One to One

Romans 14:13-18, Matthew 15:11; Matthew 7:1-2

No longer Judge one another

CIT: Love in Action

CIS: How to Walk in Love

SO: The hearer will love one another

Follow along at d1.church/notes.

Intro: One to One. There are 59 statements in the New Testament that have the words “one another” in them. Jesus starts us with the New Commandment to “love one another.” This is easier said than done. The Leaders who wrote letters to the churches spent time re-affirming this concept in all their writings. Over the next few weeks, we will look deeper into these “one another” statements to see how we can show Christianity as intended. 

Let’s get into the word….

1. No Longer Judge (Romans 14:13-17)

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. I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person, it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. Therefore, do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 

EXP: We spent some more time this week in Romans. Paul is still writing to the early church in Rome. He adds a big “one another” statement. “Stop Judgment on one another.” He tells us what to do instead. Ensure you do not put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of any brother or sister. Paul states that nothing is unclean in the Lord by itself. They are just things. But if any person thinks something is unclean, it is for them. However, others will not have parameters for what they eat or drink. You should consider others as far as your limiting actions are concerned. We should not judge others based on our criteria. 

ILL:  Multicultural communities are fun. We have already determined what is good and evil based on where we grew up or how we grew up. God gave us a brain; we have learned much by observing others and trial and error. When we leave our culture, we may see things that we would not enjoy or find shocking. 

Once, a church took a large group on a mission trip to Thailand. On that trip, they had a free day. This is typically a day to experience the culture and diversity of the country you visit and serve. The free day was planned, and the schedule was given out to the group. One of the activities was an elephant ride to a destination. After the scheduled presentation, some college girls sat together and cried. The leader approached them, and they were so upset that elephants were being mistreated in this way. They were brokenhearted and wanted the free day to change. You see, the girls were using their understanding of abused elephants or harmed elephants they had heard about in circuses or America monetized for humans. They missed the rich culture of life between Indians and elephants, which has existed for centuries in Thailand. These animals were not mistreated; they were cared for and given a purpose that they loved. It is easy to apply our life circumstances to others and judge. 

ILL: This week, our homeschool group was able to go on a tour of a pecan orchard. We were introduced to the workers on that orchard, many from South Africa. They were encouraged to ask them questions about life in South Africa. We learned that while we have troublesome squirrels, they have times when you come home to find baboons eating all of your food. Driving there is so chaotic that even the locals are scared of driving. The food they eat can be significantly different from ours. They mentioned eating all kinds of animals we would not even consider here. 

APP:  As we add people to Christ from all different walks of life and backgrounds, Paul tells us to stop judging them for how they dress, what they eat, how they worship, or how they talk for sure. 

T.S.: He says that when you begin to tell others what they are doing is wrong, you are not acting Christ-like.

2. Pleasing (Romans 14:17-18)

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

EXP: Paul highlights food because it was a significant issue of the day. The biggest visual difference between Jews and Gentiles was what was allowed to be eaten. The Hebrew law dictated some clean and nonclean animals. Clean animals were acceptable to eat and sacrifice, and unclean were those that the law deemed so. At this time, people ate both kinds of food. 

ILL: There is a book in our bible called Leviticus. This means “pertaining to the Levites.” The Levites were one of the twelve tribes of Israel that God set apart for his service. They would serve as priests and often settle disputes between many. God gave them a rule book to help determine the right decisions for the people to make a great nation. This is the book where we learn specifically what is Clean and unclean. However, they were spoken about as far back as Genesis for Noah’s Ark, so clean and unclean were known worldwide. 

I used to teach Food Safety classes for the companies I worked for. There is a manual that all food establishments have to follow in the form of food safety codes. Because of this, we have procedures to cook food that potentially contains bacteria that can harm humans. This is what the food codes were in Leviticus, and many of the living codes were designed to keep illness and death out of the camp. In short, God gave them a health code that allowed them to live and outlive their other nations. This is how you take one man and make nations from him. Specifically, the reason they could not eat pork was not because pork meat is bad but because swine lives in filth and has its own feces. Now, we can clean, sanitize, and immediately process the animal. Pork also has to be cooked to a higher temperature and has a greater rate of bacteria growth at room temperature, so now when we process pork, it is from alive to flash freezer in minutes. Even in Paul’s time, they better understood how to clean and process foods, which was much safer than Noah’s and Moses’ days. So, food was not life or death but rather a choice process. Jesus allowed them to eat differently. 

What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” Matthew 15:11

In Acts, they rule as an apostolic counsel that food is no longer a deciding factor for faith in Jesus. They leave us with not eating 1. Anything sacrificed to idols, 2. Strangled animals, 3. No drinking or eating blood. Nothing else is excluded for the believer. 

ILL: When people make rules such as how you should dress or what you should eat, this is called Legalism. This entire passage in Romans is centered around not falling into legalism. You cannot judge others and Love others. 

APP: Paul reiterates Jesus’ words from the sermon on the mount. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. Or, in the same way, you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:1,2

T. S.: I don’t know about you, but it is easier to judge than to have someone stand in judgment of me. 

I’ll wrap up with my favorite Jesus parable that reminds me of what I should never judge.

3. Evil (Romans 12:17-21)

 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed.“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

EXP: This parable Jesus gives in response to Peter’s question of how many times he should forgive a person. 

ILL: For me, I was the one who owed God a lot. You see, I grew up knowing he existed. I received many blessings in my life from him and his people. Then, in my identity struggle, I rejected all of his words while believing that he was still God; I said I want no more of your ways. I tried everything, but he kept sending people to redeem me, and I still said no. I kept rejecting his offer to pay for my sins and redeem my life. Then, one day, I found myself on an altar begging him to forgive me. And he did. If I get up from that altar and tell others they have to do more than I did, I will be like this man. I would be in the endangering of God’s judgment. God said in this parable, “This is what the kingdom of heaven is like.” He is not just talking about people’s judgment; he is saying you will get the measure you give. 

APP: Paul tells us in the first scripture that when we put criteria on others, even if it is good, if it becomes a stumbling block or obstacle, or it begins to damage the name of Christ, we are wrong.

TS: Look at your neighbor and tell them, “I am not your judge.”                                                                                                                                                                  

I want to pray for three groups today:

1. There are some who are wondering why others can do things you cannot in your walk. 
2. I want to pray that God will help you leave it alone. That you will spend time on yourself and your walk.
3. There are some who have faced legalism in their life and maybe have gone to the other extreme. Sin abound. 
4. I pray that you will begin to make the changes God is calling you to make.
5. There are those who have heard today for the first time that it is not about clean and unclean but about the grace of God.
6. I pray today for salvation.