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. … (5) One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. … (14) I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.”
We have seen that it is only God who can open our hearts to understand the message of the gospel, thus allowing us to exercise our faith in that message and be saved. So does that mean that when God opens our hearts to understand the message of salvation that He also opens our hearts to have full understanding of all of the mysteries of the gospel at the same time? The answer to that question is a resounding “no”, although I must add that once saved, every saint has the potential to understand the mysteries of the gospel. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul teaches us the very clear truth that every saint still has to deal with hardened hearts, even after they are saved. In this passage Paul contrasts weak and strong believers, and He does that by using the different stances that both take regarding the same minor doctrinal issues. Obviously Paul is using Jewish believers in his illustration, for in this passage he describes the weak believer as one who only eats “kosher” food while the strong believer eats all foods. In the same manner he describes the weak believer as one who observes the Jewish calendar, i.e. the Sabbath, etc, while the strong believer deems every day to be alike. Although Paul states that the weak believer is weak in faith while implying that the strong believer is strong in faith, I want to draw your attention to the fact that it is in the understanding of God’s word that Paul differentiates between the two, for he says that each one is convinced in their own minds and therefore each exercises their faith accordingly. To be continued …
Michael E.B. Maher
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