Romans 14:1-2 “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.”
The second characteristic which we will discuss is the weakness of the new born believer’s faith, or to put it more accurately, their weakness in the faith. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul refers to certain believers as being both weak and being weak in the faith. So what does that statement mean? Firstly we will discuss what Paul means when he refers to believers as being weak in the faith. An individual can only exercise their faith in the word of God which they understand and in which they are fully convinced is true (Romans 4:20-22). In other words if they have any doubt about a particular aspect of God’s word, then that means they are not yet fully convinced in their minds about the truth of that word and cannot therefore exercise their faith in that word. As we have seen in the previous section, new believers have a very limited understanding of God’s word. Because of their lack of understanding, they remain therefore unconvinced about many truths revealed in God’s word. And so, it is impossible for new believers to exercise their faith in that which they do not yet understand and are not yet fully convinced about. To explain this concept to us Paul uses the example of the Jewish kosher diet. The believers in Rome to whom this letter was written, consisted of both Jews and Gentiles. And so in this passage, Paul contrasted Jewish believers who understood and believed the New Testament truth that all foods are clean, with Jewish believers who still believed that certain foods were unclean and thus ate only vegetables when kosher foods were unavailable. Paul referred to this believer as being both weak and weak in the faith. The reason they were weak in the faith is because they had not yet understood the New Testament truth that all foods are clean. And so being unconvinced about that aspect of God’s word, they were unable to exercise their faith in that word and act on it. That same principle applies to every spiritual truth in God’s word, i.e. until the believer understands and becomes fully convinced about any truth in God’s word, they are unable to exercise their faith in that word. In other words they are weak in the faith. This brings us to the second part of Paul’s comment, when he refers to these believers not only as being weak in the faith but also simply as being weak? In this passage Paul contrasts the believer who eats only vegetables with the one who believes he may eat all things. The one believer Paul refers to as being weak, thus implying that the other believer is strong. We have already seen that it is in our spirits that New Testament believers can grow strong, and so clearly when Paul refers to believers as being weak; he is referring to them as being weak in spirit. There is one other issue that Paul discusses in this passage regarding those who are weak in the faith. Paul instructs mature believers to receive those who are weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things or opinions. So what does Paul mean by that statement? Even though they have a very limited understanding of scripture, baby believers tend to have strong opinions about scripture and will argue with those who say otherwise. And so Paul advises mature believers not to indulge a weak believer’s desire to argue their own opinions on scripture.
Romans 15:1 “We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul reaffirms two truths for us. Firstly, he reaffirms the truth that certain believers are weak while others are strong. We have already seen that a strong believer is one who is strong in spirit, while a weak believer is weak in spirit. And so we see that a weak believer is one and the same as a babe in Christ. In the context of this passage Paul compares the strong believer’s greater understanding of God’s word with the weak believer’s lesser understanding of God’s word, and how that difference in knowledge influences the lifestyles of the two. This brings us to the second truth which Paul reaffirms to us in this passage, which is that mature believers are to make allowances for the weak believer’s lack of knowledge, by conducting their lives in a manner that will not cause the weak believer to become offended. Paul therefore advises mature believers to bear with the scruples of the weak and not to please themselves. In other words, because weak believers are unable to understand the liberty in which strong believers are able to walk, strong believers are counselled to walk in a manner that accommodates the weak believer’s level of faith.
1 Corinthians 8:9-11 “But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. (10) For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? (11) And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul again contrasts strong believers with those who are weak; the strong believer being the mature believer and the weak believer being the babe in Christ. In this passage Paul gives us the example of the strong believer having grown in their understanding of God’s word and thus in their level of faith so that they can now eat all foods, including foods that have been offered to idols. The weak brother on the other hand, has not yet grown to that level in their understanding of God’s word and thus that level of faith, and so they cannot walk in the same degree of liberty that their stronger brother can. In this passage Paul once again admonishes the mature believer to take the weak believer’s disposition into account and refrain from walking in their liberty when weak believers are present, because the weak believer’s misunderstanding of the strong believer’s actions will motivate the weak believer to act in a manner that would be to their detriment.
Luke 12:28-30 “If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? (29) "And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. (30) For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.”
Baby believers tend to be anxious about many things; the reason being the weakness of their faith. In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord Jesus confirms to us that those who worry about the things in this life have little faith. As our Lord Jesus plainly tells us in this passage, this world is continually anxious about their needs being met. When we come into the kingdom of God, all believers still have the same mindset that this world has. And so, new born believers still display the same characteristics that this world displays, in that they too are anxious about their needs being met. Therefore it is only as they grow strong in spirit and consequently strong in faith, that they will transition from being anxious about having their needs met to being fully assured that God supplies all of their needs. By examining the quoted passages of scripture in this section we have clearly established that one of the characteristics of baby believers is that their level of faith will be weak.
Michael E.B. Maher
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