Romans 14:13-23
By leading us into liberty from the Law, Jesus has empowered us to lay down every freedom for the sake of others’ faith.
Paul continues his conversation about the practical ways the gospel helps us see ourselves, one another, and our common (or uncommon!) convictions and consciences under Christ. Not only are we called to welcome and refrain from judging one another; this week, he pushes us to consider how we can both protect and build one another’s faith by choosing other-love over self-liberty.
Questions
Consider how your own conscience and convictions have been shaped by your faith. How has your comfort with an aspect of culture, personal practice, habits, environments, etc. changed - either loosening or tightening - during your walk with Jesus?
What specifically led to those changes? What’s that been like?
Specifically, as it relates to the church, do you know people who have a different conviction than your own? How do you feel about that? What’s that like?
Paul makes a pretty broad declaration: he’s persuaded by Jesus that nothing (apart from sin, obviously!) is unclean. In debates about food laws, sabbaths, and the like within the early Roman church, what impact could that declaration have had by itself on the Romans he was writing to?
What are modern-day examples of these sorts of debates - not biblically prescribed matters of right-and-wrong, but various matters of conscience and conviction? In your opinion, what impact has that liberty had on the church today?
Very quickly, however, Paul clarifies what this freedom means within the church. What are some of his guidelines for using godly liberty?
What’s the point of having all this freedom in Jesus if we’re simply called to lay it down again?
What are the stakes at play in the way we use (or misuse!) our Christian liberty? What effects can they have on our brothers and sisters - for the better or the worse?
The dimensions of Christian liberty are both personal and communal.
Personally, what does he call each of us to in our own personal relationship with the Lord? What role do faith, doubt, and Jesus himself play in our standing before God with a clean conscience?
Communally, what reminder does he give about the nature and purpose of his kingdom? Why should we want to let the consciences and convictions of others shape the way we publicly practice our faith?
How did Jesus himself embody both of these things perfectly for your sake? What accommodations did he need to make for you? What holiness did he walk before the Lord in? What freedom did he have, and what freedom did he lay down?