Life Group - Romans 13:8 - Chapter 14

Welcome to Life Group. We invite you to join

us in this verse -by -verse study through the

Word of God. In this session, we're going to

be looking at Romans 13, verse 8 through Romans

Romans 13:8

14. Romans 12 answered a question for us. And

this is the question. What does a transformed

life look like? Now, in Romans 13 and 14, We'll

answer another question. How does that transformed

life treat other people? Paul is going to show

us what Christianity looks like in everyday relationships.

We could easily title this session, Love, Liberty,

and Living for the Lord. We'll be discussing

three big themes. The first is loving other people

well. Next, we'll look at waking up. And we'll

conclude with talking about not judging other

people. So let's pick up Romans 13, verse 8.

Romans 13:8

Owe nothing to anyone except for your obligation

to love one another. If you love your neighbor,

you will fulfill the requirements of God's law.

When Paul says, owe nothing, He's not talking

about finances or financial borrowing. He's talking

about an ongoing obligation. There is one debt

that you and I will never pay off. The debt to

love other people. We will never reach a point

where we'll say, All right, I've loved enough.

I'm done now. Love is a permanent calling. Verse

9. For the commandments say, You must not commit

adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal.

You must not covet. These and other such commandments

are summed up in this one commandment. Love your

neighbor as yourself. So here's the challenge.

It's easy to love quote -unquote humanity. It's

easy to say we love everybody. But it's often

harder. To love your neighbor. You see, your

neighbor, that statement includes your co -worker,

a difficult family member, the slow driver in

traffic, the person who offended you, and even

the person who disagrees with you. See, real

love only shows up in real connections. Verse

10. Love does no wrong to others. So love fulfills

the requirements of God's law. Here Paul connects

love directly to obedience. Think about the commandments

he listed. Don't murder, don't steal, don't commit

adultery, don't covet. If you genuinely love

someone, you won't do those things. Love naturally

fulfills what rules try to enforce. Verse 11.

This is all the more urgent, for you know how

late it is. Time is running out. Wake up, for

our salvation is nearer now than when we first

believed. The night is almost gone. The day of

salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark

deeds like dirty clothes and put on the shining

armor of right living. We see here that Paul

shifts tone. He basically says, church, it's

time to wake up because it's possible to be religious

and spiritually asleep at the same time. Be dull

to the spirit. People can talk Christian talk,

they can sing Christian songs, attend church

services, you know, even on Wednesday night,

they can serve even on the volunteer teams, but

still be asleep, you could say, towards God and

the things of God. Verse 13, because we belong

to the day, we must live decent lives for all

to see. Don't participate in the darkness of

wild parties and drunkenness or in sexual promiscuity

and immoral living or in quarreling and jealousy.

Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of

the Lord Jesus Christ and don't let yourself

think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

Here Paul uses clothing language. Before you

put on, he's saying, we must take off the world.

Before we can put on Christ and the things of

God, we must lay aside the things of the world.

Now, that doesn't mean to like layer Jesus on

top of our old sinful patterns and cover our

sinful patterns that way. But he's just saying

you have to let go of the world in order to put

on Christ. Some things have to go for the believer.

You can't do both. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ

means that we don't just admire him. We need

to wear him, meaning like let his character cover

us, let his presence guard us, and let his life

shape our lives. It's important to not feed what

you're trying to starve. We don't set up conditions

that make sin easy. Spiritual maturity then often

looks like wise avoidance. I've heard this story

one time about a person trying to avoid, had

the conviction of like trying to avoid donuts.

They were just addicted to go into Krispy Kreme.

And so instead of just driving by on their way

home from work, They would circle the parking

lot over and over again, just waiting for the

hot now sign to be on. They would say, well,

God, if you don't want me to do that, don't let

the hot now sign to be on. But then they would

just continue to circle the parking lot until

that sign lit up. And it's kind of that same

thing, right? If you're convicted in an area,

you don't set yourself up to fail. Don't put

yourself in those old environments where you

know that you would be tempted. Right. You just

need to pass on by, keep driving by and keep

doing what you know to do is right. Now we're

going to move to chapter 14, and that could be

titled Don't Fight Over Secondary Things. Here,

Paul is going to address some of the biggest

sources of church tension. We could call it disputable

matters or gray areas, preference issues. So

let's look at Romans 14 verse 1. The weak referred

Romans 14:1

to here were believers with sensitive consciences.

In this case, some refused to eat meat. Why?

it was offered to idols or had been offered to

idols. Maybe it was about their Jewish dietary

background or some personal conviction. Picking

up with verse 2. For instance, one person believes

it's alright to eat anything, but another believer

with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables.

Those who feel free to eat anything The stricter

believer is not always the stronger believer.

You see, legalism can sometimes present itself

like strength or even spiritual strength. But

love is the true indicator of spiritual power.

