The recipients of this letter are not the Gentiles of the world anymore, they are Christians. They are no longer a part of the way of the world, the salvation of God in Jesus Christ has translated them into the kingdom of light. So what do they have to do with darkness? Nothing. It is time for them to wake up, to live the God kind of life. But this is not so they can judge and condemn others, it is so that in Romans 14:11 “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will praise God.” This is the way to, in Romans 14:17 “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”.
Be Transformed by the Renewal of Your Mind
Romans 12:1–8
Devoted to One Another in Brotherly Love
Romans 12:9–21
Do What is Good
Put on the Lord Jesus Christ
Romans 13:8–14
There is no middle ground for us. We have become the children of light and we should live “in the day” in Romans 13:13 and exercise our salvation. We are not darkness anymore, so why would we live “in carousing and drunkenness … in sexual immorality … in strife and jealousy” in Romans 13:13. And maybe we have come away from those things, but are we living in slumber, not yet awake to the love and goodness of God? “the night is far gone” in Romans 13:12. Now is the time to in
Romans 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and do not make provision for the desires of the flesh.
Lord of Both the Dead and the Living
Romans 14:1–12
Jesus Christ is the Lord of all in
Romans 14:9 For Christ died and became alive again for this reason, in order that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
and “we will all stand before the judgment seat of God” in Romans 14:10 so in this same verse he asks “why do you judge your brother?”.
None of us have perfect knowledge, yet we act like everyone else should follow what we say and do. We all have our ideas about what is required for a blessed life, don’t eat, don’t touch and then we are fighting amongst ourselves. Rather than fight, and rather than cause offense or be offended, couldn’t we simply bow our knee to Jesus Christ, and one way or another, they will also bow their knee because in
Romans 14:11 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will praise God.”
The Kingdom of God Is … in the Holy Spirit
Romans 14:13–23
These comments are not easy for us to understand because the ungodly are blind to what the spirit of God is saying and the religious are always pointing at others, but here it says “let us”, and we might make this even more personal and say, “let me” in
Romans 14:13 Therefore, let us no longer pass judgment on one another, but rather decide this: not to place a cause for stumbling or a temptation before a brother.
We might say it this way, why do you feel the need to put a stumbling block in the way? Or, if I say it one other way, there wasn’t a stumbling block until you put it there. Before you reject this, listen to the next verse in
Romans 14:14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean of itself, except to the one who considers something to be unclean; to that person it is unclean.
Isn’t this the very thing the Lord said to Peter in
Acts 10:15 And the voice came again to him for the second time: “The things which God has made clean, you must not consider unclean!”
Here is where our focus needs to be, in
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Study Verses
- Romans 13:8–14 Put on the Lord Jesus Christ
- Romans 14:1–12 Lord of Both the Dead and the Living
- Romans 14:13–23 The Kingdom of God Is … in the Holy Spirit
Today’s Reading
- Romans 12:1-21
- Romans 13:1-14
- Romans 14:1-23