As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to
quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything,
while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who
eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains
pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who
are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before
his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for
the Lord is able to make him stand.
One person esteems one day as better than another, while another
esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his
own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the
Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives
thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the
Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and
none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord,
and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or
whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and
lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the
living.
Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you
despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment
seat of God; for it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.”
So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but
rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the
way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that
nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who
thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat,
you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy
the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good
be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of
eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the
Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and
approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for
mutual upbuilding.
Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything
is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble
by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do
anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you
have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no
reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But
whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is
not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
