Do not criticize your brother
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Do not judge your brother (Romans 14:1-12)
In Romans, the admonition not to judge is given twice. Romans 2 and Romans 14. Although the two lessons have the same meaning in not judging others, they differ in their specific content.
Chapter 2 was a lesson to the Jews. The Jews had a habit of judging Greeks and Gentiles as unclean from the point of view of the law, and it was a lesson to throw them away.
But chapter 14 was a lesson to the Gentiles. He instructs us not to criticize the Jews who cannot deviate from the law and are living by the law. In particular, these Jews are referred to as weak in faith.
So, the core of today's message is to not despise or criticize anyone who has weak faith in the church.
1. Accept those who are weak in faith and do not criticize them.
(Romans 14:1) Accept the one who is weak in the faith, but do not judge his doubts.
(2) Some have the faith to eat all things, but the weak eat vegetables.
Those who are weak in faith are Jews who do not have the faith to eat all food. At that time, the Jews believed in Jesus Christ, but they were still bound by the law and ate their food under cover. In particular, in the Roman market, sacrifices to the gods in Roman mythology were poured out as food for sale. The Jews never touched the food and ate only clean vegetables.
This behavior of the Jews was because of the weakness that came from not having a firm faith in Jesus Christ. They have not yet been freed from the Old Testament law.
Paul gave this lesson about food regulations.
(1 Corinthians 6:13) Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food, but God will destroy all these things.
Despite these words, the Jews were not free from the law. So Paul told the Greeks to be generous with the weak Jews and not criticize them.
Today, it is rare that we are troubled by food or Sabbath rules and our faith is weak.
But even in our church today, there are always believers who are weak in faith. An example would be these saints.
These are people who have started going to church but have not yet given up on undesirable habits of the flesh. Alcohol and tobacco. It's too much of a hobby. Fishing, golf, hiking, soccer, etc. These are not bad hobbies. But these start to become a problem when family time begins to take precedence over time of worship, over time of worship.
In any church today, there are people who have not yet organized their physical habits and excessive hobbies according to their priorities. However, when we see such a saint from the side, we should not criticize or judge him. You just have to have pity and pray for him.
2. There are reasons not to criticize others.
Then why does God tell us not to criticize believers who are weak in faith? Two reasons can be found.
1) Even if you have weak faith, you should not criticize it because God received and established you.
(Romans 14:3) Let him who eats not despise him who does not eat, and let him who does not eat not judge him who eats, for God has accepted him.
The free-eating Greeks despised the Jews as fools. Jews who were not allowed to eat freely also judged Greeks to be unclean. They criticize and criticize each other, but the pitiful people are the Jews. So Paul exhorts the Greeks. “Greeks, do not despise the Jews who are weak in their faith. God has already received them, though they are weak in their faith.”
What God accepted is that even though the Jews still eat according to the law, what is certain is that they are saved because they believe in Jesus Christ.
Because God had already received them, he said that he would finally establish them.
(Romans 14:4) Who are you who judge another's servant? It is with his master that he stands or falls, and he will be built up, for in the Lord is the power to build him.
Here, the master is God and the servant refers to both the strong and the weak. But as servants, how can we judge each other?
Whether you stand firm in your faith or fall because of weakness, the judgment rests with the Lord, God alone. He also says that even though they are weak now, God will build up the weak.
Dear saints,
Is your faith set free and steadfast in Christ? Then thank you. But be careful, do not judge the saints who are weak in faith just because I have stood firm, but entrust them to God. Then God will establish them.
2) We should not criticize because each of us stands before God's judgment seat.
(Romans 14:10) Why do you judge your brother? Why do you despise your brother? We will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
(11) For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”
(12) For this reason, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
The second reason we should not judge the saints who are weak in faith is that each of us has a day when we will stand before the judgment seat of God.
On the Day of Judgment, each of us will report directly to the judgment seat of God, every single life we have lived.
Imagine that place for a moment. When I lived on this earth, I thought I was better than others, and I judged and criticized a lot of others. How shameful and shameful would you be? And even more serious is this.
(Matt 12:36) I tell you, whatever a man speaks for nothing, he will be tried for it on the day of judgment.
