13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
— Romans 14:13-23, ESV

Before I was born again I was born to run and born to drive.  As a kid I wore corrective plates in my shoes throughout elementary school, and when they took them off in junior high I had a Forrest Gump moment, “I could run like the wind blows.”  

Maybe that’s why I took to driving fast at a young age, too.  Before I was ten I could get top speeds on our back roads with my grandfather’s tractor and my mother’s stick-shift car.  When I got my driver’s license and first car everybody wanted to ride with me, for adventure awaited.  

To this day I hate speed limits.  I hear in some western states and on the German autobahns they don’t have them.  I’d like to drive there.  But as much as I don’t like speed limits, I appreciate them.  We need them.  Not everyone is skilled enough to drive as fast as they want.  Speed limits limit accidents, injuries, deaths.

The Christian life has limits, too.  There is no limit on love, for God, for one another.  And for the most part, as we learned in the previous pericope, we are to love and let live, not judging one another for the liberties we enjoy as Christian people when it comes to food, drink, observances, and other issues not specifically spelled out in black and white in Scripture.  But such liberties have limits, too, for the safety and unity of Christ’s church.  

Love Has No Limits

Remember one of Paul’s aims in writing Romans was to promote unity among a diverse body of believers.  Some of them were Gentiles, saved from paganism.  Some of them were Jews, saved from legalism, deported and recently returned to Rome.  The Apostle wanted them to be united in the theology of the gospel (chapters 1-11), and also in the philosophy of the Christian life (chapters 12-15).  

The philosophy of the Christian life is love (ref. 12:9, 12:10, 13:8, 13:9, 13:10, 14:15, 15:30).  There should be virtually no limit on what a Christian is willing to do, especially for a fellow Christian.  We should be willing to give the shirt off our back (not always a pretty sight), to stand in the way of them and a bullet (which I’ve actually done, for my sweet wife), or give them a kidney (which a good Christian friend of mine did for a complete stranger).  What Paul is pursuing here, however, for the most part, is what love does not do, when it comes to the Christian life. 

Love does not judge (vs. 13).  “Therefore” hearkens back to the previous teaching on loving and not judging others over things not expressly spelled out in Scripture.  If we could just get this right, there would be no need for further words from Paul (and the Holy Spirit).  But we can’t, “therefore” the matter bears more discussion.

It is not judging to declare a person lost who rejects the gospel of Jesus Christ or who bears absolutely none of the fruits of repentance and faith.  This is simply stating a scriptural fact.  It is not judging to rebuke a professing Christian for blowing off worship on the Lord’s Day or committing adultery against their spouse.  It is our duty to lovingly discipline a disciple who breaks God’s clear commandments.

It is judging, however, to declare a difference wrong, when such a difference is not declared to be wrong by a sound interpretation of Scripture.  Paul mentioned diet, vegetarian versus carnivore, in the previous paragraph, and brings it up again here, and brings a drink to the table (vs. 17, 21).  

Whether you are a vegetarian or a carnivore is not a matter of right and wrong, it is just a difference, to be lovingly respected.  Whether you are a teetotaler or enjoy alcoholic beverages responsibly is not a matter of right or wrong.  Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican is not a matter of right or wrong.  Whether you’re are a five-point Calvinist or a free will Baptist is not a matter of right or wrong (well, sort of, but not worth breaking fellowship over!).  Never judge another brother over something audioferous (I learned that word from R.C. Sproul), something not expressly right or wring, according to Scripture.

Love does not scandalize (vs. 13).   “Stumbling block” in the Greek is “scandalon,” which in this context means to cause, trick, or trap someone to what they consider a scandal, a sin which defiles their own conscience.  To put pork in the sauce of someone who observes a kosher diet, to spike a teetotaler’s drink with vodka, to force your political philosophy on someone as if it were gospel, or to make a church so sectarian that other Christians cannot feel welcome, none of these things display the love of God in Jesus Christ.

So serve a vegetarian smorgasbord if you invite a non-meat-eating brother or sister over for dinner.  Drink tea if wine offends.  Don’t discuss politics, unless you are open to both sides of an issue.  And be a Reformed Baptist Church, but allow anyone who affirms The Apostles’ Creed to be a serious and joyful member.  

Otherwise you will bring unnecessary “grief” (vs. 15), hurt, harm, embarrassment, into another Christian’s life, and could possible “destroy the work of God” (vs. 20), which is the opposite of “mutual upbuilding” (vs. 19), or church unity.  

These are important instructions enshrined in Holy Scripture because division and disunity are the spark and the flame that can burn down a church.  It happens all too often, and almost always over squabbles that are completely avoidable, if we just would not judge or scandalize one another.  

Let’s let our love be unlimited, but let’s limit our liberties.

Liberties Have Limits

Know your liberties.  Paul says they are deep and wide.  “Nothing is unclean in itself” (vs. 14).  Of course he was not talking about idolatry or immorality or other obvious sins.  He is talking about eating and drinking and other non-specific scriptural issues of the Christian life.  Decide what is right or wrong for you, not based on what some legalistic or licentious person believes (remember, Jesus was called a “winebibber,” but He did not care), but based upon what you believe about the word of God.

Such liberties should be based upon faith, the Christian faith as gleaned from Scripture, “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (vs. 23).  Remember the Jerry Clower rule, if you cannot thank God for it, don’t eat it, drink it, or do it.  I always “say grace” before every meal, every sermon, every endeavor, almost everything.  I trust the Holy Spirit to apply God’s holy word to my life, with proper checks and balances.  

When I became a Christian, I drank alcohol.  My church told me it was a sin.  I thought the Bible was telling me one thing, but people I respected in the church taught me another.  It caused doubt.  So, I didn’t drink, for a long time.  Now I’m making up for lost time.  You make up your own mind, and keep it closer to your vest than I do, “between yourself and God” (vs. 22).  I may discuss the subject a little too much, but I think a Pastor has to be completely transparent with his people.  

Know your limits.  Love is your limit.  If you know your liberty upsets a beloved believer in Christ, put your liberty on hold until you are out of their presence.  It is not hiding.  It is not hypocrisy.  It is just lovingkindness.  

I love what the late R.C. Sproul did at a dinner.  The waiter asked the table if anyone wanted to see the wine list.  As he began to reach out his hand, a woman spoke up and said, “No, we are Christians, and Christians do not drink.”  Sproul thought to himself, “What would Luther do,” and almost ordered a whole bottle of Cabernet for himself.  And though her claim confused the gospel, in the name of love, R.C. simply settled for a glass of water.  

The key to Paul’s philosophy is verse 17, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking (and politics and dress codes and entertainment and finer points of theology), but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”  Amen!  So let’s love and let live when it comes to the former things, let love set some limits on our liberties, and major on the what matters most, “righteousness and peace and joy.” 

We major on “righteousness” when we let the gospel unite us, not secondary or social issues.  The gospel is king in our church because Jesus Christ is Lord.  We keep the main thing the main thing by setting the “righteousness” of God upon the pillars of grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.  Gracious, faithful Christians who love Christ supremely know how to love one another.  

We major on “peace” when we put the unity of the church above our personal peccadilloes.  Loving one another means leaving one another alone if their secondary issues clash with our own.  We will all get along as long as we all surrender to the lordship of Christ and submit to the authority of Holy Scripture.  Surrender and submission equals “peace.”

When love abounds and peace prevails, we experience the “joy” of the Lord, which is our strength (ref. Nehemiah 8:10).   With “joy” we love and let live, we let love limit our liberties, and, as Paul will show us in the next chapter, we love like the Lord Jesus Christ.