Then you will not be criticized for doing something you believe is good.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then don’t let your good be slandered,
- KJV Let not then your good be evil spoken of:
- BSB Do not allow what you consider good, then, to be spoken of as evil.
- NKJV Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil;
- NASB Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil;
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Do not let your rightful liberty become something that is spoken of as evil. A good thing wrongly exercised can bring reproach on the gospel.
Overview
Christian freedom is genuinely good, but if flaunted without love it can be slandered, by weaker believers or by outsiders. Paul urges the strong to use liberty in a way that does not invite reproach. The reputation of the gospel and the peace of the church outweigh the satisfaction of insisting on one's rights. Liberty is to serve love, not undermine the church's witness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- 1 Cor 10:29–30Conscience, I say, not your own, but the other’s conscience. For why is my liberty judged by another conscience?
- 1 Th 5:22Abstain from every form of evil.
- Rom 12:17Repay no one evil for evil. Respect what is honorable in the sight of all men.
- 2 Cor 8:20–21We are avoiding this, that any man should blame us concerning this abundance which is administered by us.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 14:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.