77: Outstanding Love

Trinity Evangel Church

Media Give App

77: Outstanding Love

Or, There’s No Harm Done in a Fulfilling Life

September 24, 2023 • Sean Higgins • Romans 13:8–10

When Christians talk about Romans 13 they’re almost always thinking about the God and government part in the first paragraph. It’s a good start to the chapter, about earthly authorities promoting the good, and the good of citizens submitting to do good. But there is more good in Romans 13, in two more paragraphs.

Romans 13:8-10 is maybe one of the most underrated three-verse summaries in Scripture. If you like profound truth in pithy form, if you like a paragraph that does the work of many pages, if you like rubber meets the road repetition, it’s all here for you.

We learned how to behave as citizens toward the people in charge in verses 1-7, and verses 8-10 show us how to behave toward our fellow citizens. There is certainly application for how we treat one another as Christians, but members of the body of Christ already got explicit instructions in chapter 12. While we would say only Christians have the capability to consistently treat others the way Romans 13:8-10 describes, the picture is what makes our civil lives together *civil*.

There’s a summary command, a summary of all the commandments, and a summary clarification.

# A Summary Command (verse 8)

Paul just commanded citizens: “pay to all what is owed to them” (verse 7). “Paying” had reference to taxes and to honor; we give dollars and deference. These things are “owed”; there is an obligation that some have to taxes, some to revenue, some to respect, some to honor. Their work and their offices/“high positions” (1 Timothy 2:2) are due a certain response.

In verse 8 a different group is owed something different.

> Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:8 ESV)

If English allowed it, we could double the negatives and say “no one nothing owe” (μηδενὶ μηδὲν). The command **owe** connects with the concept of what is “owed” in verse 7. Be obliged to have no obligations.

I’ve heard Romans 13:8 used as an argument for not ever using credit or taking out a loan. There certainly are issues with borrowing; the borrower is slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7). Depending which family member you borrow from, that can make reunion picnics testy. But the Bible doesn’t prohibit loans (for example, in Matthew 5:42 Jesus teaches His disciples, “do not refuse the one who would borrow from you”). Scripture does prohibit not paying the loan by the borrower (along with excessive interest gathering from the lender). “The wicked borrows but does not pay back” (Psalm 37:21). To borrow and not return is a form of theft. Do not have ongoing, unpaid (college. car, consumer) bills.

Instead, we do all have an ongoing, unfinished responsibility to **love one another** (not sure why the ESV used “each other” instead of the normal “one another”). Love toward one another is *outstanding* in the adjective’s second meaning, “remaining to be paid, done, or dealt with.” Let no debt remain outstanding except the other-loving debt.

“The one loving the other” is a substantival participle, stressing the *continuous* loving, and the reason why we keep paying on this debt is because that loving-one **has fulfilled the law**. An interesting switch to a past tense. This fulfillment matters in verse 9 and verse 10 as well.

I pointed out that Paul didn’t use the word **law** once in verses 1-7, but law bookends this paragraph, along with the word “commandments” in the middle. He even gives examples of the commandments in verse 9.

Since loving is law-fulfilling, then love and law are not opposites, or enemies. It also means love (casually applied as a term for sentiment or feeling or passion) is *not* love. Love is lawful, as in, genuine love loves within standards. So also, the point of law is love, not mere conformity to standards. Similar to Romans 12:9 and love being without hypocrisy, love must be without unrighteousness. How about new t-shirts: “Love is (NOT) love. Love is (God's) law."

# A Summary of All Commandments (verse 9)

What do we *owe one another in love*? We owe them recognition as separate persons, they are not us, they have their own stuff, and they do not owe us their stuff.

> For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Romans 13:9 ESV)

The specifics: **adultery**, **murder**, **steal**, **covet**, are in the second table of the 10 Commandments. They are four of the five “thou shalt *not*”s. Adultery is the taking of another man’s spouse, murder is the taking of another man’s life, stealing is the taking of another man’s stuff, and coveting is a wishing that you could take another man’s life, wife, and/or stuff.

Not mentioned are honoring one’s mother and father (5th commandment) or bearing false witness (9th). Also not mentioned are the first table of the 10 Commandments (1st-4th), all those related to God and no other gods or disrespect to God.

