Believers could disagree on nonensentials and still maintain Church unity
St. Augustine:”In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity”
We must welcome or receive whom the Lord received. (v1,v3,15:7)
- All Christians where bought by the precious blood of the Lord
- When we accept our brothers and sisters, we bring praise to God (15:7)
- We are all at different spiritual maturity on our walk with the Lord, some are stronger than the other. However the more mature christians must not despise the less mature christians, the less mature christians must not judge the more mature christians (v3).
God alone judges us(12:19,v10)
- Do not judge others, because the judging will put an stumbling block to our brothers and sisters (v13). God alone judges us (12:19,v10). Instead of judging, we should make every effort to do what things that edify others (v19,15:2).
- Judgement seat (v10) – BEMA (Greek)
- Our are our Lord’s servant, not servant for each other. We are accountable directly to the Lord (v4,v12). Our judgement cannot make others stand, only God can make others stand.
- v11 is a quote from Isaiah 45:23. When Christ returns, everybody will acknowledge Jesus as Lord.
Everything that we do, we do for the Lord, because we belongs to Him (v8)
- The Lord looks into our heart, when we honor Him in our heart, He is pleased.
- We ought to give thanks to the Lord when we see Christians are honoring our Lord. (v6)
- Pay attention to how many times the Lord, or Christ is mentioned in this chapter(God:10T,Lord:9T,Christ:3T).
The right way to serve God – Give up our rights for the benefits of others (v18)
- Serving in the Kingdom of God is to obey to the Holy Spirit and live a righteous, peaceful and joyful life. (v17)
- Because of our love to brothers and sisters, our choose to willingly give up what we deserve if that distressed them or cause them to fall.(v15,v21). i.e: food, books, movies
- We do this not by our own strength, God Himself gives us endurance and encouragement (15:5)
Do not force your conviction on others (v22-v23)
- When God convicts us something is wrong, we should avoid it. Everything that does not come from faith is sin (v23)
- However, if that is not clearly forbidden by God’s word, do not force our conviction on others