Romans 14 - Developing our own convictions

The Lord wanted to teach me something about developing convictions where the bible is silent. Also He wanted to teach  me on how to handle them and how to deal with other believers who do not have the same convictions. Romans 14 is where the Lord took me. I had a couple of brothers mention it to me and I took it as a sign that I needed to study that chapter. There are divisions within the church but its not about the "white" or "black" subjects. Its about the "gray" areas where the Bible is silent. Some churches you will never hear the sound of drum played in that building and some have worship teams that have equipment that are professional grade. Some churches you cannot dance and some you can. Some churches require people to dress up to come to church and some don't. Those are just some of the gray areas where the Bible is silent but have caused division within the church.

 Here is the thing that I learned from studying Romans 14; we must be persuaded in our own minds what is good or bad for us on things where the Bible is silent. We must also give others the freedom to develop their own convictions. When they do develop those convictions, we do not judge them for that. If a brother decides that eating pork is fine but you don't, that is okay. That brother is eating pork unto the Lord and giving thanks for it. If you decide to refrain from eating pork, that is fine too because you are doing as unto the Lord. Or if someone decides to abstain from drinking any alcohol but you think its okay, that is fine also. The Bible never says you cant drink alcohol but it does say you cannot get drunk. Which leads me to the next thing I learned. We should limit our freedom for others. We need to be able to limit our freedom so that it doesn't make others stumble. On the subject of alcohol, lets say a Pastor invites a member of their church to their house. The person convicted a recovering alcoholic. He sees the Pastor drinks alcohol and therefore assumes that since my Pastor drinks, that means so can I and begins drink themselves to destruction. The Pastor's actions just became a stumbling block to the recovering alcoholic. Pastors are looked at as examples on how to walk out faith and live Christ like. Maybe that Pastor could have not drank any alcohol beverages when He invites folks from His church because He is to be an example. Or may be He could give up alcohol for the good of others so that He doesn't become a stumbling block and causes others to sin.

Another thing I learned was that some people regard other days holier than others and some people regard everyday the same. For example, this past Christmas me and my family decided that from now on, we were not going to celebrate Christmas. We have our reasons and they are many and I don't want to get into it so that I don't digress from this message. But if other believers want to celebrate Christmas, that is fine. Me and my family are persuaded, convicted and in faith do not partake in that holiday. Another believer is persuaded that celebrating Christmas is fine, they celebrate it as to the Lord and are not convicted by it, that is fine. The Bible doesn't speak about those things. But we must be fully convinced in our mind. We cannot be double minded. We must eliminate the gray areas in our lives. God is definitive in the sense that in Gods eyes something is either right or wrong, righteous or sinful. There is no gray are when it comes to God. So we must also begin to define what is good for us and what is bad.

In conclusion, Jesus became a man and took on all of our limitations. Him being born a Jew, He obeyed all of the laws of Moses and Judaism. There are 613 commandments in the Torah and Jesus lived them all out perfectly. He limited Himself in that way also as a man. Jesus limited Himself the legitimate pleasures of this world so that He could save us. He lived the life that we could not live. He died the death that was meant for us. He was resurrected so that we can eternal life. We were accepted by Jesus not because of who we are or what have/have not done. He accepted us because of who He is and by our faith in Him. We are given the righteousness of Jesus as soon as we are born again. How righteous is Jesus? He is the pinnacle of righteousness and the high standard of righteousness. That's how righteous we become when we surrender our lives to the Lord, believe in Him and repent of our sins. So who are we to judge? BUT! That doesn't give us license to sin. For example, I can have a beer but if  I am laid out on the ground drunk, I have sinned about something God has been clear is sin and I need correction and need to repent.

I hope this helped you understand this chapter in the Bible. Studying it sure helped me out. Happy new year to all who follow this blog and readers who happen to stop by to read this entry. May Gods grace and mercy be with you always!