These commandments relate to others and their households, to the sacredness of human life, the sanctity of the family, the recognition of the right to ownership of private property, and the need to control ones’ desires (against envy and it’s political outcome in Marxism/Communism). Covetousness is the way of selfish-love and selfish-love is opposed to neighbor-love.

But note that Paul adds **and any other commandment**. That doesn’t only mean the other six of Decalogue, it includes the other 609 of the 613 in the Mosaic Law.

In an amazing, preview/notification-sized text, he says, all the commandments **are summed up in this word**. He got this from Jesus, who also summed up the entire Old Testament in two commandments. Paul is focusing on one of them, the one that matters in the social sphere. **You shall love your neighbor as yourself.**

This is *Leviticus* 19:18. Did you realize that the most important thing you needed to know about getting along in local life would be in Leviticus? When you think Leviticus, do you think *love*? This law has been there since about 1444 BC, around for almost 3,500 years.

Jesus Himself summarized the 39 books of the Old Testament,

> “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37–40 ESV)

The **neighbor** means the *near*, the one *next* to you.

Does this mean that the 10 Commandments are still binding on us today? I don’t think that’s the best way to say it, but if someone asked me how to know what *lawful* love is, these would be first principles to measure by. In love all the commandments are summed up.

# A Summary Clarification (verse 10)

Here’s a review of the summary, saying what’s been said.

> Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:10 ESV)

**Love** is what persons have/share/do, here love is like a person; love works no wrong, does no damage, carries out no evil against the locals. “Love hurteth not” (Tyndale).

Do no harm ("First do no harm" is a summary of the original Hippocratic oath, written by Hippocrates circa 400 BC - a vow for any physician in training and also applicable for political and economic philosophy).

Compare the “negative” commands in verse 9 to this “negative” summary in verse 10. It highlights the difference between Positive and Negative/liberty rights. A positive right means you have the right to have something given to you (which amounts to an obligation on the part of someone else to provide it, requiring their harm). A negative right means that you have the right to be left alone to have your stuff. In economic terms this is a major dividing basis between Socialism/Communism/“Woke Capitalism” and free-market Capitalism.

There are all kinds of ways to *wrong* a neighbor. No lies; so, for example in our day, no so-called Pronoun Hospitality, calling a he a “she” and so forth. There’s no permitted stealing, through sneaking into their house or sneaking into their taxes.

# Conclusion

Love is not lawless. Specific commands are mentioned in verse 9 so that we will see what love looks like in action. For example, one cannot commit adultery, murder, steal, and covet and claim to be loving.

Love is not lawless, but “following” the law is not necessarily love. One can be unloving while giving everything away to the poor as in 1 Corinthians 13:3.

So we must love our neighbor, who and how? Great questions! They've been asked before.

As verses 8-10 relate to verses 1-7, our system of government depends on a moral people, and fine, but it really depends on a *loving* people. John Adams said,

> “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. **Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.** It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

This is true between neighbors, in the don’t bother one another sense, as well as in the blessing through business sense. Consider George Gilder’s argument that in (good) Capitalism giving comes first, considering how to love others in product or services, rather than other approaches which start with taking/redistributing.

In all our interactions we must “Owe no one anything, except to love one another.” Outstanding love is the way to a fulfilling life.

----------

## Charge

If you can't afford the hospital bill for your hurt neighbor in the ditch like the Good Samaritan, at least don't vote for universal healthcare and let the government steal from other neighbors to cover the cost. If you can't say something nice to your transgender neighbor, at least don't harm them by lying to them with false pronouns. If you can't stand the idea of spending time with your Christian neighbor, at least don't slander them, and also ask God to get your heart right in love. Love one another.

