Members of the church in Rome were united in their faith in Jesus Christ, but the apostle Paul recognized a division between the Jewish and Gentile believers among them. The two groups of Christians were arguing and passing judgment on one another, and Paul told them to stop “quarreling over disputable matters” (Romans 14:1).
The entire chapter of Romans 14 deals with the question of disputable matters. Disputable matters can be summed up as non-essential issues in the Christian life, or “gray areas” in which the Bible does not spell out clear guidelines.
While many things in the Christian life are essential, some are not. The two specific disputable matters that Paul addressed in Romans 14 were chiefly regarding which foods were acceptable to eat (verses 2–3) and the observance of certain holy days (verses 5–6). He also touched on drinking wine in verse 21.
The Roman Christians had become partisan. Love and unity were being forgotten amid their disputes. Some of the believers in the church felt freedom in Christ to eat all kinds of foods without restriction. It is unclear whether these restrictions dealt only with kosher regulations as spelled out in the Jewish law, or also included eating meat that had been offered to pagan idols. Those who were weak in faith may have felt too much temptation when eating meat and thus gave up anything that reminded them of their pre-Christian life. Likewise, some Christians who had always worshiped God on the required Jewish holy days may have felt hollow and faithless if they didn’t continue to dedicate those days to God.
The problem was that the “strong” Christians were looking down on the weaker ones, and the “weak” believers were condemning or judging the strong. The church was caught up in the sins of pride, legalism, and judgmentalism. Paul reminded them that, as servants of God, they were accountable to God alone: “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Romans 14:4, ESV). God is our Master, and it’s up to Him to judge us. If we are busy serving our Master, we won’t be concerned with trivial matters like investigating the eating habits of our brothers and sisters.
The overarching lesson of the chapter is that harmonious relationships in the body of Christ are critical to God. Unity in the church is more important than agreement on debatable, less significant matters in the Christian life. Disputable matters should not disrupt Christian oneness.
God calls Christians to live without judging each other and without causing others to violate their consciences: “Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister” (Romans 14:13). Mature Christians who have freedom in Christ in a certain area should be careful not to influence weaker brothers and sisters to stumble and violate their conscience. Even if we believe we are right, if our actions will cause another believer to falter spiritually, we are to stop what we are doing. And weak or less mature believers who have strong convictions in an area must avoid restricting or judging those who have discovered Christian freedom.
Mutual respect and love are the marks of true Christian disciples (John 13:34–35). Paul said, “Accept the one whose faith is weak” (Romans 14:1). He meant that the strong should consider the weak as fellow believers and equals in the body of Christ. The lesson of Romans 14 still speaks forcefully today. If Christians disagree on non-essential, disputable matters, neither side should condemn or judge the other, but both should be allowed to worship God as they are “fully convinced in their own mind” (verse 5).
Paul stressed a critical concern in God’s kingdom—that brothers and sisters act in love (Romans 14:15). Christians won’t be known for what they eat or drink, but for their love, righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (verse 17). Paul longed to see the believers in Rome living sacrificially and agreeing to disagree despite their differences. In this way, the church could turn its focus away from insignificant matters onto the great commission of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.
Like for example in the music department. The old hymns, contemporary praise choruses and the modern christian genres are equally valid if the songs are according to scripture. This requires discernment as mentioned in 1 John 4:1-6. Psalm 150 is a great psalm for this also.
On one hand, there is no difference between faith and belief. The two terms are often used interchangeably. The Gospel of John was written so that “you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). The Gospel of John does not even use the word faith, although the concept of faith is thoroughly woven into John. Throughout Scripture, there is no distinction between faith and belief.
On the other hand, in popular English usage, the word faith often has a deeper meaning. Belief often refers to an intellectual acceptance of facts. If you ask the average person on the street if he believes in Alexander the Great or Abraham Lincoln, he would probably interpret the question to mean, “Do you believe that such a person existed?” Most, no doubt, would answer in the affirmative. However, faith, in modern usage, has the added idea of trust and commitment.
Many people believe that Alexander the Great existed. When he was alive, many had faith in him as well, trusting him to protect them, lead them into battle, and expand the Greek Empire. However, it would be safe to assume that no one alive today is trusting him to do anything for them. They believe in his existence, but they do not have faith in him.
Most people believe it is important to eat healthy foods and exercise regularly; however, most people do not personally eat healthy food and exercise regularly. They believe that a certain set of facts is true, but they have not committed themselves to the implications of the facts. They have belief but not faith, in the modern sense.
Likewise, many people today believe a certain set of facts about God, and in some cases their facts may be completely orthodox. However, if they have never committed themselves to God, if they have not trusted Him, then they do not have faith or biblical belief in Him. Biblical faith (biblical belief) is never simply giving assent to a certain set of facts. Biblical faith is trust and commitment that result in a change of behavior. James 2:19 puts it this way: “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” The demons believe that God exists, and they may even know more about God than people do, but they do not have faith in Him. Unfortunately, many people have the same kind of belief that the demons have, but that it is not sufficient for their salvation.
This concept can be illustrated another way: three people board a commercial airliner to travel to a distant city. The first is an engineer who designs and builds airplanes. He is also a pilot. He knows how everything works. Furthermore, he is a personal friend of the pilot who will be flying that afternoon, and he knows him to be very competent. He boards the plane with full confidence. The second person is just the average business traveler. He knows a little bit about airplanes but just doesn’t think about it too much. He takes his seat and starts reading a magazine. The third is deathly afraid of flying. He breaks out in a cold sweat. It takes all he can do not to turn and flee down the gangway. With much fear and trembling, he gets on the plane, sits down, and hopes he can fall asleep and not wake up until they land. So the question is, “who has more faith in the plane?” The answer is that they all have the same amount of faith. All of them have boarded the plane and committed their safety to the plane and the crew. They will only arrive at their destination if the plane arrives. If the plane goes down, they will go down, too. All the people who got on the plane were committing themselves to the plane—they believed (or had faith) in the plane. Those who stayed at the airport, even if they had complete confidence that the plane would arrive as scheduled, did not exercise faith in the plane. They did not commit themselves to it.
In summary, faith and belief are used interchangeably. However, the New Testament does recognize that people can have false faith or incomplete belief, which is inadequate. The difference is not between the two words but between the concepts of mental agreement and wholehearted commitment. In modern usage, belief often refers to mental agreement, and faith refers to wholehearted commitment. As long as that distinction is maintained, it doesn’t matter which words are used. However, we need to be careful not to import the modern usage back into specific New Testament passages.
