Romans 14:23 - Worthy Christian Forums

Romans 14:23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

Can anyone tell me what this means? It says a person is damned if they do not eat from faith.

Huh? I'm scratching my head on this. The previous verse talks about causing a brother to stumble.

I thought if we sin, (unless we sin against the Holy Spirit) we would be forgiven.

I have caused people to sin, I'm sure. I think we all have at one time or another. Sometimes we do without really realizing it and sometimes we just plain blow it.

I get very confused. Are we or are we not saved by grace and not by works of any kind?

Who is not likely to make an error in judgement and cause another to stumble in some way or another?

I thought God would forgive us if we confess our sin. I'm terribly confused on this issue.

It appears I'm not the only one without an answer. Looks like nobody else knows how to deal with this one either.

*(pulling hair out by the roots...)

Sorry, Cats, no more pulling hair out. I have read thru the whole chapter again and this my own translation.

Hypothetically: John believes that eating a certain food is not sinful accoding to his own faith. Jack says it is a sinful practice as far as his faith is concerned. So if Jack were to visit, John, John would not cause his brother to stumble by serving up this food.

However if John did serve up the meal and Jack decided to eat it anyway, then he would doing it against his own faith and belief and would therefore be sinning.
John would also be sinning for causing his brother to stumble, even if he, himself thought that the food was kosher.

That's my best shot, Susan, and I hope it helps. bless you,

eric.

Cats,

Paul is saying previously that he thinks all food is clean if sanctified in prayer because he understands that he is free in Christ and there is no separation between Jew and Gentile, male or female etc, in Christ. We are one in Christ and while the Jews were commanded to abstain from certain foods, the Gentiles never were.

So..........a new convert from Judiasm to christianity that has always abstained from "unclean" foods may feel it is a sin to eat pork or other unclean foods or foods sacrificed to idols. If this is his conviction and he eats it, he condemns himself, still, there is no condemnation in Christ.

Perhaps the person hasn't come to the realization and complete understanding of who they are in Christ and if they do not have the faith to consider all things clean, they should not eat it, for whatever is not of faith is sin.

We condemn ourselves for things all of the time, doesn't mean we are condemned by Christ. If we are His, we are covered in the Blood! That is the ONLY thing that makes us clean.

Hope that helps!

This has to do with the controversy over eating foods sacrificed to idols. This a problem all over the Gentile world at that time. It was really the Christian dilemma of their day.

Christians who went vegitarian because they would not eat meat for fear of inadvertantly eating something dedicated to a false God were at odds with those who felt that meat was meat, and it did not matter, since THEY were not worshipping another "god." Christians genuinely disagreed over what this issue, and Paul is telling them, in this chapter, to follow their conscience. That is really all it boils down to.

Paul is not addressing, in this chapter, the OT dietary commandments, or the OT observances, and chapter 14 of Romans has been wrongly used by many in that regard. Paul is dealing with Gentile Christians and is answering their questions as to what their posture should be towards the prevailing culture of the day.

If you violate your conscience you will incur guilt. If you choose not to eat meat sacrificed to idols, then don't. If you can do so, and it does not violate your conscience, that is fine too. Just be aware that you do not allow your liberty to cause someone else to stumble. Don't force someone to conform to the dictates of your conscience where this issue is concerned. This is one of those things that really come down an issue of conscience. Paul is making allowances for both points of view.

Sorry, Cats!
I saw this yesterday, but was not sure how to put my thoughts into words at the time.

I think Eric summed it up well, actually.

The point being, when it comes to issues that are not clear Scripturally as to what is sin and what is not, if a certain action or behavior is against your faith (conscious) then don't do it.


The command for the person whose faith (conscious) is OK with it is to place the consideration of the other's faith above his own freedom - but that's a different question!

Several good answers here, Cats!

How's Bill doing?

Hi Cats,
The verse in Romans 14:23 is more about faith than it is about food. The food issue is brought out more when you read the whole chapter of 1Corinthians 8.
Paul was trying to bring out that there are some who are weak and believe that when eating foods offered to idols, it defiles them...Paul was trying to get those that believed that it wasn't defiling to be considerate of those that believed it to be defiling.
You will notice the faith issue in Romans 14:22...Paul asked the question "Hast thou faith?"
Remember the Bible says "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" Ephesians 2:8
If we don't have faith in God...then we are damned.
So we have to have faith in God in all things...even in regards to eating...we need to still have faith.

So even though we don't necesarrily have this food offered to idol problem now days....we still have to have faith in God and this is where Paul was coming from.

I hope this helps. (IMG:http://www.worthyboards.com/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

You all are great! That helps. I believe this can also apply to other issues.

For example, I have absolutely NO conviction about alcohol. If I do have a glass of wine, it has never troubled my conscience.

Probably because I don't like it very much and rarely ever partake, it's not an object of idolatry or covetnous.

I could take it or leave it and usually leave it. It's been so long since I had alcohol of any kind, I can't even remember when I did. It's been that long. It's not something I care for much.

Consequently, I feel no problem with it if I do have a glass of wine, (which is rare).

On the other hand, I wrestle with my conscience regarding pain medication because it DOES tend to become a problem and get out of hand. Even though I take my medication completely legally, I tend to overuse the drug and not stay on the given dosage.

This means it's become a problem and I've made a committment to wean off the medication, even though it's prescribed to me legally and for a legitamite condition.

It's become a burden to my conscience because I DO tend to lose control, unlike alcohol, which I have no particular interest in.

I do believe God has provided a solution and given me a non-narcotic solution to my condition. So far, my body is tolerating the non-narcotic medication really well and I am slowly weaning off the narcotics.

For me, it is a sin to stay on these narcotics .... my conscience becomes troubled by them. For someone else, it may not be. I think I understand better what this verse of scripture is referring to.

Bless you all for responding....that helps a lot.

I was going to add the bit about wine covered in that passage, and was disappointed when I saw it was covered lol. Anyway, I don't drink on a regular basis, maybe twice a year, but according to certain scriptures (do not drink to excess... etc) it seems to be acceptable to partake. However, bishops and teachers are told to abstain. I think that 1 Corinth 10:23 says it well, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify." You have to take a look at your life and ask yourself if what you are doing is pleasing to God. If you come back with a no, then I think at that point, it is not in faith that you can drink and hence it becomes a sin.