn't teach these people, even after they had seen his miracles, they still would not believe.

This was also proven by Paul in his dealings with peter, when peter fell into sin by forcing the gentiles to adhere to Jewish customs. Paul did not mince words with peter to be a kind and accommodating Christian brother, peter was strong, but in error, and Paul withstood him to his face.

Galatians 2:11-16 NIV when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to peter in front of them all, "you are a Jew, yet you live like a gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force gentiles to follow Jewish customs? "we who are Jews by birth and not 'gentile sinners' know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

Paul rebuked Peter in front of them all for his sin, because peter was not doing this out of ignorance, but out of fear of those who belonged to the circumcision party. Paul was gentle with the weak, but fearless with the strong, and those who claimed to be strong, but who were Spiritually blind because they hardened their hearts to the truth.

1 Corinthians 10:23 NIV "everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive.

1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

The final end of the matter is, that whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Help the weak, and rebuke those who claim to see, but are in error, like Peter was.