Romans 14:22b - Passing Judgment on Ourselves

Romans 14:22b - Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.

Message: Passing Judgment on Ourselves

Time: Written in AD 57 from Greece, to the Christians, both Gentile and Jewish in Rome

What the Lord is Saying:  

The Christian has a freedom in Christ. I am free from sin. I am free from the consequences of sin. I am free from judgment. This freedom means that, before God, I am completely accepted. I do not have to fear other Christians. I can be confident that the faith God has given me is true. Even in the context here of this passage, there is freedom because in matters of moral indifference, I do not need to make sure people here my conviction, because it is possible my conviction could hurt my immature believer friend. So, Paul says, "Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves."

The immature believer will often pass judgment on themselves and sometimes call too many things as sinful. I think I've struggled with this possible. In the Tabletalk lesson for the day, the writer mentions watching movies and that watching movies in and of themselves is not sinful. I wonder about this. It seems like the immature Christian at times thinks they can continue doing things in life and those things will have no effect on them. So, its possible the immature Christian continues going to R rated movies, not realizing that these are filled with profanity and he shouldn't see them. He can see movies, but needs to be careful. But, Tabletalk just mentions it a little differently. I am not sure I agree with the statement or maybe I don't understand. When I was a new Christian one of the first things I did was get rid of all of the secular music I had. I thought it was glorifying Satan and so I destroyed it and then started getting Christian music instead. I bought a lot of that secular music, but my mom bought me the Christian music. I think that was the right thing to do, but I do think today, as a more mature Christian, I can listen to secular music and not be affected by it. So, maybe that is the same thought with movies. Maybe the immature believer does need to abstain from certain inputs into their lives because of their state of immaturity.

One of the things that I am seeing in my children right now is there playing of computer games and the volume of time they waste doing that. It seems to be a lot of immaturity. As we get older, time gets more valuable and the things we want to do with it are often more important. It seems frivolous to spend that time playing video games. I am amazed at older people that continue to spend lots of time at casino's. And yet, there is a lot of immaturity in their habits. As a Christian, it is important to me to preach the gospel and call people to faith and repentance. This is what I need to do. This is why I think it is so important to continue to speak of sin in a worship service and I'm thrilled the church I attend now does this. I need to be reminded of sin in my life. It is in many dark crevices of my life and it needs to be revealed.

John Calvin mentions that what Paul is speaking of here is the person that understands the Word of God and allows the Word of God to form His conscience. Many people do as they please in life and have no guide for right and wrong.

I saw this on PreceptAustin.org, "Charles Spurgeon, at the height of his fame, was one day walking down the street and saw a sign which read, “We sell the cigar that Charles Spurgeon smokes.”  Upon seeing this sign Spurgeon gave up the habit. He came to see that what was for him a freedom might cause others to stumble. 

And yet through all of this I am seeing the differences. People may have a difference opinion at various levels of maturity about listening to movies and listening to music. I have a couple of Christian friends that continue to speak in ways that just don't seem right. They continue to have filthy mouths. I don't comprehend that. I remember Ephesians 4:29 being an important verse for me as a kid to curb how I speak. But, is this something that I need to not call out in people? Do I leave this alone and realize that people have different convictions. I am not sure. This is a passage that I can document understanding, but its application is still difficult.

Promise: Preach the gospel and call people to faith and repentance.