NOTES for Rom 14:9-18

Paul draws attention to what can destroy peace within the church community. What should be done if observant Jews, for whom all the religious prescriptions of Judaism matter, and Gentiles, who care nothing about these prescriptions, sit at one table during the meal of the breaking of bread?

May non-kosher food be put on the table simply because questions of kashrut are no longer relevant for Christians? On the one hand, it may be, and the one who refuses kosher food cannot be accused of apostasy. But on the other hand, there are also the relationships among members of the community. Relationships of mutual love. The apostle understands perfectly well that a person clings to religion not from strength but from weakness.

From spiritual weakness, which, by not allowing a person to experience relationship with God and with Christ in all its fullness, forces him to seek support in what has no direct relation either to the Kingdom or to spiritual life.

Religion is crutches. But can one take crutches away from someone who cannot get along without them simply because others, healthy and strong, get along perfectly well without them? Clearly not. And even showing off one's strength and health before those deprived of them is not especially brotherly. Of course, the point is not that the healthy should pretend to be sick or behave like the sick.

But if it has turned out that the road must be shared with those who cannot get along without crutches, it is the healthy who must adjust their pace on the road to the sick, not the other way around. Of course, a person who feels his strength always wants to give it free rein and express himself in all fullness. But then he will have to forget about the weak, about those who cannot keep up with the strong. And together with them he will have to forget about love, without which no strength is worth anything.

Paul draws attention to what can destroy peace within a church community. What should be done if faithful Jews, for whom all the religious prescriptions of Judaism are important, and pagans, who care nothing for those prescriptions, sit at one table during the meal of the breaking of bread?

May non-kosher food be placed on the table simply because questions of kashrut are no longer relevant for Christians? On the one hand, it may, and no accusation of apostasy can be brought against someone who refuses kosher food. But on the other hand, there are also relations between members of the community. Relations of mutual love. The apostle understands perfectly well that a person clings to religion not from strength, but from weakness.

From spiritual weakness, which, not allowing a person to experience relations with God and with Christ in all their fullness, forces him to seek support in what has no direct relation either to the Kingdom or to spiritual life.

Religion is crutches. But can crutches be taken away from one who cannot do without them merely because others, healthy and strong, manage perfectly well without them? Obviously not. And even flaunting one's strength and health before those who lack them is not very brotherly. Of course, this does not mean that the healthy should pretend to be sick or behave as the sick do.

But if it has happened that the road must be shared with those who cannot do without crutches, it is precisely the healthy who must adjust their pace on the road to the sick, not the other way around. Of course, a person who feels his strength always wants to give it free rein and show himself in all his fullness. But then he will have to forget about the weak, about those who cannot keep up with the strong. And together with them he will have to forget about love, without which no strength is worth anything.

In Yahwism, as in Judaism, the concepts of purity and impurity were key in religious life. At first glance it may appear that these are purely ritual restrictions, partly borrowed from the pagan world. But that is not quite so. The concepts of purity and impurity were connected with those ideas about life and the human being that belonged to pre-exilic Yahwism and then became common in Judaism as well. The Bible describes the human being as a twofold unity, a spiritual-natural creature. God 'breathes' into the human being's 'nostrils' - so it says in the Hebrew text - the breath of life that makes him human. And human life itself is a stream that includes both spiritual and natural components. God's breath of life touches nature in the human being, penetrating it and changing its quality. This stream of life is called by the Hebrew word usually translated into Russian as 'soul.'

Naturally, the intensity and quality of this life stream can vary. In the world and in human life there is something that clogs its channel and slows its flow - this is what biblical language calls impurity or defilement. First of all, of course, a person is defiled by the consequences of committed sin. But in pre-Christian times there were also other things in the world that could defile a person and lead to the shallowing and exhaustion of the stream of his life. Everything connected with death, decay, entropy - all such things diminished the measure of a person's fullness of life and lowered its quality. And in such a state, meeting God became problematic for a person, or even impossible: for in order to meet Him and experience the reality of His presence in the place He Himself had chosen, one already had to possess a certain minimum fullness and intensity of one's own existence. In Sheol, in the realm of the dead, God is not praised because His presence does not reveal itself there: the existence led there by the dead is existence at a minimum, when the stream of life has almost completely dried up. Before the coming of Christ, all this had to be taken into account.