## Benediction:

> [M]ay the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. (1 Thessalonians 3:12–13, ESV)

84: A Welcome Hope

November 19, 2023 • Sean Higgins • Romans 15:7–13

Hope is as good as God’s Word. We learn what hope is, and what our hope is in, from Scripture. The strength and power of our hope comes from the trustworthiness of Scripture. Our confidence in what Scripture tells us to hope for in the future comes from what Scripture reveals about all the realities that God has fulfilled so far. That should sound advent/Christmas related. In fact I’ve used Romans 15:4-13 four times in our annual Christmas Eve service Scripture readings. Just as God promised to send a Savior to earth and did, so also God promised to set up a King in a kingdom on earth, which He will. One good advent deserves another, and here we are learning how to behave and wait—while everyone doesn’t agree on everything—*in hope*. Since the start of Romans 14 the instruction is about living in light of the coming Lord’s unique position. He is the one to whom we will give account, He is our Master, we serve Him. So we can get off our brother’s case regarding his diet choices. We pray for the kingdom to come to earth as it is in heaven, and we reckon that the kingdom is a matter of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (14:17). So eat and honor the Lord and give thanks or *don’t* eat, yet still with honor and thanks. Either way, take off the judgy-pants and put on your joy-pants. *Welcome* your brother (15:7), like 14:1. Welcoming is how it started, and welcoming should be how it’s going. How it started was receiving, and how it’s going is still receiving *with hope that it’s going to happen for God’s glory*. For all of the possible problems between people, God’s purpose and God’s power are still on track to accomplish all God’s promises. That’s a reason for hope. # Glorious Welcome (verse 7) Based on God’s granting of unity to glorify Him (verses 5-6), there is responsibility to embrace that unity. > Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. (Romans 15:7 ESV) **Welcome** is the same word and imperative as opened this section of the letter in 14:1. It has the idea of taking toward (oneself), of receiving as into one’s home or circle of acquaintances. Open the door and invite them in. The strong were told to *welcome* the weak in faith (14:1), and the weak were told to stop judging the eaters because of God’s *welcome* (14:4). The **one another** in 15:7 covers them both. And the standard calls us to level up. Don’t just *welcome* because Christ is Lord, but *welcome* **just as also Christ received you.** Christ bore reproaches of God’s enemies to receive His people, and that all happened **for the glory of God**. But this must also apply to us *welcoming* others like Christ. Do you want to glorify God? It is as obvious as patterning your welcome of the brothers after Jesus, and as onerous. Study the Scriptures for endurance/encouragement/example and welcome your brothers for the glory of God. # Covenant Welcome (verse 8) The welcome of Christ gets higher than divisions about disputable matters and touches people groups. > For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, (Romans 15:8 ESV) This has explanatory power for our welcoming of one another over issues of meat and wine and days and such, but bringing in the Jew/Gentile distinction doesn’t map onto strong/weak differences, as if one ethnicity of Christian necessarily was more able or less able in choices by faith. If there is one thing we’ve learned, it’s that (almost) anyone can have any problem. That said, the problem between Jewish Christians and non-Jewish Christians was a thing that required a lot of parchment in the first few centuries of the church. The believers in Rome were living with such tensions. Even though most Jews rejected Jesus as Messiah and would not confess Him as Lord, Paul, a Jew (Romans 9:3), said **Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God** (NASB). What is the **truth**? It’s **the promises given to the patriarchs**. And what were those promises? They had heard about a Seed who would save them (Genesis 3:15). The Lord promised to make Abraham a great nation, to bless that people and make them a blessing (Genesis 12:1-3), and to give them promised land (Genesis 13:14-15). Why refer to them as **the circumcision** rather than “Jews” or “Israelites” as previously in Romans? Probably because circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic *Covenant* (Genesis 17:4-13). To the Israelites belonged the covenants and the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) and