“So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. “ Romans 14:10 NLT 

Footsteps # 379. In Rom.14:10 Paul has echoed Jesus’ words from the sermon on the mount (Matt.7:1-4.) We tend to judge others harshly at times, and often for the same things that we do ourselves. Often, though, what we do doesn’t seem as bad to us as when others do the same thing. We might fool ourselves with our hypocrisy, but not God. Paul then quotes Isa.45:23 in v11. This citation from Isaiah supports the thought that all must appear for judgment. “Every knee” and “every tongue” individualises the summons. The implication is that each one will have to answer for his or her own life and deeds in life’s final audit (v12). No one can answer for another.  

The historical context helps us understand the meaning of Romans 14:14. The subject is still foods sacrificed to idols. The issue is, clearly, not the distinction between the foods deemed clean and unclean, (Which we already noted predated Judaism). Paul is saying that there is nothing wrong with eating foods that might have been offered to idols. After all, what is an idol anyway? It is nothing (1Cor.8:4). However, a person should not be made to violate their conscience, even if the conscience is overly sensitive. This fact the “strong” brethren apparently did not understand. They despised the scrupulosity of the “weak” brethren and put stumbling blocks in their way. 

The NIV translates the passage as “no food is unclean of itself.” But, we need to ask, what kind of unclean food does he have in mind? One thing we can be certain – that he is NOT referring to the unclean food prohibitions of Deut.14 and Lev.11. How do we know that? From the context. The issue Paul lays out in 14:1, 2 is not between eating clean and unclean meats. Those foods that were unhealthy before the cross are still unhealthy today. The health laws of the OT were not symbolic of anything and the cross did not change what is scientific common sense today. It is quite illogical to take Pauls’s teaching as meaning (as Shakespeare said in Hamlet) that “nothing is good or ill, but thinking makes it so.” Paul is not teaching that everything is good for people to eat or that unhealthy eating is a figment of one’s imagination. 

Context is all-important in understanding Rom.14:14. Rather than discussing unclean foods forbidden in Deuteronomy, Paul refers to marketplace foods that have become an issue of conflict in the Judeo/Christian community because they may have been offered first to an idol. But not everyone shared Pauls’ position on the topic. Some definitely held that such food was wrong to eat. The apostle doesn’t condemn such people, even though he believes that they are wrong. Rather, he respects their conscientious convictions. 

We find a lesson for us here. We need to respect other people for their convictions, just as we would like them to do the same for us. While we may not always agree, we can still live together.