QT 21 Nov 11, Weak faith is associated with observance of OT laws

Rom 14:1-4 (NIV) Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2 One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

NOTE: Paul talks about accepting the person whose faith is weak and to not pass judgment in disputable manners.  Then he gives an example of a person whose faith is weak and an area to not pass judgment: a Christian vegetarian. There is a command going back to Adam which forbids the eating of animals.  In Paul's example, the weak-faith person believes he is under this law, and the strong-faith person believes you can eat anything.  But even if we know that we can eat anything, because Jesus declared all food clean, and because we are not under the law, we should not use that knowledge to hurt people who think differently. The worst thing to do would be to judge the believer for his conscience.  God will judge believers in disputable matters, but it won't be based on rules or laws, but rather on the person's conscience.  Every believer is the Lord's servant and in issues of conscience, they stand before God and not other believers.  The exception would be areas of clear disobedience to a command in the new testament, such as in the area of sexual immorality, theft, gossip, lying, etc. In these cases, we are to judge other believers and we are to confront sin.