Recognize the difference in beliefs
Paul exhorted the saints about their good duties toward God, their neighbors, the nation, and society. And again, this chapter, in which we share and recommend a deep understanding of the life of the saints, is a very important explanation so that we do not boast of our faith or belittle our brother's weak faith.
1. Faith is God-given to each person
The Jews have been living in the old traditional law of food laws (Leviticus 11:). In particular, at that time, when the meat was sacrificed to idols and sold again in the market, the question of whether they could eat this meat had to be a problem for them.
In Christ, because of the fulfillment of the law, they can eat freely, but to those who have not yet been so free in their faith, in the mind of God, they cannot eat anything that is sacrificed to idols. Do not criticize or criticize.
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.” We are now free in Christ. Freedom from sin, freedom from the bondage of the law, freedom from all worldly doubts.
1 Corinthians 8:4 "Therefore, regarding eating things sacrificed to idols, we know that idols are nothing in the world, and that there is only one God." .
1 Timothy 4:3-5 “Marriage is forbidden and the food is abolished, but the food is God’s creation, and those who believe and know the truth will receive it with thanksgiving. There is none, 5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”
Acts 10:15 “There is a second voice, saying, ‘You shall not call unclean what God has made clean’.”
Titus 1:15 says, “To the pure all things are clean, but to the unclean and unbelievers there is nothing clean, but their hearts and consciences are defiled.”
However, because of the freedom with regards to the food law received through the fulfillment of this law, do not criticize or judge a believer who does not yet have such an understanding. 1 Corinthians 8:9 “Therefore, be careful that your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”
Galatians 5:13 “For you, brothers, have been called to freedom, but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
Romans 15:1 says, “We who are strong ought to bear the weakness of the weak, and not please ourselves.”
Luke 17:2 "It would be better for him to have a millstone tied around his neck and thrown into the sea, than to cause one of these little ones to stumble."
“Unless we deviate from the universal truth, that is, the Triune God and the fundamental doctrines of salvation history, we must know that we cannot make extreme judgments on the subjectivity of the general faith and conscience.”
The same is true for the day in verse 5.
5 “Or he counts one day better than another, or he counts all days the same, let each one decide in his own heart.”
They also valued days such as Passover, Pentecost, New Moon, and the Feast of Tabernacles as more important. However, the concept of these days also changed from the Sabbath to the Sunday, especially with the resurrection of Jesus and becoming the main character, but it is no longer necessary to remember those days in an idolatrous mind, although they are equally precious days.
Colossians 2:16 “Therefore, let no one judge you because of what you eat or drink, or because of a festival or a new moon or a sabbath.”
Gal 4:9 “Now that you have known God and have been known of God, why are you returning to your weak and lowly rudiments and wanting to become slaves to them again?”
The faith to receive salvation is the same, but what we understand in our daily life as a person who has been saved is different from the intellect of faith, theology, and what we learn in the training process. Therefore, unless it is a matter of fundamental truth, you should always watch with a leisurely pace.
2. A being who lives for the will of the Lord whether he lives or dies
7-8 “Not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”
Those who eat for the sake of the Lord can eat, and those who do not eat can not eat. Therefore, it is wrong to judge a person who has strong faith by someone who is weak in faith and lacks the intellect of faith.
I remember Romans 12:3, “I say to each one of you by the grace given to me, do not think more than you ought to think, but think wisely according to the measure of faith God has given you.”
The Lord, who knew the weakness of human beings, who had the disposition to judge one another, said, Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, lest you be judged, 2 for with the judgment with which you judge you will be judged, and with the measure with which you measure you will be judged. will be numbered.”
This does not mean that we should not eradicate heresy or criticize those who shake the fundamental doctrine of faith, but rather that we should not judge or draw conclusions on the issue of the difference in faith.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore, exhort one another and build one another up, just as you do.”
Denominationalism was also a problem. There are many reasons for the creation of denominations because God has slightly different beliefs. However, it is true that he did his best to live for God according to his own emphasis.
For example, it is true that denominations with a strong missionary emphasis on caring for society have done their own thing. However, the Reformed denominations focused on personal faith and conscience, so they had a weak sense of mission in social and cultural contexts. Therefore, there were not many research books on faith and education, faith and reality.
Although he had the principle of Calvinist cultural view, it lacked theology that tolerates and understands differences in the concrete views on how to live a glorious life for the Lord in various ways of life.
1 Corinthians 6:20 “It was bought with a price, so glorify God in your body.”
1 Corinthians 10:31 “Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
3. Only God judges
The fact that Jesus is alive and resurrected is the fact that He is now the one who will judge those who believe in Him. Judgment is God's work, so we shouldn't judge the aspects of our faith, we should only do what we recommend.
Therefore, according to the constitution of the church, the church may exercise discipline over the subject to be governed in order to maintain the holiness of the church and the identity of the holy community of all members, but this is not done through personal hatred or some kind of institutional authoritarianism. It is sometimes heard in the church society that such an unsavory and God-ignoring treatment causes a scandal, but it is a self-evident fact that a person can never judge a person.
Faith is a gift of God's grace from above, both you and me (Ephesians 2:8). The stronger the faith, the more the love that takes care of the weakness of the brother should work.
It is a fact that we should embrace society and do good in God's love, and it is impossible for us to criticize or even judge the weak part of our brother who believes in God.
Today, as mature believers, we are moved by your words to help us understand a weak saint who understands little by little along the path of faith in the community. I learned that we should be able to have as much of the content of faith God has given us as possible, but that when we have brothers who are not, we should accept them lovingly like our nurturing parents.
In this sense, if there is no heresy about the color of the church and the color of faith, I think that we should be able to have a relationship with leisure. This is a biblical lesson. By the way, Heb 13:9, “Do not be drawn to many different teachings, because it is beautiful to strengthen the heart with grace, and not with plants, for those who have worked by food have no benefit.” A beautiful believer who strengthens his heart with grace. I pray that you will become a gracious saint by becoming your intellect, emotion, and heart.