Verse By Verse Through Romans

Chapter Fourteen

Romans 14:1 “Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.”

• The one weak in the faith stands in contrast to someone such as Abraham, who was not weak in the faith (Romans 4:13-22).
• The specific is defined in the next verse (Romans 14:2).
• There are two things revealed later in the context that we have to understand. First, it is the strong receiving the weak. Secondly, the “weak” one has “infirmities” also meaning “scruple of conscience” [ἀσθένημα; Strong’s # 771] (Romans 15:1).
• The issue is not the strength of the person's trust in God, but weakness in understanding the liberty granted by the faith (Romans 14:2; 14:14; 14:20). We live under the perfect law of liberty (James 1:25 and James 2:12). The Law of Christ (cf. Galatians 6:2) is not burdensome (I John 5:1-3). The overscrupulous conscience can cause one to place burdens upon himself and others that the Law of Christ does not impose. This can easily become sinful as one goes from overly conscientious to a law maker. There is only one law maker (Isaiah 33:22 and James 4:12). We cannot redefine good or evil (Isaiah 5:20). At the same time, Romans 14 does not say every weak brother becomes a lawmaker. The sinful step occurs when the weak brother judges others or binds his scruples upon them, as the context will bear out.
• Note a contextual qualifier to receiving (Romans 15:7).
• This does not mean that we are to receive people erring in the faith (Romans 16:17-18, I Corinthians 5:1-13, Ephesians 5:6-11, II Thessalonians 3:6, II Thessalonians 3:14-15, II John 1:9-11, and Jude 1:3-4).
• Even if a person is a babe in Christ, sin cannot be ignored (Acts 8:12-24).
• The weak in faith can be received provided the matter does not involve doubtful disputations (I Corinthians 14:33, I Timothy 1:3-7, I Timothy 6:3-5, II Timothy 2:14, II Timothy 2:23, and Titus 3:9-11).