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ROMANS 14 : 23

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International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Jul 15, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 27.

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ROMANS 14 : 23.

By Dr. Albert Barnes

“He that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith; for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
He that doubteth. He that is not fully satisfied in his mind; who does not do it with a clear conscience. The margin has it rendered correctly, “discerneth and putteth a difference between meats.” He that conscientiously believes, as the Jew did, that the Levitical law respecting the difference between meats is binding on Christians.
Is damned. We apply this word almost exclusively to the future punishment of the wicked in hell. But it is of importance to remember, in reading the Bible, that this is not of necessity its meaning. It means properly to condemn; and here it means only that the person who should thus violate the dictates of his conscience would incur guilt, or would be blame-worthy in doing it. But it does not affirm that he would inevitably sink to hell. The same construction is to be put on the expression in 1 Cor. 11 : 29, “He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself.”
For whatsoever, etc. Whatsoever is not done with a full conviction that it is right, is sinful; whatever is done when a man doubts whether it is right, is sin. This is evidently the fair interpretation of this place. Such the connection requires. It does not affirm that all or any of the actions of impenitent and unbelieving men are sinful, which is true, but not the truth taught here; nor does it affirm that all acts which are not performed by those who have faith in the Lord Jesus, are sinful. The discussion pertains to Christians, and the whole scope of the passage requires us to understand the apostle as simply saying that a man should not do a thing doubting its correctness; that he should have a strong conviction that what he does is right; that if he has not this conviction, it is sinful. The rule is of universal application. In all cases, if a man does a thing which he does not believe to be right, it is a sin, and his conscience will condemn him for it. It may be proper, however, to observe that the converse of this is not always true—that if a man believes a thing to be right, therefore it is not sin. For many of the persecutors were conscientious (John 16: 2; Acts 26: 9); they who murdered the Son of God did it ignorantly (Acts 3: 17; 1 Cor. 2: 8), and yet were adjudged as guilty of enormous crimes. Compare Luke 11: 50, 51, and Acts 2: 23, 37.—Dr. Albert Barnes, in loco.