“For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” Rom. 14:23
Paul makes a bold statement at the end Romans 14. Did you see this? Look again, “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” Really? This kind of statement should at the very least cause us to stop and reflect and maybe ask ourselves, “Do I believe this?” (A hint: we must believe this!)
This type of a statement causes me to stop and wonder: How often in the day do I do things without conferring with God on the matter? How often do I just act or react without thinking about the consequences? How often do I make decisions based on my experience or lack thereof? Even as a pastor, how often do I put my wants and needs before others? And I could go on with this reflection because this statement caused me to stop and reflect.
In chapter 14 he list a number of things we do that are obviously do not proceed from faith. He speaks of not passing judgment on others wrongly for 12 verses… “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother?”(Rom. 14:10) He also speaks of not causing your brother to stumble, “Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decider never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.” (Rom. 14:13) So how we treat others especially in the non-essentials is a crucial sign concerning how we will treat others with more important …essential doctrines. Hence, “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”
I hope that you read the Bible every day. I hope that you are caught off guard by God’s Word to you every day. I hope that the Word of God causes you to reflect on how to live your life differently. If none of these things are happening then you need to go back, pray and read it again…for as Christians we are to be transformed daily by the renewal of our minds by God’s Word every day.
Our freedom in Christ is based on our living by faith and when we live by faith we will seek to do everything in faith for that is where true living happens. It is this faith that exhibits the greatest commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind”; and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” In other words, faith that first and foremost seeks to glorify God and then seeks to love our neighbor as Christ loves us.
So now you see why God could make such a statement to Paul and then Paul to us because if we choose to live any other way than by faith (prescribed by God) we are in fact sinning willfully before God. So let’s take this statement seriously; and let the Spirit transform us by the renewal of our minds so that we will in fact “…live by faith.”
God Bless y’all today.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
