Romans 14

1 Now accept one who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions.

2 One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.

3 Don’t let him who eats despise him who doesn’t eat. Don’t let him who doesn’t eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him.

4 Who are you who judge another’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him stand.

5 One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind.

6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. He who doesn’t eat, to the Lord he doesn’t eat, and gives God thanks.

7 For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself.

8 For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

9 For to this end Christ died, rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

11 For it is written, “‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘to me every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess to God.’”

12 So then each one of us will give account of himself to God.

13 Therefore let’s not judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block in his brother’s way, or an occasion for falling.

14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean of itself; except that to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

15 Yet if because of food your brother is grieved, you walk no longer in love. Don’t destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.

16 Then don’t let your good be slandered,

17 for God’s Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

18 For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.

19 So then, let’s follow after things which make for peace, and things by which we may build one another up.

20 Don’t overthrow God’s work for food’s sake. All things indeed are clean, however it is evil for that man who creates a stumbling block by eating.

21 It is good to not eat meat, drink wine, nor do anything by which your brother stumbles, is offended, or is made weak.

22 Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who doesn’t judge himself in that which he approves.

23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because it isn’t of faith; and whatever is not of faith is sin.

24 Now to him who is able to establish you according to my Good News and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret through long ages,

25 but now is revealed, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known for obedience of faith to all the nations;

26 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.

Around Romans 14

Book context

RomansEditorial draft

Paul writes to believers “in Rome” (1:1, 1:7), a church he had often planned to visit but had not yet reached (1:13), as he prepares to go to Jerusalem to serve the saints (15:25). The letter presents the Good News as “the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek” (1:16 to 17), then turns to how believers live in response to God’s mercy (12:1). Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897) outlines it as an introduction (1:1 to 15), the gospel of righteousness by faith (1:16 to 11:36), practical instruction (12:1 to 15:13) and a conclusion with many personal greetings (15:14 to the end). Easton places it in Corinth in AD 58; Phoebe, commended in 16:1, may have carried it.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · common interpretation · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

Romans 14 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

Two kinds of believers sit at the same table, and they do not agree. One has faith to eat anything. The other eats only vegetables. One counts a certain day as special. Another counts every day alike. Paul does not tell the churches to argue it out. He tells them to accept one another. “Let each man be fully assured in his own mind.”

He asks them to stop despising and judging. Each answers to the Lord, and “none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself.” Christ is Lord of the dead and the living.

Then he turns to those who are free. Do not make a brother stumble over food. “God’s Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Pursue what builds up. A closing prayer of praise for the gospel is printed at the end of the chapter here, though ancient copies place it in different spots.

Background

Paul writes to a church where Jewish and Gentile believers sat side by side, and questions about food and special days likely mattered a great deal to them. He sides with neither group by name, though he describes one as weak in faith and one as strong. The pastoral point is that what is truly disputed is not a matter of salvation. Churches across history have used this chapter to ask which questions are essential and which are not, and have often disagreed on where the line falls. See Romans 15 and 1 Corinthians 8.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 16 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes