This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Romans series teaching us about God’s heart for the Church to be united. Christians can be so divided and unloving toward one another over issues that are not essential to the gospel, but there is a way forward! We can follow God’s command to love and respect one another by keeping our hearts humble, and our minds set on the primary issues of the Bible.

Psalm 133 (ESV)
1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! 3 It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.

Acknowledge We All Have Opinions

Romans 14:1 (ESV)
1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

When it comes to opinions, aim for humility….accept, listen to, and respect each other.

Beware of opinions that turn into dogma.

Disunity comes when…
• The strong despise the weak for being untaught or narrow.
• The weak despise the strong for abusing their liberty.

Examples of Primary and Secondary Issues

Primary: The trinity, Christ’s deity, salvation by faith alone, Christ’s substitutionary atonement, the virgin birth, sinlessness of Christ, Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, ascension and future bodily return of Jesus, final judgment, heaven and hell, the inspired Word of God, marriage, and life.

Secondary: Music, tattoos, movies, Israel, alcohol, baptism style, worship style, dress, charismatic gifts, young earth/old earth, end times, animal rights, birth control, dancing, piercings, church government, role of women in church.

“In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in everything, love.” Augustine of Hippo

Unify Around the Essentials

Romans 14:2–3 (ESV)
2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.

• Strong in faith ~ Those that understand their freedom and liberty.
• Weak in faith ~ Those who are still so close to the past that they can’t quite let go.

Romans 14:4 (ESV)
4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Matthew 9:9 (ESV)
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

Romans 14:5–6 (ESV)
5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

• Danger: when we make secondary issues, primary (legalism).
• Danger: when we make primary issues secondary (liberalism).

Questions to ask about secondary issues…
• Does it help me? (1 Corinthians 6:12a)
• Does it hurt me? (1 Corinthians 6:12b)
• Does it hurt others? (1 Corinthians 10:23)

Live Unto the Lord

Romans 14:7–9 (ESV)
7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Romans 14:10–12 (ESV)
10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How can you apply the teaching of accepting those with different beliefs in your community?
  2. How can you strive for peace and mutual edification in your community?
  3. Re-read Pastor Chris’ examples of primary and secondary issues. Did any of these examples challenge you?
  4. How can the concepts in this chapter help in resolving disputes or disagreements within your church or community?

Questions derived from BibleHub (https://biblehub.com/questions/romans/14.htm)

Application Questions:

  1. This week, take an inventory of your heart. Have secondary issues become the primary issues in your heart? Have you been unloving toward those who think differently than you?
  2. Evaluate how you can practically show acceptance and avoid passing judgement on fellow believers with different convictions?

Join us for an in-person service at City Central Church in Tacoma, WA
Sundays at 9am + 11am