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Raul Ries: We have liberty, and not liberty to make people stumble. Because as we’ve been in restaurants and you watch people that are drinking a beer or whatever a drink, whatever it is, when they see us or they see someone from the church, they get convicted.

But why should you be convicted if you have that freedom? You know why? Because you don’t want to make a person stumble.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Thank you for joining us for another message in our Liberty series, exploring the freedom that belongs to every believer through Jesus Christ.

Today, Raul will take us to Romans chapter 14, where we’ll consider how spiritual liberty is meant to be exercised with wisdom, humility, and love for others. While Jesus has set us free, our choices do influence the people around us, and the Bible calls us to walk in a way that builds others up in their faith. Here’s Raul Ries with today’s message, Our Liberty in Christ.

Raul Ries: Well, this morning, let's go to the book of Romans, chapter 14. It’s a chapter that a lot of people don’t really understand because it's a chapter that’s going to speak about liberty. The liberties that we have in eating or drinking, which is a problem with so many people because you feel like you have this freedom which another person doesn't have that freedom. So if I have that freedom and they see me doing something that is not right, I'm going to make them stumble. That’s what Paul is going to teach us.

But also this unity, this unity is a very heavy thing within the church, with people. He says, “Receive one another who is weak in the faith, but not in disputes over doubtful things.” So here Paul is dealing with a relationship between the weak and the strong. You see, the weak and the strong. And then it's not the case of being weak morally or mentally, but of necessity and maturity in the faith of Jesus Christ.

So Paul here, when he talks about disputes, he says you can lead to divisions in our fellowship. Or a weak brother is liable to become critical against a strong brother because he’s eating or drinking, whatever he’s doing, and indulging himself in whatever he has his freedom to do. God has given that freedom, that's cool, but Paul’s going to get into this.

He says if God has given you the freedom to do that, if you do it in public, you're going to make people stumble, your weaker brother, and then God holds you responsible for your weaker brother for making him stumble.

Paul says it's better if you do it in your home. Nobody watching you, so you don't make anybody stumble. Because Paul goes on to say this because not to become liable, he says, “For one believes that he may eat,” notice that, “that he may eat things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.” So one eats meat, the other one eats vegetables.

Now, if God gives you the right to eat meat and vegetable, that's cool. But there are people that are vegetarians. That’s their problem, not my problem, because I like eating everything. If God called you to be a vegetarian, that's cool. No problem. But don't say to other people you have to be a vegetarian. Because then what you're doing is you're putting what you believe in other people's lives, which is not right. Everyone has freedom. Remember that liberty.

We have liberty, and not liberty to make people stumble. Because as we’ve been in restaurants and you watch people that are drinking a beer or whatever a drink, whatever it is, when they see us or they see someone from the church, they get convicted. But why should you be convicted if you have that freedom? You know why? Because you don’t want to make a person stumble. That's why Paul says.

Be careful what you drink. Be careful what you do as a Christian. He goes on and he says, notice in verse three, “Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat. And let not him who does not eat judge him who eats, for God has received him.” You see, we're not supposed to judge people. If we do that, then we're not really being open to the Holy Spirit and having that liberty that God has given to me and that liberty that he has given to that person.

Number one, you have to remember you're not, and I'm not, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicts people individually. Many times, people play the Holy Spirit and they try to convict people of many other things. It's not just food and drink. But there are other things that people not only come to you and they'll say, well, you're not supposed to do this, you're not supposed to do that, or you can't do this, or you can do this, or wear this, or wear that.

We have to be really open to the Holy Spirit, to listen to the Holy Spirit when he convicts me, when he convicts me of my life. Because if I'm not open to the Holy Spirit, then I'm going to become the Holy Spirit, which is not right. And then what happens, I make people hate me because every time they see me, oh-oh, here he comes again. They don't want to be around you. And you want people to be around you because you're loving them. No matter what they're doing, you love them. And through love, they're going to think about what they're doing because the Holy Spirit is going to convict them, and then you're going to become one brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Now watch again verse four. He says, “Who are you, who are you to judge another servant?” I mean, who do you think you are by coming and judging other people? We have no right. He says, “To his own masters he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to do what? Able to make him stand.” And then verse five, check this out.

