Midnight Musings

Lastly, is the idea of a “Stumbling Block”.  In the case of Romans 14, this is talking about a Stronger Brother who exercises his liberties, and in the process causes the Weaker Brother to stumble.

The prohibitions mentioned in Romans 14 could lead people to believe that the Stronger Brother has no option but to live like a weaker brother.  Take a look:

But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.

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It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.  Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.  And he that doubteth is [dang]ed if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.  – Romans 14:15, 21-23

If you took the first part without the second you could certainly get that impression.  However, it’s the second section I think is worth our attention. (more…)

There are two brothers mentioned in Romans 14—and they are referred to with terms of strength.  One is called the stronger brother, and the other the weaker.

The Stronger Brother

The Stronger Brother takes on two different types of individuals.

The first individual is the one that stands firm on his understanding of the Bible and feels free to partake in those things that were previously forbidden—and does so to the glory of God.  This is the man (or woman) that could eat the meat offered to idols, because there were no such things as idols and the meat was 50% the price he could get at the local WalMart.  His conscience did not bother him about it, and he had a right relationship to the Lord.

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