Chapter # 14 Paragraph # 2 Study # 1
April 11, 2021
Humble, Texas
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Thesis: Decisions made regarding a believer's treatment of his fellow believers must be made in view of the true benefit of those fellow believers.
Introduction: In chapter fourteen of Romans, Paul's focus of attention has shifted (from the "Love" focus that must be in view when dealing with civil authorities and neighbors when "fleshly lusts" are pressing themselves upon us) to the continuing "debt" of "Love" when there are differences of opinion in "The Faith" because "Grace" has settled into its role as the chief attribute of God when we are considering how to live with those whose behavior is guided by issues that have no essential "morality" associated with them. There are many activities in this life that have no direct instruction from God to guide us in our choices. In all of those "unspecified actions" we are to double down upon our "debt" of "Love".
Paul's overall message in his challenge to us to live in view of the mercies of The God is to take our responsibility to love one another seriously.
In our study this evening we are going to begin the second paragraph of chapter fourteen. This is a paragraph about how to make decisions regarding how we are going to deal with others when differences of opinions about life's choices exist.
- I. In View of "Judgment", We Are To "Decide" To Put The True Issues of "Life" In The Forefront.
- A. The preceding context.
- 1. "Judging" is all about "making decisions".
- 2. "Making decisions" is a very large part of the process of "living".
- 3. The large issue regarding "making decisions" is the coming reality of a Day of Judgment of every believer by his/her God.
- 4. The outcome of that Day will be what God "decides" based upon what we have "decided".
- a. This means that what we have "done" because of decisions we have made will be evaluated by The God.
- b. This also means that what others think of us because of what we have "done" is of no significance whatsoever.
- B. The present text.
- 1. There is a primary "ought" statement (a "subjunctive" mood translated as an "imperative").
- a. The "therefore" puts this "ought" statement at the top of the "considerations" that exist as we attempt to make our decisions.
- b. What "ought" to exist in our dealings with each other is a cessation of what "actually" exists (a prohibition combined with a present tense verb).
- c. What "ought" to exist is a cessation of making judgments regarding each other that have no basis in actual, objective, morality.
- 1) This is a sub-category in the "How To Treat Others" category.
- 2) God has addressed the issues that are rooted in "actual, objective, morality" (God's special revelation has addressed all such matters of importance: 2 Peter 1:3 and 2 Timothy 3:17).
- 3) What God has addressed, we are to address; what God has not addressed, we are to allow others to differ from our own opinions.
- 2. There is a primary "alternative" statement ("alla" combined with an actual imperative mood verb).
- a. The "alternative" is contrastive in two words: "alla" (but) and "mallon" (more).
- b. The "alternative" is rooted in the concept of "making judgments/decisions" regarding others.
- c. This "alternative" is "to refrain from placing" before a brother... .
- 1) The first restraint concerns what is translated as "an obstacle".
- a) This word is used in only six New Testament texts and five were written by Paul, and four are in this letter to the Romans.
- i. Of the four uses in Romans, two involve God deliberately placing an occasion for stumbling before Israel (9:32-33).
- (i) In this text/context, God is responding to people who are dead-set upon self-exaltation.
- (ii) This response is a matter of divine judgment to force the motivations of the self-exalting out into the open.
- (iii) This response is designed to cause an overt "fall" so that the evil of the motivation+action is revealed.
- ii. The remaining two are in our current text/context where we, as those to be judged by The God are to deliberately refrain from "judging" in matters where it is the "motive" that makes/breaks the true nature of the action taken.
- (i) Judging the motives of others when their actions are not determinative as to "morality" is forbidden to men: 1 Corinthians 4:5.
- (ii) Taking action to attempt to cause someone to fall is forbidden.
- b) Thus, we are to "decide" to not attempt to make another person's motives to come to light by putting an "occasion for stumbling" before him/her.
- 2) The second restraint concerns what is translated "a stumbling block".
- a) This word is also used by Paul four times in Romans.
- i. Twice it is used of God placing an "offense" before someone as a "trap" and a "retribution" (9:33 and 11:9).
- ii. And the other two times refer to our actions when we try to "trap" someone (14:13 and 16:17).
- b) This word carries "animosity" with it because the person to be "stumbled" is an object of hatred by the one placing the "offense" before him/her.
- C. The issue at the roots.
- A. There is, at root, the strong desire to demean another as seen by both groups involved.
- B. This "root" is not "Love".