the Christ (Romans 9:4-5). Christ served the circumcised **in order to confirm the promises**. It’s important that Paul does not say in order to *fulfill* the promises, as if all the promises had been *completed* by Christ. They have been **confirmed**, “put beyond doubt” (BAGD), validated. The Gentiles might have thought that God was finished with Israel, but they shouldn’t have. The Jews are welcomed by Christ because of God’s covenant. # Merciful Welcome (verses 9-12) The Scriptures that were given for endurance and encouragement that lead to hope also foresaw a Son of Jacob/Israel that would save *the world*. Salvation blessings were covenanted to Israel and purposed for the nations. > and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. (Romans 15:9 ESV) The only covenant made with the nations is that God would not destroy them with a flood (Genesis 9), though even that was technically a covenant to Noah, and there weren’t any nations at that point. And yet, while choosing Israel as His national people, God purposed to bring Himself glory through every tribe, tongue, language, and people. He would show them **His mercy**. The good news is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16). All this was *prophesied*. No Scripture proofs were needed to corroborate Christ’s receiving of Jews; it would have been surprising if Israel did not receive God’s mercy. These multiple texts, though, leave no doubt about mercy extended; it shouldn’t have been surprising that Gentiles would receive God’s mercy. Paul weaves together four quotes in a row, from the Law, the Writings/Psalms, and the Prophets. The Jews might not have expected Christ to welcome the Gentiles, but only if they didn’t read their Scriptures. The first Scripture is Psalm 18:49. > As it is written, > “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, > and sing to your name.” (Romans 15:9 ESV) The second Scripture is Deuteronomy 32:43. > And again it is said, > “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” (Romans 15:10 ESV) The third Scripture is Psalm 117:1. > And again, > “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, > and let all the peoples extol him.” (Romans 15:11 ESV) The fourth Scripture is Isaiah 11:10. > And again Isaiah says, > “The root of Jesse will come, > even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; > in him will the Gentiles hope.” (Romans 15:12 ESV) Jesus is the Son of David, and it was to David that God covenanted a descendent who would be the King of kings. The Gentiles are welcomed by Christ because of God’s mercy. # Hopeful Welcome (verse 13) Just as I argued that the benediction/prayer ended the previous paragraph (verses 5-6), so this section ends with another fantastic expression of divine blessing. > May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13 ESV) The **God of hope** compares with “the God of endurance and encouragement” in verse 5. The reference to the **Holy Spirit** compares to “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” in verse 6; it’s a Trinitarian project. The God of hope is enabling and empowering **hope**. Three times **hope** in verses 12-13. There is hope for you, hope for me, hope for the world, hope by the Spirit through the Word in the Son of the God of hope. God fills us that we might overflow/**abound in hope**. # Conclusion If we are not allowed to despise a brother over meat, which he can choose, we certainly are not allowed to despise a brother over his ethnicity, which he did not and cannot choose. It’s a welcome hope, as in, a hope better than we were hoping for. It’s also a hope that enables us to welcome others. The only reason we don’t laugh at this international praising project is because we can look back at almost two-thousand years of God’s mercy in the lives of disciples of all nations. The Lord’s covenant and promises are on their way to being fulfilled, but it has not all happened just yet. The promises to the patriarchs are not completed, nor are they consumed in Christ as the terminal end; they will all be fulfilled *through* Him. Our Lord, come! Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His mercy to all peoples, and so welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. ---------- ## Charge Give thanks for the Messiah who confirms promises. Give thanks for the mercy of God that teaches you to rejoice. Give thanks, with all joy, and praise the Lord with your mouths, in songs and at suppers. Look to the Lord who blesses us, and who will return to rule us all. ## Benediction: > May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13 ESV)

