Commentary - Romans 14:13-23

Bird's-eye view

In this section of Romans, Paul continues his practical instruction on how Christians with differing opinions on secondary matters ought to live together in the church. Having established that we are not to judge or despise one another because we all serve the same Master, Jesus Christ (Rom 14:1-12), he now turns to the positive responsibility we have toward one another. The central theme is love, a robust and muscular love that prioritizes the spiritual well being of a brother over the exercise of personal liberty. Paul is not promoting a flimsy sentimentalism; he is laying down the hard pavement of gospel ethics. The strong are to accommodate the weak, not because the weak are right in their scruples, but because Christ died for them. The kingdom of God is not defined by our dietary standards or our calendars, but by the righteousness, peace, and joy that the Holy Spirit works in us. This is the very work of God, and we are commanded not to tear it down over something as trivial as a meal.

The argument flows from a negative prohibition, "let us not judge one another anymore," to a positive resolution: "judge this, not to put a stumbling block...before a brother" (v. 13). Paul then grounds this in his own apostolic conviction about the cleanness of all foods, while simultaneously upholding the absolute authority of an individual's conscience (v. 14). This leads to the central exhortation: walking in love means being willing to restrict your freedom for the sake of a brother's conscience (v. 15). The chapter concludes with a series of powerful summary statements, contrasting the triviality of food with the substance of the kingdom (vv. 16-18), urging the pursuit of peace and mutual edification (v. 19), and warning against destroying God's work for the sake of food (vv. 20-21). The final verses (vv. 22-23) bring the issue back to the individual's standing before God, emphasizing that all actions must be rooted in faith to be righteous.

Outline

Context In Romans

This passage is a crucial part of Paul's application of the gospel to the nitty-gritty of church life. After laying the glorious theological foundation in chapters 1-11, he pivots in chapter 12 to how this gospel transforms our relationships. Chapter 14 deals with a specific problem in the Roman church: friction between believers with "strong" consciences (who understood their freedom in Christ regarding food laws and special days) and those with "weak" consciences (who still felt bound by Old Covenant regulations). Paul's instructions here are not about doctrinal essentials, but about what he earlier called "doubtful disputations" (Rom 14:1). The principles he lays down, however, are timeless. They teach us how to handle disagreements over secondary issues without fracturing the unity of the body. This section is a master class in applying the doctrine of justification by faith to our horizontal relationships within the covenant community. Because we are all justified by grace, we have no grounds to stand in judgment over our brother for whom Christ died.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather judge this, not to put a stumbling block or offense before a brother.

Paul begins with a conclusion, "Therefore." Based on everything he has just said about God being the only ultimate judge (vv. 10-12), the first logical consequence is that we must cease our petty tribunals in the church hallway. We are to get out of the judgment business when it comes to our brothers' disputable practices. But Paul, with a clever turn of phrase, tells us to redirect our judging faculty. Instead of judging our brother, we are to make a judgment, a firm decision or resolution, about our own conduct. The new object of our critical assessment is ourselves. And the resolution is this: I will not be the reason my brother trips up. A "stumbling block" (proskomma) is something you trip over, while an "offense" (skandalon) is the bait in a trap. The first is an accidental impediment; the second is a deliberate snare. We are to avoid being either. This is not a call to walk on eggshells, but a call to walk in circumspect love. My liberty is not the most important thing in the room; my brother's spiritual stability is.

v. 14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is defiled in itself; but to him who considers anything to be defiled, to him it is defiled.

Here Paul states his own position, and he does so with the full weight of his apostolic authority. "I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus." This is not just his personal opinion; this is a conviction rooted in his union with Christ and the revelation he received from Him. Objectively, in God's new creation economy, the old categories of clean and unclean foods are obsolete. "Nothing is defiled in itself." A pork chop is just a pork chop. But then he immediately introduces a crucial subjective qualification. While the food is objectively clean, it can become subjectively defiled for a person. If a man's conscience, albeit a weak and misinformed conscience, tells him that eating that pork chop is a sin, then for him to eat it is, in fact, a sin. The issue is not the food, but the violation of conscience. To act against what you believe to be God's will is to sin, even if your belief is mistaken. This is the sacred authority of the conscience before God.

v. 15 For if because of food your brother is grieved, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.

Now comes the application, and it is sharp. If your exercise of freedom in eating causes your brother to be "grieved", meaning distressed, pained, or wounded in his conscience, then you have failed the love test. Your actions may be theologically correct, but they are relationally sinful. You are no longer "walking according to love." Love does not flaunt its knowledge or its rights. Love stoops. And the stakes are incredibly high. Paul says, "Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died." The word for "destroy" (apollumi) is a strong one, meaning to ruin or bring to destruction. Can a believer's actions cause another believer to be eternally lost? That is not the point. The point is the collision of values. On one side of the scale, you have your plate of food. On the other, you have a soul for whom the Son of God shed His blood. To prioritize the food is a grotesque inversion of values. You are treating the work of Christ with contempt. You are, for the sake of a meal, acting in a way that could shipwreck your brother's faith, causing him to sin against his conscience and fall into spiritual ruin. You are tearing down what Christ died to build up.

v. 16 Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be slandered;

