Romans 14:1-23 “Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. (2) For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. … (22) Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. (23) But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.”
We have seen in the previous section that our everyday speech only changes once we have become fully convinced in our minds as to the truth and reality of God’s word on any given subject, and we discussed the steps that the believer must take to reach that point. This brings us to the next point that we need to discuss regarding the subject of faith, which is that faith demands action. There are two truths that we need to discuss regarding this subject, the first is the very clear truth revealed to us in scripture, that faith without action will never experience the power of God (James 2:17). The second truth, which we will discuss in this section, is revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, i.e. that action without faith will also never experience the power of God, and in fact such actions are indeed sinful in the eyes of the Lord. In this passage the apostle Paul teaches us that an individual stands condemned if they act while in doubt. In other words, if an individual acts on God’s word while they are not yet fully convinced in their minds about the truth and reality of His word, they are in effect committing sin. And so it goes without saying that such an action will certainly not release God’s power in the situation. Sadly this is where a lot of Christians stumble because of erroneous teaching on the subject of faith. The error that is taught to the church in this area is that if you want to experience God’s power in your life then you must act on His word, as a demonstration of your faith. And so the church is taught to put the proverbial cart before the horse, by trying to act on that which they are not yet fully convinced about in their minds. Because this is not an act of faith, God’s power is not manifested in response to such actions and the saints’ end up failing to receive from God. And so as a result of this erroneous teaching many saints question either their faith in God or question His word. This passage of scripture clearly teaches us the principle that to act before being fully convinced is to act presumptuously and will always result in failure.
Michael E.B. Maher
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