Romans 14:17 & 23 –
<17>For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
<23>But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.
This chapter turns the Law up on its head, especially when addressing the food laws. One of the problems with the Jewish faith at this time is it became very legalistic and people became pious over their adherence to the Law. This chapter is devoted to turning that “feeling” on its head, which is what Jesus seems to do. So my belief over eating and yours may be completely different, and I should not assume my salvation is better because I don’t eat this or that.
I could have gotten all self-righteous about how God’s food laws are actually the best for your body. At the same time I don’t think it’s a requirement for salvation, it’s just a guideline for healthy living. The key to all this is verse 23 and following your own convictions. I think as Christians we tend to stray more by “ignoring” our convictions than “following” them and then claiming this exception. We must really be in tune with the Holy Spirit to dial in our convictions, and that requires prayer, worship, study and discussing it among ourselves.
Now “following your convictions” leads to this dilemma, if someone is psycho and believes murder is ok, and this person is saved, would he be sinning? Some would argue he is not saved then, while if they have mental issues they may be saved. In that instance I would have to side on punishing the person for the act, but not judging his salvation, that is between him and God.
One thing this highlights is the problems between denominations in the church today. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the word “cult” applied to the Catholics, Mormons or the Jehovah Witnesses. This belief can be toxic for a person’s walk with God. After hearing this I talked with people in each “cult” and the underlying belief is Jesus’ story was real and He died for our sins. We must carefully apply this chapter before “judging” any other person’s beliefs. There may be some things that we cannot accept, but as long as the core belief of John 3:16 holds we only will cause conflicts and doubt in the eyes of the unsaved.