1Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don"t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. 2For instance, one person believes it"s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. 3Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don"t. And those who don"t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. 4Who are you to condemn someone else"s servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let him judge whether they are right or wrong. And with the Lord"s help, they will do what is right and will receive his approval.
5In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. 6Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God. 7For we don"t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. 8If we live, it"s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it"s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9Christ died and rose again for this very purpose"to be Lord both of the living and of the dead.
10So why do you condemn another believer*? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11For the Scriptures say,
""As surely as I live," says the Lord,
"every knee will bend to me,
and every tongue will confess and give praise to God.*""
12Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. 13So let"s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.
14I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. 15And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don"t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. 16Then you will not be criticized for doing something you believe is good. 17For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. 19So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.
20Don"t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. 21It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble.
22You may believe there"s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don"t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. 23But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.
This is for anything and everything, not specifically spoken against by Our Lord. Eating, drinking or even singing and playing instruments. We must all work out our own salvation, and not criticize others for what they are or are not convicted of. The Lord convicts us all of different things, and the only part of that where sin is found , is when we fail to do that which the Lord has convicted us of. BUT we are not to judge our brothers and sisters, nor are we to cause them to stumble.
I pray we all can ask the Lord to put this message into our hearts, and to let us live in such a way that through understanding this Bible Chapter, we may come to fulfill Christs' command to Love, and not to cause others to doubt their salvation as satan would do, or cause them to stumble.
That is very Good , but at the time that was written there weren't 8 thousand different denominations with different believes and different interpretations of the bible, what's more they didn't even have a bible yet.
But if someone comes trying to convince me of something which is not Biblical you bet I will set them straight using the Word.
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The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. Zephaniah 1:14
פרץ
That is very Good , but at the time that was written there weren't 8 thousand different denominations with different believes and different interpretations of the bible, what's more they didn't even have a bible yet. None of this matters, because we are not talking about the past, about different denominations, or any thing of the sort. We are talking about today, and living under your own convictions without placing your convictions or judgement upon a brother. They may not be convicted by Our Lord of the same things you are convicted of, and we are not to judge. We are to live as the Lord would have us to live, allowing others the same right. It is a matter of respect and Love. Those are the Words of Our Lord, and no where did he allow for us ( man ) to place even one condition upon His Word. These are not " If / then " ststements subject to how we feel or believe. This is the never changing, unending Words of Our Lord.
But if someone comes trying to convince me of something which is not Biblical you bet I will set them straight using the Word. Something not biblical ? Sure. We should State the scripture, not our interpretation of it, and allow the Lordto convict that person. Never should we mistake our interpretations of Gods Word as being Truely Gods Word, and we should never place guilt on a brother or sister because 1) God may have placed them under different convictions, and 2) because to place guilt, first requires a judgement and that is not our place as referenced in the 14 th Chapter of Romans.
We are no one to say but I will do this if they do that. Gods word stands alone. Give people GodsWord and allow God to work in their life. We do not save, only Jesus saves. We are not salvation, we are instruments used to bring others to salvation.
Works for me as long as it goes both ways. I'm not going to try to convince you that you should eat meat or drink wine as long as you don't try to convince me that I shouldn't.
But if anyone can come up with a Biblical injunction against sushi, let me know. My husband has developed a taste for it and I'm having a really tough time developing the skill. My mom says she learned when she was six years old. I think it's too late for me.
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Proud parents of our own "Daddy's Little Girls"
I heard Jesus He drank wine and I bet we'd get along just fine.
Mostly I see this chapter dealing once again with differences between the Jewish and Gentile cultures and as it applied to the law and liberty.
The phrase "doubtful disputations" I think could be applied to most any disareement between believers that does not apply to salvation or cannot inconclusivley be proven by Scripture. There just comes a point to where folk should just agree to disagree.
However, in areas that do apply and are essential to salvation I would think that we are to be stedfast, but yet using wisdom and a christian attitude.
__________________ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
I believe this to be applicable on that which Our Lord has not given definitive instruction. The message of Salvation is specific, and not left open to interpretation. But there are many other things which are not " cut and dried" , which we are given to Our own Convictions as directed by the Holy Spirit. They are individual and specific to only ourselves, and not meant for judgement or condemnation of others.
There are some good posts here. I agree that it is not wise to stand in judgement of another's faithas that is God's perogative and not ours. I already have enough to answer for without adding to my problems.
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Jesus Christ--The reason for the season!
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a veteran.
If you're certain you know everything, there's little opportunity to learn anything.
Some good post, and good points being made. I speak for myself only, but have to wonder and question the reasoning behind the "don't try to persuade or convince me" syndrome.
If my doctrine isn't according to "The Doctrine", please convince me of the correct doctrine. If I preach any other doctrine than that which the Apostles preached, God said "let him be accursed". Who would take the chance of being "accursed" of God, if a simple change of heart would lead unto eternal life?
Some good post, and good points being made. I speak for myself only, but have to wonder and question the reasoning behind the "don't try to persuade or convince me" syndrome.
If my doctrine isn't according to "The Doctrine", please convince me of the correct doctrine. If I preach any other doctrine than that which the Apostles preached, God said "let him be accursed". Who would take the chance of being "accursed" of God, if a simple change of heart would lead unto eternal life?
lol, amen Brother . . . .if I'm in error . . .correct me too. I've had my understanding tweaked a many time by those who have convinced me with the Scripture. . . . ."Thus saith the LORD" , has a power to me, just don't come at me with traditions and doctrines not of the Scripture.
__________________ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Some good post, and good points being made. I speak for myself only, but have to wonder and question the reasoning behind the "don't try to persuade or convince me" syndrome.
If my doctrine isn't according to "The Doctrine", please convince me of the correct doctrine. If I preach any other doctrine than that which the Apostles preached, God said "let him be accursed". Who would take the chance of being "accursed" of God, if a simple change of heart would lead unto eternal life?
Snooky,
I believe it goes back to the pride and arrogance i have spoken of before. It is common and understandable for people to feel that they have " it " right, because to admit they do not would deem their understanding lacking and their past time involved ...... to some extent wasted. It is hard for someone to admit that, so most people would rather go on in their incorrect way of thinking rather than admit they could have been wrong. For others it is a basic idea that they look to others for what they believe, not weighing it out for themselves, but instead going with the crowd. Sometimes it might be because people are lazy and don't want to put the time in for themselves to discover the truth, while other times it might be a lack of ability to understand, so they go with the crowd.
While it is easy for me to understand peoples motives for being against change, I must admit it is difficult for me to comprehend someones refusal to listen to a different point of view in their religious ( spiritual ) life, if it might lead them to greater understanding and truth. I believe that should be the highest priority item that everyone should want to get right..... perhaps they feel they have already reached Niervana.
Romans 14 A very good Word for us ALL.
