Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. (Romans 14:13-23)
Religion. I’m sick of religion. Aren’t you? Furthermore, I believe that the world is sick of religion. And Christians ought to be sick of religion, perhaps more than any other group. You see, religion is man’s effort to reach God. Man has, for centuries, in a multitude of ways, attempted to realize spirituality. For the most part, he has gotten nowhere. In some situations, this effort has improved him somewhat — it has made him a better person, more disciplined, less indulgent, less materialistic, and more benevolent. But, unhappily, in many instances, his situation has been worsened by it. In the name of religion, wars have been fought, people have been imprisoned, many have been tortured, burned at the stake, and killed in a multitude of ways. People have been discriminated against, and great human indignity has been suffered, all in the name of religion.
In our day, we see religion producing petty people, spouting religions slogans without substance. Religion has produced hard-hearted legalists without any real compassion for human suffering and without any real understanding of the human condition. Religion compels us to judge one another, to hold one another to some external standard which has little substantiation, if any, in the Scriptures. God certainly has standards, but the standards of which I speak are generally man’s standards, not God’s. Religion produces churches full of hypocrites who feel the need to put on a front so that people will not know the real struggles they’re enduring. Instead of setting us free to serve the Lord Christ, religion instead, puts us into bondage. It fills us with guilt, and finally futility, because deep down inside, we know we will never measure up.
Religion is man’s way. And I predict it’s doomed to fail. It is a ship on its way down. It is doomed to sink. And rather than continue to bail water, we should be manning the lifeboats. I repeat, I’m sick of religion, and you should be too.
Christianity, on the other hand, is not a religion at all. Oh, I know it may be technically termed a religion, but it is not a religion in the sense in which I’m using the word this morning. Rather, Christianity is a relationship. It is a relationship between a person and the living God of the universe. Instead of being an attempt instigated by man to reach God, it is the grace of God attempting to reach man. What we see is not a man ascending the loftiest peaks of a majestic mountain to meditate as he sits close to God, but the Son of God, leaving His majestic throne of glory to come down and be made a man. We do not have to ascend to Him, for He has already descended to us. Christianity is God reaching out to us in the person of Jesus Christ. He is calling us to Himself, to enter into a relationship with Him and with all of God’s people. Christianity is not religion, but relationship.
Christianity means we are joined together with God in a vital union. And it also means we are joined together with His Church. We become God’s people, His covenant community. The Bible teaches that we are born again, born into the family of God. Now we have brothers and sisters who are made so because of their relationship to our Father God. We have entered into a covenant relationship with one another and with the King of the Universe. We have become the community of the King, the Kingdom of God.
Why is it that we substitute religion for a relationship with God? I believe the answer lies in part in the fact that we do not understand the nature of the Kingdom of God. If we would understand the passage before us, we must understand its central truth. That truth concerns the nature of the Kingdom.
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (v. 17) Here we have the central truth of this passage of Scripture. It is, in fact, a revelation from God concerning His kingdom. Simply put, it reveals that the Kingdom of God is not an external kingdom, but an internal one. In other words, the Kingdom of God is not revealed simply in what you do, but in what you are. The Kingdom of God does not consist in outward conduct, but in inward character.
To the discerning, it should be apparent that there is a linkage between what we are and what we do. The nature of a person certainly controls his behavior. Take the comparison and contrast between a cat and a pig. Without any education at all, they act very differently. It is their nature. If you take a cat and place it in the center of a mud puddle, its immediate reaction is to get out of the mud and clean itself off. Most of us have watched a cat meticulously clean itself from top to bottom with great care. On the other hand, if you take a pig and place it in that same mud puddle, instead of leaping out, it will just roll right over and wallow in it. It is as if you have thrown the cat into hell and the pig into heaven. They react differently because they have different natures. What they are determines what they do. And so it is with us, what we are determines what we do. So, the externals can reflect what is going on inside, but it is important for us to see the distinction.
If we do not see the distinction, we will come to some very wrong conclusions. While the external may reflect the internal, it can also mislead us. You see, it is possible to do right and not be right. Many people do good works out of the wrong motivation. Some people are benevolent because they want recognition for being so. Some people do good deeds because they want people to notice. It is possible to do a great many religions works and not be a Christian. So the old saying is true, that you cannot tell a book by its cover. Now, admittedly, if one is a Christian, one should be moved to do good deeds. But the problem is we cannot see inside the heart. Only God can. And Christianity is a matter of the heart.