He says, “One person esteems a day above another, another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced of his own mind.” Okay, let’s say today’s Sunday. So let’s say you can't come to church, you're working, you can't come on Sunday. And then if you work on Wednesday, you can't come on Wednesday or Thursday, whatever it is. And many times because you can't come to church and you're working, the enemy does what? Condemns you.

When I look at the week, I go to church every day. I worship God every day. I have a relationship with Christ every day. It’s just that I have a responsibility to my employer to work. And then I can go home and read my Bible or come to a Sunday night service or a Wednesday night service, and then at the same time Sunday to Sunday I'm worshipping God, reading my Bible, and not coming under condemnation. Because Paul said there’s no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. We’re in Christ Jesus, no condemnation.

So the problem we have now is the solution. What is the solution? Verse six to 13. He says, “He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord.” So you know you're serving to the Lord. “And he who does not observe that day to the Lord, he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks.” Notice, “And he who does not eat the Lord, he does not eat and gives God thanks.”

See, he brings in the solution here, that it doesn't matter what you do, it's the Lord. When you pray to the Lord and you bless the food whatever it is, and you come to that place where again you're vegetarian, you eat vegetables or meat. But you don't go ahead and tell people they can't eat vegetables, they can't eat meat. There’s a solution, and that solution: everyone has to eat according to his convictions. What is your conviction? What is my conviction?

Because in verse seven, it says, “For none of us lives to himself.” You see? “No one dies to himself.” We all belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. We’re all one body. And then Paul says, “For if we live, we live to the Lord.” Notice that. Apart from Christ, you're not living really a life that God has for you individually. So Paul says here, “If we live, we live to the Lord. If we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore,” notice the therefore, he’s going to give a lot of therefores, what he said before. “Therefore, whether we live or die, we are who? The Lord's.” Isn't that cool? We are the Lord's.

For to this end, Christ died. Notice that. The reason Jesus Christ died was to redeem us, and notice, and to bring us to that place of redemption but also resurrection, that one day we're going to be in His presence. And the reason is because He loves you. And as you love Him, He’s giving you the promise, not only of Him coming, but when you come to Christ, He forgives you for all your sins. And then He gives you the power of the resurrection, which means I can live the Christian life now. So I can't say, well I didn't know. No, you know, because the Holy Spirit is in your life.

And then he says this, which is interesting in verse 10. “But why do you judge your brother, what they eat, what they drink?” When the Holy Spirit, if they're Christians and they have the Holy Spirit, they're going to be judged by the Holy Spirit. They're going to be convicted.

But we have to remember, if you're not a believer, you're going to be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment. And the Great White Throne Judgment, you don't want to be there. That's Revelation chapter 20, 11 through 15, where you stand before God because you not only when you died you went to hell. And then He’s going to open the books and they're going to make a line, and then He’s going to say that whoever’s name was not written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire. And that's the end of that. The only way to get your name written in the Book of Life is by accepting Christ, repenting of your sin, accepting Christ into your heart.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. We're so grateful for the opportunity to share practical Bible teaching that points people to a deeper walk with Christ. Visit us anytime at SomebodyLovesYou.com where you'll find a variety of resources to help you grow in your faith. You can also learn more about Raul’s four-part Liberty series, available on CD and USB. Now let’s return to today’s study.

Raul Ries: Verse 11, here it is, the answer. He says, “For it is written,” so what does he do? He takes you to the Bible in the book of Isaiah 45:23. “For it is written: ‘As I live,’ Isaiah said, ‘saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’” Again, what did he talk about previously? The Bema Seat of Christ. He tells you that every Christian, every Christian one day, we live not only for the Lord but every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God. We’re going to be confessing to Jesus Christ, our lives before Him.

