For God Has Welcomed Him

“Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.” -Romans 14:3

Paul now lays out an example of the potential kinds of conflict between believers in matters of personal persuasion regarding dietary laws (14:5). One party has a weak conscience regarding the consumption of meat (the one who abstains) and the party has a strong conscience regarding the same (the one who eats). One note of interest is that Paul ceases to refer to the the two conflicting parties as the weak (14:1) and the strong (15:1) in this verse and refers to them only as “the one who eats” and “the one who abstains.” Perhaps it is because the point has been established in the greater context and to highlight it here again would distract from the more important point. 

On the one hand, he commands the one who eats to not despise (ἐξουθενείτω,) the one who abstains. The Greek word, ἐξουθενείτω (exoutheneo), translated despise means “to show by one’s attitude or manner of treatment that an entity has no merit or worth,” to “disdain” the other.((William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 352.))

And on the other hand, he command the one who abstains “to not pass judgment” on the one who eats. The Greek word κρινέτω (krineto) translated as “pass judgment,” means pass an unfavorable judgment upon, criticize, find fault with, condemn. ((William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 567.))

The implications of these commands are also remarkable. The temptation of the one who eats (the one with strong faith) is to demerit or look down on the one who abstains, to have disdain for him or her because of their standards of prohibition. The temptation for the one who abstains is to be judgmental of the one who eats for what the abstainer believes is a licentious behavior (eating meat) on the part of the eater. In both cases, it is pride that creates the breach in fellowship.

The reason for both parties to avoid falling into their respective traps is because God has welcomed both—the immature and the mature believer on the same equal ground—the foot of the cross. If God has welcomed the other despite his differing personal persuasions, it is not for us to judge the same on what we perceive to be the strength of his faith. It is for us to welcome all who are of the faith—weak or strong—for all are deserving of the same condemnation and yet are all redeemed by the same Savior, Jesus Christ.