26-0927sc - Detailed Summary

Steve opened by noting that the class was still in Romans, finishing chapter 13 and moving into chapter 14. He led prayer, thanking God for the day and for the chance to study Scripture together. He expressed gratitude that God provided His Word through the Holy Spirit, who enabled the writers to record what God wanted His people to know. He asked for wisdom, understanding, insight, and the ability to grasp Paul’s vocabulary and restated it in their own terms. He asked God to bless the study and closed in Jesus’ name.

Steve said they had essentially finished chapter 13 the previous week and would use it as a jumping-off point into chapter 14. He observed that students often wrestle with chapters 13, 14, and 15, trying to reason and rationalize them. What Paul requires here goes against human nature, especially for those raised in a Greek culture, and it is hard to bring oneself to comply. Believers must try their best to understand what God wants and then do it, trusting His wisdom and His teaching about behavior as His children. Christians are to comply with His will and represent Him. Steve said this material would be a challenge. Growing up in the Church of Christ, sitting at the feet of teachers as a student, he had seen a certain way of handling these texts. That history was why he was preamble-ing the lesson: he did not want to be guilty of doing what those teachers did, or of what is still being taught in the brotherhood.

Reading from the New American Standard Version, Steve took up Romans 13:8–10. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments against adultery, murder, theft, and coveting, and any other commandment, are summed up in “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Entering chapter 14, the class must keep that requirement in mind. The love in view is not only love of neighbor in general but love of the brother, meaning brothers and sisters in Christ, not the outside world. The issue is how Christians interact with one another as fellow children of God. When they became Christians, God adopted them, and He deals with them as a Father. He asks them to love one another, especially in the brotherhood. Steve paused for commentary or comments, then moved on.

He read Romans 13:11–14. Do this knowing the time: it is already the hour to awaken from sleep, for salvation is nearer now than when they first believed. The night is almost gone and the day is near. Therefore they should rid themselves of the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. They should behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and debauchery, not in strife and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. Steve said this is an admonition and insight from God about how to prepare the mind. It is mind warfare, spiritual warfare. Believers are to eliminate the flesh and not allow the physical to entice them, because the physical is after pleasure. He repeated the call to awaken. The deeds of darkness belong to the flesh, which revels after work hours, in leisure time—going to the bar or other night activity. That kind of behavior is usually done at night and is not complimentary in the day. They are to behave as in the day, put on Christ, and make no provision for the flesh.

Steve asked what “make no provision for the flesh” means. It is more than planning; it compromises balance and includes refusing to follow through on what the mind has already begun. If someone sees a lovely or handsome person and starts imagining what it might be like, that person must not make any provision to follow the thought, must not give it time or attention. An alcoholic thinks about when the next beer or shot will come. An addict of any kind plans what to do after work. Those plans must not be followed. Do not give yourself time to think that way and do not give yourself an out. Do not take the second step. He turned to James 1, beginning around verse 12. Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, who will receive the crown of life promised to those who love the Lord. No one should say, when tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil and does not tempt anyone. Each person is tempted when carried away and enticed by his own lust. When lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death. Do not be deceived. Every good and perfect gift is from above, from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. By His will He gave them birth by the word of truth, so they would be a kind of firstfruits among His creatures. Steve applied this: make no provision for following through with what you are thinking or with the lust that has caught your eye. He asked if he had said enough, received agreement, and turned to Romans 14.

Steve said chapter 14 goes contrary to what he himself had been taught, and he invited the class to look at it. “Now accept the one who is weak in faith.” Who is that? A new Christian, but not only a new Christian. It is also the person who gives little thought to reading Scripture and who learned much of his “faith” in the barroom or on the street. Street religion is plentiful, but it does not necessarily harmonize with the Bible. Street knowledge is not what you want, just as children will not learn the truth about sex from the street. Paul is writing to the church, to the Christians who comprise it, not to people on the street. He wants to catch and teach them before they learn something different. The weak brother includes the new Christian and the one still on milk who needs meat—an education issue about what has been believed, accepted, and known. Someone who comes in off the street as a former Methodist, Jehovah’s Witness, Lutheran, Catholic, or other background does not instantly divorce himself from what he learned. That teaching lingers until it is knocked out and replaced. That person is a weak Christian laboring under things taught from other sources. Paul wants the church to deal with such people and treat them with kid gloves: be patient, be kind, and do not pin their ears to the wall. Steve recalled older men in his teenage years boasting that they had “pinned his ears to the wall,” meaning they had taught the person something he knew nothing about. Paul says accept the one who is weak in faith, but not to have quarrels over opinions. When a person is baptized for the forgiveness of sins and becomes a child of God, he has not yet learned what he needs to learn or been untaught what he was taught. He will sit there with opinions. Not only the weak have opinions; people brought up in the church, like Steve himself, have opinions too. What then? Especially if you disagree, Paul says do not argue. Give the person time to learn differently. Do not make enemies of your brother, whether a new brother or an old brother in Christ.

