Living by Faith

On the topic of eating meat in markets, Paul said Christians could eat anything with assurance there is nothing unclean in itself--even if the meat was offered to idols.  Yet at the same time, Christians were called to walk in love and be sensitive to what stumbled or offended others.  He concluded believers were blessed not to condemn themselves when their conscience was clear, and those who doubted it was upright to eat meat offered to idols sinned when they ate it:  "...for whatever is not from faith is sin." (Romans 14:23)

The point Paul mades is excellent and relevant for Christians today, for there can be many things we do (or choose not to do!) for reasons other than faith in God.  We can be influenced by who is watching us or who is around us, by our desire to control the image we want to present to others, peer pressure, fear of offending people, wanting to avoid looking foolish, to keep from losing face or to seek to earn favour.  We might be motivated to do a good thing so we will be honoured rather than being motivated by faith in Jesus shown through obedience so He will be praised.

Paul described two people doing the same thing and eating the same meat, yet one of them righteously exercised liberty by faith while the other was in sin because he violated his own conscience by eating what thought could defile him.  I was reminded recently of how different people approached the COVID vaccine which became an almost unprecedented hotbutton topic.  There were people who received the vaccine because they were afraid to be seriously ill, and others avoided the vaccine because they feared potentially deadly side effects.  From a biblical perspective, based on their conscience one person could refuse the vaccine while resting by faith in God, and another could submit to the vaccine protocol by faith in God as well.  In the excercise of liberty, two people making opposite choices could remain united in their fear of God.

These examples demonstrate how faith in God--not fear of death or fear of man--ought to guide our steps in following Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.  At times we can be so focused on what is external and what can be seen by people (or judging others by what we see), we neglect to consider God examines the motivations of our hearts.  Why we do what we do can be as important as what we do--or refuse to do.  It is God's word that says, "Whatever is not from faith in sin."  As children of God, we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus and we ought to live by faith in Christ as well.  Faith in God, the truth of His promises and His will revealed in His word will embolden us to seek Him in prayer and obey Him.  If we are in doubt and wavering about if something is sinful, we ought to view it is sinful for us until God convinces us otherwise.