Picking up with verse 4. Who are you to condemn

someone else's servant? Their own master will

judge whether they stand or fall. And with the

Lord's help, they will stand and receive his

approval. Here Paul asks a very piercing question.

Who are you to judge another's servant? They

don't answer to you. They answer to God. And

God is the one who is able to make them stand.

Verse 5. In 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.

Those 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 it. And those who

refuse to eat certain foods, also want to please

the Lord and give thanks to God. In these verses,

Paul is reminding us to let our conscience have

its place. Some believers honored certain holy

days. Others treated every day the same. Here,

Paul doesn't force uniformity. Instead, he says,

let each be fully convinced. in his own mind.

The key is, whatever you do, do it unto the Lord.

Not unto culture, not unto pressure, not unto

appearance, but unto the Lord. Verse 7. For we

don't live for ourselves or die for ourselves.

If 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. Christ died and

rose again for this very purpose, to be Lord

both of the living and of the dead. These verses

teach us that our life is not our own. Christianity

is never intended to be practiced apart from

others, despite what people say. Your life affects

those around you. Your choices have a ripple

effect outward. And Jesus didn't just save you.

He owned you. He purchased you. He is Lord of

the living and the dead. Verse 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. 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. Yes, each of

us will give a personal account to God. Here,

Paul commands us to stop acting like we are the

judge. We each have our own God -given assignments

to fulfill in his kingdom. And it's important

to remember not to try to fix our brothers and

sisters in Christ. Like Paul here is not saying

you need to fix the people around you. He's saying

that we need to focus on ourselves and our mission

that God has called us to. He says for us to

prepare ourselves. Every believer will give an

account, and this is not talking for salvation,

because salvation was settled at the cross. But

every believer will give an account for how we

lived. This is called the judgment seat of Christ,

and this is where believers are rewarded. All

of our works will be judged by fire, and only

the things we did for Christ that were directed

by the Holy Spirit. will last and be rewarded.

It's important for us to keep in mind that God

is the only one capable of judging the intentions

and the motives of the heart. He's the only one

who knows what he directed you to do or not to

do concerning the things not specifically directed

by his word. And when we remember that, criticism

loses all its appeal. Picking up in verse 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. So here

we see that two dangers exist. Legalism can crush

someone, and also careless liberty can trip people

up. But love towards others asks, Before doing,

will this help them? Will my actions help someone

or will they harm someone? Verse 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. 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. Then you will

not be criticized for doing something you believe

is good. Paul says plainly here that love is

more important than being right. Nothing is unclean

in itself. But if exercising your freedom knowingly

troubles someone, then that is when we step out

from walking in love. And if Jesus gave his life

for them, surely we can give up our preference.

Picking up with verse 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. Now, if you've been around

the Galatian church much, you've heard this verse,

and normally I read it out of the New King James

Version, which says the kingdom of God is about

righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Moving on to verse 18. If you serve Christ with

this attitude, you will please God, and others

will approve of you too. Paul calls us to remember

what God's kingdom is really all about. It's

not about rules. It's not about preferences.

It's about righteousness, peace, and joy in the

Holy Spirit. Now, if you drive a car, it's very

important to regularly check the gauges in your

car. How often do you look at the fuel gauge

or the temperature gauge to make sure your car

is not running hot or to make sure that you're

not about to run out of gas? We need to regularly

check these gauges. And now we can look at these

verses that we just read to be like our spiritual

gauges. We need to keep our eye on. These two

things on our level of peace and our level of

joy, because those are the gauges of life in

the kingdom of God. If our peace gauge is registering

low or if our joy gauge is registering low, then

we need some spiritual adjustment to our focus.

Let's continue with verse 19. So then let us

aim for harmony in the church and try to build

each other up. 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. It is better not to eat

meat or drink wine or do anything else if it

might cause another believer to stumble. In these

verses, Paul, being led by the Holy Spirit, is

telling us to use our freedom to build, not to

tear down. A mature believer should always consider

these questions. Does what I am doing or saying

edify and build up another person? Does what

I say or what I'm doing strengthen other people?

See, just because something is permitted doesn't

mean it's always beneficial in every setting.

Sometimes, to walk in love, we limit ourselves

when necessary. To walk in love, especially concerning

what you could say is a gray area. All right.

Verse 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. But if you have doubts about whether

or not. You should eat something. You're sinning

if you go ahead and do it. For you aren't following

your convictions. If you do anything you believe

is not right, you are sinning. So as followers

of Christ, we need to walk in faith and not walk

in an inner conflict. See, this is one of the

greatest tests for anything. that we would call

a gray area. We need to ask ourselves, can I

do this with a clear conscience? Can I thank

God while doing it? Would I do it with my Christian

friends? If not, then we don't need to do it.

Ultimately, mature Christianity is not... proven

by how free you are, but by how well you love

other people. Thank you for joining us for Life

Group. Allow God's Word to build your faith and

transform your life.