After a brief, somewhat broken stretch of remarks about spiritual life and not doing everything one is told from home, Steve read that the one who is weak eats only vegetables. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls. He will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. Steve asked what the class heard in that. Vegetarians have adamant opinions about what they will eat; carnivorous people will eat almost anything. Who becomes most militaristic about what should and should not be eaten? Vegetarians. He asked if any vegetarians were present and whether anyone was yelling at them. He recalled Jesus’ word that it is not what goes into the belly that defiles a person but what comes out, and the accompanying comment that He declared all foods clean and edible. Paul will make a similar point later in the chapter.

Steve turned to 1 Corinthians and meat offered to an altar or a false god. If you eat that meat in front of someone whose conscience is bound, he will form a bad and false opinion of what is true. In reality it does not matter, especially if the host has told you the meat was offered to an idol; then you are not to eat it for his conscience’ sake. Believers know the idol is a no-god and the offering has no value, so it does not matter to them whether they eat. That difference falls under knowledge. Knowledge puffs up. It produces pride: “I’m going to eat it anyway. It bothers him, not me.” Paul asks what is the matter: you are supposed to love your brother, and if you do this you destroy his faith. Is that love? That is what chapter 14 will point out, which is why love must be kept in mind. The Greek word translated love is agape, the word that describes God’s love. It means concern for one another and for the well-being of the other person, not only for oneself. If eating something offends a brother and destroys his faith, that is not love for him. Knowledge must not be used so that his faith is destroyed by what we can do. To keep from destroying his faith, we will not eat that meat in front of him or let him know we are eating it. Paul says it can be eaten privately. Love is the all-compelling thing. The whole of chapter 14 must be read under agape, God’s love: concern for the brother, his faith, and his development. Especially if he is weak and we know better, knowing better does not give license to destroy his faith. Knowledge puffs up. Steve used a driving illustration. At a four-way stop, when all arrive at about the same time, the person on the right has the right-of-way. Having the right-of-way does not mean you must exercise it. If the person on the left ignores it and goes first, you do not demand your right, wreck him, and cause an accident on purpose. You sit back and let him have his way. That is what agape is. Let the individual do what he thinks he has to do. Agape is the compelling factor in this whole study. Keep in mind looking out after the other person and seeking the welfare of the other being, especially the Christian, because that is whom Paul is talking about.

Steve said a brother would judge him, then corrected himself that he was getting ahead. As a Christian he answers to God. His behavior will be endorsed and approved by God or not, not by another person. Others cannot judge him because he stands by his owner, the One to whom he is accountable. The same applies when he views fellow brothers and sisters in Christ: it is not for him to judge them. They stand or fall in the presence of God, not by what he thinks, but by God Himself. When they get to heaven they will all be there if they have been Christians and righteous along the way. He asked for observations or comments.

Agape means the person is what they are after. Returning to verse 3, the one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. God is the final judge, the Supreme Court, the One who determines whether they are right or wrong. Believers do not determine that about brothers and sisters. Those others are in Christ just as they are. Jesus is interceding for them just as He is interceding for us. If Jesus wants to intercede for that person and cover his sins, let Jesus do that. That is what Jesus is there for, at the right hand of God. Each person stands and falls with his own relationship with Jesus. It is not a matter of one person determining whether another is right or wrong, but of whether Jesus is interceding. Each needs to know that Jesus is interceding. One’s behavior is one’s own, and another’s is his. Judging comes from one’s own perspective; that perspective covers oneself. Jesus represents them before God. Period.

Picking up verse 5, Steve prefaced from his teenage teaching in the brotherhood. Certain religions, Jehovah’s Witnesses in particular, do not honor birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and various other things. He asked what they thought about Christmas and Easter, a Christmas tree in the house, Easter egg hunts and a basket. Paul would address this because people coming into the brotherhood from Methodists and other denominations bring what they have been taught and observed all their lives. Have they had time to share something different, or is there anything wrong with it? He would let them stew on Christmas, Easter, birthdays, and so on. He also mentioned so-called D&D Christmas. That matter is between those people and Jesus and God. The class believes a strong Christian will be there every Sunday, but that does not stop a person from observing Christmas or Easter. As a side point, C&E Christians—Christmas and Easter Christians—are like Methodists, whom he called the strongest part of the C&Es. They feel the only services they must make are Christmas and Easter and then they stand okay. The reason is that those are the times they are on the books. Attendance is taken then: Kevin attended Easter; Kevin attended Christmas. When he needs the church to support him, his name is on the books as a member. That is why C&E people exist, especially if they want children dedicated or a funeral observed. If they are not on the books, that church will not observe the funeral or send the pastor. Growing up and spending twenty years as a young adult in Fort Wayne, Steve recalled a popular Methodist church. Ask anyone where they went to church and they named that church. On Christmas and Easter you could not find a parking spot on the street because everybody showed up; that was when attendance was taken. That is why C&E Christians exist: to get their names on the roll. He hoped he had answered the question.

