We then who are
strong are to bear
with the infirmities
of the weak,
and not to please
ourselves.
Let everyone of us
please his neighbor
for his good to
edification.
Romans 15: 1 -- 2
(Stephens, 1550, the
Greek text)
The new
King James version that interprets the Greek word "άσθενήατα" as
scruples needs to be considered at this point so we fully understand what the
writer Paul was given to us so that we can follow guards will. Stephens in his 1550 translation uses the
word infirmities therefore we must understand this word as scruples port is
used often in our conversations and I'm not sure that we fully understand the
meaning of the word. According to the
dictionary when we speak of scruples we are speaking of a moral or ethical
consideration that restrains one's behavior and inhibits certain actions. If a person is weak in their scruples, then
they have an infirmity and also more than just physical weakness is a weakness
in moral character and this also is according to Webster's dictionary. Paul is instructing us who are strong in the
face to consider those who are weak in their scruples or their ability to carry
out morality. Those who are strong in
faith need to bear with those who are weak and at times, this will cause us to
have to do more than we may really want to do.
Paul gives us this instruction; we are not to please ourselves. We must bear the infirmities of the week for
this is our responsibility as Christians who were strong in the faith. Did not Jesus Christ do that with his
disciples who were also weak? We must
bear one another's burdens. This then
means that we must have fellowship with one another coming to know each of
their and be willing to speak to each other about our terrors or woes and even
those great things that God has done for us.
How often is it that people come to church, dressed as though they're
going to the beach or to some other event that allows them to dress like
they're on a beach in Hawaii. Dressed
in sandals and in shorts, and T-shirts, more like you would see on a
vacation. They come and they go as
though they had their church ticket punched and now they are all right with
God. There are times when that type of
grass would be appropriate, but in a public setting, a particular special time of
worship for God and we comes though we are wrong when we are actually acting as
though we are weak in faith, we have no concern for others to show them
respect? It has been said that we must
not press to appropriately we must look more like those who can't afford
certain things and therefore we do well where the standards rather than to help
others to raise their standards. I
personally know for a fact because I have three beautiful name brand suits and
my total cost including the ties is $45.
Paul then goes on to say to us that we are not to just be pleasing our
neighbors for he is good, a good bet is more like the secular world going to
some concert of the hippie type rather we are to be aiding our neighbor for he
is good that leads to edification. How
can we lead a person to edification if we are not showing the edification and
respect? To edify a person is to
instruct them for their benefit especially in the realm of a morality to
improve them to guide them, to uplift them and to enlighten them. This is the responsibility of a Christian,
who is strong in the faith; we are not to be autonomous, and we are not to
allow ourselves the freedom to just do what we want to do when we want to do
it. It takes courage to be a Christian
and it takes result to do those things that would be edifying to others. We need to make this our business, and our
business is not to gratify the desires of our own hearts. Sometimes I believe we are so Christianized
and use such terms that are so Christian that make us feel as though we have
some form of piety and godliness, yet we are not following the very words of
Jesus Christ's: "Then Jesus said to
His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself,
and to take up his cross, and follow Me"" (Matthew 16: 24). Paul then gives us these words for our
edification: "For even Christ did
not please Himself: but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who
reproached You fell on Me"" (Romans 15: 3; cf: Psalm 69: 9). As Christians are responsibility is to
please our brothers and sisters and two aid them to grow in their faith and to
show them what it means to have respect and to show respect. Are we not to give to our God are very
best? Or are we just do things that
only please ourselves? How often have I
heard said, oh I have to wear a suit and tie at work every day so on the
weekends I'm just going to relax. Oh
how hard it is to get up on Sunday morning and to put a suit and tie on or to
put on a nice breasts into dress our children into what used to be called
Sunday morning clothing. Or, is
it? Who are we pleasing, ourselves, or
are we living our faith in everything we do because we have deny it ourselves
so that we will be pleasing and edifying to others? To please our neighbors is not to show how Christian we are, or
how more superior we are, and we are not to misuse our liberty, for our pleasure, rather for the glory of God and
for the profit in edification of others.
We are to study God's Word not for our own engorging of God's Word to
fatten our piety. We study God's Word for
the good not only of our soul also the soul of our brothers and sisters
especially those who may be weak and in the form and in need of comfort,
edifying, and the love to be shown to him or her by their brothers and sisters
in Christ.
Brothers
and sisters in Jesus Christ the plea that goes out is that we learn to live
according to one God has instructed us to his son the Lord Jesus Christ and
that is for the edification of others. Not
for just ourselves and we do this in everything we do, in all that we say, and
by doing so we will be thwarting Satan himself. The question is will you not only just consider this but will you
put it into practice?
Come, and let us return to the LORD;
For He has
torn, but He will
bind us up.
Hosea 6: 1
You are an Ambassador of Christ
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