Argument against Rom 14

Q. How do you counter an argument for doing away with the Law using Romans 14?

A. First of all remember that anyone who teaches you that the Law has been “done away with” is a false teacher. Secondly, you can’t use Paul to prove that because he was Torah observant himself (Acts 28.17) and taught others to follow it (1Cor 11.1-2). So, the problem is their premise in saying Rom 14 is saying that the Law was done away with, and it isn’t saying that at all. Christian teachers and their followers have little understanding of what the Scriptures really say and this chapter is a good example of that, so in order to answer your question I think I’m going to do the chapter verse by verse so that we can understand the chapter the way it was written and understood in the 1st century. Paul is writing to the congregations in Rome. The congregations at that time were made up of three types of people. The synagogue Jews I will use as a designation for the Jewish people in the congregation that don’t believe in Yeshua. The second group I will call the Messianic Jews, who did believe in Yeshua. The third group will be called the Messianic non-Jews and are gentiles who believed in Messiah. All three groups worshipped together in synagogues in the 1st century (Acts 15.21). The book of Romans was written addressing certain problems in the congregation and how believers in Yeshua should deal with them. Let’s jump all the way to Chapter 14. This chapter is dealing with gentiles who have come directly into the faith and to accept the ways of the synagogue Jews in the congregation. I am going to go verse by verse to give you a feel for what is going on:

V1…”accept the one who is weak in faith” …the weak in faith are those who do not believe in Yeshua due to a lack of knowledge (Rom 4.19-20,10.2) and that their opinions were still valid.

V2…”one man has faith that he can eat all things”….this verse is talking about eating common food (Gk “koinos) as opposed to eating vegetables. The synagogue Jews would not eat meat or drink wine of the gentiles. This is still done today and it is called “halachah” or how to walk. The salvation of the “weak” (synagogue Jews) is directly related to how the “strong” (messianic gentile) deal with the issue of food. This has nothing to do with the clean and unclean list of Lev 11. The issue of eating pigs and unclean animals would never have been an issue. The synagogue Jews or the messianic gentiles would have never eaten pig or any animal on the unclean list. The issue of “eating” is over clean foods that the synagogue Jews considered unclean halachically not biblically, and there is a difference. The issue is not over the food with Paul, but whether it is an act of love to eat this in front of someone who considers it a sin. For an example, an orthodox Jew would not eat a cheeseburger because they do not eat milk and meat products together. That is not biblical halachah but rabbinical. So, I would not eat a cheeseburger in front of an orthodox Jew because it offended him, even though I have the freedom to do it).

V3 … “let not him who eats (common food) regard with contempt him who does not eat (common food for some halachic reason), and let not him who does not eat (common food) judge him who eats (common food) for God has accepted him (He accepts the actions of the weak and the strong).

V4…”who are you to judge the servant of another? “The Lord is able to make him stand” meaning to make the weak (unbelief) strong (believe).

…”one man regards one day above another, another regards every-day”…There is nothing to indicate that this is the Sabbath or any biblical holy day. This has to do with certain halachically mandated days unique to the synagogue in Rome. They may have had certain fast days (Luke 18.11-12) or certain days that were considered special due to local tradition just like congregations do today.

V6… He who observes the day (whatever fast day/special day of the synagogue) observes it for the Lord…so leave them alone if it’s not a big issue. If he eats vegetables and observes certain days, so what, as long as they are not replacing biblical foods or holy days!

V7-12…these verses go on to say that the Lord died for all men and we should not look to another in contempt over non-biblical mandates and traditions and it all is going to get sorted out someday by the Lord anyway so don’t get all worked up over it. This again is not talking about not observing the Torah. This has to do with things that are just traditions or man- made local synagogue laws, not biblically binding commandments of God. We are to keep in mind the greater law in the scriptures, which is love of your neighbor.

People serve God different ways within the context of scripture. This is not referring to someone who does not keep the Sabbath and says we shouldn’t judge them. We are to judge that situation. This also is not referring to someone who eats pig and catfish as opposed to someone who doesn’t. I have heard it said that the “weak’ in this verse is someone who is Torah-observant and the “strong” is someone who isn’t bound by the Law. That is not what is being referred to here. Next week we will pick up in v13 and finish this important chapter on how to treat others when their opinions (not Torah commands) are not like ours in the faith.