Prairie View Christian Church Norway, Iowa Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom pvccia

1. Prairie View Christian ChurchNorway, IowaPastor-Teacher Bill Wenstromwww.pvccia.org

2. Wednesday March 24, 2010Romans: Romans 14:13a- Paul Exhorts The Weak And The Strong To Unite With Him In Continuing To Make It A Habit Of Never Condemning One AnotherLesson # 477

3. Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 14:13.

4. This evening we will begin a study of Romans 14:13 by noting Paul exhorting both the weak and the strong in Rome to unite with him in continuing to make it a habit of never condemning each other with regards to non-essentials.

5. Tomorrow, we will note Paul instructing the strong that they must determine to never put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a weak believer so as to cause the weak believer to sin against his conscience by not living according to his convictions.

6. Romans 14:13, “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this -- not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way.”

7. Romans 14:13 is an inference from Paul’s teaching contained in Romans 14:12, which teaches that each and every church age believer without exception will have to give an account of himself to the Son of God at the Bema Seat.

8. “Let us judge” is the first person plural present active subjunctive form of the verb krino (κρίνω) (kree-no), which appears twice in Romans 14:13 but with different meanings.

9. The first time that the word appears it retains the meaning that it had in verses 3, 4 and 10, namely, “to condemn as guilty” but the second time it means “to decide,” or “determine.”

10. In verses 3, 4 and 10, it is used always of the weak believers not condemning the strong believers for their convictions in not observing the Sabbath or the dietary restrictions in the Law.

11. However, the first time that it appears in verse 13 it is used of both the strong and the weak.

12. This is clearly indicated by the fact that Paul’s exhortation to unite with him in never condemning one another is an inference from his teaching in Romans 14:12, which emphasizes that both the weak and the strong will have to give an account to the Lord at the Bema Seat.

13. Therefore, the first time that the verb krino appears in Romans 14:13 it means “to condemn as guilty and liable to punishment from God” and is used with both the weak and the strong as its subject and object.

14. The verb’s meaning is negated by the adverb meketi (μηκέτι) (me-ket-ee), which does not imply stopping an act already in progress since Paul includes himself in this exhortation and his statements in Romans 1:8 and 15:14-15 clearly indicate that the Roman believers were not condemning one another!

15. Paul obviously was not condemning his fellow believers.

16. Also, he wrote in Romans 1:8 that he gave thanks to the Father for them because their faith was being proclaimed everywhere throughout the Roman Empire, which would further indicate that they were obeying this exhortation to never condemn one another.

17. In Romans 15:14-15, Paul writes to the believers in Rome that he was convinced that they were full of goodness and filled with knowledge and able to admonish each other.

18. Therefore, the fact that Paul includes himself in the exhortation to never condemn one another and his statements in Romans 1:8 and 15:14-15 make clear that the Roman believers were actually practicing everything Paul had prescribed in the epistle including the exhortation here in Romans 14:13.

19. Thus, this exhortation in Romans 14:13 to not condemn one another is designed to reinforce and protect their fellowship with God and each other and their testimony before the unsaved.

20. The adverb meketi is a reference to the future for Paul and his readers that corresponds to the sense of the hortatory subjunctive mood of krino, which is used to grammaticalize potentiality indicating this action of not condemning one another is only a potential and not yet a reality for Paul and his readers.

21. Therefore, in Romans 14:13, the adverb meketi is emphasizing the negation of an action in the future and means “never, not ever, at no time.”

22. It indicates that Paul is exhorting both the weak and the strong to unite with him “never” condemning each other for their convictions.

23. The adverb meketi is in the emphatic position in this inferential statement emphasizing with Paul’s readers the need for them to unite with him in continuing to make it a habit of never condemning one another for their convictions with regards to non-essentials.

24. The reasons why both the weak and the strong are not to condemn each other as guilty before God and liable for punishment are listed in the first paragraph:

25. (1) Both the weak and the strong are welcomed into fellowship with God (verses 1-3).

26. (2) Both the weak and the strong live for the Lord and are under His authority and accountable to Him and Him alone (verses 4-9).

27. (3) Both the weak and the strong will have to give an account to the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat to determine if their service and stewardship merit reward or not (verses 10-12).

28. The first person plural form of the verb krino refers to Paul and his readers emphasizes that not condemning one’s fellow Christian for their convictions as related to non-essentials is to be a distinguishing mark of a Christian or should characterize every Christian.

29. The present tense of the verb krino is a “customary” present used to signal an ongoing state or specifically the continuation of an ongoing state indicating that Paul is exhorting both his weak and strong readers in Rome “to continue making it a habit of” never condemning one another for each other’s convictions.

30. The customary present and Paul’s statements in Romans 1:8 and 15:14-15 indicate that Paul’s readers in Rome were already obeying this exhortation, thus he is simply reminding them here to continue doing so.

31. Romans 14:13, “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this -- not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way.”

32. “One another” is the accusative masculine plural form of the reciprocal pronoun allelon (ἀλλήλων) (ah-lee-loan), which is used with reference to the relationship between Paul and the Roman believers’ relationship with each other.

33. It denotes that there is to be a mutual exchange between the Roman believers in that they are to never condemn one another with regards to non-essentials.

34. This exchange between the Roman believers with each other is the proper, appropriate and obligatory response by them to each other since all of them were created by God, according to His image, redeemed at the Cross, justified through faith alone and Christ alone and fellow members of the body of Christ.

35. This mutual exchange denotes experiencing the horizontal aspect of fellowship with other believers.

36. However, this is the direct result of the Roman believers experiencing the vertical aspect of fellowship, namely, with God.

37. This is accomplished by operating in God’s love towards one another and is an expression of that love.