HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1395
R OM ANS 15
page 1025
the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong
to the Lord. 9 Christ died and rose again for this
very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and
of the dead.
10 So 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. 11 For the Scriptures say,
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bend to me,
and every tongue will declare allegiance
to God.*’”
12 Yes, each of us will give a personal account
to God. 13 So 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.
14 I 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. 15 And 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.
16 Then you will not be criticized for doing something you believe is good. 17 For 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. 18 If you serve Christ with this
attitude, you will please God, and others will
approve of you, too. 19 So then, let us aim for
harmony in the church and try to build each
other up.
20 Don’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. 21 It is better not to
eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if
it might cause another believer to stumble.*
22 You 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. 23 But 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.*
Living to Please Others
We who are strong must be considerate
of those who are sensitive about things
like this. We must not just please ourselves. 2 We
should help others do what is right and build
them up in the Lord. 3 For even Christ didn’t live
to please himself. As the Scriptures say, “The
15
14:10 Greek your brother; also in 14:10b, 13, 15, 21. 14:11 Or
declare praise for God. Isa 49:18; 45:23 (Greek version).
14:21 Some manuscripts read to stumble or be offended or
be weakened. 14:23 Some manuscripts place the text of
16:25-27 here. 15:3 Greek who insult you have fallen on me.
Ps 69:9. 15:8 Greek servant of circumcision. 15:9 Ps 18:49.
15:10 Deut 32:43.
insults of those who insult you, O God, have
fallen on me.”* 4 Such things were written in the
Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we
wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers
of Christ Jesus. 6 Then all of you can join together
with one voice, giving praise and glory to God,
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Therefore, accept each other just as Christ
has accepted you so that God will be given glory.
8 Remember that Christ came as a servant to the
Jews* to show that God is true to the promises
he made to their ancestors. 9 He also came so
that the Gentiles might give glory to God for
his mercies to them. That is what the psalmist
meant when he wrote:
“For this, I will praise you among the
Gentiles;
I will sing praises to your name.”*
10 And
in another place it is written,
“Rejoice with his people,
you Gentiles.”*
• Criticism
R OM A N S 14:10
Paul devotes a lengthy section of his
letter to guidelines for criticism. Why?
Because nothing has the power to
destroy a person’s self-worth like criticism. Criticism is dangerous when our
opinions about someone’s fault are presented as facts. In our insistence upon
making our point, we often fashion our
words into weapons that hurt others.
Before we criticize, there ought to be
a great struggle within us to determine
whether our motives are pure and if there
really is a valid reason to criticize. Does
it give you a good feeling to criticize this
person? If so, then your criticism is probably out of line. Are you forcing yourself
to speak up only because you know
this person needs to hear about what
you’ve observed? Then you are probably
giving criticism out of love, and you will
carefully choose your words. Above all,
we are warned not to put ourselves in
God’s place. Much knowledge about
others is simply out of our reach; it is the
Holy Spirit’s job to sift through human
thoughts and motives and to convict
people of their sin. You are not God and
should not try to do God’s work for him.