Righteousness, peace and joy: These are the things Christianity is made of. This is what our text teaches is the essence of the Kingdom of God. When it speaks of righteousness, it speaks not of perfection, but of right standing with God. When we accept the finished work of Christ on the Cross, we are justified by faith. Being justified by faith makes us right with God. As we submit to and surrender to Christ, the Bible teaches His righteousness is imputed to us. That means that His righteousness is counted as ours. We are then clothed in His righteousness. We become His. This righteousness is not something we have earned or attained, it is His righteousness. It is not something of which we can boast, for we do not deserve it. It is given to us as a free gift. We become righteous, not by our works, but by a complete surrender to Christ. Consequently, we receive the peace of God as a result of our surrender to Christ. We receive both peace with God and the peace of God. Peace with God means that the battle is over. No longer are we fighting against God, now we are cooperating with Him. The peace of God means that we are at peace with ourselves. We can trust in Him in the midst of even turbulent circumstances and know that He cares for us. Then the joy comes. Having surrendered to Jesus Christ, we come to delight in His presence. Those who truly know Jesus Christ ought to be excited about their relationship with Him. I liken it to that experience of falling in love. When we met that certain someone, we were excited about the possibility of spending time with that one. We delighted to be in their presence. The sight of them caused our pulse to quicken. We were in love. It is a glorious thing. And the call to the Christian is to be in love with Jesus. We should delight in His presence. We should be excited about Him. The joy of the Lord should flood our souls. Our cups should overflow with the wonder of knowing Jesus. Some today may need to say with David of old, "Lord, restore the joy of thy salvation." Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit — that is the stuff of the Kingdom.
Understanding the Kingdom of God as people with a living relationship with God will enable us to discern several important keys to kingdom living. You could call these keys to a fulfilled life. Let’s look at them briefly.
Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. (v. 13a) The first thing we need to do is to stop judging. If the Kingdom of God is within us, then we are not in a position to judge one another. By judging here he does not mean evaluating spiritual maturity, but rather a certain critical judgment which seeks to put down a brother or a sister. We can’t see inside. We can’t see motives. Rather than judging one another, we should be praying for one another. If we do not understand why a brother or a sister is acting in a certain way, our first reaction ought to be to pray. After all, we do want God’s best for one another, don’t we?
We are not only to stop judging, but on the positive end, we are to act in love toward one another. Our passage, in its context, refers to the controversy over eating meat sacrificed to idols. Some, for conscience’s sake, could not eat meat which had been so sacrificed. Others who were stronger in faith, had no problem with it. But the real issue was not meat, but whether those strong in faith would react in love.
Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. (vv. 13b-16)
The message is clear: Love will not put a stumbling block before a brother. While a thing may be right for us, in this case the eating of meat, if it would cause a brother to stumble, love would compel us to abstain. He said that we should not let a good thing become evil. In verse 17 he reminds us that the Kingdom of God is what you are on the inside. Though at times it may be hard, we must allow one another the space to grow. This is pleasing to God and approved by men, as verse 18 says.
We are to stop judging one another and act in love. But there is still another key which will help us unlock the door to kingdom living. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. (v. 19)
We are also to pursue peace and edification of one another. It says here that we are to pursue things which make for peace. Everyone is aware that there are certain actions which create strife and other actions which create peace. Every three year-old child knows how to get under the skin of his brother or sister. Those who have the peace of God ruling in their hearts become peacemakers. We are to pursue peace and edification.
Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. (vv. 20-21)
Do not destroy the work of God is the exhortation here. We are exhorted to pursue edification. Edification means to build up. For us to tear down one another is the very opposite of our calling as believers. We are part of a construction crew, not a demolition crew. Perhaps the most needed gift in the church of Jesus Christ today is the gift of encouragement. Lord, make us encouragers. We must be people who love, people who care, people who seek God’s best for one another. We should be asking ourselves how we can positively impact each other. We must consciously look for ways to encourage the best in one another. If that means loving confrontation on occasion, then so be it. But we must be aware that a bridge of encouragement needs to be built first, which is sufficient to support the weight of correction, should it need to come. We must pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.
So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. (vv. 22-23)
Finally, we must live by faith. Faith is the life-blood of the Christian. All that we do should flow from our relationship with God. He is our Lord and Master. Because of our love for Him, we seek to please Him in every way. The Bible says, in three different places, that the righteous will live by faith. Whatever we do should be done from the conviction that God is pleased with it. If we cannot act from that confidence, we should not act at all. The Scripture teaches us that everything that does not come from faith is sin. In Hebrews it says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Living in relationship to Jesus means that we seek His will in all that we do. As we commune with Him in prayer, study His Word for ourselves, listen to the preaching of His Word, and interact with other Christians, we come to understand His will more clearly. Then as we understand His will, we can act in faith. But it comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. We must get to know Him in order to know His will.
We don’t need religion, but a relationship with God. Perhaps you have been devastated by religion. Perhaps you have seen discouragement and disappointment, failure and frustration. Maybe you’re fed up or you’ve at least felt like giving up. Religion — yes, give up on that. Cast it aside like the worthless straightjacket it is. But then enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ which is living, dynamic, alive, exciting and fulfilling. Oh, the greatest lack I see in the Church today is that people aren’t truly in love with Jesus. That’s the plea on my heart today — that you would come to love Jesus with all your heart. If you don’t, perhaps it is because you’ve lost your first love. If so, you can come back to it. Fall at His feet and allow Him to pour His love back into your heart. But then it may be because you do not know Him. You cannot love one whom you have not known. Come to Him today, and allow Him to impart His righteousness, peace and joy to you. I’m sick of religion, but, oh, how I love Jesus.
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