83: Teaching Strength

November 12, 2023 • Sean Higgins • Romans 15:1–6

Back at the beginning of the application part of Paul’s letter, he told “everyone among you not to think of himself more highly then he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Romans 12:3). It’s part of altar-living, actually, to live by faith, and not to put on bigger ski-boots than your skis can handle. We’re now starting into chapter 15, still talking about application for altar-living, and still talking about living by faith. One way to measure your sober judgment on the strength of your faith is by what your strength *does*. It’s really cool that a man thinks his faith is big stuff because he can drink wine, but is he being patient with his brother whose conscience can’t? It’s preferable to be strong, Paul saw himself as strong, and he described the work of the strong as *building up others* rather than tearing down, or even just distancing from. In other words, if you’re so strong, why isn’t there more peace in your relationships? By God’s grace, the strong are strong in order to *endure*, and the greater true strength of faith in a body there is, the more harmonious the life of singing. We show strength not because we all agree, but when we love one another through disagreements, especially about disputable things, as we’ve been considering since the start of chapter 14. The right approach here is not “Who cares?!” We are told to care, to be fully convinced, and that whatever doesn’t come from faith is *sin*; living by faith isn’t laissez faire. Loving right rights is righteous, that’s the fruit of faith, the obedience of faith. And as we care *more*, we care rightly, we keep the top care at the top, loving and serving and *pleasing* our brother. The instructions about getting along continue into the first couple paragraphs of Romans 15. Verses 1-6 not only give a summary exhortation about strength, but a Scriptural example, and a prayer-like expectation. # The Duty of Strength (verses 1-2) A parent is not only supposed to be the mature one when there’s a problem, the parent is supposed to help his kid learn the right way to handle the problem, for the whole family’s benefit. So also in the church family. > We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. (Romans 15:1–2 ESV) This **strong** and **weak** are different words than in chapter 14, but the idea is the same. Some are more able to enjoy more things by faith, they are the strong. **Obligation** is an intriguing teaching; in this relationship the strong have an assigned *function*, they are answerable for their part. The job is **to bear with the failings of the weak**. But this is a different use of “bear” than how we often think of “putting up with,” just enduring what is unpleasant from another person. That sort of “bearing with” is the bottom floor expectation. The obligation here is to “pick up and carry” as to a better place. The strong hold the line *for* the weak, in the places where the weak are weak. The strong are the load bearing walls for the house. The second part of the obligation is **not to please ourselves**. Tyndale translated it as “not to stande in our owne consaytes,” in modern English: “not to stand in our own conceits,” where we let our ego and our self-regard for our preferences take precedence. Verse 2 redirects the pleasing impulse. **Each of us** (strong and weak, with carry-over expectations mostly to the strong) the **neighbor(brother)** should **please**, and that for his good and toward edification. It’s good for our brothers to be strong, and for us to help them be strong. Strength sustains the weak, and strength begets strength. Strength also satisfies the weak. On this obligation of pleasing, it doesn’t mean taking a survey, it doesn’t mean the weak is in the Seat of Power, it doesn’t mean the weak one immediately sees it as for his good. All of this requires wisdom and love, and nerve. Avoiding isn’t building either. But in what way can the able-ones defer for the good of the unable? There’s an example of what this looks like in the next verse. # The Standard of Strength (verses 3-4) If Paul had already written Philippians (which he probably didn’t for another 5 years), he could have quoted himself about the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5-11). He