The Bible — World English Bible
Romans 14
In brief
Romans 14 deals with a very concrete problem in the church in Rome: believers who disagreed about food and special days. Paul does not ask everyone to think alike on these secondary questions. He asks them first to welcome one another, not to despise or judge, because each person is the Lord's servant and will give an account to God. He then reminds them that the kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, and that love comes before the use of our freedom.
The chapter in 5 parts
1Now accept one who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions.
2One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.
3Don’t let him who eats despise him who doesn’t eat. Don’t let him who doesn’t eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him.
4Who are you who judge another’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him stand.
5One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind.
6He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. He who doesn’t eat, to the Lord he doesn’t eat, and gives God thanks.
7For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself.
8For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
9For to this end Christ died, rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
10But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11For it is written, “ ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘to me every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess to God.’ ”
12So then each one of us will give account of himself to God.
13Therefore let’s not judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block in his brother’s way, or an occasion for falling.
14I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself; except that to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
15Yet if because of food your brother is grieved, you walk no longer in love. Don’t destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.
16Then don’t let your good be slandered,
17for God’s Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
18For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.
19So then, let’s follow after things which make for peace, and things by which we may build one another up.
20Don’t overthrow God’s work for food’s sake. All things indeed are clean, however it is evil for that man who creates a stumbling block by eating.
21It is good to not eat meat, drink wine, nor do anything by which your brother stumbles, is offended, or is made weak.
22Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who doesn’t judge himself in that which he approves.
23But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because it isn’t of faith; and whatever is not of faith is sin.
24Now to him who is able to establish you according to my Good News and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret through long ages,
25but now is revealed, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known for obedience of faith to all the nations;
26to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.
Key verses
Who are you who judge another’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him stand.
Paul puts everyone back in their place: a servant answers to his master, not to the opinion of his fellow servants. To judge another believer over a secondary matter is to take the Lord's place.
For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
No one lives or dies for himself alone. The believer's whole life, up to death, belongs to the Lord, which puts quarrels over opinions into perspective.
for God’s Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The kingdom of God is measured not by rules about food but by its fruit: righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. That is the test for knowing what to insist on.
But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because it isn’t of faith; and whatever is not of faith is sin.
To act against your conscience is sin, even if the thing itself is permitted. The verse invites us to respect each person's conviction and not to push a brother to act against it.
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Frequently asked questions about Romans 14
What is the message of Romans 14?
Paul asks believers to welcome one another despite their differences on secondary points, such as food or feast days. No one should despise or judge another, because each answers to the Lord. He adds that love for our brothers comes before personal freedom: we give up what makes a brother stumble.
Who is the weak brother in the faith in Romans 14?
He is a believer whose conscience is still sensitive about certain practices, for example eating meat or observing certain days. Paul does not call him a bad Christian: he asks us to welcome him, not to mock his conviction and not to lead him to act against it.
What does it mean that whatever does not come from conviction is sin?
In verse 23, Paul explains that doing something while doubting that it is permitted means acting against your conscience, and it becomes sin for the one who does it. He does not say that everything is relative: he invites us to hold a conviction before God and to respect that of others.
Articles quoting Romans 14
World English Bible translation — public domain.