(37) By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.
The words that I used to judge by being generous with myself and judging others with strict standards are now the criteria for judging me strictly. Simply put, God judges me strictly according to what I do to others. But if I am strict with myself and generous with others, God will judge me generously just as I have done.
Of course, that judgment is not a judgment that determines heaven and hell, but a judgment that rewards us according to our actions. However, if we strictly judge and criticize others on this earth, the reward we will receive before the Lord on the day of judgment will be less.
David was strict with himself and generous with others. David fled for 10 years from King Saul, who was trying to kill him. In the meantime, he had two chances to kill Saul, but he did not kill him. If David had a heart to judge and condemn Saul, he would have wielded his sword without hesitation when the opportunity came. David did not criticize King Saul, who was weak in faith. Rather pity him.
What happened as a result? When he later became king and committed adultery with Bathsheba, Uriah's wife, God gave David a generous forgiveness. Also, when David became arrogant and took a census, he gave David the grace to choose one of three disciplines.
David was a representative person who received the grace of receiving a generous disposition before God by not criticizing those who were weak in faith.
If we make a strict judgment against my brother, God will apply a strict standard of judgment to me as well. Therefore, I pray that you will not judge the saints with weak faith.
3. Each of us just needs to live a life for the Lord.
Then, in the church, what kind of attitude should we live without judging those who are weak in faith?
(Romans 14:6) Whoever honors the day esteems it for the Lord, and whoever eats eats for the Lord, thanks to God; and whoever does not eat does not eat for the Lord's sake, but gives thanks to God.
In the Roman Church, Jews and Greeks criticized or looked down on each other's actions over food and Sabbath issues. Paul instructs both Jews and Greeks in this situation, rather than taking sides. Each one must stand right before God in the measure of his faith.
The reason is as follows. Although Jews and Greeks live in different ways, the central point of their hearts is that Jews and Greeks are the same. That is, they have a heart for the Lord, and they have gratitude for God.
Although the Jews still have not given up on food and the Sabbath rule, they are acting in such a way that their heart for the Lord is an expression of gratitude to the Lord.
Also, the Greeks are working hard to live a life of worshiping every day, valuing every day, eating all food without hindrance, with a heart for the Lord and a heart of thanksgiving.
In other words, both sides have the same heart for the Lord and gratitude, so do not judge or criticize each other. We are only admonishing each of us to live for the Lord from the position of our faith.
I especially recommend it to the Greeks who stood firm in their faith. Although the Jews still show that their faith is weak and they cannot escape from the law, do not criticize them and have pity on them.
How can these words apply to us today? Today, like the Jews, we no longer have to worry about food or the Sabbath. However, the fact that we also have saints with weak faith is the same as before and now.
As I said before, there are people who have started going to church, but have yet to quit drinking and smoking or have no intention of quitting.
When we sit next to each other and worship, we smell cigarette smoke, and some people have to go to the bathroom and smoke after the service is over.
Also, there are people who go to a wedding hall on a Sunday or leave their house without worship because of housework or hobbies. Also, some are not yet financially committed.
The Bible says They say that they are still living their life of faith because they have weak faith, but they have a heart for the Lord in their hearts, and a heart to give thanks to the Lord. So, do not judge or despise one another, but let each one remember the day when they will stand before God and live for the Lord.
(Romans 14:7) Not one of us lives to himself, and not one dies to himself.
(8) If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.
God will make him strong in the end, even if he is weak in faith right now. So, whether we are weak in faith or already strong, this is the attitude each of us should strive for in life.
If I live, I live for the Lord; if I die, I die for the Lord; whether I live or die, it is the Lord's. Whether I eat or drink or whatever I do, I want to do it for the glory of the Lord. This is the confession of our lips that we must offer before God today.
Dear saints,
The Lord commands us.
1. Do not criticize the weak believers in the church.
2. Because God accepts them too and finally establishes them.
3. Each of us has a day to stand before God, so we just need to live silently for the Lord.
If there were judgments or criticisms against the saints with weak faith in me, I pray that they will be completely wiped out from today, and that even if I live, I live for the Lord, and even if I die, I live for the Lord.