And then he goes on in verse 12, he says, “So let each of us,” notice, “shall give account of himself to God.” There it is. Underline that. Your mom and dad's, brother, sister, or friend, whatever it is, they're not going to answer for you. You can't say, well you know, ask him, ask her. No, that won't be there. He says, “So each of us shall give account to of himself to who? To God.” To God, the answer will come.

Verse 13, therefore. Here’s another therefore, takes you back to where we just came from. Therefore, let us not judge one another anymore. The problem within the church many times is judging one another. We have to be careful with that. Number one, we're not God. How do you know what they're going through, and yet you're judging them? You invite somebody over your house to get something to eat, that’s cool. They come in, they eat with you, and then they leave, and all of a sudden you start talking about them. That's not right.

If you want to talk to somebody about a problem, talk to them face to face. That's the right way to do it. Not behind their backs. Because if we don't do that, then what kind of Christians are we in Christ Jesus? You see, that's the rule of love. I say, hey can I talk to you for a second? I have this against you and my heart has been really, really, I mean just hurting. And if I've done anything against you, please forgive me. Remember Jesus in the book of Matthew, in chapter 18, he talks about forgiveness. Forgiveness.

And then remember in the Sermon on the Mount chapter five, where the guy is coming to give a sacrifice to God, but he remembers that he has something against another person. He leaves the sacrifice, goes and makes things right. He comes back, he's free now to deliver his sacrifice to God and God accepts it. I love that.

Notice what he says, verse 13 again. “Therefore, let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this.” You see, make it right. I mean, solve the problem. “Not to put a stumbling block or cause to fall in our brother's way.” Notice what he says here. So again if we stumble people because we eat meat, I'm not going to eat before them. They eat vegetables. And the liberty that Christ gives us is so awesome because then I don't argue with you and you don't argue with me. For the weak brother, I honor him. And then as a strong brother, I sit there and honor my weak brother. Don't condemn him.

And then the precepts here to the practice, verse 14 to 23. The first precept, verse 14, notice this. “I know and I am convinced by the Lord Jesus Christ that there is nothing unclean of itself. But to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” Here it is again. If you like pork chops, that's awesome. If somebody doesn't, that's okay too. But you don't want to force your convictions on that person, which a lot of times we do. You can't do that. Christ says here, look, you can't condemn people for what they eat or what they drink. Every one of us has those freedoms or liberty to do whatever Christ has called us to do.

And then again, verse 15, the practice, verse 15 and 16. He says, “Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food,” here it is again. If your brother is grieved because what you eat, you are no longer walking in what? In love. That's the key. Love. I don't do it because I love you. I don't want to stumble you because I'm mature in Christ Jesus, I'm the mature brother in Christ Jesus. You just came to Christ, and I don't want to push you away from Christ. Because he goes on to say, “Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.” Isn't that cool? For whom Christ died.

Therefore again, “Do not let your good be spoken as of evil.” You have to be careful what you do, how you treat people. You want to make sure where you're walking in love. You're not condemning, you're not the conviction you may have, you're convicting people for those convictions that you have in your life. Every person is individual. Every person has their own mind, not only to think what they want to do, but the conviction that comes from their hearts.

And then the precept, verse 17 and 18. I love this. “For the kingdom of God is not eating or drinking.” Underline it. It's not eating and drinking. That doesn't save you because you eat meat or eat pork chops, whatever it is, or vegetarian. That has nothing to do with your salvation. “But righteousness and peace and joy,” he says, “to what? And joy the Holy Spirit leading.” Notice, “In the Holy Spirit.”

Now, the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, which means what? We come by faith. Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” So as I seek ye first the kingdom of God, not only do I become a believer in Christ Jesus, but I begin to learn about the things that I can do and the things that I cannot do. How do I do that? By reading the Bible.

For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, by faith. But righteousness here means up the right living. You gotta live the right way. And if you live the right way, peace and then joy will be given to you by the Holy Spirit. And then he says, verse 18, “For he who serves Christ in these things is what? Accepted to God and approved by men.” They see your walk with Jesus Christ, and they know that your righteousness is because of Jesus Christ. Your obedience, not your condemning people, not putting a trip of condemnation on them. But they see you that you're loving them and you care for them.