But with Christ the Kingdom entered the world with all its fullness of life, previously unseen and unknown. Now everyone who lives this life no longer needs to fear that some processes in the untransformed world will prevent him from living the whole fullness of the life of the Kingdom. Now only his own sin can hinder a person. And, of course, fear of impurity: for fear often creates its own object. Whoever still fears the impurity of the fallen world will certainly encounter its effect upon himself. But the rest, those who have chosen Christ and the Kingdom, need not worry about this: for the breath of the Kingdom is stronger than any destructive forces of this world.

Is invincible the dream in humanity of an ideal society, where everything will be good, just and bounteous. Only for some reason this doesn’t work out. Maybe, the fact is that each of us considers the society of bad, and that only we are good. The Christ, talking about the Kingdom of God, always underlines the spiritual character of this Kingdom, its fulfillment inside man, and not in the "society". And Apostle Paul writes about the same thing here: our affiliation to Christ is not defined by the outside and carnal categories, but by the action of the Holy Spirit in us.

Continuing the discussion of religion in its relation to the Kingdom, Paul proposes criteria that can guide one in matters of religious obligations. First of all, he draws attention to the fact that in the Kingdom there is, in principle, and can be nothing that is sinful or unclean in itself, since sin and uncleanness cannot be part of the Kingdom by definition. The problem arises when someone living in the Kingdom begins to see sin or uncleanness where there is none; in this case, for the person who sees the situation this way, they can become a reality, making life in the Kingdom problematic for him (v. 14). Of course, if the Kingdom were already now revealed to the world in all its fullness, problems of this kind would only be the problems of separate, specific people. But the Kingdom has not yet fully unfolded; it is only conquering the world, and the former order of things, not yet fully transformed, can influence the minds not only of those seeking the Kingdom, but also of those who have already come into contact with it. Not everyone who has gained the Kingdom is yet so rooted in it that everything connected with the former order of things, including religion, has become spiritually indifferent to him, and this has to be taken into account so that someone does not lose the Kingdom simply because those living near him did not consider it necessary to take his weakness into account (vv. 15-16).

The problem of religion here, as we can see, is no longer connected with the spiritual content of religiosity as such, but with its effect on the souls of those seeking the Kingdom and those who have only just gained it (v. 13). But there is also another criterion that allows one to be convinced of one's own sincerity before God. This concerns doubts that can appear quite naturally in someone who does not follow generally accepted religious norms. And here the apostle is quite categorical: if there is even the slightest doubt about one's rightness, then this is precisely a violation of the norm, not the freedom proper to those living in the Kingdom (vv. 21-22).

Indeed, generally accepted norms can simply be violated without regard for them, or one can be above them. But the experience of the Kingdom excludes doubt, and if doubts still appear, then one can say with confidence that what is at issue is precisely a violation of the norm. But since the person living in the Kingdom does not ignore generally accepted religious norms and rules, but simply feels completely free where religion is concerned, it is not difficult for him to follow them for the spiritual benefit of his neighbor. The main task in relations with one's neighbor for those living in the Kingdom is the preservation of that peace and joy without which there is no Kingdom, not the struggle against religiosity as such. That is why it is not difficult for them to follow religious norms and rules if doing so makes life easier for their neighbor (vv. 17-21).

Sometimes upon serious conversations between people, forms an impression that death is the most important event of human life. We begin to value life or maybe even thinking about God only after confronting death or upon reflection of it. It is all the opposite for the Apostle Paul (and generally in Christianity). Foremost God, His everlasting existence, His abundant life. The next according to the implication of facts is our membership in Him. And it is only under this light that we examine the problem of our human life and death. And so, it turns out that my physical death changes nothing in what is more significant: in the existence of God and in my membership in Him, - and thus, it {death} is not so much important in my life, it cannot stop my life. The Christlike victory on death in my own concrete case consists probably of this.

“Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself for what he approves.” To condemn oneself is to fail to carry out what we undertake before God. Not to condemn ourselves in our choice means not looking back or indulging in fantasies, not wondering, “What would have happened if...?” It is the habit of walking directly before God in the secret of the heart. It is the ability to live patiently and not envy those who live differently. Sometimes we look at people who do not keep the fast and think that their lives are easier, more cheerful, and simpler. We retreat from our choice of Christ. Through doubt and fantasy, we let deceit and distrust of God into our lives.