Romans 14:15-20

I mentioned earlier that sometimes sin is not all that simple and it is not a matter of "breaking a regulation, breaking a law."

So in an actual practical experience, it is possible for us to turn something God intended for our good into something that is evil. It would be very nice to easily categorize every thought or act, but sin is not always a matter of legalities.

It is interesting that the two words used in the New Testament that are mostly translated into the word "sin" have little or nothing to do with legality. They are hamartia and paraptoma, and they simply mean, to miss the mark (hamartia), and to go aside (paraptoma).

This is a subject that may seem strange to us because we cannot relate to its importance at the time these things were written. But eating meat offered to an idol was a major concern of the church then. It was big enough to be included in the decision of the Jerusalem Council there in Acts 15 and two times it occupies a fairly large portion of Paul's teaching. The smaller of the two here in Romans 14 and the other occupies the teaching that appears in I Corinthians 8—13.

Basically what Paul is saying is that if one uses his liberty to do something lawful and in the process offends his brother, it is not love, and if it is not love, it is sin because one is guilty of missing the mark or going aside.

So Paul's instruction is clear: It is our Christian duty to think of everything, not only as it affects ourselves but also how it affects other as well. He is not saying we are to allow our conduct to be dictated by others, but there are matters that are neutral or indifferent—things that are neither good or bad in themselves—and it is Paul's conviction that we have no right to give offense in such matters by doing them ourselves or trying to persuade our brother to do them. He is saying that our responsibility to our brother takes priority.