still looks to the ultimate example. > For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:3–4 ESV) There’s actually an extra conjunction at the start of verse 3, not just **for** but “For even/also” (καὶ γὰρ). Christ’s example isn’t jammed in where it doesn’t belong. A couple things really beg for some attention here. In reading the Gospels, would you say “Christ aimed to please His neighbor?” That’s not how I’d put it, yet Paul said, **Christ did not please himself**. We’re supposed to be looking at Christ’s life as a model for our motivations. But then look at the explanation of *what it meant* that Christ didn’t please Himself, and who He was aiming to please: ** but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”** It’s a quote from Psalm 69:9. It’s a David song, and applies in its context to David first. Zeal for the LORD’s house consumed David, and later was obviously applied to David’s Son, Jesus (John 2:17). And because of David’s trust in the Lord, he took the brunt of complaints from men who did not trust the Lord. In a greater way Jesus pleased His neighbors by taking their shots, and in His case, to the point of humble death as a servant in sacrifice. He didn’t just do whatever others said that they wanted, but what was for others good, and at the greatest cost. Paul justifies his application of the Psalm to the Messiah like he justifies application of *all* the inspired Scriptures to *us* as believers. I’m not Jesus, or David, or Moses, or Abraham, or Rahab, or Rebekah, or Samson, or all the others time fails us to tell of (see Hebrews 11:32ff). God knows we’re not Jesus, and yet He calls us through His Word to learn how to live like Jesus and the obedient saints. We get **instruction**, teaching, from the things written beforehand, the **Scriptures**. From that teaching we get **endurance**, the ability to remain under a burden; patience is fine, but the better sense is *fortitude*. From that teaching we get **encouragement**, or comfort. It’s heavy, it hurts, but the Word gives **hope**. Big Q: hope for *what*? For the hope that when we seek to please Christ as we love one another, He will help us and increase our harmony, *even* when people are acting like incapable babies. Strength for the fight of faith? Strength for salt and light and witness (see Romans 15:9ff)? Strength for good works? Yes, and amen, and the Scriptures teach us *strength for getting along with each other*. # The Gift of Strength (verses 5-6) A benediction, a prayer, part of Paul’s vision of hope as informed by the Scriptures. > May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5–6 ESV) When we talk about God’s attributes, we should include His **endurance** and His **encouragement**; He is the “God of endurance and encouragement.” And when we think about why the world is the way it is, and we acknowledge that the ultimate end for which God created the world is for His glory to be known and rejoiced in, then we should sit for a bit with the reality that for God to show off His infinitely excellent endurance He’ll have ordained a lot of parts of the story we’d rather skip. Endurance is inverse to skipping, the antithesis of quitting. He also is the God of encouragement, of consolation, of comfort. This God has given His Word, and through that Word He gives unity in worship. We have one-another **harmony**, or we are “of the same mind” (NASB), a shared-thinking according to Christ” With the purpose for same-minded and one-mouthed glorifying God. # Conclusion If we’re going to be jealousable (Romans 11:13-14), we can’t be jealous of one another. If we’re going to build one another up, bitterness and suspicions (let alone backbiting, or frontbiting) must be constantly rooted out. Be strong and strengthen others, enduring and encouraged by the Scriptures, unto hopeful and harmonic singing as worshippers of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ---------- ## Charge If your home WiFi was out, how quickly would you move to troubleshoot to fix it? Your expectations are on the “work” part of network. Beloved, God is increasing the stability and strength of His signal to the world. We, as brothers, are the signal. So work and live and grow in harmony. ## Benediction: > May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5–6 ESV)