And then he says a practice again, 19. “Therefore, let us pursue the things which make for peace.” Peace. “Let the things by which one may be built another.” Notice, build up a person, not tear down the person. We should as Christians always be building up, not tearing down. We want to make sure that what we do, what we say, it's edifying and it's honoring to the Lord Jesus Christ. That we’re honoring people. Because the Holy Spirit is the one that convicts you, convicts me.

The problem is we don't listen to the Holy Spirit when he speaks to us. So Paul says, verse 20, “Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense.” You see, offense. And then practice again, verse 21. “It is good neither to eat meat nor to drink wine, nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended and made weak.”

Now let me stop you for one second here before we close. Wine drinking. They say well, in the Old Testament they used to drink wine, and in the New Testament they drank wine. But you have to remember there’s two types of wine. First, you have wine that is unfermented, which is grape juice. And then the other type of wine is fermented. In Proverbs chapter 20 verse one, it says, “Wine is a mocker and those that drink it are stupid.” That's what he says in the scripture.

And many times if you have that legal right, let’s say you have the freedom to drink wine. Be careful you don't do it in public because as a Christian brother that is weak sees you drink, you're going to make him stumble. You’ll make him stumble. Or drinking beer, whatever you have the freedom to do. I don't have that freedom in my life. But God has given me not only the strength because I never drank, I thank God for that. But I have my other issues in my life that I have to work in.

So when you drink wine, make sure that you don't make anybody stumble. You may stumble your children or you're going to teach your children to drink wine. Not everybody can handle drinking. That's why we have alcoholics. And yet it's in your own conscience, whatever you want to do. But I think that as believers, because of love, because I love you, I don't want to stumble you in anything. And if I do, I repent and I'm sorry. You see, that's what God desires from our lives.

And listen, 22 the precept. “Do you have faith? You have faith. Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.” So whatever you approve in yourself, you're not being condemned. You're not going to do it in front of people you're going to make them stumble. No, if that's your conviction, well then do it.

Guest (Male): As we've heard today, Romans 14 reminds us that Christian freedom is never merely about personal preference. As followers of the Lord Jesus, we’re called to consider how our actions affect fellow believers and pursue what leads to spiritual growth and unity.

You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. If you’d like to hear today’s message again, call us at 800-634-9165 and request an unedited version of Raul’s teaching, Our Liberty in Christ. We'll send it to you for a donation of five dollars or more.

And to help you continue studying these truths, we'd like to offer you Raul’s four-part Liberty series, available on CD and USB. Along with today’s message, this collection explores what it means to live in the freedom that Jesus provides while honoring Him in our daily decisions. You'll gain a greater understanding of how surrender to the Lord leads to genuine spiritual freedom and a life that reflects His character.

To order Raul’s four-lesson study celebrating your liberty in Christ as a believer, visit SomebodyLovesYou.com or call 800-634-9165. We'll send you the CD set for 18 dollars or the thumb drive for just 10 dollars. Again, the phone number is 800-634-9165. You can also write to Somebody Loves You Radio, PO Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California, 91765.

This is a listener-supported ministry, and we're thankful for your partnership in sharing God’s Word. Every tax-deductible gift helps extend the reach of this ministry and makes it possible for more people to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. And we hope you'll join us again next time as our Liberty series continues. We'll look at the eternal significance of every person’s response to Jesus Christ and the salvation He freely offers. Now here’s Raul once again with a closing thought from today’s teaching.

Raul Ries: And he says, “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats.” You see? “Because he does not eat from faith. For whatever is not from faith becomes sin.” Again, individual liberty. I don't want to make anybody stumble. I want to make sure that my liberties don't become stumbling blocks with other people in their lives. I want to make sure because of the law of love, the law of love. I don't stumble anybody. But I'm edifying and also I'm glorifying Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. To please Him and not to please myself in any way. But glory and honor belongs to Him.