The Blog

In verse fourteen Paul refers to one of the biggest controversies in the Jewish church. At the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, the Jewish church asked the Gentile church in Antioch not to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Paul was at the Jerusalem council, and he accepted the request not because he thought the eating of that meat was wrong, but because this practice would deeply offend many Jewish believers. Paul did not think this was an issue worth dividing the church over; his desire was to promote unity. Believers are called to accept one another without judging everyone’s varied opinions. There are always people out there who will conflict with our viewpoints and doctrines, but Paul response is that all believers should act in love in order to maintain peace and unity within the church.

Romans 14:14
14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean.