Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Convictions and Community in Christ

Romans 14:5-9 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
So, we live in community with other believers who have differing convictions about certain activities.   For these particular people it was things like eating food sacrificed to idols - to eat or not to eat. Or whether to celebrate certain holidays - be they the old Jewish celebrations or the pagan holidays.  How do we live as new believers in an old sinful world? We will not always agree. But we must always go back to this: our lives are not our own.  We have been bought with a price; we belong to Christ, so whatever decisions and convictions we have must go back to Him, not just to please ourselves.  We must not only think about what is best for me, but for His Body, the Church.

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