The key to understanding this passage, and really the whole book of Romans, is to understand this distinction between the strong and weak. This seems to be the primary purpose for Paul to write the letter. It is the longest of his applications and draws a great deal on the theology he has previously expressed. The theology of chapters 1-11 is centered on God's plan to reunite all of humanity in the people of God. This he did first through the people of Israel and now, through Jesus, he is reuniting all of humanity to himself.
As we saw yesterday the conflict revolved primarily around what to do about the Jewish dietary laws and sabbath laws. Remember, these laws distinguished the Jews from every other people group and would have made it almost impossible to maintain unity in the church if they were strictly adhered to universally.
There are different opinions as to who constitutes the strong and the weak here but the following framework makes the most sense to me and is the most generally agreed upon by scholars today. The weak in faith are those who are still practicing the dietary laws and the sabbath laws. This group most likely consists of mostly Jewish believers in Jesus who are still observing the Torah. They feel some sort of conviction to continue in these practices even though they now follow Jesus.
The strong, on the other hand, do not share this conviction and feel free to eat and drink whatever they want and don't feel obligated to uphold the sabbath laws. Their faith in Jesus is strong enough to have no qualms about foregoing these practices. This group likely consisted mostly of Gentile Christians and possibly some Jewish Christians like Paul. Paul includes himself in this category of the strong in faith as he firmly believed that all food was clean and the sabbath laws no longer applied to the Christian church.
Romans 15:1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Romans 14:14 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.
Romans 14:20b Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.
Even though he gives freedom for different convictions, he still makes it clear which position he thinks is true. It is those who recognize that the food and sabbath laws no longer apply who are in the right. How easy would it have been for him to simply say that the laws no longer apply so everyone should eat whatever they want. That would have certainly been less confusing and easier to follow practically. But since this is not a matter that conflicts with the essentials of the gospel or the ethical imperatives of Christ he calls them to give grace for differing practices.
To understand why Paul adopts the position that he does here we must grasp his theology of salvation. Paul knows that salvation and our right standing before God is only through faith in Jesus:
Romans 3:21–26 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
It is very important to note that even those whose faith was weak were not trusting in these practices for their salvation. If they had been, Paul's rebuke would have been much stronger as it was in the book of Galatians where he forbids them from accepting circumcision because that would indicate they were trusting in the law for their salvation (Gal. 5:1-6). Here it seems that those adhering to the dietary and sabbath laws were only doing so because they thought it helped them better worship the Lord. Paul's response to this is much more nuanced and he tells them to accept one another.
Romans 14:5-6 5 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. 6 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.
Additional Content
Making Sense of Scripture's "Inconsistency" by Tim Keller
Reflection
As we did yesterday, take a few moments to put yourself in the place of Paul's original audience. We don't want to move on from this too fast for a couple of reasons: 1. there isn't really a 1:1 comparison to any of the issues we are dealing with in the church today. 2. if we move on too fast we will miss the weight of what Paul is saying here. Imagine you're a Torah observant Messianic Jew. You're proud of your Jewish heritage and following the Law of Moses makes you feel close to God and forms a community identity with your fellow Jews. Now you've got this guy, a former Pharisee turned Jesus follower btw, telling you that you're faith is weak because you still practice what God told you to do in the OT. You'd probably be a little ticked off by this right? Then imagine you're a Gentile Christian in Rome, after battling with the Jewish Christians for years over this issue, and Paul tells you that your faith is strong because you don't feel the need to follow the laws of the OT. You'd probably want to dunk on everyone who has disagreed with you and rub their face in it a little bit. Both of those responses however are exactly what Paul is going to call them to avoid.