The "good thing" here is Christian liberty. It is a genuine good, purchased by Christ. But a good thing can be used in a bad way, which results in it being "slandered" or spoken of as evil (blasphemeo). When a strong brother insists on his rights in a way that causes division and wounds the weak, unbelievers look on and say, "So this is what your Christian freedom is all about? Selfishness, arrogance, and fighting over food? It looks just like the world." When we use our liberty lovelessly, we bring the gospel itself into disrepute. We give our enemies a reason to mock. So, Paul says, don't let that happen. Guard the reputation of the gospel by exercising your freedom with wisdom and love.

v. 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

This is the theological center of the argument. The church gets tangled up in controversies over the trivial because she forgets what the main thing is. The kingdom of God, the realm where God's rule is manifest, is not about external regulations concerning food and drink. That was the shadow; it is not the substance. The substance, the defining characteristics of kingdom life, are threefold: "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Righteousness refers to right conduct before God and man. Peace is the relational harmony that flows from that righteousness. And joy is the deep, settled delight in God that is the fruit of the first two. And notice the qualifier: this is all "in the Holy Spirit." This is not a human-generated program for self-improvement or a utopian social club. This is the supernatural life of God welling up within the community of believers. To sacrifice this for a debate about bacon is to trade a pearl of great price for a plastic bead.

v. 18 For he who in this way serves Christ is pleasing to God and approved by men.

To serve Christ "in this way", that is, by pursuing righteousness, peace, and joy, is the path of true success in the Christian life. It has a vertical and a horizontal dimension. Vertically, it is "pleasing to God." God is not impressed by our dietary expertise; He is pleased by a life of loving service that reflects the character of His Son. Horizontally, it is "approved by men." This does not mean we will be popular with the world, but rather that such a life has an undeniable integrity. Even unbelievers can recognize the beauty of a community characterized by righteousness and peace. It is a powerful apologetic. A church that loves one another well is a far more compelling witness than a church that has all its theological ducks in a row on secondary matters but is filled with strife.

v. 19 So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.

Here is the practical conclusion, another "therefore." Our energy should be directed toward a determined "pursuit." And what are we to chase after? Two things: "the things which make for peace" and "the building up of one another." Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of shalom, of wholeness and right-relatedness. Edification, or "building up" (oikodome), is the construction of the church, brick by living brick. Every interaction should be measured by this standard: does this conversation, this action, this Facebook post, contribute to the peace and spiritual growth of my brothers and sisters? Or does it introduce strife and tear them down? The default posture of a mature believer is not "how can I exercise my rights?" but "how can I build up my brother?"

v. 20 Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense.

Paul repeats the warning from verse 15, but with a slight variation. Before, it was "do not destroy your brother." Here, it is "do not tear down the work of God." The "work of God" is the church, the community of faith that God is building. It is also the work of God in an individual believer's life. To cause a brother to stumble is to take a sledgehammer to God's construction project. And for what? "For the sake of food." The triviality is staggering. Paul then reiterates the principle from verse 14: "All things indeed are clean." The objective reality has not changed. But, he adds, that clean thing becomes "evil for the man who eats and gives offense." The evil is not in the food, but in the act of eating in a way that knowingly causes another to stumble. The strong man's eating, when done with loveless disregard for his brother, is a sinful act.

v. 21 It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.

This verse broadens the principle. Paul is not just talking about kosher laws. He includes meat and wine, common elements of life, and then generalizes to "anything" that causes a brother to stumble. The principle of love is supreme. The good, noble, and honorable (kalon) course of action is to willingly set aside your liberty. This is not weakness; it is the strength of love. This is the cruciform life. Christ had the right to remain in heaven, but He set it aside for our sake. We, in turn, are called to set aside our rights for the sake of our brother.

v. 22 The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Blessed is he who does not judge himself in what he approves.

Paul now addresses the strong brother directly. "The faith which you have", that is, your confident conviction that all foods are clean, is a good thing. But it is a private matter between you and God. "Have it to yourself before God." It is not something to be paraded, weaponized, or used as a club to beat the weaker brother. Your liberty is for worship, not for warfare. Then comes a beatitude: "Blessed is he who does not judge himself in what he approves." The truly happy man is the one with a clear conscience, who can enjoy God's gifts without nagging self-condemnation. This applies to the strong man who acts in love, and so his conscience is clear. It also serves as a warning. If you approve of an action (like eating meat) but you do it in a way that violates the law of love, your own conscience will condemn you. You will have no blessing, no joy, in that action.

v. 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.

Finally, Paul turns to the weak brother. The one who "doubts", who is uncertain in his conscience whether eating a certain food is permissible, is "condemned if he eats." This does not necessarily mean eternal damnation, but rather that the act itself is a sin for which he stands condemned. Why? "Because his eating is not from faith." He is not acting out of a settled conviction that what he is doing is pleasing to God. He is violating his own conscience. And this leads to the monumental, concluding principle: "whatever is not from faith is sin." This is a sweeping statement. Any action, thought, or word that does not spring from a trust in God and a desire to please Him is, by definition, sin. It doesn't matter how moral or upright the action appears on the outside. If the root is not faith, the fruit is sin. This drives us back to the gospel. We cannot live this way in our own strength. We must be justified by faith, and then we must learn to walk by faith, which, as this chapter so powerfully demonstrates, means walking in love for our brothers.