“One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.” -Romans 14:2
As Paul exhorts the body of Christ to unity, he highlights one of the areas most prone to cause division among believers, laws concerning eating and drinking. In his letter to the Colossian Christians, Paul encouraged them not to submit to “judgment…in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath,” as these were merely “a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Colossians 2:16–23).
But here Paul is encouraging believers to be loving and patient with one another as they work through the changes that are taking place during this time of transition.((from the time of Christ’s crucifixion to the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. was a time of transition from the old epoch to the new.)) He is acknowledging that the “strong” or mature believers are settled in the knowledge that it is now lawful to eat all things, freely. But the “weak” or immature believer should not be compelled to walk by the same rule.
As long as the weak believer is not depending on his adherence to dietary laws for his salvation, he is equally free to eat—or not eat in this case—what he pleases.
As was previously mentioned, there will always be gradations of maturity that exist in the church that is continually receiving new believers and helping them grow up in the Lord. And as will be clearly established later in Paul’s letter, it is the responsibility of the strong—by virtue of their strength—to bear with the infirmities of the weak.
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