He said he had run across something the day before and would be poorly prepared for his sermon that day. Out of kindness he had sat with a ninety-three-year-old lady at her grind sale, or yard sale, because she did not like being by herself and people often saw him walking the streets. During a lull he asked if she went to church anywhere. She said she was a Jew, a social Jew. She does not observe Jewish practice except in a C&E way. She attends synagogue and various services mainly because every Sunday they have a meal, like the class would have on the 4th. When she wants a meal, a thing, or an endorsement, she attends. She comes in late for the service but early for the meal. She once said something to the rabbi, and he said, well, at least you come. She is a social Jew. She regaled him with some of the things she did. Beyond that he would not talk about it further.

Jehovah’s Witnesses in particular will not honor birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, Easter, or any holiday. They will not accept or respect special days. Picking up verse 5: one person values one day over another; another values every day the same—and that would be the Jehovah’s Witness. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. Whatever you do had better be cemented: I am not going to do this, not go to a birthday party, not go to New Year’s Eve, because you are firm that it is wrong. That is the attitude needed if you reject those days. If you observe Christmas, Easter, and birthdays, then it is because you are honoring God. You recognize that honor by inviting God through prayer. You open services with prayer, as they do, and meals with prayer. You invite God to be part of it. One values one day over another—honoring Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and so on. Another values every day the same and rejects those observances. Each must be fully convinced in his own mind. Paul then uses this logic: the one who observes the day observes it for the Lord, and the one who eats does so with regard to the Lord. That is why meetings and meals are opened with prayer: you regard it to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God. The one who does not eat does not eat for the Lord and gives thanks to God. Be convinced that what you are doing honors God. If you reject one day over another, it is because you are convinced that is what God wants. If you honor one day over another, invite God, because that gives God respect and honor.

Verse 7: not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself. If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore whether we live or die we are the Lord’s. To this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Whatever it is, they are convinced they are living in God. God is around them. They are constantly aware that God is divinely working in their lives. Wherever they go, God goes with them; they bring God and invite God to be with them. They are constantly God-conscious. No matter what they are doing, they do it for God, and God is with them. That is what Paul is talking about. Steve asked for observation or comment.

In the New King James there is a title, not in Scripture, about the law of liberty for this section. What Paul is saying is that each must be fully convinced of what he believes, and that is how he should believe because he is fully convinced this is what is at hand. That limits us: we cannot impose that on someone else. You cannot condemn somebody for not believing what you believe or for believing what they believe. It is all tied up, just like the vegetarian and the carnivorous person. We are not to condemn if they do it or if they do not. That is how the chapter will conclude. Over time Steve has changed his mind a lot about what God [is saying]. At each of those stages you need to be fully convinced. If you start having doubts, you need to study to figure out what God really wants. But you cannot impose that on somebody. You can say, look what I discovered, but it is not something to use the way they often do: when we find something, suddenly everybody else is going to hell. A class member said he knew that experience exactly. That was one reason Steve had prefaced the chapter as he did. Growing up in the church at eighteen, nineteen, or younger, he sat in the anti-church and was taught some things. This text goes against what he was taught, so he is wrestling with whether he is getting the right understanding. He prays that God, especially the Holy Spirit, would help him understand, because the Spirit searched the mind of God and provided this for Paul to write, and Paul wrote it the best he could. That is Steve’s whole approach to studying Scripture. He says it every time he sits down to read: he wants understanding and does not want second thoughts.

What had been said is summed up in the last verse of the chapter. Verse 23: the one who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin. In other words, you better believe what you are saying and make sure you do not violate that. Do not violate your own convictions. Steve said he had gone way over his time and was just scratching the surface. They would stop there and pick up with verse 10 next week.

When Paul says Jesus did this so that He could be Lord both of the dead and the living, the dead are not the dead dead buried six feet under. He is talking about individuals outside of Christ, the walking dead. That is what Peter is talking about when he speaks of Noah and Christ going back: Noah preached to the dead. Who were the dead? Those in his audience. Dead men walking. Someone mentioned The Green Mile; Steve had not seen it either but knew the image of walking down that mile. Paul is not talking about the dead dead. He is talking about those who are going to hell, hell-bound and determined to go to hell and not change their minds. That is the dead. That gives God the right to send them to hell, because they heard it, had the opportunity to respond, and rejected it. They are the dead. They are going to hell. Next week.