Day #345

Sermon - Audio
Romans 14-16 - Reading
Romans 14-16 - Audio

Daily Insights - Please Comment

• 14.1-3: “Disputable matters” or “do not quarrel over opinions”. Paul holds that there are certain faith practices that people can differ on. We should not quarrel about them nor should we despise or look down on those whose practices are different than ours. At the same time, we need to remember that not all parts of the faith are open to differing practices. Paul has just told us about loving our neighbor, avoiding immorality and quarreling , etc. Those parts of the faith in indisputable.
• 14.5: The word “alike” is not in the Greek. The words of this verse read, “One man esteems one day above another; another esteems every day.” The weaker in this case esteem one day above another, the stronger see every day as sacred and treat it as such.
• 14.6: Paul points out that all of these people in their actions have the same goal: to honor the Lord. When people of differing views on disputable matters all recognize that all are seeking to honor God it makes for unity in the midst of diversity.
• 14.15: “Distressed by what you eat” is another way of saying that our eating causes our fellow believer to sin. Our actions tempt them to do what goes against their conscience. Here we need to distinguish between two groups of people. One group is a kind of “holier-than-thou” group who will never be tempted to do what a more freedom oriented group will do, but says they are offended by what’s going on. These are not people the freedom folks need to be concerned about for they will not be led into sin. The other group is that group which is struggling with matters of conscience, believe something is wrong, but are tempted to do it anyway because they see our behavior. For these we need high levels of concern and compassion.
• 14.17: It’s great to enjoy food, but the kingdom is not about the freedom to eat what we want to eat or to go down certain paths in disputable matters, rather it is about love, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit. Those things so fill us up that we are willing to give up some of our freedoms if it would cause others to stumble.
• 15.4-7: Paul speaks a prayer on behalf of the church of Rome that it will have God’s power to live as a unified body--for the glory of God. In this final part Paul drives home that just as we do everything to the Lord, so we do everything for God’s glory. It is God at the center, never us.
• 16.1-2: Phoebe “a servant”. The word for servant is the word of a female deacon. Phoebe is most likely a deaconess in the church of Chechreae. But she is also more. The NIV tells us she is a “helper”, but this translation fails to get at the heart of the matter. The Greek word means to be a “patron” (so esv). A patron gave gifts of money and other goods to people (compare the women who traveled with Jesus and supported him out of their means. A patron also opened their house to those under their protection and provided legal aid when needed. Phoebe is a formable woman. Further, when Paul tells the people to give her “help” the word refers to conducting business. Phoebe is a business woman. As she comes to Rome Paul tells the church to help her to conduct her business in a way that will make it successful.
• 16.3: “Priscilla and Aquila” This is a husband and wife team we first meet in the book of Acts. Three things catch our attention: First, Priscilla is mentioned first rather than her husband. In writings of the day you typically mentioned the more prominent person first (one wonders why the first two people mentioned by Paul are women). Second: Paul calls them fellow workers. There is no sense that a woman does not have a place in working alongside of him. Finally, they risked their lives or more literally, “they risked their necks” for the gospel. These two have given much to the cause of the gospel.
• 16.7: This is a verse that has caused some controversy. Junia can refer to either a man or a woman. The idea that they are “outstanding among the apostles” can mean that they are among the very best apostles in the early church. If Junia is a woman, it is likely that Junia and Andronicus are a husband and wife team who are apostles. The idea that a woman can be an apostle has so upset some that there have been attempts to amend the text.
• 16.18: Notice the difference between these people and those in the church struggling with disputable matters. In disputable matters both groups are seeking to serve Christ, however, these false teachers are not seeking to serve Christ.