Be No Cause For Stumbling

June 2nd, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Romans 14:13-15a Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. 14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love.

Addressing both the strong and the weak believers, in v. 13a Paul sums up the exhortation given in vv. 1-12. In sum, though judging one another for sin inside the church and holding members accountable to proper Christian behavior is both appropriate and necessary for purity within the church (cf. 1 Cor. 5:9-13; 2 Tim. 4:2-3), judging one another with respect to issues of Christian liberty (e.g., eating, drinking, and celebrating certain days) is not fitting but sinful.

In v. 13b Paul warns stronger Christians that misusing their Christian liberty is dangerous to both the weak and the strong. He issues an urgent command (a Greek aorist imperative), telling them not to put an “obstacle” in the way of another Christian nor to be a “stumbling block,” an enticement to sin, by purposely offending a Christian who is struggling to grasp their Christian liberty. So, if one’s drinking leads another to do so who has doubts about it, then they will both be in sin. Christian liberty is not to give occasion for a weaker Christian to do wrong. Jesus said, “Woe to the world for stumbling blocks…to the one by whom temptation comes” (Matt. 18:7).

Using the risen Lord Jesus Christ as his witness in v. 14, Paul knew emphatically that nothing—neither food, nor drink, nor days—was intrinsically unclean. Jesus said as much in Mark 7:14-23, and Peter learned this in Acts 10. Of course Paul is not saying that there are no immoral behaviors, but with regard to food and drink, one need abstain from nothing. Christ’s work on the cross radically changed the OT ceremonial and dietary laws that Jews observed to separate themselves from all others. As a result, no one, not even Jews, are obliged to keep the OT dietary laws. Believing in Christ, who fulfilled the Law, is all that is required for salvation.

Unfortunately, knowing the truth and obeying it are two separate matters. For those Jews who were still entrenched in their ceremonial upbringing, the second half of v. 14 says that as long as they are still convinced that these laws must be kept, for them, they must be kept until such a time as they fully comprehend the grace given to them in Christ. Some of the meats, forbidden under OT law, though no longer unclean or forbidden in Christ in an objective sense (Mark 7:19), are still unclean indeed for all who deem them as unclean in a subjective sense.

Verse 15 is clearly directed at strong believers who understood their liberty in Christ to eat or drink all things. But they were, however, forbidden to flaunt their freedom in front of their weaker brothers. Since the goal of Christians is love for one another (John 13:35; Rom. 12:9; 13:8), flaunting one’s freedom is forbidden since doing so is not motivated by love. It actually hurts weaker brothers in Christ and can “destroy” them “for whom Christ died.” Though “destroy” (Gr. apollumi) is often used for eternal ruin in Paul’s epistles, In Matthew 18:14, Jesus said, “It is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish (apollumi). Since the context for “these little ones” are Christians, Jesus was not concerned for their loss of salvation but for their spiritual health. This is also Paul’s use of the word in v. 15.

Food For Thought
We as Christians are called to be loving, not offensive on purpose. Jesus said, “All will know that you are My disciples if you love one another” (John 13:35). So if our behavior does not stem from love, it’s sin. Since Christ paid the ultimate price for the weak Christian, the strong must not refuse to pay the trivial price of an occasional, minor restriction in anything.