82: Blessed and Building Up

November 5, 2023 • Sean Higgins • Romans 14:19–23

I’ve referred to this before, (as James Clear wrote) that "Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits” and so forth. Likewise a church’s (shared) peace is a lagging measure of each member’s habits of dying to bring life. Peace is a hard thing to pursue directly, but it is impossible to achieve without wanting it. I also like to remind us every once in a while that we always do what we *most* want to do. We might have multiple wants, and some of those wants compete or even conflict with each other. But the strongest want will win. Christians can tell what they want most, in the main, by what they have (their possessions are a lagging measure of their pursuits). It’s a decent mirror, regularly not flattering. Christians who want to look good more than do good will probably get what they want. Christians who want to be right more than anything will get that reputation; they’ll be known for their want (probably more than actual wisdom). Christians who want to be left alone will make little effort to the opposite. Christians who fight for their Christian liberty will at least think that the bruises are a result of them fighting the good fight, though the good is debatable. And, Christians who want other members to be blessed will try to build them up and “live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18). Sola fide in Romans 3 might be easier to understand and practice than this application for those who are saved by grace in Christ in Romans 14. Submitting to the truths of God’s sovereignty in Romans 9 requires less sacrifice than this application for those who are serving for the glory of God alone in Romans 14. There are a few better-thans in verses 19-23. I actually think that it’s possible to see the connections/divisions in Paul’s thought better than what read in our verse divisions, and even the paragraph division. Verse 19 ends the previous paragraph in the ESV, I think it makes a better lead-off statement for the final paragraph. Wherever it’s better to put the tab-space, we’re going to cover it, and see three points. # Building Up Is Better Than Tearing Down (verses 19-20a) In the kingdom of God, righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit have precedence. We should show this precedence in what we pursue. > So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. (Romans 14:19-20a ESV) The contrast is between building up and tearing down, as with walls. Christians will construct or destruct *their own structure*. **So then** swings from verses 13-18, if not from 1-13. We’re to judge/decide never to stumble or trap or destroy a brother when it comes to disputable things (especially as the weak have convictions/opinions about things without a verse and turn their preference into a “THIS ONLY IS RIGHTEOUS!”). Here’s what we should do. “We should pursue the (things) of peace and the (things) of one-another building.” Note that peace is not the direct object. But peace has “things” that go with it, **what makes for** peace. So with **upbuilding**, a word that describes actual house-building (οἰκοδομή), the structure from construction, and so spiritually here as desiring the strengthening, the edifying, of our fellow house members. We are one body, we are one house. **Pursue** the peace and edification things. Chase, seek, strive for. *WANT IT*. Every believer’s “aim should be to help one another rather than to criticize or despise” (Morris). And so we’re prohibited from working against God. God is strengthening, and we are not to **destroy** or “tear down” (NASB) or do demolition when it comes to disputable things, like **food**. This is a broad word for eaten things, while meat and wine are mentioned explicitly in the next verse. **The work of God** is either your brother himself, or the household of brothers, a.k.a., the body, the church. # Fellowship Is Better Than Flaunting (verses 20b-22a) We’re reminded of the hierarchy of rights. > Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. (Romans 14:20b-22a ESV) In verse 14 Paul said “nothing is unclean in itself,” and in the middle of verse 20 he says, on the one hand, “all things (are) pure.” But there is another hand, and it’s the hand that ranks higher. There is **clean**/pure=καθαρὰ, but it is κακὸν=evil/**wrong** to eat and make a mess for your brother. καλὸν=**good**/right **not to eat meat or drink wine**, which refers to alcohol for the first time specifically in the chapter. But just as Paul said, “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31), so he says *don’t* eat or *don’t* drink or *don’t* do whatever would cause your brother to fall. The first sentence in verse 22 belongs with this instruction, and is important for any number of things it does *not* mean. To **keep (your faith) between yourself and God** does not mean that faith is private or personal, as modern men often speak, as if faith could be separated from public or secular choices. Meat and wine are daily dinner stuff, or even potluck party stuff. “Keep ” (ESV) makes it sound quiet, but “have your own conviction before God” (NASB) means you are ready to give an account of yourself to God (verse 12). This is another way to say be fully convinced in your mind (verse 5), an introduction to doing what we do with a clear conscience (next in verse 22). Not eating meat or drinking wine doesn’t mean a once-and-for-all transition to vegetarian or tea-totaler. It doesn’t mean never eating in the privacy of your home. This whole chapter assumes discussion about disagreements. We only know that a brother is upset when there’s discussion; we cannot read his thoughts. In that discussion, following Paul’s example, we look at the truth, that “nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4), *and* that not all can be thankful for it *yet*, and so we don’t need to flaunt it. Both the stronger and weaker brothers have temptations, but they are to remember that 1) God has welcomed the brother, 2) we live and die as the Lord’s, 3) we will give an account to God, and 4) we ought to want blessing for our brother. Fellowship is better than rubbing our preferences in a brother’s face. # Blessed Is Better Than Condemned (verses 22b-23) We will eat, but not all will eat blessing. > Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. (Romans 14:22b-23 ESV) The two people: “the one not judging himself by what he’s approved,” and “the one doubting what he’s (functionally approved by) eating.” One is **blessed**, one is **condemned**. Don’t go against your conscience, and, seek to inform your conscience with what is right. (See also Ecclesiastes 9:7.) **All which (is) not from faith is sin.** From faith to faith is a big deal (starting from Romans 1:17). Decisions and fellowship must not be driven by fear or guilt. A church eating and drinking but not by faith is pagan/worldly. A church not eating and drinking in the name of faith but really out of anxiety is weak. A church ripping each other’s decisions to shreds cannot say it’s by faith. # Conclusion We can work it out or get offended. We can work it out or stay immature. We can work it out or always be finding a new group of people to blame; church hop to shift blame. Pursuing peace is more than leaving others alone, and building them up in blessing is a *habit* to *pursue*. Food is better and blessed with faith. Fellowship is better and blessed by faith. Living by faith is the *only* way of salvation, the only way to have a clear conscience, the only way to please God, the only way of righteousness, the only way of recognizing that all are yours, and the only way of *fellowship*, at least for now. May the Lord make us strong in faith and blessed with peace and full of jealousable joy as His spiritual house. ---------- ## Charge When David fled from Saul and lived in the land ruled by Achish/Ambimelech, and acted insane and let spittle run down his beard to show that there was no reason for Achish to fear him, he had good reason to think about the man who desires life and wants to see good. Such a man would “Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14). So, Christian, in these days of great insanity, you must seek and strive for the things of peace and the things that build up your brothers. ## Benediction: > The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14 ESV)