Article for Sunday Sept 17, 2023
Romans 14:10–12 10Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
One day, every person who lived and died will believe in Yahweh, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Some will rejoice, and others will ask how they could be so blind. Some might think I thought I knew God. And some may wonder why they did not believe in His Word. Yet others will rejoice and be glad in it.
That day when one will surely believe, might be a day too late, and a prayer too short. Many think they can command God to do their bidding, but God is the one supreme, not us. Judgment is coming and revenge will be taken. God will take revenge on those who earned it unless of course they repented of their sin.
Take heart, repentance during one’s life will be rewarded. However, repentance after death leads to nothing. We know Jesus died for our sins. We know of what Jesus said about the tax collector who prayed for mercy in his bowed head and tears, (Luke 18:14). Jesus justified the one who was truly sorry for their sin, not the one who thought themselves sinless.
These verses then tell us that we cannot believe that we can justify ourselves, or justify our sin, but that we will all be judged as forgiven or unforgiven. In other words, our sin or someone else’s sin is not for us to judge but for God to judge in His infinite wisdom of grace and mercy.
Romans 14:1–2 1As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
Who are you to judge one’s faith? What standing does your faith have, and can you even judge your own faith? I tell you that every person’s faith in God needs growth. The proof that all our faith needs growth is in the way we live our lives. Do we live it for God or for ourselves?
For most, Christianity is a one-day excursion, and of course mostly on Sunday morning. Many spend an hour or two a week worshipping God. The rest of the week most live to the world. So here is where we are enslaved to believe through opinions rather than believing through true knowledge and discipleship.
We argue sports which we might know more about then we know about God’s word. We argue politics which is almost pure opinion, and we argue religion which is also more opinion than knowledge. Why? Because we are too lazy to find the truth, to wrapped up in the world to let God be our lives. And what is worse is that we are raised this way, and this is the way we are allowing our children to be raised by our government.
We make major decisions based on little or no knowledge and let opinions rule our thinking. The one who eats vegetables is not always the one who is weak in faith. There’s some meat and potato guys that are blinded by the fat. Although I prefer meat and greens for myself, baked goods, sweets, and chocolate, Ice-cream, and… yea I know, my sugar judges me.
Romans 14:3 3Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.
We are so quick to judge people if they do not conform to our way of thinking. I think everyone should root for Michigan, and despise… Ok, I don’t really despise… We judge everything and everyone and complain if someone judges us. I understand, some of you are just too good to be judged, and being too good you justify your judging.
Judging reaches far past what one eats or drinks it goes to the clothes one wears, the car one drives, the church one attends. Even a church one attends. Yes, we can discern whether a religion is good or false, truthful, or misleading, and harmful, or dangerous. But to judge one another is not on the godly agenda.
However, you want to look at it, God welcomes us who welcomes Him. There are many non-believers who will one day, before it is too late, come to be believers. When that happens and every time it happens God and the angels celebrate. And no matter who it is we too should celebrate.
Romans 14:4 4Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
We are all servants of Yahweh, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Even Jesus Christ thought of Himself as one to obey His Father in heaven. We, being servants of God, are being upheld every day and Jesus Christ is the proof of this. We are being upheld despite our sinful nature through listening to the Holy Spirit who brings us to repentance, and through the forgiveness of our sins bought by the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 14:5–6 5One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each 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 he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
We have every reason therefore to honor our Lord, Jesus Christ for He died for us taking the punishment for our sins. We should then observe each day in the light of our Lord and live in honor of our Lord. We honor Jesus Christ when we pray to the Father and ask the Father to answer our prayers in His name. That is, we should always ask for the will of God rather than ask for our will.
Romans 14:7–9 7For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8If 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. 9For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
Let us live to the living God, praising Him and thanking Him for our salvation. Praise the one who died and was resurrected because in His Gospel, He gives us forgiveness, mercy, grace, and this leads to eternal Life. Amen.
Written by Pastor Curtis May
Kommentare